V-Flyer

Got an email from BA today with my Avios statment

Dear Mr x,

As a frequent flyer, you will know as well as anyone that taxes on air travel are higher in the UK than anywhere else in the world - so I wanted to tell you about a campaign aimed at changing that.

In the last six years, Air Passenger Duty (APD) has risen more than 300 per cent on many routes - while inflation has increased barely 20 per cent.

Some customers are now paying £184 for a single journey, while the cost for families taking their annual holiday has sky-rocketed: In 2006, a family of four flying to the Caribbean would pay £80 in APD - today they would pay £324 in World Traveller, or £648 in World Traveller Plus, Club World, or First.

This level of increase has no justification and no international parallel. Yet the UK Government has firm plans to keep on raising APD every year to 2017.

This tax also acts as a brake on growth and jobs for the whole economy by making it more difficult for businesses to reach new markets, and making the UK less attractive to overseas visitors.

How can you help? Just take a few seconds to visit http://www.afairtaxonflying.org and key in your postcode. This will generate an automatic letter to your MP, calling for action on a tax that is now far too high and inflicting real damage on the UK's efforts to move out of recession. Add your name, send and you're done.

This is an important campaign - and I hope you will support us in it.

Intresting times for a tax we all hate y)

Yep, i got the same one. Had one from Flybe a few weeks back too.

Delighted to see BA add their effort to this. APD is a purely simple tax that has no cost to the government (they make the airlines collect it and manage that cost) and the government sees it as a simple one to add to. Our high tax society has me wishing to move abroad ...

I got that email too.

It suddenly occurred to me today that VAT is not charged on flights. Why not?

Shhhhh!

They looked at that one too!

*cough* Fuel Surcharge *cough*

Indeed Darren.

NO problem with the "battle against the government", but this just feels like a burglar is accusing another person of theft...

preiffer wrote:Indeed Darren.

NO problem with the "battle against the government", but this just feels like a burglar is accusing another person of theft...

y) y)

We wil all have start to worry if VS and BA engage Mr O'Leary as their spokesmn on the subject of taxes ):

buns

Quick join the band wagon and help us deflect the rising discontent about YQ..
Agree the tax is a joke, but this all enforces the general publics impression it's just a government charge...
Where's the petition about "surcharges"..,

I completed/signed the petition some weeks ago and added a request asking my MP for her personal thoughts on this tax. You might be surprised to hear that I am still waiting for a reply. v(
.....and she is my next door neighbour

I also signed the petition. I did receive an automated email response from my MP.

"Thank you for the email generated for you by a lobbyist. I have received a number of identical emails so your points have been noted already.

Whilst I do understand the points you make, the snag is people do not recognise the catastrophic state of the public finances we inherited from the utterly contemptible Gordon Brown. He inherited a balanced budget from us in 1997 and then blew it, leaving us with a budget deficit of £156 BILLION, 15 times the deficit inherited by Margaret Thatcher in 1979.

To secure the confidence of the international capital markets we had to show we were serious about cutting that deficit which of course gets added to the national debt each year. Despite the measures we have taken we still have only made a modest cut to £126 billion.

So the fact is we are having to find ways of generating revenue as well as cutting the Govt's spending. It is thoroughly unpleasant having to do this but I’m afraid it’s the same old story – Labour ruin the economy and the Conservatives have to put it right – see 1951, 1979 as well as 2010.

Best wishes"

To me, he was just having a whinge about the other governments !

Typical politician, never answers the question.

My thoughts exactly Darren !

I'd be able fly more if the taxes weren't so high !!