What happens to the tax?
Join Date: Oct 2002
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If somebody has some time to spare he or she should look at airports flown by different Low cost guys, look at the tax rate and find that at some airports somebody pays different tax on the same routes.....
Join Date: May 2002
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MOL said the other day that the fares are non-rufundable and that pax have to agree to the t&c's before purchasing the ticket, so therefore everybody is aware that no refunds will be made. When it was put to him that the fare is the fare covering transportation from A to B and that taxes and charges are just that, he still insisted that the fare included everything and no part of it was refundable.
So what happens to the tax? Well, when you've had enough no shows, and saved the cash, you can then go and buy another airline and tell your no shows to BUZZ off
So what happens to the tax? Well, when you've had enough no shows, and saved the cash, you can then go and buy another airline and tell your no shows to BUZZ off
Join Date: Jan 2002
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I've been in the same situation several times, usually with the bigger carriers. On three occasions, BA have refunded the tax to my credit card as soon as I returned the tickets.
Now BMI used to do this, but since they moved down-market have stopped doing so. I challenged them on this practice, as I believed it was illegal for them to simply pocket the tax, but they get round it by imposing a fee for refunds. Yes, to refund the £28.10 tax, the fee was - you guessed - £28.10. So technically they are not keeping the tax, but are converting it to a 'refund fee'.
Perfectly legal - YES, as it's in the T's and C's of travel. A good way to treat customers - NO, I haven't travelled with them since. Simple.
If anyone is doing this through travel insurance companies who expect the airline to refund the tax, they should go back to the insurer when the airline refuses to pay, and the 'refund fee' should then also be collectable from the insurer.
Funnily enough, the one time I had an Easyjet ticket booked and didn't travel, I didn't even bother asking as I knew what the answer would be. To my surprise, two days later, a FULL REFUND
hit the credit card - the WHOLE cost of the flight. Needless to say, I didn't query it. 
Now BMI used to do this, but since they moved down-market have stopped doing so. I challenged them on this practice, as I believed it was illegal for them to simply pocket the tax, but they get round it by imposing a fee for refunds. Yes, to refund the £28.10 tax, the fee was - you guessed - £28.10. So technically they are not keeping the tax, but are converting it to a 'refund fee'.
Perfectly legal - YES, as it's in the T's and C's of travel. A good way to treat customers - NO, I haven't travelled with them since. Simple.
If anyone is doing this through travel insurance companies who expect the airline to refund the tax, they should go back to the insurer when the airline refuses to pay, and the 'refund fee' should then also be collectable from the insurer.
Funnily enough, the one time I had an Easyjet ticket booked and didn't travel, I didn't even bother asking as I knew what the answer would be. To my surprise, two days later, a FULL REFUND
hit the credit card - the WHOLE cost of the flight. Needless to say, I didn't query it.
