{"id":253354,"date":"2024-09-17T11:20:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/news\/understanding-the-airlines-surcharges\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:27:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:27:40","slug":"understanding-the-airlines-surcharges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/en\/guide\/tutorials\/understanding-the-airlines-surcharges\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Airline Surcharges and Ticket Pricing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Have you ever tried to use your American Express Membership Rewards points<\/a>, RBC Avion<\/a> points or AIR MILES<\/a> to book a ticket to Europe, only to discover that you have to pay almost as much in taxes as the price of the ticket?<\/p>\n

Let’s use the example of a flight between Montreal and Paris sold for around $725 in cash. With American Express’s fixed fare structure, a flight between North America and Europe costs 60,000 points. So why do we have to pay an extra $665 in fees and taxes? <\/p>\n

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Illogical at first glance, this is explained by the concept of carrier surcharges or fuel surcharges<\/strong>. Let’s take a closer look at what this means and how to avoid them when booking tickets with points. <\/p>\n

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Several years ago, airlines were faced with soaring fuel costs. Many decided to introduce a fuel surcharge<\/em> line on their tickets. Since then, despite falling barrel prices, this surcharge has been renamed carrier surcharge<\/em>. It enables airlines to protect themselves against the volatility of fuel prices and other factors influencing the commercial aviation market. <\/p>\n

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When you pay for your airfare in cash, this surcharge is somewhat invisible, since it’s included in the final price. However, when you use miles or points, this carrier surcharge<\/strong> is displayed as a surcharge to be paid, just like the various airport taxes. <\/p>\n

This practice is under increasing criticism, and some countries, such as Brazil, have even banned surcharges for tickets paid for with miles. Other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Thailand, also impose restrictions on surcharges. <\/p>\n

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The cost of an airline ticket is made up of several elements added together: the base fare, taxes and fees. To understand this breakdown, the ITA Matrix<\/a> site is very useful. Let’s take the example of a round-trip flight between Montreal and Paris on Air Transat at $694: <\/p>\n

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First of all, it’s important to understand that the fixed fare grids for loyalty program flights (such as American Express, RBC Avion, CIBC Aventura or AIR MILES) are set up in such a way that points are only used to cover the base fare<\/strong>. All other fees and taxes must be paid in addition to points<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Back to our $694 ticket to Paris. From the first few lines, we can see that the base fare is a meager 50 cents per segment. This means that your points will only cover that dollar… and the remaining $693 will have to come out of your pocket. <\/p>\n

Let’s look at another example, this time for a flight from Montreal to Orlando:<\/p>\n

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On this $266 ticket, the base fare is a much more reasonable $90, and the rest is made up of various taxes and fees. In this case, there is no carrier surcharge<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

To get the most out of your points with a fixed-fare schedule<\/strong>, it’s best to use them for short- or medium-haul flights within North America or to the Caribbean<\/strong>. For Europe, Asia and other destinations, you will very rarely get good value for your points<\/a> due to high surcharges<\/strong>. So it’s best to turn to other programs that don’t charge these fees. <\/p>\n

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Surcharges and fees for tickets between North America and Europe<\/strong> can reach an exorbitant 90% of the total ticket price, while the basic fare is just a few dollars.<\/p>\n

Similarly, for long-haul flights to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific, these charges can run into the hundreds of dollars. By contrast, surcharges are generally much lower for medium-haul flights in North America and the Caribbean<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

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To avoid surcharges, you need to choose the right program for your destination<\/a>. Airlines that do not charge surcharges on award tickets<\/strong> include: <\/p>\n