Aeroplan vs. United Fees

Dear Annabelle,

This is an earlier post I wrote but it is still a mystery to me.  I looked into summer 2016 flights DEN-YOW the other day and found a similar trend with the fees for United being quite a bit lower than with Aeroplan.

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I am trying to compare awards with Aeroplan to those with United MileagePlus.  Specifically at the moment from DEN to YOW.  I managed to find an award ticket with the same flights on both airlines (Sept 8 to Sept 30, 2015).  This comparison flight had one stop both ways in Dulles and all flights were with United (same flight numbers with both programs).

Aeroplan was 25K plus 107.90 USD in fees:

U.S. Passenger Safety Fee

$11.20

U.S Passenger Facility Charge

$13.50

U.S. International Transportation Tax

$35.40

Canada Domestic/International Air Travel Security Charge

$10.00

Canada Harmonized Sales Tax

$2.30

Canada Domestic/International Airport Improvement Fee

$18.00

U.S. Customs User Fee

$5.50

U.S.A Immigration User Fee

$7.00

U.S Agriculture Fee

$5.00

Total per passenger

$107.90

Total passengers

1

United was 25K and 59 USD in fees:

• September 11th Security Fee $5.60
• Canadian Security Charge $10.00
• Canada Harmonized Sales Tax $2.30
• Canada Airport Improvement Fee $18.00
• U.S. Customs User Fee $5.50
• U.S. Immigration User Fee $7.00
• U.S. APHIS User Fee $5.00
• September 11th Security Fee $5.60

For comparison United says that I could buy this ticket for $758.92 without redeeming miles.

So the question is why are these fees different (by $48.90).  Neither are charging a fuel surcharge, but the fees are differing based on who you book with.

The following charges are the same:

• Canadian Security Charge $10.00
• Canada Harmonized Sales Tax $2.30
• Canada Airport Improvement Fee $18.00
• U.S. Customs User Fee $5.50
• U.S. Immigration User Fee $7.00
• U.S. APHIS User Fee $5.00

And the "U.S. Passenger Safety Fee" on Aeroplan equates to the two September 11th Security Fees on United.

That leaves the following fees on the Aeroplan ticket that aren't on the United ticket:

• U.S Passenger Facility Charge $13.50
• U.S. International Transportation Tax $35.40

These add up to the $48.90 we were looking for.  I believe that the Transportation Tax is 7.5% of the ticket price so this will vary by the cost of the ticket; making pricer tickets even more pricey with Aeroplan.

In the ITA Matrix this routing shows up with the following fees:

• US Transportation Tax (US) $46.77
• US September 11th Security Fee (AY) $11.20
• US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $13.50
• US Flight Segment Tax (ZP) $16.00
• USDA APHIS Fee (XA) $5.00
• US Immigration Fee (XY) $7.00
• US Customs Fee (YC) $5.50
• Ottawa Airport Improvement Fee (SQ) $18.00
• Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax (ON) (RC) $2.30
• Canadian Air Travelers Security Charge (CA) $10.00

Interestingly this adds up to $135.27. That said I didn't find this flight on the ITA Matrix until about 12 hours after I found the other two so I am not sure if that is having an impact.  Without the Transportation Tax and Facility Charge, which were included in the Aeroplan but not the United fee, it equals $75.  That is still more than United: So what is included here that isn't on United's fees?  The answer: The "US Flight Segment Tax" is listed on the ITA Matrix fees but not on the Aeroplan or United MileagePlus list.

Why does Aeroplan charge the Transportation Tax and Facility Charge but United doesn't?  And why is the Transportation Tax higher in the ITA Matrix than it was for the award flight with Aeroplan?  I just double checked and the Aeroplan flight is giving the same fees now, so it isn't a matter of the delay between checking.

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Nov 2/15: Just doing a bit more looking around.  It seems like the US International Transportation Tax is a constant value and is a combination of a $17.70 departure tax and a $17.70 arrival tax.  The 7.5% I was referring to applies to domestic flights.

Here is a link to general airline fees.  And according to this (very old) thread I am not alone in my confusion.  Oh wow, here is an entire recent thread about this very subject, including a lot of really grumpy people.  A lot of confusion about why Aeroplan is charging these additional fees and United is not.  Is it because Aeroplan is separate from Air Canada?  Is it because some other small fees are being charged so it isn't a completely free ticket?  People don't seem to know but they are mad at being charged both the passenger facility charge and the US International Tax.

Hugs,
Jen