As the price of oil has tumbled from just under $150/barrel to just over $60/barrel we are seeing mixed signals on the dropping of fuel surcharges on airline tickets - especially by U.S. based airlines.
Who will be the first U.S. airline to lead the pack in reducing fuel surcharges? - we’ll continue to update this timeline with fuel surcharge news in the coming weeks and months as the global financial crisis unfolds dragging along athe price of oil and our domestic airlines:
The US carriers are behind the eight ball again! As I wrote recently, a few months ago like a number of customers and frequent fliers, I received an open letter from the airline CEO’s stating their case for government intervention and support of the airline industry to combat dramatically higher fuel prices. They also mentioned that the higher passenger fares and fuel surcharges were “unfortunate” but that with input costs (jet fuel) so high there were no other options. Well, my response Monsieur CEO’s, is that now that oil prices and subsequently jet fuel prices have dropped so precipitously, why then haven’t fares dropped or all those fuel surcharges been cancelled?
Comment by Andy — November 3, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
The fuel surcharges are ridiculous. When I use the online fare prices, by the time, I am finished, the price as gone up by more than 50%. Absolutely criminal.
Comment by Greg Hunter — February 24, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
Sorry, but I disagree. Fuel is the lifeblood of an airline and until someone invents a solar powered engine for a 747, it will continue to be so. By seperating the fuel surcharge from the fare, airlines offer complete transparency of this charge. The alternative is to raise airfares dramatically and embed the charge into the fare, a move that might not work out well for the consumer on specific market routes.
Comment by George Rollo — February 27, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
George, you must work for an airline. By separating (learn to spell too, mate) the fuel surcharge from the fare, unscrupulous airlines just manage to confuse customers and make their prices look better on search engines. It’s totally bad for customers. Fuel is the lifeblood of the postal service too. Imagine if they starting charging a different surcharge on your stamps each week. That’d be a great idea too, right?
Comment by Craig — April 1, 2009 @ 9:08 am
So why is the fuel surcharge booked on an international flight booking, but if I add a Canadian leg, it is dropped. Even paying for the flight and not taking it to Canada reduces the total fee charged.
Comment by Tapanui — May 4, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
Tapanui,
This is one of the vagaries in how fuel surcharges are filed, especially when the ticket is on multiple carriers. It is not the intent of the airlines not to charge it, it is in essence a bug in the system. Hope this helps.
Rick
Comment by Rick Seaney — May 6, 2009 @ 8:56 am