What a difference a month makes…
4 US carriers now charge a fuel surcharge on award tickets, although at the present the time the surcharge is significantly less than the hundreds of dollars that foreign carriers charge.
The airlines claim that miles are now worth significantly more now than they were a year ago because tickets cost much more now. While this is true, the fact remains that people are paying more money now for the tickets to earn those miles, so it’s not a valid argument. This is plain and simple a new way to devalue what was once pitched as free travel.
(Side note: Is this really legal? When flying the flight attendants still announce that you can be earning “free travel” by signing up for the airline’s mileage program. How can they promise free travel and then charge for it?)
At any rate, here are the latest fees:
AA: Effective 06/21: $5 fee on all award tickets.
Delta: Effective 08/15: $25 fee for US and Canada travel, $50 fee for international travel. Up to $400 fee for flights originating in Europe.
Northwest: Effective 09/15: $25 fee for intra-North America travel, $50 fee for Trans-Atlantic travel, $100 fee for Trans-Pacific travel, $50 fee for most other itineraries.
USAirways: Effective 08/06: $25 fee for US and Canada travel, $35 fee for Latin America and Carribean travel, $50 fee for Hawaii and Europe travel.
Remaining carriers with no fuel surcharge on award tickets:
Air China
Airtran
Alitalia
Alaska
Continental
Emirates
Jetblue
LAN
SAS
Southwest
United
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