If you’ve tried to book an award seat on most international airlines you have likely been a bit shell-shocked by the fuel surcharges tacked on to award tickets. How shell-shocked? Premium cabin tickets that transit in the UK can run up to $1,000 because of an additional departure tax they charge on flights originating in the UK (not on flights TO the UK, though). I was looking at a ticket to Dubai last week where the surcharges were $650. When you’re looking for 4 people, that can add up to a significant amount (how are 4 free tickets $2600?).
I thought it would be helpful to put together a chart of which airlines charge fuel surcharges on award tickets and which do not. I’ve compiled this info from a number of sources, but I should point out that Dan’s Deals has been extremely helpful.
If you have any changes/additions please put in the comments and I’ll update the chart.
| AIRLINE | ALLIANCE | WHERE THEY DO ADD A FUEL SURCHARGE ON AWARD TICKETS | WHERE THEY DO NOT ADD A FUEL SURCHARGE ON AWARD TICKETS |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR CANADA | STAR | AIR CANADA AND LUFTHANSA | ALL OTHER STAR ALLIANCE PARTNERS |
| ALASKA AIRLINES | NONE | BRITISH AIRWAYS | ALL ALASKA AIRLINES FLIGHTS AND OTHER PARTNERS |
| AMERICAN AIRLINES | ONEWORLD | BRITISH AIRWAYS | ALL OTHER AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHTS AND OTHER ONEWORLD PARTNERS |
| CONTINENTAL AIRLINES | STAR | NONE | ALL FLIGHTS ON CONTINENTAL AND WITH PARTNERS |
| DELTA AIR LINES | SKYTEAM | DELTA FLIGHTS NOT ORIGINATING FROM THE US (EXCEPT ASIA); PARTNER FLIGHTS NOT ORIGINATING FROM THE US (EXCEPT KOREAN); V AUSTRALIA & MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHTS ORIGINATING FROM THE US. | ALL DELTA FLIGHTS ORIGINATING IN THE US OR ASIA AND PARTNER FLIGHTS ORIGINATING FROM THE US, EXCEPT V AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA AIRLINES. KOREAN AIRLINES FLIGHTS. |
| SOUTHWEST AIRLINES | NONE | NONE | SOUTHWEST/AIRTRAN |
| UNITED AIRLINES | STAR | NONE | ALL FLIGHTS ON UNITED AND WITH PARTNERS |
| US AIRWAYS | STAR | NONE | ALL FLIGHTS ON US AIRWAYS AND WITH PARTNERS |
| ALL OTHER INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES ADD FUEL SURCHARGES TO AWARD TICKETS EXCEPT: | |||
| ANA | STAR | ALL ANA FLIGHTS AND PARTNERS, EXCEPT US AIRWAYS | US AIRWAYS FLIGHTS |
| BRITISH AIRWAYS | ONEWORLD | ALL BA FLIGHTS AND ONEWORLD PARTNERS, EXCEPT LAN and AMERICAN | LAN, AA (but BA will add the fuel surcharge if AA already includes it in the fare) |
| EUROBONUS (SAS) | STAR | NONE | ALL SAS, BLUE1 AND PARTNER FLIGHTS |
| FLYINGBLUE | SKYTEAM | ALL EXCEPT DELTA FLIGHTS ORIGINATING IN THE US | DELTA FLIGHTS ORIGINATING IN THE US |
| LAN | ONEWORLD | NONE | ALL LAN AND PARTNER FLIGHTS |
| SOUTH AFRICAN | STAR | NONE | ALL SOUTH AFRICAN AND PARTNER FLIGHTS |
BA *does* charge fuel surcharges on those AA routes where AA charges them. Put a different way, BA charges fuel surcharges where a paid ticket would incur those charges. They don’t add fuel surcharges on AA flights to South America and LAN flights because fares for those flights aren’t filed with those charges.
Thanks – chart updated to reflect that.
Your DL stuff is backwards, right? No fuel surcharge when you originate in USA; fuel surcharge when origination is overseas.
Oops – fixed.
This is soooo helpful. Thanks Jared!!
Glad it was useful – let me know if you find any errors/additions.
i just called BA executive club and they told me they charge fuel surcharge for AA flights to China although the AA site does not charge fuel surcharge for this same flight and AAdvantage agent told me BA shouldn’t charge for this flight either. But the BA agent said nothing she could do as it shows up in the quote. Any help would be appreciated.
Very useful info. From my own experience, I know that SQ charges fuel surcharge on all award tickets on its flights and that of partners. KL/AF charge fuel surcharge on award tickets at least on KL AF and KQ. EK does not on its own flights.
Jared, great work! I was actually putting a chart together myself until I finally stumbled upon this.
Doesn’t this make SAA extremely valuable since they are a transfer parter with AmEx Membership Rewards and don’t charge a fuel surcharge on Star Alliance flights? Or am I missing something?