FareCompa Airline Travel Taxes Effect on Cheap Airline Tickets
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Shop for Cheap Airline Tickets and Discount Airfare Shop for Cheap Airline Tickets Airline Travel Taxes Effect on Cheap Airline Tickets Anyone that has been shopping for air travel recently is acutely aware of the recent trend in escalating costs. Finding cheap airline tickets for many has become an epic adventure. As easy as it is to blame the airlines, there is a relatively new and alarming trend outside the airlines control - sky rocketing taxes & fees. That's right! Look no further than your local government when you get that bad taste in your mouth after purchasing an airline ticket. Believe it or not, airline tickets are being purchased where the combined taxes & fees are the largest portion of the total ticket cost. Savvy air travelers who know the basics about taxes & fees can save hundreds of dollars by making the best buying decision. With your brief indulgence, I'll walk you through the basics of taxes & fees. I guarantee you can use your new found knowledge to save money on future air travel purchases. Fly to Dublin or Shannon for the Cheapest Airline Ticket Before the boring details, let's take a quick look at an example that illustrates the point. For international round trips originating in the U.S., the taxes & fees are fixed at $54 for a non-stop and $68 for a one-stop. However, the comparison of additional taxes & fees for Ireland and the United Kingdom are quite surprising: * Dublin - $24 * Shannon - $21 * London Heathrow - $105 * London Gatwick - $93 If you take into account that average fuel surcharges to Ireland are 50% or less than to the United Kingdom, you could save up to $1,000 on an itinerary with 3 or more travelers. Then, you could use your savings to visit the UK from Ireland on a low cost airline like Ryan Air. They have ridiculously low prices if you buy well in advance. The only caveat is the number of planes flying over the pond to Ireland vs. United Kingdom. Dublin has 9 daily flights from Atlanta, Boston, Newark, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia compared to London that has 61 daily flights from several cities in the U.S. Taxes & Fees on International Airline Tickets Rule of Thumb International airline tickets departing from the U.S. all have the same basic taxes & fees for roundtrips. * Non-Stop: $54 * One-Stop: $68 The breakdown is as follows: Outbound U.S. airline ticket taxes & fees: * $15.10 - Departing from U.S. - U.S. Sales Tax Inbound U.S. airline ticket taxes & fees: * $15.10 -U.S. Sales Tax * $5.00 - U.S. Customs Fee * $7.00 - U.S. Immigration Fee * $5.00 - U.S. Agricultural Fee Wheels Up & Down U.S. airline ticket taxes & fees: * $4.50 Wheels up U.S. - Airport Passenger Facility Charges (max $9.00 per direction) * $2.50 Wheels up U.S. - Flight Segment Fee (max $5.00 per direction) The taxes & fees for destination countries vary wildly. If you transit (connect) through a country the fees can stack up in increments of $30 to $60 per airline ticket. Also, different cities within a particular country can make a huge difference in the fees you will be charged. We will be highlighting these in a separate document. Taxes & Fees on Domestic U.S. Airline Tickets The basic rules of thumb for U.S. domestic travel are $21 in taxes & fees for non-stop travel and $42 in taxes & fees for one-stop travel. The airlines with non-stops usually raise their fare prices by $20. They know if they match the prices of connecting flights, they not only have the competitive advantage of a non-stop, but they pocket an additional $21 that airlines with connecting flights pay to the government. Fares are priced at odd amounts so when the standard 7.5% U.S. Domestic Ticket Sales tax is applied, the base fare is an even dollar amount. For example a $200 base airfare is actually $186.04 (airfare for the airline) + 7.5% U.S. airline ticket sales tax ($13.96). Official Low Down on Airline Ticket Taxes & Fees Following are links for those adventurers who really want the official low down on taxes. Tax Terminology - http://www.arccorp.com/forms/pp/iah/current/iah7_0.pdf U.S. Taxes Domestic and International Taxes - http://www.arccorp.com/forms/pp/iah/current/iah7_2.pdf, http://www.arccorp.com/forms/pp/iah/current/iah7_6.pdf Cheers, Rick Seaney CEO, FareCompare.com |
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