Tax Refund on Unused Ticket

With Air Passenger Duty (APD) scheduled to rise yet again in November 2010, the tax paid on an unused airline ticket may be well worth any time spent claiming a refund.  

It appears that many travellers are either unaware that they can claim back the tax paid on an unused flight, or simply forget to do so.

Airlines are required to pass on the tax to the tax authorities, but only after you actually fly.  If your ticket goes unused you are entitled to claim back the tax, otherwise the airline pockets it! 

Unfortunately, in the case of many budget airlines it is simply not worth bothering to claim back the tax because of their high administrative charges that often amount to more than the tax paid on a flight.  At the time of writing, there is no law to stop the airlines doing this. 

The administration fee charged by airlines is normally per ticket, rather than per booking, and is in the range of £16-30 per ticket, per flight, but may depend on the type of ticket. 

If you have to cancel a flight and have been told that the fare is non-refundable, try contacting the airline’s customer service department and request a refund of the tax paid.  

(Note: A non-refundable ticket must be cancelled before the travel date, otherwise you will be deemed a ‘no show’.  As your seat will not be resold you will not be entitled to claim back the tax).

Airline tickets include taxes, fees and charges (known in the industry as TFCs). These charges include APD, ticket tax, airport tax, fuel tax, etc.  The amount of taxes charged can vary from airline to airline. 

There is no UK law at present requiring an airline to voluntary refund the tax on an unused ticket.  There is also nothing to stop an airline charging an administration fee to process any refund.  They are not going to voluntarily offer this - so it is up to you to go after it!  

There are companies out there that specialise in reclaiming taxes and surcharges paid on unused flights, for a modest fee.  After a quick check online we found two companies offering this service:  Re-ticket.com and missrefund.com.  We cannot personally endorse either company, as we have not had reason to use them, but would be interested to receive feedback from anyone who has.

Budget airline Ryanair does not issue refunds at all.  However, rather than lose out altogether, consider changing your flight and paying their admin charge plus the difference in fares. 

Common sense dictates that it should not be difficult for airlines to credit tax back to a customer’s credit card.  However, unless the Office of Fair Trading cracks down on them the policy does not appear likely to change any time soon.

The Air Transport Users Council (AUC) website is a good resource regarding passenger rights and travel issues.  Refer to the ‘Tickets and Fares’ section on their site for information about taxes.  Click here.

Visit our Travel News/Blog post from yesterday for more information about APD.

For a Travel Insurance quote click here.

Flickr cc Image: King Chung Huang