Ready with enough points to book an award ticket? If yes, then knowing about Airline Fuel Surcharges is crucial. While booking an award ticket, an Airline charges taxes & fuel surcharge to cover fixed costs. You save on base fare while booking an award ticket and still pay taxes. However, Airline fuel surcharge varies by Airline policies. Some Airline charges fuel surcharge; some don’t. So you could save more if you know which airlines have the lowest Fuel Surcharge and which have the highest Fuel Surcharge.
What is Fuel Surcharge?
In simpler terms, it means the amount airlines charge for variation in fuel cost. In the 1990s, when petroleum prices increased significantly, Airlines had to bear a high fuel cost. So, to save themselves in future, they started charging fuel surcharges which would remain the same mostly. These surcharges vary by the cabin class you’re travelling in. A higher cabin class will have a higher fuel surcharge than an economy cabin.
Why should you know about Fuel Surcharge?
The fuel Surcharge will probably be the highest cost of an award ticket. Taxes are inevitable, but you can save on Airline Fuel Surcharges by booking with the right Airline.
Can you Avoid Paying a Fuel Surcharge?
Yes, there is the possibility of avoiding the Fuel Surcharge. Some airlines have a straightforward policy of not charging any fuel surcharge on their flights and partners. An example of that is United Airlines. Whereas some airlines charge Fuel Surcharges on their flights but charge fuel surcharge as per the partner airline surcharge policy. An example of that is Turkish Airlines.
So, avoiding the fuel surcharge will be complex as multiple things are at play here.
How to calculate fuel surcharge?
If you have your Departure & Arrival airport and dates ready,, you can easily calculate the fuel surcharge and airline charges. I mostly use Google Flights to know the airlines that fly to the destination and the alliance they belong to.
Google also owns Ita Matrix, which it acquired in 2010. Ita Matrix is a great tool to know the price break-up of the flight cost. This is how it looks, and it is easy to use.
Let’s take an example of the Delhi to London route. On this route, four airlines fly non-stop. These airlines are British Airways, part of OneWorld; Virgin Atlantic, part of SkyTeam; and Air India, part of Star Alliance and Vistara. Usually, the fuel surcharge is also known as Carrier imposed charges and has YQ as a symbol. Few Airlines like Vistara use YR instead of YQ to denote Fuel Surcharge. So, you need to check the YQ & YR symbol to know the fuel surcharge.
See the below image that shows INR 13704 as a fuel surcharge for British Airways. The Base Fare is INR 45025, and the rest are Taxes.
Similarly, for Virgin Atlantic, Fuel Surcharge is INR 15,427.
Although Air India also has a Fuel Surcharge of INR 21664 on the same route, it doesn’t charge it on Award flights. The same is the case of Vistara which doesn’t recover the fuel surcharge from its travellers.
Star Alliance Airlines Fuel Surcharge
Star Alliance is probably the best alliance for saving Fuel Surcharge as it has multiple airlines with a low surcharge policy.
Air Canada
Air Canada has over 25 Airline Partners, including Star Alliance Airlines. It has a standard policy of not charging any fuel surcharge on its and partner flights. Currently, there is an issue related to online booking via Aeroplan points, but research for other parts shows that it has a low surcharge.
For Example, I searched for a flight from Dubai to Emirates dated 12th Oct 2023. This flight has CA$ 273.30 charges other than the base fare. These charges include a CA$ 229.90 Fuel Surcharge [YQ]. But if the same flight is booked via Aeroplan points, you must pay CA$ 43.40 as charges and a partner booking fee of CA$ 39.
So, Aeroplan is a great program to save significant Fuel Surcharges on Star Alliance Airlines and its partner airlines like Etihad and Emirates. I wish online search and booking on Aeroplan come as soon as possible.
Apart from the low fuel charges, Aeroplan also has one of the best Award Availability.
Avianca
Avianca Lifemiles is the transfer partner of HDFC Bank. This little-known program is one of the best for low fuel surcharge and Mega Bonus on miles purchases. It has one of the best Premium Award Availability of Star Alliance.
I searched for a Business Class flight from Mumbai to Zurich for travel dated 19th June 2023. The total charges on this Swiss Airline-operated flight are EUR 683, and the total flight costs EUR 4052, approximately INR 4 Lacs. This flight is available for 45000 Lifemiles and US$25.95 in taxes. You save on a Fuel Surcharge of EUR 210 and a GST of EUR 431.60.
This program has one of the best cost-to-reward ratios. However, language issues have been spoken by a lot of people. So, this program works where your plans are fixed.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines is among the few airlines with the most credit cards as a transfer partner in India. So, it makes it easy to earn Kris Flyer miles.
It doesn’t charge any fuel surcharge on their flights. But fuel surcharges are passed onto all other partner airlines.
To give you a perspective, the same Mumbai to Zurich flight will cost INR 23K if booked via Singapore Airlines as against INR 2K if booked via Avianca miles.
Thai Airways
Thai Airways passes on the fuel surcharge on all flights. It also has higher miles requirements than Singapore Airlines or Avianca Lifemiles.
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines charges Fuel Surcharge on its flights. Mostly these fuel surcharges are more than INR 35K for Business Class Awards. However, Turkish Airlines has some great sweet spots with which you can book a business class ticket from India to Europe for just 30K miles.
For Partner Airlines, it charges a fuel surcharge as per the Partner Airline policy. For Example, you won’t pay any fuel surcharge on an Air India flight. But for Swiss Flights, you will pay a Fuel Surcharge.
United Airlines
United Airlines doesn’t charge any Fuel Surcharge on its or any of its partner airlines. Also, it has no charge cancellation. It also has one of the best award availability.
So, United could be your go-to Airline in most cases. However, I would watch Avianca & Turkish for those sweet spots.
OneWorld Airlines Fuel Surcharge
You can transfer your Hotel & Credit Card points to around nine members of OneWorld Alliance. Of these, three Airlines have Avios as currency. You can expect to pay fuel surcharges while booking via Avios.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines doesn’t have any credit card transfer partner in India. However, you can always transfer points via Marriott. You can also buy Alaska Miles as there are not many opportunities to earn Alaska Miles in India.
It also has one of the best OneWorld & Partner Alliances award availability. Although Alaska doesn’t charge any fuel surcharge on airlines except for British Airways, it has a $12.50 Partner Booking fee.
Cathay Pacific
You can transfer your Amex & Citi Points to Asia Miles, the miles currency of Cathay Pacific. It, however, charges a fuel surcharge on its flights and partner flights.
British Airways
British Airways is the most popular for charging huge fuel surcharges. And there is no escaping that. The fuel surcharge on British Airways flights is charged even if you book it via Airline Partner like Alaska Airlines. And, as your cabin class increases, so does the fuel surcharge.
I would rather fly Air India or Vistara to London via United or Japan Airlines to save on these high fuel surcharges.
Finnair
Finnair is the flag carrier of Finland. It has one of the lowest fuel surcharges for its flights. If you travel from Delhi to Barcelona with Finnair, you must pay EUR 12 in fuel surcharges for an economy-class cabin.
For its partner airlines, it charges fuel surcharges as applicable.
Although you may not use a Finnair membership account to book an award flight, you can surely travel with them via other airlines as Finnair imposes a low fuel surcharge on its flights. And it releases a decent number of award seats on its flights.
Iberia
Iberia is the sister concern of British Airways. It has Avios as a miles currency. Like British Airways, it also charges a fuel surcharge on its and its partner’s flight. So, there is no arbitrage on fuel surcharge using Avios.
Japan Airlines
Recently Axis Added Japan Airlines as a transfer partner. it will take time for a beginner to get used to the Japan Airlines website interface. But it is among the best Frequent Flyer Programs for Indians as it is a codeshare partner of Vistara and requires reasonable miles on Japan Airlines flights.
It passes the fuel surcharge on most airlines. However, it doesn’t pass the fuel surcharge on Qatar Airways.
Qantas Airlines
Apart from Japan Airlines, Qantas was another airline that Axis added. Qantas also has an agreement with Emirates which allows you to redeem Qantas points on Emirates. However, Qantas passes in fuel surcharge.
American Airlines
Although you can’t transfer your Credit Points directly to American Airlines, it is one of the best airlines in OneWorld to save on those fuel surcharges. You can transfer points to American Airlines via Marriott. This transfer, however, is not eligible for 5000 bonus miles.
You can also buy miles of American Airlines if it makes sense. However, an American Airlines account should be 30 days old to be eligible to buy points.
American Airlines also passes on fuel surcharge on British Airways and not on most airlines.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways has avios as its miles currency. Similar to other airlines with Avios as a miles currency, Qatar imposes significant fuel surcharges and passes on these surcharges. The only possibility would be to save taxes on Qatar could be Japan Airlines, or American Airlines. Since we can transfer points to both Qatar Airways & Japan Airlines, you should check your routes served by Qatar Airways on these Airlines.
SkyTeam Airlines Fuel Surcharge
Skyteam Alliance Airlines has limited points-earning opportunities in India. Also, it is the alliance where avoiding fuel surges isn’t easy since all airlines pass them.
Air France & KLM
Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program of Air France & KLM. These airlines pass on fuel surcharges on their airlines. In respect of partner airlines, the fuel surcharge is passed differently. For Saudia and Korean Air, fuel surcharges are not passed.
If you book directly with Korean SkyPass, you will pay a huge fuel surcharge. So, Saudia & Korean Air are exceptions to fuel surcharge while booking with Air France or KLM.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is famous for its 10K Virgin Points flights from Delhi to London. But these flights also come with a high fuel surcharge. But these low requirements of points sometimes make it up for the high charges. Like Air France, Virgin Atlantic doesn’t have a fuel surcharge for travel to Korea on Korean Air.
So, Virgin Atlantic has a high fuel surcharge except for Korean Air & Saudia.
Non-Alliance Airlines Fuel Surcharge
You can transfer your Credit Card or Hotel points to four airlines. Except for Vistara, all are popular to pass on the fuel surcharge.
Air Vistara
Vistara has very low Fuel Surcharge charges. I have seen it for around INR 80 on a Delhi to Frankfurt flight. Even if it charges a fuel surcharge, these will never be huge unless they increase it significantly.
Emirates
Emirates charges a high fuel surcharge on its flights. It, however, has a moderate fuel surcharge on economy-class cabins. Business Class & First Class Cabins have a huge fuel surcharge. Even if you book Emirates with partner airlines, you will likely pay a high fuel surcharge. There is an exception to that. You can use Air Canada Aeroplan to book Emirates and pay minuscule charges.
Etihad Airways
The Etihad fuel surcharge is also high but not as high as Emirates. The best way to book to Etihad will be via Air Canada Aeroplan as it doesn’t pass any fuel surcharge.
Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia is not a transfer partner of any credit card in India. However, you can transfer Accor points in a 1:1 ratio to Virgin Australia. It has a decent award availability and some great airline partners like Etihad, Qatar, Singapore Airlines etc.
You may, however, have to high fuel surcharge on most airlines and have high miles requirements. The only advantage I could see was that the availability was better than other airlines.
Countries which regulates Fuel Surcharge
Few countries regulate Fuel Surcharge. Well, primarily, these countries want to bring transparency in prices and, after that, control fuel surcharges. For Example, Hongkong & Japan regulates fuel surcharge. However, airlines in these countries still have modest surcharges. And, they disclose the fuel surcharge they would collect on their airlines like Cathay Pacific does here.
Also, South Korea is one of the countries that regulates fuel surcharge. This was one reason why Air France & Virgin Atlantic had low fuel surcharges for Korean Air Flights. And same is the case of Saudia Airlines.
I would recommend searching for award flights either origination or terminating in these countries as you could save huge fuel surcharge due to the country regulations.
Here is the list of countries that regulates fuel surcharge:
- Australia
- Argentina
- Brazil
- China [For Domestic Flights]
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- New Zealand
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- The Philippines
- Turkey
- Vietnam
Best & Worst Airlines for Fuel Surcharge
We covered 21 airlines and how they deal with fuel surcharges. Here is the list of the best & worst Airlines for Fuel Surcharge.
Best Airlines for Low Fuel Surcharge
These airlines charge one of the lowest fuel surcharges:
- Air Canada
- Avianca
- American Airlines
- Alaska Airlines
- Finnair [For Their Flights]
- United
- Vistara
Worst Airlines for High Fuel Surcharge
These are the airlines that charge high fuel surcharges:
- Air France & KLM
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates
- Etihad
- Iberia
- Thai Airways
- Qatar Airways
I have skipped Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, Turkish Airlines & Virgin Atlantic as they offer some great things.
Bottomline
Airline Fuel Surcharges can vary widely. You may pay huge surcharges on award tickets, and opportunities to save these charges may exist. So, it is important to know the fuel surcharge the airline charges for their and partner flights.
