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Redeeming airline miles for an award flight you've been saving for is an amazing experience. Taking off to a new destination, hopefully in a premium cabin, for “free,” is certainly a goal of mine, too. What's often a rude awakening, though, are the taxes and fees that can come with an award flight.
Why is there still an out-of-pocket cost on “free” flights? Taxes and fees are, sadly, a reality for award redemptions. And even worse, some of these fees are composed of fuel surcharges, which can push your out-of-pocket cost even higher.
In this post, we'll go over what fuel surcharges are, and how you can avoid — or at least mitigate — them on your next award redemption.
What Is a Fuel Surcharge?
Fuel surcharges are extra fees that airlines add to the cost of a ticket. These differ from the actual fare and are separate from government taxes incurred when booking an airline ticket. Fuel surcharges are imposed on both paid and award tickets. On paid tickets, they’re less noticeable because they’re typically rolled into the advertised price.
On award tickets, fuel surcharges can be especially painful. Frequent flyer miles typically only cover the fare, not taxes, fees, and surcharges. And those fees can add up quickly — particularly on long-haul flights in the pointy end of the plane.
When you book a flight with miles, you can sometimes end up paying a large fraction of the cash price out of pocket if the airline passes along hefty fuel surcharges. In turn, this reduces the value of your miles substantially. And, in some cases, turns a great redemption into a poor one (alert the CPP or cents-per-point police!).
You can avoid fuel surcharges by redeeming miles for flights on airlines that don't levy them (or pass along minimal surcharges).
You can even receive a statement credit for fees from a credit card like the British Airways
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless British Airways Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It's fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
- 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
- 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
- 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Your Ticket’s Origin Can Affect Fuel Surcharges
Your ticket’s country of origin can significantly affect the carrier-imposed surcharges you pay. In some markets, local regulations restrict how airlines assess these charges. In others, airline pricing practices simply result in lower surcharges on tickets originating there.
Countries and regions where you'll find lower or more restricted fuel surcharges include:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Brazil
- Hong Kong
- Mexico
- Maldives
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Saudi Arabia
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Vietnam
Based on my research in ITA Matrix, British Airways award flights departing from Brazil showed no carrier-imposed fuel surcharges in my searches. That's a big deal considering how notorious British Airways is for its fuel surcharges.
That said, you might still run into some discrepancies when you go to book. You'll see this on a couple of occasions.
Be aware of fuel surcharge discrepancies when you book
If you're booking a round trip to Brazil, both legs will likely have carrier-imposed fuel surcharges — even if one of the legs technically isn't supposed to have them at all. In an example round-trip itinerary between London (LHR) and São Paulo (GRU), British Airways tacks on 334 British pounds (about $452) in carrier-imposed surcharges (YQ):
Whereas if you book a one-way from LHR to GRU, you'll pay 174 British pounds (about $236) in carrier-imposed surcharges.
To save you from a sea of numbers, we'll just tell it to you straight: you'll save money by booking two one-ways. The carrier-imposed surcharges on one-way tickets break down like this:
- London (LHR) to São Paulo (GRU): 174 British pounds (about $236)
- São Paulo (GRU) to London: 0 British Pounds (although there's an embarkation fee of about $13.38).
You’ll save 160 British pounds (about $217) by booking two one-way tickets instead of a round-trip ticket.
You might also run into issues finding flights to Australia without paying hefty surcharges. In some research, Qantas flights from Perth (PER) to London (LHR) show a fuel surcharge of $112.04 when departing Australia but a slightly heftier surcharge of $195.43 when heading the opposite direction.
The Philippines appears to limit fuel surcharges to around $160. However, you'll find fuel surcharges around $170 departing HKG. Vietnam's fees are slightly steeper — in the $190 range for long-haul flights. Research on Turkish Airlines and other carriers shows that fuel surcharges on long-haul flights departing Turkey are around $180.
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use To Pay Award Taxes and Fees?
Use Your Ticket’s Origin To Save Money
Even when surcharges aren't eliminated entirely, you can use tickets departing countries with lower or restricted fuel surcharges to your advantage. Consider traveling to and from Brazil on Air France. If you fly to Brazil in Air France business class, you will pay $566.70 in taxes, fees, and surcharges.
However, the carrier-imposed surcharges are eliminated if you fly in the opposite direction, departing Brazil. All you're paying is a very nominal $13.40 in taxes.
You'll see similar results when departing Vietnam, although the surcharges are not entirely eliminated. From Paris to Hanoi, you'll pay $675.80 out of pocket in addition to 69,500 miles.
However, that out-of-pocket cost is reduced by almost $217 when departing Vietnam for Paris, France.
It may require creative routing to avoid these charges, but doing so can save you a bundle. Consider using the countries that limit fuel surcharges to both save money and potentially plan a stopover on your next trip.
Quick Tips To Avoid Fuel Surcharges on Award Tickets
My biggest tip to avoid fuel surcharges is to steer clear of airlines that pass them on to travelers. You also can avoid fuel surcharges by booking flights through a frequent flyer program that doesn't pass along these charges — even when the operating airline levies them. The most notable programs that don't pass on fuel surcharges are:
Keep in mind that you may still pay taxes and other program-specific fees. For example, Aeroplan charges a $39 partner booking fee on award tickets operated by partner airlines.
Beyond that, you're usually stuck paying these fees. Here are some of the airlines with the most egregious fuel surcharges:
- Austrian Airlines
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Lufthansa
- SWISS
- Virgin Atlantic
Most of the airlines above are bookable through a program that doesn't pass along the carrier-imposed surcharges or — at the very least — limits them. The one exception is British Airways, where massive fuel surcharges — especially for premium cabin flights — are virtually unavoidable.
Related: How To Avoid Paying High Fuel Surcharges When Booking Flights With Avios
Final Thoughts
We hope this guide helps you think a bit more about those pesky surcharges on your next award booking. There might be an easy way to avoid them for your trip or at least mitigate some of the charges.
Let us know in the comments if you were able to avoid a fuel surcharge because of this guide!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees)
