Air Passenger Duty for under 16 - AA charges ?

The_Phantom

I am at a loss here with the new rules for Air Passenger Duty which in the Uk apparently no longer applies to travellers under 16 as from March 2016.

I have booked a trip for my daughter to the USA with American Airlines as she will be spending the summer holidays there with relatives. She will be travelling alone and at time of travel will be 15. (in July this year)
Due to her age I couldn't book the ticket online, I had to phone reservations.

At British Airways you have to book tickets for minors travelling alone also through reservations rather than online, as British Airways says their online system can't automatically deduct the APD for children at the moment, so you have to go through reservations to avoid being charged.

Thought this was the same with AA when it flagged up that you can't book tickets for minors under the age of 16 online.

So I phoned the AA reservations line and although it is a UK number I seemed to be connected to the US office.
Anyway, it all was far more difficult than anticipated as I asked about the APD and the guy on the phone didn't seem to understand what I was talking about.
He quoted me £1105.- for a return ticket which is the same I was quoted online for an adult passenger.
I asked whether he had deducted the APD as my daughter was under 16 and he didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. He said their price didn't include any tax apart from the taxes and charges I had to agree to when booking the ticket.

So I didn't understand what he was talking about then.
He kept asking whether I did agree to pay the charges and taxes and I kept saying yes as long as it is not the APD which my daughter isn't liable for.
He said that wasn't being applied, so I booked the ticket and paid the £1105.-
However, when I looked at the receipt I noticed that there were carrier imposed charges of £163.- plus £156.85 in taxes.
So I wonder whether they DID charge the APD after all and should refund that tax of £156.85 ?

But when I call AA they don't seem to understand and keep saying I agreed to those charges when I booked the ticket.
They also do not respond to e-mails, I just get a confirmation of receipt saying someone will respond within 48 hours, but nobody does.

Has anybody got some advice or information for me on this ?

Caz3121

The_Phantom wrote: »

So I wonder whether they DID charge the APD after all and should refund that tax of £156.85 ?

APD is a fixed rate, for economy this would be £71 and for business class £142...I expect the £156.85 contains a number of taxes and charges
If you use ITAMatrix you can run the flight details through and find a full breakdown of the taxes included for a price
If you can see that it is included in the price you paid then ask about the refund process
this is the American Airlines communications http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/content/images/uk/PDF/APD-Tax-for-Children-under-16.pdf

The_Phantom

AA charged 'carrier imposed fees' of £163 and £156.85 in 'taxes'
according to their receipt.
No doubt there are taxes included for the return leg from the US but it doesn't break it down that much.
What makes me believe they have charged APD is that the price I have paid in total is exactly the same as what they quote on their website for an adult passenger.
The annoying part is I told the booking clerk that APD should not be charged and he didn't seem to grasp what I was talking about.

I will try the link you have provided and see if I can find the Matrix, too

The_Phantom

The ITA Matrix is superb !!! I got a complete breakdown of the price, and this is what the price I was charged includes:

USDA APHIS Fee (XA)
£2.70
US Immigration Fee (XY)
£4.90
US Customs Fee (YC)
£3.80
United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty (GB)
£73.00
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge (UB)
£41.65
AA YR surcharge (YR)
£143.00
US International Arrival Tax (US)
£12.40
US International Departure Tax (US)
£12.40
US September 11th Security Fee (AY)
£3.90
US Passenger Facility Charge (XF)
£2.10

So they did indeed charge me £73.- APD as I suspected

The_Phantom

The AA note you have posted the link for says they will pro-actively refund customers who booked their ticket with AA direct....so basically I have to sit back and wait for them to refund me ?

callum9999

I wouldn't count on it, that was designed for people who booked before the tax changes happened. I don't know if they'd still protectively be checking for it.

The_Phantom

You are right. They should by now have changed their system to reflect the changes and automatically deduct it from bookings. That obviously is not the case now.
I have sent an e-mail (another one) to their Customer Service Department.
I doubt I will get a reply, so may have to try their phone line again
Oh joy.
:eek:

The_Phantom

Had a response from their Customer Relations Department.
They said they have passed my query to their refund department and if my request is warranted the refund department will issue a refund within the next three months or two credit card billing cycles.
If I want to contact their refund department directly I can do so of course and they gave me a postal address in Arizona / USA. (no telephone number , no e-mail, just a PO Box address in Phoenix, Arizona.)

Unbelievable.

The_Phantom

Just got a reply from them :

On behalf of American Airlines, thank you for contacting us again. I spoke with our Refunds Department and they advised me to tell you that no changes can be made to tickets or pricing prior to travel as it will void the current ticket. You may request a refund when travel is complete. However, please be advised that a refund may not be applicable as the ticket was purchased prior to the time that the law went into affect. That being said, we will happily review and consider your refund when your daughter's travel is complete. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

callum9999

The_Phantom wrote: »

Just got a reply from them :

On behalf of American Airlines, thank you for contacting us again. I spoke with our Refunds Department and they advised me to tell you that no changes can be made to tickets or pricing prior to travel as it will void the current ticket. You may request a refund when travel is complete. However, please be advised that a refund may not be applicable as the ticket was purchased prior to the time that the law went into affect. That being said, we will happily review and consider your refund when your daughter's travel is complete. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

That's an odd stance for them to take given they proactively refunded APD when it was scrapped for under 12s.

If it's possible to reply to that email, I'd send a reply stating that it had been announced well before you booked the ticket and you confirmed with an agent over the phone that you were not being charged it (give the date/time/name if possible).

Try and keep the writing to an absolute minimum because they seem to love to take any possibility whatsoever to misinterpret what you're asking for!

The_Phantom

I have replied to them again now, sending them the link to their own publication on this :

http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/content/images/uk/PDF/APD-Tax-for-Children-under-16.pdf

It clearly states that if you have already paid the APD you are eligible for a refund and would be refunded pro-actively.

I asked them to explain the difference between their published procedure and the e-mail they sent me.
Will be interesting to find out what their reply is going to be. (if there is one)