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Let's say you're planning a visit to Europe and wish to embody a visit to the UK. Do you have to plan to go to London originally, center or finish of your journey? Does it even matter?
Properly, in the event you strategically plan the order of stops it can save you tons of of {dollars}.
Let's say you wish to go to the 5 hottest cities in Europe. You’ll have to pay taxes and charges on a United Airways business-class award ticket departing from Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) from the next airports:
- Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN): $40
- Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO): $61
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS): $85
- Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG): $143
- London Heathrow Airport (LHR): $325
As you possibly can see, flying out of the UK is considerably costlier than flying out of different nations on the record – its taxes and charges are greater than double these of every other nation. The UK has the best departure tax of any nation on the earth.
That is because of the UK's Air Passenger Responsibility, or APD, which varies relying on two elements:
- size of your flight
- class of service
For instance, a flight from the UK to Spain will end in a decrease APD than a flight from the UK to South America. Equally, a firstclass award ticket has a a lot larger APD than an economic system ticket on the identical flight.
At present, the APD within the premium cabin is 13 British kilos (about $17) for short-haul flights and 200 kilos (about $255) for long-haul flights. The tax will improve from April, when the APD on premium-cabin tickets will likely be 14 kilos (about $18) for short-haul flights and 202 kilos (about $259) for long-haul flights for the 2024-25 monetary 12 months.
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This tax will improve once more in April 2025 for the 2025–26 monetary 12 months to 16 kilos (about $21) for short-haul flights and 224 kilos (about $287) for long-haul flights, with 12% on long-haul flights. and a rise of 23% from the present quantity on brief haul flights.
RELATED: It's about to get much more costly for premium-cabin vacationers to fly to and from the UK
APD doesn’t apply to connections of lower than 24 hours by means of the UK when touring on a single ticket. This implies you gained't must pay taxes on an award ticket from Vienna, Austria to New York with a three-hour layover in London.
The European nations that cost the best taxes embody the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and Italy. In distinction, it’s cheaper to fly from nations like Eire, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Portugal.
Notice that these taxes are solely imposed on flights that depart from these nations; Flights from the US to the UK aren’t topic to APD.
Lastly, it's price noting that the UK's two largest airways – British Airways and Virgin Atlantic – impose extreme carrier-imposed surcharges on their flights along with APD. In consequence, award flights on these carriers (even when solely connecting by way of London) will nonetheless price extra out of pocket. British Airways now permits you to pay extra Avios in change for lowering the required surcharge.
So when planning your subsequent journey to Europe, go to the best tax nations first or in the course of your journey. Finish your trip in an affordable nation. This manner, it can save you your {dollars} for extra espresso, croissants and sangria.
Learn Extra: The Full Information to Flying to London Based mostly on Factors and Miles