Author Topic: BA Illegally Collecting USA International Facilities Tax On Award Tickets?  (Read 18295 times)

Offline Dan

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Posted this on FT after a commenter on DD mentioned possible fuel surcharges to latin america...reposting here as it probably affects many here as well...


I was comparing AA taxes to BA taxes to see if BA tries collecting fuel surcharges for any flights that are wholly within the western hemisphere (appears that they don't) and noticed that BA charges exactly $32.60 more than AA on award tickets between the US and Latin America.

This is true for every flight I checked, including:
-SJU ($5 on AA, $37.60 on BA)
-CUN ($63.30 on AA, $95.90 on BA)
-EZE ($61.50 on AA, $94.10 on BA)
-MEX ($64.61 on AA, $97.21 on BA)

Breaking it down it seems that BA is charging a USA International Facilities Tax on these awards as follows:

Transportation Tax(Departure) - USA USD16.30
Transportation Tax(Arrival) - USA USD16.30

No other US airline collects those fees on award tickets. In fact] the IRS says,
"As a general rule, all amounts paid for the air transportation of persons are subject to tax. Where no amount is paid for air transportation, such as when the transportation is obtained by the redemption of frequent flyer miles, the transaction is not subject to the percentage tax, the domestic segment tax, or international facilities tax. Cite: Rev. Rul. 84-12, 1984-1 C.B. 211."
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Chaikel

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Maybe contact their PR department and say you think an anonymous tip to the IRS is in order
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Offline AsherO

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What's new, yet another corporation collecting 'tax' to line their pockets.
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Offline Dan

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I sent the BA rep on FT a PM.
We'll see.

Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Fan of Dan

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Wow this could be major. If they don't follow up I wonder if any news agencies would like this story.

Offline myb821

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could be a class action suit no?

Offline damaxer91

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I sent the BA rep on FT a PM.
We'll see.



If she works at the same speed and has the same intellectual capacity as the DL rep on FT, I can promise you that Lebron will receive a standing O at the Q sooner than you receive a competent response....

Offline Chaikel

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If she works at the same speed and has the same intellectual capacity as the DL rep on FT, I can promise you that Lebron will receive a standing O at the Q sooner than you receive a competent response....
When severe legal consequences are looming, completely incompetent reps become exceptionally competent, and contact an intelligent life form to handle the matter ASAP
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Offline AJK

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could be a class action suit no?

+1, the first time I have seen this phrase uttered on here where it actually makes sense.

I'm not familiar with the legality of it (don't all airlines charge some fee on award tickets?), but the damages in this suit would be enormous.
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Offline myb821

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did they ever answer u

Offline Dan

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Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline myb821

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someone who has flown one of these flights should seriously contact a class action lawyer. It could be some serious bucks

Offline AJK

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someone who has flown one of these flights should seriously contact a class action lawyer. It could be some serious bucks

I'm booking a ticket now. Gonna fly, gonna research, gonna determine veracity, gonna sue.

...maybe.

(Although, technically, I could use any DDF'er who has already flown as the class representative. Any takers? :P)
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Offline myb821

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I'm booking a ticket now. Gonna fly, gonna research, gonna determine veracity, gonna sue.

...maybe.

(Although, technically, I could use any DDF'er who has already flown as the class representative. Any takers? :P)
thats what i was getting at when i said
someone who has flown one of these flights should seriously contact a class action lawyer. It could be some serious bucks

Offline AJK

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thats what i was getting at when i said

...and I was getting at the fact that I want to be the one suing.
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Offline myb821

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i understand u r a lawyer correct? Have u ever done this kind of law before?

Offline AJK

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Negative.  But, at least superficially, it would seem this might be a good time to foray into class actions.
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Offline Mikeoracle

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I booked in Dec 09 for a flight in Jan '10 for 2 pax and I just found the confirmation email and see the total charges for the 2 tix JFK-CUN were $118.88.
I dont know what the breakdown of the fees are.

Offline myb821

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Negative.  But, at least superficially, it would seem this might be a good time to foray into class actions.
this could be a humongous class action just saying i dont know if it is the best idea but thats not my problem
I booked in Dec 09 for a flight in Jan '10 for 2 pax and I just found the confirmation email and see the total charges for the 2 tix JFK-CUN were $118.88.
I dont know what the breakdown of the fees are.
is there no way to find the fair breakdown

Offline Dan

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You can see the breakdown of all taxes when booking an award ticket at BA.com, which is always $32.60 more than AA.com for tickets going out of US/Canada
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.