Germany has introduced an air passenger tax effective immediately for travel dates from 1 January 2011.  (Hat tip John Macilree.)

It works similar to the UK APD tax – rates based on distance to destination, German transits are exempt and certain domestic flights are also exempt (joy rides and flights to some islands).  The initial rates are (1) €8 to 2500km, (2) €25 2500-6000km, (3) €45 6000+ km.  Distances are all based on the location of the capital city and its distance from Frankfurt airport.

Thus category (1) includes all of Europe (incl Russia) plus part of northern Africa and Turkey.  Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Kosovo, Latvia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United Kingdom.

Category (2) includes the middle of Africa (incl Egypt), Caucasus region, Middle East region and Asia as far as the stans.  Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

Category (3) is everywhere else – ie southern Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Asia from China and India eastwards, Australia and the Pacific.

Given the stated intention to produce revenue rising to €4b by 2014, I bet the rates will increase from the initial settings.  Full text of the legislation is available here.

A reminder the $14 fee for USA’s visa waiver visa in drag (aka ESTA) kicks in 8 September.  You don’t have to wait for your current ESTA approval to expire to seek another so there is no reason not to apply in the next week for a new approval.  Type in cbp.dhs.gov after the http:// and click on ESTA.

The site was very sluggish when I renewed my ESTA so it might be a good idea not to wait until the last minute in case of problems.

The tourist tax for ESTA visa waiver visitors to USA has been confirmed to start September 08 (source: Travel Weekly).  When the tourist tax (application fee for ESTA visa waiver) was previously announced it was going to be US$10 but even before implementation it has been increased to US$14 as an unavoidable admin fee of US$4 has been added.

The legislation allowing this charge calls it travel promotion (see news release), but it is really a visa in drag.

According to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, airline fees and other charges are expected to cost consumers US$58 billion (with a B) in 2010.  To put that another way that is 12% of total airline revenue.

All those extras sure add up.  At what point does the unbundling become too much and unreasonable? It certainly makes price comparisons harder and thus a form of anti-competitive behaviour, although the airlines argue it gives travellers more choice and transparency around costs.

What do you think?

With recent news that Spirit Airlines will charge for carry-on baggage, I thought it may be interesting to see just what kind of fees some airlines charge their passengers.

Here are some of the fees I’ve come across. Do you know which airlines use them?

• Administration fee
• Credit card payment fee
• Debit card payment fee
• Offline booking fee
• Award ticketing fee
• Quick ticketing fee
• Paper ticket fee
• Change fee
• Cancellation fee
• Name change fee
• Service fee
• Preferred seating / exit row fee
• Seat selection fee
• Online check-in fee
• EarlyBird check-in fee
• Airport check-in fee
• Checked baggage fees
• Excess baggage fees
• Priority boarding fee
• Fuel surcharge
• Buy on board food & beverage
• Travel assistance fee

Undoubtedly there are fees which I’ve missed. Please let us know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list.

I’ve previously posted how the electronic visa waiver for USA, ESTA, is really a visa in drag. The proposed tourist tax of $10 charged for ESTA applications is a step closing to implementation with US Senate overwhelmingly passing the legislation (source CNN).

The tourist tax is rather insulting. The rationale given is that it is needed to promote USA as a travel destination (yeah tourists love to pay more in taxes) and to spin explain US immigration policies to visitors (making them simpler and more friendly is the obvious solution).

The Netherlands removed their air passenger tax on 1 July 2009. If you bought a ticket before 1 July with contains a flight from the Netherlands for travel on or after 1 July, then you may be eligible for a refund. Note there was no tax charged for transits under 24 hours at Amsterdam.

The tax was €45 for longhaul and €11.25 for shorthaul.

If you paid the tax then you’re entitled to claim a full refund from your airline or travel agent. Airlines should not be deducting a service fee to process the refund.

If you have a breakdown of taxes paid (eg on paper tickets these appear in a few lines near the bottom) look for the tax code KV.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

As announced last year UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) goes up for travel from 1 November 2009, and there will be a further increase next year. APD applies to all flight departures from UK, except for connecting international or domestic flights after an international arrival. The exemption covers transits on a single ticket within a prescribed time (a day or less in some circumstances). The exemption rule is not changing.

Until 31 October 2009 APD is £10 or £20 for “European” destinations and £40 or £80 for other destinations. The higher rate applies for premium economy, business and first class.

From 1 November 2009 APD is £11 to £55 in economy depending on country and £22 to £110 for all other classes of travel.

As it is a bit complicated I’ve prepared a summary (see map below). For convenience I list the economy rate of APD. For other classes of travel the Air Passenger Duty is twice the economy rate.

UK APD Zones 1 Nov 09

Map Legend:

Europe-A

Other-A

B

C

D

UK Air Passenger Duty Zones and change in APD 1 November 2009

Europe-A £10 -> £11

Other-A £20 -> £11 (NB Russia east of Urals in B)

B £20 -> £45

C £20 -> £50

D £20 -> £55

© worldmapmaker.com Travel Insurance

For more detail, continue reading.

“Europe”
Currently on the lower rate and will be in new Band A.
£10 → £11
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (incl Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland (incl Aland Islands), France (incl Corsica), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (incl Sardinia & Sicily), Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, (FYROM) Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway (incl Svalbard), Poland, Portugal (incl the Azores & Madeira), Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain (incl Balearic & Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK (incl Channel Islands, Gibraltar & Isle of Man)

Other Europe
Currently on the higher rate and will be in new Band A. APD decreases at 1 November 2009.
£20 → £11
Belarus, Greenland, Moldova, Russia (west of Urals only), Ukraine

Northern Africa
Currently on the higher rate and will be in new Band A. APD decreases at 1 November 2009.
£20 → £11
Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara

Midhaul and shorter longhaul
Roughly USA & Canada, most of Africa (north of Equator except those above), Middle East, Caucasus, central Asia, west Asia.
Currently on the higher rate and will be in new Band B. For some a large difference in APD compared with neighbouring countries in Band A (see underlined entries).
£20 → £45
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Bermuda, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia (east of Urals), St Pierre & Miquelon (France), Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, UAE, USA (incl Hawaii but excl Puerto Rico), Uzbekistan, Yemen

Longhaul
Roughly Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, northern South America (above Equator plus Brazil), southern Africa (below Equator), eastern (except Taiwan) and southern Asia (except southeast).
Currently on the higher rate and will be in new Band C.
£20 → £50
Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Ascension Island, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Burma, Burundi, Cayman Islands, China (incl Hong Kong & Macao), Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, North Korea, Panama, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Rwanda, St Barthelemy, St Helena, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Martin, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Longer longhaul
Roughly southern South America (below Equator except Brazil), Taiwan, southeast Asia, Oceania.
Currently on the higher rate and will be in new Band D.
£20 → £55
American Samoa, Argentina, Australia (incl Christmas Island, Cocos Islands & Norfolk Island), Bolivia, Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, Cook Islands, East Timor, Falkland Islands, Fiji, France (New Caledonia & French Polynesia), Guam, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Tristan da Cunha, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

UK air passenger duty (APD), the tax on passengers who fly from UK or stopover in UK, is to increase significantly from 1 November 2009 with a further large increase in 2010.

The current APD is £10/20 for intra-Europe and £40/80 for inter-continental. The first figure refers to the lowest cabin on the aircraft and the latter figure for all other classes of travel.

The rate of APD from 1 November 2009 will be distance based, and depend on the distance between London and the capital city of each country (except Russia east of the Urals has a different calculation). The new rates will vary from £11/22 for shorthaul up to £55/110 for long haul.

Other than a couple of destinations in northern Africa, every APD will go up to a varying extent, with the biggest increases (whether measured by £ or %) for longhaul. APD for business class only airlines will change from the lower rate to the higher rate.

In 2010 the APD goes up by more, with rates varying from £12/24 for shorthaul up to £85/170 for longhaul. Ouch.

The new tax has a longer lead in time than in the past. The last change in APD gave only 2 months notice and caused significant problems for airlines. This time we get over 11 months notice. Airlines should make the changes to their systems fairly quickly so as not to be out of pocket and minimise the disruption at check-in. Those who book now, until the system changes are made, for travel after 1 November may be hit up at check in to pay the tax shortfall.

As with the current system, the calculation is based on ultimate destination not necessarily the destination of the first flight. So you can’t reduce the taxes by flying from UK to far-flung destinations via Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam – unless you break the travel into 2 or more tickets.

For those interested in the detail, check out the UK pre-budget report sub-section on APD.

With the airline and tourism industries in crisis mode, and a major downturn in financial services (business travel is a very significant source of revenue for airlines flying from or to UK due to the size of the London financial centre), it seems an odd time to be socking the travelling public.

On pages 18-21 of the main pre-budget report press release, further taxes for travellers are signalled with the intention for aviation to be included in EU emissions trading scheme from 2012.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

I earlier posted about the doubling of UK’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax effective 1 February 2007, and the retrospectivity of it. The airlines have now had time to consider how they will deal with the practical problem of payment of the higher taxes for those who had already ticketed when the increase was announced for flights on or after 1 February 2007.

The BBC reports on the decisions of some UK airlines:

• Ryanair has advised passengers must pay the increase by the day before departure – there will be no facility to pay at the airport and they won’t bear the cost (booo)
• Jet2 will just take the money off passenger’s credit cards (wonder how many disputed payments the credit card companies will get from that nastiness?)
• British Airways has advised they will bear the cost and not attempt to collect it (presumably the costs of collection are excessive and besides this is a chance for some good PR after a string of recent bad publicity)
• Easyjet didn’t advise what they intend doing – I hope they make up their mind soon!

With such diverging approaches, one thing we can count on is confusion and chaos at the UK airports come 1 February. It is not yet too late for the UK government to stop the nonsense by removing the retrospectivity of the tax increase.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.