Refund of flight taxes

Aaargh

Airlines are legally bound to refund fight taxes if you cancel your ticket.
Well, that may be what the law says but beware, the airlines can, and do, charge an 'administration fee' (per person, per flight) that can add up to more than the refund.
It happened to me recently when I cancelled a return flight from Birmingham to Edinburgh - total taxes £49.98, admin charges £50!

pinkshoes

I thought banks got into trouble for their "admin" charges, so maybe this charge can be claimed back too???

What on earth can cost £50 in admin???

dmg24

No, it can't be claimed back. There is a thread on the Travel board that explains the difference very well.

Aaargh

dmg24 wrote: »

No, it can't be claimed back. There is a thread on the Travel board that explains the difference very well.

I disagree that it can't be claimed back. I could not find the thread you referred to but a similar thread can be seen at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1007085
There is also a relevant discussion at http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/holiday-companies/52879-ryanair-getting-your-taxes.html

In my opinion a £50 admin charge simply for refunding a sum of money to my credit card is unreasonable and I'd most likely win any action taken against them in the small claims court.

Taking a more general view why is it that you can cancel a hotel room with less than 24 hours notice and not be charged a penny, or cancel a train ticket booking and pay a flat £10 administration fee but if you cancel an airline flight you rarely get any money back - tickets, booking fees, extras (eg seat preference) or taxes!

Tozer

Aaargh wrote: »

I disagree that it can't be claimed back. I could not find the thread you referred to but a similar thread can be seen at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1007085
There is also a relevant discussion at http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/holiday-companies/52879-ryanair-getting-your-taxes.html

In my opinion a £50 admin charge simply for refunding a sum of money to my credit card is unreasonable and I'd most likely win any action taken against them in the small claims court.

Taking a more general view why is it that you can cancel a hotel room with less than 24 hours notice and not be charged a penny, or cancel a train ticket booking and pay a flat £10 administration fee but if you cancel an airline flight you rarely get any money back - tickets, booking fees, extras (eg seat preference) or taxes!

No it cannot be claimed back. It is an administration charge. The issue in respect of the banks is that the charges are penalties defined (in law) as being other than a "genuine pre-estimate of the loss likely to be suffered in the event of a breach of contract".

As there is no breach of contract here, there can be no penalty argument.

It is up to the company to decide what to charge and market forces will keep the costs down.

There is a slight possibility of an argument that the contractual provision entitling the airline to charge is unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations but insofar as I know, there has never been an attack on the LEVEL of charges which a company can impose for carrying out a service (i.e. the recovery of the tax).

Tozer

Aaargh wrote: »

Taking a more general view why is it that you can cancel a hotel room with less than 24 hours notice and not be charged a penny, or cancel a train ticket booking and pay a flat £10 administration fee but if you cancel an airline flight you rarely get any money back - tickets, booking fees, extras (eg seat preference) or taxes!

Not necessarily. I travel a great deal on business and if I know I am going to be away will often choose a non-cancellable rate at particular hotels.

And the converse applies. I often have to cancel flights which, depending on the ticket type (and price) is fully refundable / amendable. Ultimately you pay for flexibility.