Air ticket taxes REFUND (what they do not tell you)

Burtie_2

Sam_Bee wrote:

The real scandal is Ryanair & the low cost airlines charging a refund fee equivilant to your taxes (and charges for the pedants) so they receive your money, your money that was supposed to pay the government, your money that was supposed to pay the airport, and the money they get from the passenger replacing you. Scandalous.

I don't see anything wrong with airlines charging an admin fee as they do have to manually process these refunds.

Otherwise passengers will be cancelling their 1p flights after their departure date (Ryanair state you have 1 month to apply for the refunds), the planes will be leaving with empty seats and those "non-passengers" would only be at a 1p loss.

This leads to a "loss of bargain" for those that couldn't get the 1p seats, airlines losing money for having empty seats and then passing these losses on to their REAL CUSTOMERS (i.e. the ones that actually do fly with them!).

What would stop rogues from rival airlines buying up all the 1p seats on say Ryanair and then applying for refunds at the last minute?

Sam_Bee

Burtie wrote:

I don't see anything wrong with airlines charging an admin fee as they do have to manually process these refunds.

Otherwise passengers will be cancelling their 1p flights after their departure date (Ryanair state you have 1 month to apply for the refunds), the planes will be leaving with empty seats and those "non-passengers" would only be at a 1p loss.

This leads to a "loss of bargain" for those that couldn't get the 1p seats, airlines losing money for having empty seats and then passing these losses on to their REAL CUSTOMERS (i.e. the ones that actually do fly with them!).

What would stop rogues from rival airlines buying up all the 1p seats on say Ryanair and then applying for refunds at the last minute?

The average ticket price for Ryanair is £27.60 (excluding charges and taxes - according to The Guardian anyway) not 1p. So they keep that plus benefit from the revenue from filling the seat with an additional passenger (which they do so 5 out 6 times - again from the Guardian), so 'on average' make £55.20 on that seat (give or take - but you see my point).

That's also without the 'wheelchair levy' and 'insurance surcharge' of £3.15 they include in charges and not the actual fare (I know of no other airlines that doesn't absorb these costs into their ticket prices - it only becomes part of the 'ticket costs' when it comes to refunds).

And they misrepresent and profiteer on taxes.
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1005912006

I think their refund costs are more than covered, as i'm sure they have a simple, automated refunds process!

As for competitors buying all the 1p flights and demanding refunds at the last minute - nice idea, sure it wouldn't happen as I'm sure Ryanair would introduce some legislation to keep all it's competitors money!

Theoretically, BA's competitors could do the same by purchasing large numbers of full fare, fully-refundable tickets and cancelling said flights at last minute.

Don't get me wrong - I think Ryanair have generally had a positive impact on aviation in this country, but some of their business practises just make me a little uneasy. Certainly their most important contribution has been driving down BA and BMI short-haul flight prices to the extent that my last two European flights have been on BA - as they were cheaper than low-cost alternative!

Burtie_2

I agree Ryanair mis-represent what is a Tax, Service Charge, Levi etc.

But airlines are all the same, for example BA charge between £15 (done online) and £30 (via a call-centre) to refund tax. See https://generic-uk-questions.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/generic_uk.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=NDlovJli&p_tbl=9&p_id=2990&p_created=1118398181&p_olh=0

Perhaps we should start a list of those airlines that refund Tax for free!!

budgetflyer

Burtie wrote:

I agree Ryanair mis-represent what is a Tax, Service Charge, Levi etc.

I dont, they quite clearly state what is what. when you get to the price, under taxes fees and charges there is a blue link. click on it and a little pop up appears with an absolute concise breakdown of what is what.

Burtie_2

budgetflyer wrote:

I dont, they quite clearly state what is what. when you get to the price, under taxes fees and charges there is a blue link. click on it and a little pop up appears with an absolute concise breakdown of what is what.

I can understand what Ryanair make of their "breakdown" in costs but what Ryanair may quote as a tax (e.g. "Departure tax" or "Government tax") can be untrue (see the link SamBee posted above and the Irish Government official stating it's "mislabelling").

There are not the only airline though. I found exactly the same flights offered by a different airline for the same price (1p each-way). However, the "surcharges" and "tax" for one weekend was different that another. Go figure, but to me it seems they "massage" the surchages/taxes based on demand for the flight..

b.abraham_2

It took me 3 attempts to get any sort of refund from Ryanair.
If you do not take your flights, you are entitled to a refund of the Government Taxes less a "reasonable" admin charge, which Ryanair charge £10.00.
I asked repeatedly for a breakdown of all their little taxes, charges & fees, and they simply kept responding by saying no refund was due as the admin charge was greater than any refund. What rubbish !
OK, my taxes only amounted to 15 quid, but that's till 5 quid they owed me - which they are in the process of getting back to me.

But it does make you wonder how many people give up - and it is simply NOT Ryanair's money. So if they don't give it back, I think this is theft.

Anyway, I advise anyone else who has similar trouble to keep pestering them for a FULL breakdown of costings. And then report Ryanair to the AIR TRANSPORT USERS COUNCIL (part of Civil Aviation Authority).

Sam_Bee wrote:

For those who don't care about the breakdown of the extras they are paying (and why should they if at the end of the day you have to pay them?), you are being a pedant.

APD is compulsory and refundable if you cancel. Why should anyone care if they are technically 'taxes' or 'charges' they only care what they get back.

The real scandal is Ryanair & the low cost airlines charging a refund fee equivilant to your taxes (and charges for the pedants) so they receive your money, your money that was supposed to pay the government, your money that was supposed to pay the airport, and the money they get from the passenger replacing you. Scandalous.

roses

Sorry to drag this old thread up, is it a legal requirement for airlines to refund tax? My partner & I were booked on a flight last June with My Travel but his passport had expired so we weren't able to board. I wrote to My Travel requesting a refund for taxes but they told me to !!!!!! off.

I thought it was not a legal requirement for airlines to refund tax. Has this changed now?

Voyager2002

roses wrote: »

Sorry to drag this old thread up, is it a legal requirement for airlines to refund tax? My partner & I were booked on a flight last June with My Travel but his passport had expired so we weren't able to board. I wrote to My Travel requesting a refund for taxes but they told me to !!!!!! off.

I thought it was not a legal requirement for airlines to refund tax. Has this changed now?

Since even Ryanair refund tax, but impose an adminstration charge equal to the amount of most refunds, I assume that it must be a legal requirement. Why would they bother, otherwise?

roses

That's what I thought but all my research indicates that it's only an office of fair trading recommendation, not a legal requirement:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2002/05/21/etsb21.xml
Most airlines will pay up, although some may argue that their administration fees use up part or all of the sum.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ff76190a-e5bc-11db-9fcf-000b5df10621.html
The AUC says there is no law requiring airlines to rebate any so-called TFCs – taxes, fees and charges – on non-refundable tickets. But in practice even the low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and Easyjet say they will refund both air passenger duty and overseas government taxes.

exel1966

Sam_Bee wrote: »

The real scandal is Ryanair & the low cost airlines charging a refund fee equivilant to your taxes (and charges for the pedants) so they receive your money, your money that was supposed to pay the government, your money that was supposed to pay the airport, and the money they get from the passenger replacing you. Scandalous.

Just about EVERY airline will charge an admin fee for processing a refund of taxes.