Since 22nd December 2008, the refund position for tickets, which have refund restrictions, is as follows:
• For Non-refundable tickets only Government and/or Airport taxes are refundable.
For partially refundable tickets the YQ is assessed as part of the fare rules (see examples below)
For partially used tickets not all the taxes may be refundable as some may be considered used e.g. if a UK departure has taken place before ticket is presented for refund, any tax relating to the UK departure will have been used. The YQ element will be assessed on the fare rules governing the unused part of the ticket & will either be refundable (fully flex fare), partially refunded (semi-flex fare) or non-refundable (restricted fare)
Questions & Answers
What does this mean for refundable tickets?
There is no change. We will continue to refund the YQ surcharge.
What does it mean for non-refundable tickets?
The YQ surcharge will not be refunded; this is to bring it in line with the fare rules. Government and/or airport taxes are refundable.*
*For partially used tickets not all the taxes may be refundable as some may be considered used e.g. if a UK departure has taken place before ticket is presented for refund, any tax relating to the UK departure will have been used
What does this mean for partially refundable tickets?
Any YQ surcharge refunds will be in line with the fare rules. If the refund penalty is percentage based the same percentage is applied to both the fare & the YQ surcharge (See example A).
If the refund penalty is a fix amount this is deducted just once from the fare & YQ surcharge combined (See example B)
Example A:
AAR-OSL Fare EUR386 plus taxes & surcharges EUR77
Cancellation: Charge 25% for Cancel/Noshow/Refund
Refund calculation
Fare: EUR 386 + YQ surcharges: EUR 45 = in Total EUR 431
Minus 25% of EUR 430: EUR 107.50
Total fare/YQ surcharge refund due: EUR 322,50
Plus full airport and government taxes: EUR 32
Total refund due: EUR 354,50
Example B:
HAM-X/LHR-NYC-X/LHR-HAM Fare EUR160.00 plus taxes & surcharges EUR 301.29
Cancellation: Charge EUR150
Refund Calculation
Total fare plus taxes: EUR 461.29
Minus cancellation fee EUR 150
=Total amount to be refunded: EUR 311.29
What does it mean if I have a combination of refundable and non-refundable fares on the same ticket?
YQ surcharge can be refunded per component, provided that YQ component does not extend over more fare components with different fare rules:
Where a combination of fares has been used and each YQ surcharge applies equally to the same fare component of that journey, the individual fare component rules will apply.
Exception: Where one single YQ surcharge applies to the entire (O&D) journey across different fare components and a combination of fares has been used, with more than one fare component for the entire outbound or inbound (O&D) journey, the most restrictive rule applies per outbound or inbound journey (O&D).
Example 1 – DXB – LON (refundable) – DXB (non-refundable).
YQ surcharge for DXB-LON will be refunded
YQ surcharge for LON-DXB will be non-refundable
Example 2 - DXB-LON-NYC (non-refundable) -LON-DXB (refundable)
YQ surcharge for DXB-LON-NYC booked as one fare component for the entire inbound (O&D) journey, will be non-refundable
YQ surcharge for NYC-LON-DXB will be refunded
Example 3 - DEL-LON (refundable) -NYC (non-refundable) -LON (refundable) -DEL (refundable)
YQ surcharge for DEL-LON-NYC is non-refundable, as outbound (O&D) journey consists of two individual fare components but with one single YQ surcharge across that entire (O&D) journey, as one of the fares used in the O&D journey is non-refundable no YQ refund is give for this part of the journey.
YQ surcharge for NYC-LON-DEL will be refunded, as both fare components of the inbound journey (O&D) are refundable
Example 4 - ROM-LON (refundable) -NYC (non refundable) -LON (refundable) -ROM (refundable)
This is an example of a multisector journey were the YQ is priced per sector; therefore the refundability is accessed per sector. YQ surcharge for ROM-LON will be refunded and YQ surcharge for LON-NYC is non-refundable, as outbound (O&D) journey consists of two individual fare components and the YQ surcharge has equally been applied per sector of this (O&D) journey
YQ surcharge for NYC-LON-ROM will be refunded, as both fare components of inbound journey (O&D) are refundable
Why are you doing this?
The surcharge is part of the fare, but is shown separately so we can be transparent with our customers. This does not mean that the applicable conditions of the fare do not apply to it.
We continue to refund all taxes paid to Government and Airport authorities.
Why do you not include it as part of your fare?
Fuel as the major part of YQ remains extremely volatile so we keep it separate to the fare at the moment.
Including the YQ surcharge into the fare would also be problematic for the leisure travel trade at this stage as it is logistically difficult for some of them to manage – they would have to update their rates sheets every time it was amended. We are working with the leisure trade to implement greater levels of automation with regards the rates sheets. This approach also follows BA’s goal of being transparent on our pricing.
Does this apply to all classes of travel?
Yes.
If I refund the YQ surcharge on a non refundable ticket after the 22nd December 2008, will an ADM be raised?
Yes.
Will you continue to refund taxes fees and charges?
If the tax or charge is un-used we will continue to refund charges payable to third parties e.g. Government and Airport Authorities. |
