tax refund for flight not flown

orcocan

hi all,
i was wondering if anyone had any insight on the following issue. I booked a non refundable BA flight via Opodo (yes I know, I learnt my lesson, I will definitely avoid them in future...) which I eventually did not fly.
I know it's normally possible to get a refund for the airport taxes etc even for non refundable flights, however Opodo tells me that what I paid was 100% base fare and no taxes or any charges were mentioned on the confirmation. To me it doesn't make any sense but that's what they're saying. Did anybody have similar experiences? Is there any way to get the tax refunded? Thanks

Voyager2002

Opodo are talking nonsense... however, both the airline and agent are well within their rights to deduct an admin charge from any refund, so if they decide not to give you your tax back there is nothing you can do about it.

Caz3121

what was the routing?
for shorthaul flights the refundable taxes would be less than the service charges from BA and Opodo for processing.

Heliflyguy

BA generally dont charge agents for a refund but Opodo will charge you.

Depending on how much your APD was (where were you flying to and in what cabin) and how much Opodo charges to refund will decide if it worth the trouble.

UK APD is charged on all tickets even if the fare is zero, interestingly USA US tax isnt charged on zero fare tickets.

And yes Opodo are talking from their bottoms.

PeacefulWaters

There is an assumption that the flight started in the uk. Is that correct?

orcocan

yes, the flight started in the UK, i called them again, this time they admitted the tax component was 61 pounds but they said BA treats it as non refundable therefore there's nothing they can do as it's BA's policy. I tried to call BA but 'lines are busy' and they just disconnected me.... :-/

IAmWales

£61 is not an APD amount. What route did you book?

Heliflyguy

Unless BA treat Opodo differently then its not a general policy in fact agency's can get refunds of most taxes not just APD although BA has recently said that a couple of USA taxes will not be refunded on non refundable tickets.

BA are unlikely to give you advice and refer you back to Opodo, also £61 maybe all the taxes you paid as there is no £61 APD.

You haven't said yet where you were flying to?

jpsartre

I wouldn't even bother pursuing it. The admin fees probably wipe out whatever refund you are entitled to and even if they don't, the chance of getting any kind of money from Opodo is close to non-existing.

Caz3121

orcocan wrote: »

yes, the flight started in the UK, i called them again, this time they admitted the tax component was 61 pounds but they said BA treats it as non refundable therefore there's nothing they can do as it's BA's policy.

There are a number of "taxes & fees" and not all are refundable. If £61 is the total taxes this will be made up of YQ "carrier surcharge" which is non refundable
The APD would be £13 (unless a domestic return flight when it would be £26) of this Opodo take £25 service fee so refund is likely zero

orcocan

so i called BA again and they told me they always refund if you do not fly and that opodo was talking bs

so i called back opodo and they kept going on about tax not being refundable, then i kicked up a big fuss saying there was no good reason why they should be pocketing that money, after a fair bit of arguing she had to 'check with her manager' and suddenly the tax became refundable. They are applying a 25 quid charge so I'm getting 36 pounds back.

to all the people telling me not to bother, i know it's not a massive amount but i don't see why i should just leave the money with them without even trying! How long does it take you to earn 36 pounds in credit interest these days for instance? Not quite the MSE spirit....