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I believe I have been overcharged by BA when making a change to a Companion Voucher CW booking and wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem.
I phoned BA to make an amendment to a CV ticket rather than cancel the ticket online and rebook as I was worried that seat availability would change (which it did). I originally paid £950 in taxes on the original booking and was charged an additional £300 for taxes on the amended booking in same class (plus the £70 change fee, BA waived the service charge of £30). If I had separately booked the ticket online with another CV I would only have been charged £965.26. I have phoned BA to ask them why there is such a difference and been advised that the additional tax is payable as that is what the system is showing them and they cannot comment on the why I am seeing a different tax amount online if I try and book the ticket. Is this the case? Am I missing something?
BA sometimes shows incorrect taxes, and there’s not much you can do apart from argue your case/try another agent. RFS fees did go up recently, but only by about £12 pp, so that can’t explain it.
You could try submitting a complaint with a screenshot showing the current correct pricing and request a refund of the difference.
Which route is it?
Yeah I had a similar issue and I had to raise a complaint and submit my figures to them all split out to show they were wrong so they had no wiggle room (do a dummy booking to see the individual tax charges). Took months but got it back (about £150 iirc).
When I done it on the phone I was telling them the tax was showing wrong as cheaper online but the agent had nothing apart from offering to send to back office but if I done that I could lose the available seat so decided to go ahead then send in the complaint.
@BroadwayMissy – is the extra £300 actually taxes? That specific sum is a a fairly standard YQ/carrier imposed surcharge that can arise when the total fare is recalculated after amendment, a hazard of such changes. The amount of these surcharges and whether any is imposed at all fluctuates/changes all the time. The agent might be, but isn’t necessarily wrong. If you ask for the breakdown, all this should become apparent.
BA sometimes shows incorrect taxes, and there’s not much you can do apart from argue your case/try another agent. RFS fees did go up recently, but only by about £12 pp, so that can’t explain it.
You could try submitting a complaint with a screenshot showing the current correct pricing and request a refund of the difference.
Which route is it?
Thanks. Changed from a return to Vancouver to Kuala Lumpur.
@BroadwayMissy – is the extra £300 actually taxes? That specific sum is a a fairly standard YQ/carrier imposed surcharge that can arise when the total fare is recalculated after amendment, a hazard of such changes. The amount of these surcharges and whether any is imposed at all fluctuates/changes all the time. The agent might be, but isn’t necessarily wrong. If you ask for the breakdown, all this should become apparent.
Thanks for replying. I telephoned and spoke with another agent earlier and they also advised that it was a tax difference. They suggested I complain so I might have to draft that email.
Yeah I had a similar issue and I had to raise a complaint and submit my figures to them all split out to show they were wrong so they had no wiggle room (do a dummy booking to see the individual tax charges). Took months but got it back (about £150 iirc).
When I done it on the phone I was telling them the tax was showing wrong as cheaper online but the agent had nothing apart from offering to send to back office but if I done that I could lose the available seat so decided to go ahead then send in the complaint.
Thanks that was my decision yesterday too when the agent advised the extra taxes as my calculation was a lot less than she advised. I didn’t get anywhere earlier so may have to email them. Thanks again.
@BroadwayMissy – is the extra £300 actually taxes? That specific sum is a a fairly standard YQ/carrier imposed surcharge that can arise when the total fare is recalculated after amendment, a hazard of such changes. The amount of these surcharges and whether any is imposed at all fluctuates/changes all the time. The agent might be, but isn’t necessarily wrong. If you ask for the breakdown, all this should become apparent.
Thanks for replying. I telephoned and spoke with another agent earlier and they also advised that it was a tax difference. They suggested I complain so I might have to draft that email.
I guess one shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s a bit tragic that in 2025 BA agents don’t know the difference between a tax and a toenail. There is no way that £300 is a difference in taxes – it’s just too big a sum, but agents are very casual in not distinguishing between the individual elements – taxes, fees and charges that make up the cash total. It would be easier to write that complaint if BA supplied you with the full breakdown to compare with what you were charged previously and what you can see online.
@JDB we all know agents should be better trained but it’s what BA tells them to say to customers.
Also not helped when various travel websites / writers do exactly the same and say it’s because it’s “fewer words” to write in an article / title and “everyone knows” they mean all the add ons not just proper government taxes.
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