Which? slam airlines over tax reclaim charges
10.07.10
British airlines have been accused of boosting their profits by keeping millions of pounds in taxes that should be refunded to passengers, the BBC reports. Any passenger that does not take a flight they booked should be able to reclaim the Air Passenger Duty (APD) they paid. But consumer organisation Which? says most airlines make it too difficult - or too expensive - to get that tax back. A spokesman said: ‘In some cases it costs at least twice as much to reclaim the tax as the tax paid.'
In most cases passengers who miss their flight, or deliberately decide not to catch it, are unable to reclaim the cost of the flight itself. But they can reclaim the APD, which varies from £11 per person on a flight within Europe, to £110 for a long-haul first class flight (and is set to rise in November). A family of four flying economy from London to Miami currently pays £200 in the tax (£240 from November).
Most airlines charge passengers an administration fee if they want to reclaim the APD. Ryanair charges £17 per person, Flybe charges £25 and both Virgin and BA charge up to £30.
Among the major UK airlines, only easyJet refund the tax without charging a fee. This means unless passengers are paying a higher rate of the tax, the charges make it impossible to reclaim the tax. And as airlines only pay it over for actual fliers, they are pocketing the tax not reclaimed.
The airlines have insisted that their administration charges are justifiable. BA says its charge is an accurate reflection of what it actually costs in administration costs. And Flybe told the BBC it had ‘no choice but to invest in the resources required to administer the collection and payment of several third party taxes. Our charges are reasonable’.
However Simon Calder, travel editor for The Independent newspaper, questioned the charges. He told the BBC: ‘If BA is saying it costs £30 to refund your money, I'd say, 'have a look at your costs.' It should be a matter of a few minutes and a few pence to give you back the tax.'
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