Aer Lingus sale to USA

Aer lingus have just announced a seat sale to the USA till end Mar 07.

Best deal I could get was E356 return Dublin to Boston out 11 Mar back 22 Mar. included E68 tax and charges.

What really annoys me is the E80 fuel surcharge. It should be illegal to advertise a ticket at E202 and then to add on a fuel surcharge like this. (Taxes I can understand as they are outside the control of the operator and not for their benefit but the fuel surcharge most certainly is, as is the E6 handling fee)


Murt

Murt10 said:

What really annoys me is the E80 fuel surcharge. It should be illegal to advertise a ticket at E202 and then to add on a fuel surcharge like this.

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I thought that it was or was to become so presently under new legislation or maybe they were just guidelines? Can't remember the details and I may be mistaken!

ClubMan said:

I thought that it was or was to become so presently under new legislation or maybe they were just guidelines? Can't remember the details and I may be mistaken!

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I thought it was illegal too but they are still advertising the low fare price with the usual "plus taxes and charges" written somewhere else so you could be right when you say they are just guidelines. In my opinion, the whole concept of fuel surcharges should be done away with. If the airline needs to increase fares to pay for higher oil costs, then let them raise their advertised fares so people are comparing like with like when looking at advertisements.

I can't understand what the fuel surcharge is for. Oil prices have fallen drastically in recent weeks and are currently trading at c.€54 a barrel.

Trent said:

I can't understand what the fuel surcharge is for. Oil prices have fallen drastically in recent weeks and are currently trading at c.€54 a barrel.

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Fully agree with you. Seems like Mr O'Leary is giving out about it was well. Maybe he will bring it up at the Aer Lingus AGM and see what they say.

Off topic..

you should check out Ryanair.ie at present..

FLY FOR €9.99 ALL INN ! (one way includes taxes and charges)

but when you click on this it says...

FLY for €9.99 - Fares are exclusive of taxes fees & charges which do not exceed €23.55

Not condoning it, but many airlines hedge their bets on fuel and buy it months in advance. Also, it this more of a carbon tax as opposed to a contribution for the cost of the fuel?

I found at least one route (Venice-Rome) which is €10 inc fees and taxes in the current Ryanair sale -- but for the same route on Fridays (where the special offer doesn't apply) the "fees and taxes" are €15 more expensive!

MugsGame said:

I found at least one route (Venice-Rome) which is €10 inc fees and taxes in the current Ryanair sale -- but for the same route on Fridays (where the special offer doesn't apply) the "fees and taxes" are €15 more expensive!

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I can only assume wheelchairs are more expensive to provide on Fridays!! Interesting to see what their logic is for that one alright. I would say contact them and ask but it will probably cost you the €15 for the phone call!

Sunny wrote "Seems like Mr O'Leary is giving out about it was well"
I'm no expert on the airline business or hedging oil prices but
Michael might have more to give about in his own shop:
"Ryanair said it had hedged its fuel costs from January to March 2007 at a price equivalent to $73 per barrel of oil" http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1881653,00.html

Whereas Aer Lingus:
"But while fuel prices are likely to have a broadly neutral effect on the airline’s accounts this year, they could become a real issue in 2007. Aer Lingus has hedged only a small proportion of its fuel needs for next year." [broken link removed]

Aer Lingus seem to be charging customers a surcharge based on a price of around $75 a barrel for oil .
Is it any wonder Michael is giving out!

Remember, there IS NO tax on aviation in Ireland. When Ryanair quote a fee or charge as a tax, they collect it. It is their revenue.

So they control the amount of the "tax, fees, charges". This is why there can be different fees/charges on different dates.

It's just the fare in disguise.

Same goes for credit card fees. Visa and Mastercard DO NOT charge Ryanair 5 euro for each transaction. But Ryanair and Aer Lingus charge us 5 or 6 euro. It's just a hidden or disguised fare.

Still, I am a big fan of Ryanair.