And for good reason: United does not
charge a fuel surcharge on award flights, even on partner airlines.
The most important of those advantages is that US airlines don't typically
charge fuel surcharges on award tickets booked on their own flights, and often don't pass along their partners» fuel surcharges.
Knowing who
charges fuel surcharges on award tickets can make a huge difference in the cash portion of your award ticket.
No matter where you fly to or whose planes you fly on, United won't
charge a fuel surcharge on the award, making it ideal for overseas trips.
And for good reason: United does not
charge a fuel surcharge on award flights, even on partner airlines.
1) As I've already mentioned, British Airways
charge fuel surcharges on their awards while American doesn't.
It's worth noting that Aegean will
charge fuel surcharges on award flights (but then so will British Airways, for example).
Both Virgin and British Airways
charge fuel surcharges on their awards — American doesn't (providing you don't use AAdvantage miles to fly on BA).
However, If you are considering accumulating miles for this promotion, keep in mind that Singapore Airlines
charges fuel surcharges on award tickets and this promotion is valid for only saver economy awards on select routes.
Unfortunately
they charge a fuel surcharge on award bookings.
United Airlines for example, is a great transfer option because they do not
charge fuel surcharges on their award tickets.
Both Singapore and Lufthansa
charge fuel surcharges on their award flights, but Air Berlin, booked with AAdvantage miles, does not.
Not exact matches
That's because British Airways
charges significant fees for additional taxes, fees, and
fuel surcharges on award flights to and from their main hub at London Heathrow.
It is also unlikely that you will save much
on the taxes and fees since all flights have to be operated by US Airways and Aeroplan
awards do not
charge fuel surcharges on flights operated by US Airways.
British Airways — the largest airline in the United Kingdom — is notorious for
charging large
fuel surcharges for their flights across the Atlantic and offering scanty
awards seats
on their own flights.
Fuel Surcharges are not
charged on any partners and the ability to book nearly anything online allows you to save the phone booking fee others will
charge you for partner
awards.
The best part about these redemptions is that Hawaiian Airlines doesn't
charge exorbitant
fuel surcharges on award tickets.
The second reason is that they do
charge fuel surcharges, so the cash portion can be expensive
on many
awards.
One of the worst extra
charges you can run into
on an
award ticket is a
fuel surcharge, because they can be a few hundred dollars ore more, depending
on the distance traveled.
British Airways is one of the worst offenders in the airline industry for
charging high
fuel surcharges (also called carrier
charges)
on award bookings.
The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program isn't that great either since they
charge heavy taxes and
fuel surcharges on award tickets (100K points plus ~ $ 1,300 in taxes from LAX to LHR round trip Upper Class).
Though United has majorly devalued its
award chart, the fact that it doesn't
charge or pass
on fuel surcharges makes MileagePlus miles one of the best ways to book many highly desirable airlines and premium cabins that would otherwise require at least $ 500 in fees.
An
award flight
on most European airlines like Lufthansa, Austrian, Brussels and others would normally cost you hundreds of dollars in
fuel surcharges, but with United miles all you will be
charged are airport taxes and fees.
The
charge on this
award flight is the result of British Airways»
fuel surcharge coupled with London Heathrow Airport's high taxes.
Aeroplan
charges a very expensive
fuel surcharge on almost all
award tickets.
Though the
award prices went up
on several routes when Qatar joined the oneworld alliance, its prices are still very reasonable, particularly considering that they do not
charge fuel surcharges.
The most valuable partners in my opinion are United (which never
charges fuel surcharges, allows free date changes, has flexible routing rules, allows one - way
awards, and has dozens of partners to fly
on) and Hyatt (where you can stay in incredible hotels that
charge $ 1,000 per night with
awards as low as 5K and up to a maximum of only 22K points per night).
ANA usually imposes
fuel surcharges on award redemptions equal to what the carrier
charges, though Etihad doesn't impose
fuel surcharges... so neither does ANA!
The only workaround to Caveat # 1 is that you try to book your
award on airlines that don't
charge fuel surcharges such as:
Like the British Airways Executive Club program, Iberia Plus imposes similar
fuel surcharges to partner
award flights, but it
charges substantially less for
awards on flights that it operates (though still some that can be hundreds of dollars
on transatlantic flights).
None of those programs collect
fuel surcharges on United
awards, and all allow connecting United flights free of
charge.
Though you can use Avios to fly
on British Airways from the U.S. to Great Britain, the high fees and
fuel surcharges charged by British Airways will often cancel out the savings of an
award ticket.
They never
charge fuel surcharges, they allow free date changes, they have very flexible routing rules, they allow one - way
awards for half the mileage, they have a short - haul
award for 20,000 miles, they allow for a stopover and an open - jaw so that you can really maximize an
award trip into multiple free trips, they have an around - the - world
award to visit tons of cities
on one
award ticket, and they have dozens of partners to fly
on, most of which can be booked
on their website.
In addition, the high
fuel surcharges often charged on award flights operated by British Airways make these points most valuable when used on partners like American Airlines, US Airways, Alaska Airlines, Aer Lingus, and others (see How to Redeem Avios Without Huge Fees and Su
surcharges often
charged on award flights operated by British Airways make these points most valuable when used
on partners like American Airlines, US Airways, Alaska Airlines, Aer Lingus, and others (see How to Redeem Avios Without Huge Fees and
SurchargesSurcharges).
Fuel surcharges are another story, as they make up the bulk of the money
charged on award tickets.
If you do now worry about the heft
Fuel surcharge that British Airways
charges on Award tickets you can consider using you Avios and the companion ticket to fly First Class From North American to Europe.
French Polynesia because they partner with both airlines flying from the mainland US to Tahiti (Air Tahiti Nui and Air France) and Australia because they partner with Virgin Australia, Virgin Australia has the best
award availability to Australia especially
on the Los Angeles — Brisbane route, because those seats are even available at Delta.com now, and because they've stopped
charging fuel surcharges for those flights as well.
(Of course the
fuel surcharges on BA are hefty, and those are
charged when booking AAdvantage
awards on that airline.)
Although British Airways does not pass
on fuel surcharges for American Airlines flights within North America, they unfortunately do add
charges for
award tickets between the US and Europe
on American Airlines and most other partner flights.
Fuel surcharges are the bane of certain award programs, namely Avios (for travel on British Airways or any other partner that charges fuel surcharg
Fuel surcharges are the bane of certain
award programs, namely Avios (for travel
on British Airways or any other partner that
charges fuel surcharg
fuel surcharges).
Considering the fact that United does not pass
on carrier imposed
fuel surcharges for
award tickets even
on partners, some people prefer to book partners such as Lufthansa with United miles to avoid these
charges, even though 70,000 miles is higher than other programs would
charge for that flight in business class.