Because
of its high fuel surcharges, taxes and fees, the worst value awards on Virgin Atlantic are long - haul flights from the U.S. to Asia.
Award flight tip *: Round - trip business class awards from the US - Europe cost 88,000 miles, just beware
of high fuel surcharges on some partners.
Be mindful
of high fuel surcharges with some airlines in the Star Alliance, such as Lufthansa or Swiss International Air Lines.
We want to avoid London if possible since we scared
of high fuel surcharges and tax that they charge there.
However, Avios also incur
some of the highest fuel surcharges out there when used on transoceanic flights.
Ironically, redeeming Avios to fly British Airways (instead of a partner) can accrue
some of the highest fuel surcharges.
Not exact matches
In January Delta's president, Glen Hauenstein said: «Clearly, internationally, we've seen
fuel surcharge increases due to the
higher level
of fuel, and we expect that to continue if
fuel stabilizes at sort
of higher level.»
The cost
of high - quality, human - grade ingredients has continued to rise along with increased shipping costs and
fuel surcharges.
These
surcharges stem from a time when oil prices were
high, and airlines wanted to offset the cost
of fuel.
As I mentioned before, award flights on Air Canada carry
high fuel surcharges so that is something to be aware
of.
Of these airlines, some don't fly to the U.S., some have
high fuel surcharges, and others are notoriously difficult to redeem for partners» flights.
High cost for tax and
fuel surcharges on long - haul British Airway flights (equals the cost
of a regular ticket on some airlines)
Awards on some
of these airlines add
fuel surcharges — the
highest are typically British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Jordanian, and Qatar.
On the downside, you'll need to watch out for
fuel surcharges on flights from some
of Delta's partner airlines, which can be
high.
Best
of all, you'll avoid Virgin's
high fuel surcharges.
Some
of them have
high mileage redemption rates, some make redemptions a bit complicated, while others hit you with excessive
fuel surcharges.
While they have much
higher fuel surcharges than US based carriers, this still may be a good use
of your American Express Membership Rewards points or Citi Thank You points — both
of which can be transferred into Flying Blue.
British Airways is one
of the worst offenders in the airline industry for charging
high fuel surcharges (also called carrier charges) on award bookings.
You should also avoid flying to London on British Airways because
of the airline's very
high fuel surcharges on long - haul flights.
For instance, foreign airlines routinely add «
fuel surcharges» on award redemptions that more than cover the additional cost
of higher fuel prices.
Its important to pay attention to this because Air Canada passes on
fuel surcharges for most
of its partners, and they can be
high.
Southwest has limited international routes, British Airways is useful for short haul but weak for anything longer, Virgin Atlantic loves passing along super
high fuel surcharges, and Korean Air promises no online partner redemptions and a ton
of hoops to jump through via phone redemptions.
Then return to Europe on Polish LOT and connect back to your home city to avoid
higher fuel surcharges in this direction
of travel.
Though Miles & More awards carry
high fuel surcharges, their redemption rates are relatively comparable to the main domestic airlines, though occasionally with a bit
of a discount, such as 50,000 miles for round - trip flights between the U.S. and Europe in economy class.
While this redemption is among the
highest of the airlines on the list, you have to remember that with United you don't have to worry about
fuel surcharges and so your tickets to Europe will cost next - to - nothing.
You should try to find an alternative route on the first leg
of your trip across the ocean to avoid British Airways» very
high fuel surcharges and fees.
But it's not nearly enough to just allocate them some kind
of uniform valuation, as some miles may be very valuable for a given type
of redemption (e.g. Avios for short - haul economy awards) and quite a poor value for other types
of redemptions (for Avios, ultra long - haul in a premium cabin with
high mileage cost and often
high fuel surcharges).
Alitalia has a generous award chart, but it adds prohibitively
high fuel surcharges to some
of its flights.
We looked at real flights at least six months in the future to avoid the
higher prices you might find just a few weeks before departure and deducted the cost
of the carrier's
fuel surcharges, if any.
The charge on this award flight is the result
of British Airways»
fuel surcharge coupled with London Heathrow Airport's
high taxes.
Given the
high fuel surcharges on British Airways, the main other competing product for first class that actually offers award availability, Lufthansa first class remains the one to beat in terms
of overall value, when it comes to award bookings to Europe.
While Aeroplan has
higher fuel surcharges, United charges a whopping 110,000 miles for the same flight, so I'd rather pay a couple hundred more in fees and spend nearly half the amount
of miles.
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.
Or, you could look a the
fuel surcharges that are slowly going away, many
of which stuck around months, if not years after
fuel prices dropped off
of their
highs.
However, the carrier's notoriously
high fuel surcharges can sap a lot
of the value you'd get from these redemptions.
Is it because
of the
high spending requirement for the VA card, plus the
high fuel surcharges?
haha but virgin atlantic must have one
of the crappiest FFPs out there... lousy redemption rates and
high fuel surcharges.
Since American Airlines updated its award chart and announced several other program changes after it mergered with US Airways and British Airways levies
high fuel surcharges on transoceanic flights, LATAM Pass's distance - based oneworld awards can be one
of the most economical ways to travel within the alliance.
Higher development fees in many municipalities are also adding to costs, as are
fuel surcharges increasingly being levied by gravel, lumber and concrete suppliers in the face
of soaring diesel prices.»