No Hiding And No Running With Delta

[citygirl]

Ooh - do let us know. I was charged that $71 dollar fee as well but assumed it was non-recoverable. Thanks!

 

[Alicia karr]

I agree. Cancel it within the 24 hours while you can and start over again. Perhaps even call Delta in the U.S. to reserve. This week I called United in the U.S, and booked a flight from EZE to Madrid, via Frankfurt on Lufthansa. A second leg is from Rome to Washington, DC. on United And the final leg is back from DC to EZE on United. The total is $1707 U.S., including all taxes. Below is the breakdown. It starts and ends at EZE and there is no 35% Argentine tax. I understand that the International Surgharge is really a fuel surcharge and has nothing to do with Argentina. Airfare: 961.00 USD U.S. Federal Transportation Tax: 35.00 September 11th Security Fee: 5.00 International Surcharge: 458.00 U.S. Customs User Fee: 5.50 U.S. Immigration User Fee: 7.00 U.S. APHIS User Fee: 5.00 Argentina Ticket Tax: 71.00 Argentina Immigration Tax: 10.00 Argentina Security Tax: 10.00 Argentina Airport Tax: 43.93 Germany Airport Security Charge: 9.10 Germany Passenger Service Charge: 28.70 Italy Security Bag Charge: 2.80 Italy Council City Tax: 10.40 CP: 44.70 Per Person Total: 1,707.13
USD

On the fare details of my Delta ticket the only AR tax I'm paying is 69.00. But I'm suspicious of the fare that Florence shows above as an international surcharge and that is shown on my ticket as $489 coded ZK. (International surcharge?=ARG extra whatever you want to call it?....the percentage would be what we were all expecting. But they don't come out and call it that.) So technically I HAVENT been charged anything argentina specific beyond the 69.00...and for all we know we ARE being charged this but in code....

 

[citygirl]

lacoqueta - did you do the matrix? It should break out all the fare details and what each means.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

After speaking with American Refunds I was not charged any tax except the normal taxes that one would expect. There was no "special" Argentina tax.

 

[nlaruccia]

I've purchased two international flights originating in Argentina on Travelocity and they didn't charge me the surcharge. It's very curious as to why Delta would charge you extra.

 

[Alicia karr]

@citygirl, I confess I looked at the matrix but it began to stress me...
TO ALL: maybe the error is mine and I didn't get charged more than the $69.00 tax specific to Argentina as did GS...I'm saying this because when I printed up the "additional charges and taxes" section it DIDNT show any other charge specific to Argentina. But it DID show a charge of $489 with the initials/explanation "ZK".This is what makes me suspicious. But it is way embedded with the other charges. It's that the difference between the initial fare, $1568, and the ultimate, $2150 is so great..ANd the other details of the charges were understandable, even for someone as easily intimidated by reading code as me!

 

[brandon]

[background=rgb(235, 235, 236)]

Billing and Ticketing Information



FARE DETAILS: BUE DL ATL Q280.00 261.00VLN14FMQ/WNGZ DL BUE Q280.00 261.00VLN14FMQ/WNGZ NUC1082.00END ROE1.00 XF ATL4.5
Fare: 1,082.00 USD Taxes/Carrier-Imposed Fees: 549.62 Total: 1,631.62 USD Paid with American Express ending 2006 [/background][background=rgb(235, 235, 236)]

Detailed Tax Information AR 54.10 AY 2.50 QO 10.00 TQ 10.00 US 35.00 XA 5.00 XF 4.50 XR 37.32 XY 7.00 YC 5.50 ZK 378.70 Total: 549.62
[/background]
The ZK is 35% of the fare, this is the Arg imposed tax. I've had the same experience on several EZE-ATL tickets in the past year.
The only time I almost got the money back was when I switched my flights in the US before returning.
The agent on the phone said 35% tax must be a mistake and was about to credit it, then checked with her supervisor and said it must stay.
I'm getting ready to book another ticket today, lacoqueta, did you call and try to get the tax removed?
Has anyone had success with that?
I hadn't thought of it and might give it a try myself.

Brandon

 

[Alicia karr]

Hah! Just what I thought! I suspect that a lot of others are being charged this and just don't realize it because it is not easily identifiable as such....for example @ city girl and GS, did you see this code "ZK" appearing on your ticket price details? And Brandon was your experience with Delta or a different airline? I now strongly suspect Delta isn't the only one doing this,. To others that have recently purchased a ticket originating in BsAs to anywhere abroad--have you looked at the fine print in the ticket detail and seen if there's a charge marked ZK that looks roughly like 35%?
Before I stress myself majorly trying to fight this I'd like to know what has happened recently to other people who have purchased fares, now checking those magical initials ZK.....

 

[Alicia karr]

@GS, did you check for the code ZK in your ticket breakdown, and the number next to it? It's possible/probable that it's there and the person at American that you spoke to didn't understand what it really is.
@ARbound--I suspect that "international fuel surcharge" on your ticket is the dreaded ZK since the amount corresponds to the 35% no? And they are misleading people by calling it a fuel surcharge...(well maybe by a LONG stretch of the imagination you can it explain it that way?)
The worst kind of being screwed is when you don't know that you were....

 

[citygirl]

No charge on AA.
This is what the fare looks like if I had bought in Argentina using pesos.
are 1: Carrier AA QNE0MCQ1 BUE to NYC (rules)
Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code Q
Covers EZE-JFK (Economy) 3,632.35
Fare 2: Carrier AA NLW03CQ1 NYC to BUE (rules)
Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code N
Covers JFK-EZE (Economy) 4,502.18 Argentina Ticket Tax (AR) 406.70 Argentina Retention Income Tax (ZK) 2,847.10 US International Arrival Tax (US) 140.90 Argentina Security Tax (TQ)
80.50

Argentina Immigration Tax (QO) 80.50 Argentina Airport Tax (XR) 353.80 US Customs Fee (YC) 44.30 US Immigration Fee (XY) 56.40 USDA APHIS Fee (XA) 40.30 US September 11th Security Fee (AY) 20.10 US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) 36.20 US International Departure Tax (US) 140.90 Subtotal per passenger 12,382.70 Number of passengers x2 Subtotal for 2 adults 24,765.40

• This ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

And this is in dollars purchased out of a NY address:
are 1: Carrier AA QNE0MCQ1 BUE to NYC (rules)
Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code Q
Covers EZE-JFK (Economy) $451.00
Fare 2: Carrier AA NLW03CQ1 NYC to BUE (rules)
Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code N
Covers JFK-EZE (Economy) $559.00 Argentina Ticket Tax (AR) $50.50 US International Arrival Tax (US) $17.50 Argentina Security Tax (TQ) $10.00 Argentina Immigration Tax (QO) $10.00 Argentina Airport Tax (XR) $43.93 US Customs Fee (YC) $5.50 US Immigration Fee (XY) $7.00 USDA APHIS Fee (XA) $5.00 US September 11th Security Fee (AY) $2.50 US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $4.50 US International Departure Tax (US) $17.50 Subtotal per passenger $1,183.93 Number of passengers x2 Subtotal for 2 adults $2,367.86

• This ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

But if you notice, the base fares are different btwn buying in Arg or there so at the end, very little difference in price. So if you pay income tax here and you can pay off in quotas with no interest charged, you're probably better off buying here even though price is slightly higher.