Cancellations and tax

In message <519thfF1j5v5pU1@mid.>, at 18:45:04 on Thu, 18
Jan 2007, Graculus <ReplaceWithMyMoniker@.uk> remarked:
>But if the airline cancels, they must refund everything (Sale of
>Goods Act, as well as other legislation).

Air tickets aren't goods. But I'd be interested to know what this
"other" legislation is.
--
Roland Perry

In message <1hsbf7a.1a6h18zu1bj0hN%d4g4hd.uk>, at 00:14:58 on
Mon, 22 Jan 2007, "David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)"
<d4g4hd.uk> remarked:
>I got the Easyjet credit within a couple of days, Ryanair within 12
>working days (I think they say it's usually 10.) In both cases, it was
>a full refund.

That's when *the airline* cancels the flight. I think the problems arise
when it's the *passenger* who decides to cancel his trip.

The airline won't give you back the "fare" element of the ticket,
because that was always non-refundable, but many people think the
airline should give you the "tax" part back.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
> The airline won't give you back the "fare" element of the ticket,
> because that was always non-refundable, but many people think the
> airline should give you the "tax" part back.

Precisely. It seems odd to me that the airlines can collect tax on
behalf of the govt and then not pay it to the govt. Clearly they don't
pay these govt taxes until the passenger departs because otherwise how
can they give a full refund on a fully flexible fare?

This whole issue is really apparent with long haul flights. You can
pay around £800 for a ticket to Australia say for the cheapest fare
which has a 100% cancellation fee attached. The tax component is £200
plus.

In message <1169587466.170004.152640@a75g2000cwd. .com>, at
13:24:26 on Tue, 23 Jan 2007, Paul Welsh <pwelsh@uk2.net> remarked:
>> The airline won't give you back the "fare" element of the ticket,
>> because that was always non-refundable, but many people think the
>> airline should give you the "tax" part back.
>
>Precisely. It seems odd to me that the airlines can collect tax on
>behalf of the govt and then not pay it to the govt. Clearly they don't
>pay these govt taxes until the passenger departs because otherwise how
>can they give a full refund on a fully flexible fare?
>
>This whole issue is really apparent with long haul flights. You can
>pay around £800 for a ticket to Australia say for the cheapest fare
>which has a 100% cancellation fee attached. The tax component is £200
>plus.

A ticket to Australia won't (yet) be with a low cost airline [who are
the ones normally accused of playing fun and games], and a large chunk
of £200 on that fare isn't government tax either (more likely a fuel
supplement masquerading as a tax).

But the airlines should take the rough with the smooth and refund the
whole of whatever it was they claimed was tax.
--
Roland Perry