£5 added fee for flying

@us2owls (1681)
United States
April 7, 2009 4:09am CST
In todays paper here in the UK there is a suggestion that a £5 fee is going to be added to the cost of a flight to support "Green." I booked a flight on Sunday with British Airways. The flight from Manchester U.K. to Chicago, Illinois was priced at £310.60. The breakdown of this was - Cost of flight £97.00 Taxes and fees £213.60 On top of this British Airways charged me almost another £5 because I used a credit card to pay for the flight. While I agree we need help with the climate why can't they take £5 of the taxes and/or fees they already charge for it. They wonder why people are choosing to vacation nearer to home where they don't have to fly - well with actions like this less people are going to be flying unless it is a sheer necessity.
2 responses
@maximax8 (31055)
• United Kingdom
7 Apr 09
I know that the cost of the average flight is low but once all the extra charges are added it will be quite expensive. I know that a credit card can protect a traveler's money it the airline goes out of business before the flight. There is always a charge for using a credit card. I usually book with a debit card and get very high level travel insurance. I went to South Africa on a scheduled airline in January this year. Last year I went to Latvia on a low cost airline. The charges are high and now there is a green tax to pay which I support. Imagine a traveler that lives in London wants to go to Rome he or she might pay under £100 to fly there and back. If he or she went by train it would cost more like £300. If a person is flying to Australia from England the only practical way to go there is by air. Airlines know we are in a credit crunch so there charges might get higher. My flight from London to Cape Town was half empty so less people are flying I think.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
7 Apr 09
The government knows they have you and you have to pay. It is the same way in the US. YOu book a hotel room for $100.00 and find that there are state, local, entertainment, city and several other taxes added on to your bill that you don't know about until you check in or in some cities when you check out. If paying "Green Tax" is good then make it optional and see how many people really believe in it.