Let’s assume you are planning a visit to Europe and need to embrace a go to to the UK. Do you have to plan to go to London in the beginning, within the center or on the finish of your journey? Does it even matter?
Effectively, you possibly can save tons of of {dollars} when you strategically plan the order of stops.
Suppose you need to go to 5 of the preferred cities in Europe. Listed here are the taxes and costs you’d must pay on a United Airways business-class award ticket departing from the next airports to Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR):
- Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN): $40
- Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO): $61
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS): $85
- Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG): $143
- London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR): $325
As you’ll be able to see, flying out of the U.Okay. is considerably dearer than departing from the opposite international locations on the record — its taxes and costs are greater than double these of another nation. The U.Okay. has the best departure taxes of any nation on the earth.
That is due to the U.Okay.’s Air Passenger Responsibility, or APD, which varies based mostly on two components:
- The size of your flight
- The category of service
For instance, a flight from the U.Okay. to Spain would end in a decrease APD than one from the U.Okay. to South America. Equally, a first-class award ticket has a a lot greater APD than an financial system ticket on the identical flight.
Presently, the APD in premium cabins is 13 British kilos (about $17) for short-haul flights and 200 kilos (about $255) for long-haul flights. This tax will improve beginning in April, when the APD on premium-cabin tickets for the 2024-25 monetary yr might be 14 kilos (about $18) for short-haul flights and 202 kilos (about $259) for long-haul flights.
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This tax will improve once more in April 2025 for the 2025-26 monetary yr to 16 kilos (about $21) for short-haul flights and 224 kilos (about $287) for long-haul flights, a 12% improve on long-haul flights and a 23% improve on short-haul flights from present quantities.
Associated: Flying from the UK is about to get much more costly for premium-cabin passengers
The APD would not apply to connections of lower than 24 hours by means of the U.Okay. when touring on a single ticket. Which means you would not should pay the tax on an award ticket from Vienna, Austria, to New York with a three-hour layover in London.
The European international locations charging the best taxes embrace the U.Okay., Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy. Conversely, flying out of nations like Eire, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Portugal is cheaper.
Observe that these taxes are solely imposed on flights that depart from these international locations; inbound flights from the U.S. to the U.Okay. aren’t topic to APD.
Lastly, it is value noting that two of the U.Okay.’s largest airways — British Airways and Virgin Atlantic — impose notoriously excessive carrier-imposed surcharges on their flights along with the APD. Because of this, award flights on these carriers (even when solely connecting by means of London) will nonetheless have excessive out-of-pocket prices. British Airways now permits you to pay extra Avios in alternate for lowering the surcharges required.
So when planning your subsequent journey to Europe, go to the international locations with the best taxes first or in the midst of your journey. End your trip in one of many cheaper international locations. That means, it can save you your {dollars} for extra espressos, croissants and sangria.
Learn extra: The entire information to flying to London on factors and miles
