Common Travel Tax Overcharge

[mr bill]

I had enough miles on USAir for a flight on Continental. I also had enough miles on United for a flight on Continental. With luck I got two identical reservations - one for my wife/the other for me. Since these were 'free' award tickets we'd only have to pay taxes and fees [how can something that's free be taxed?] USAir gave me a total of $74.24. Next I called United and for the exact same flights I was told the total tax would be $54.46. Why the difference? Neither my USAir reservation data nor my United info gave me details - however using the Continental record locator [confirmation number] on Continental's site I was able to bring up my record and open a Tax Details box. And there I found the answer - an answer I had already known but from lack of use has slipped from the forefront.The "UK" tax [or MTT/Mexican Tourism Tax]. Making this situation more maddening is that most airlines' CRS/GDS systems indiscriminantly apply this tax regardless of the direction of travel. I tested a MEX-LAX-MEX non-stop on www.itasoftware.com [which is the backbone system for many airlines and travel agencies] and a LAX-MEX-LAX nonstop and in both directions the "UK" tax was added. NOTE: "UK" is an airline tax code and is not a reference to nor has it anything to do with a country that goes by those initials.

My wife's tkt summary [UA calculated]
Taxes/Fees
U.S. APHIS User Fee $5.00
Mexico Departure Tax $33.96
U.S. Immigration User Fee $7.00
U.S. Security Service Fee $7.50


My tkt summary [USAIR calculated]
Taxes/Fees
Mexico Tourism Tax $20.78
U.S. APHIS User Fee $5.00
Mexico Departure Tax $33.96
U.S. Immigration User Fee $7.00
U.S. Security Service Fee $7.50


I called USAirways and after the agent would actually pay attention and listen to me [really, I could help her with this] "Its all automatic, its in the XT" [note: there is only so much room on a printed ticket and there are so many taxes so many of them just get lumped into the XT box and the auditors figure out what to do with it]. The agent was speaking on her internal line with her rates/tariff desk and once I told them I had a Mexican Green Card [FM-2] they agreed to initiate an immediate refund.

I'm going to be pulling out all of my old tickets for the past two years and see how much I can attempt to reclaim.

More Details:

: Exemptions from the Mexican Tourism Tax:
: infants under two years old
: FM2 or FM3 Allowances -- Citizens from another country working in
: Mexico
: Mexican Citizens
: Diplomats with proper documentation
: Passengers in transit (Customers making a connecting flight to
: another country in Mexico)
: Airline crews on duty

==
from Alaska Airlines' website which recognizes the problem and has a procedure in place:
http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/help/fa...m-tax.asp
Mexico Tourism Tax Refunds
If you fall into one of the following categories, and if your itinerary involves travel between the U.S. and Mexico, you may be entitled to a refund of the Mexico Tourism Tax (approximately $22, fluctuates with the exchange rate) included in the price of your ticket:

Mexican passport holders
legal residents of Mexico, regardless of nationality (holding form FM2 or FM3)
infants under the age of two
passengers who will remain in Mexico for fewer than 24 hours
diplomats
==
On the Mike's notes blog http://mikesnotes.wordpress.com/2009/02/...rist-tax/ there is a good explanation as well.

SO - When you book any new travel with an agency here locally [and generally that shouldn't be a problem as when I was working out of Georama many years back their MX based SABRE system did the job correctly while my US based Worldspan system in MInneapolis always made the error] or in the US, on an online service or with an airline directly query them for an exact tax breakdown. If they admit to a "UK" tax them have them check in their CRS/GDS [ask which one they use] under the following formats:

System: SABRE Format TX*MX

System: WORLDSPAN Format GTAX MX

System: APOLLO Format $TAX-MX

System: AMADEUS Format FQNTAX/MX

They may use other systems but all systems have a help system that delivers universal data.

If they admit to only an "XT" tax them have them breakout all of its components to see if there is a "UK" lurking in there and then have them remove it And ask them to add an OSI message such as:
Importante colocar el OSI indicando que se esta obviando el impuesto Mexicano OSI YY (aerol?nea) UK TAX EX ver reglas de Impuestos (FQNTAX/MX/UK). To insure that when you get to the airport personnel there don't try to charge you for a 'missing' tax.

I believe most all of us have $$ coming back. To claim a refund you'll need either your actual 13 digit ticket number or your airline record locator [confirmation number]