One of our favorite international destinations is London. As far as overseas destinations go, it’s an easy trip from the East Coast, and there are plenty of options for getting there. However, I hadn’t planned a trip to the United Kingdom since 2019 when we flew to London on Virgin Atlantic. On my most recent trip, I found a deal using Flying Blue points to book Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic for 94,000 miles and $230 in taxes.
When I searched for return flights, the taxes and fees were nearly double the amount I paid for my flight to the UK. When looking for award tickets, the best options available to me were flights with Air Canada, American Airlines, or JetBlue. However, the fees for these flights were over $350 each, largely due to the UK Air Passenger Duty.
UK Air Passenger Duty
The UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) is a tax applied to all passengers departing from UK airports. The tax you pay depends on the class of travel you are in, the distance of your flight, and your age.
There are four different pricing bands for APD:
- Domestic Band: Domestic flights (only within England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) – £7 for economy class and £14 for premium class.
- Band A: International flights of up to 2,000 miles – £13 for economy class and £26 for premium class.
- Band B: International flights of 2,001 to 5,500 miles – £88 for economy class and £194 for premium class.
- Band C: International flights of more than 5,500 miles – £92 for economy class and £202 for premium class.
You can find the details of the fee and all of the permutations on this website. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-allowances-for-air-passenger-duty
If you’re booking a flight from the UK, this fee is added to the ticket price. I ended up flying home with Norse in Premium Class and the APD was the most expensive part of the ticket price.
If you’re using miles to pay for your ticket, the Air Passenger Duty (APD) will probably make up the majority of the taxes and fees you’ll need to pay. For instance, a reward ticket on American Airlines from London to Orlando (with a layover in Miami) costs 81,500 miles plus $337 in fees. Out of that fee, $243 is the UK APD. 
No matter which program you choose to book with, the UK APD is the same. It’s the cost to visit the United Kingdom.
Children under 16 years old are exempt from APD when traveling in the lowest class but need to pay the APD if flying in business class. Children under 2 years old without a seat are exempt from Air Passenger Duty, regardless of the class they travel in. However, if a seat is purchased for an infant, they will only be exempt from APD if they are in the lowest class of travel.
While there are some ways to avoid this fee, for people like us who value their time more than a few hundred dollars, it’s the price we have to pay to visit London and the rest of the UK.
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9 comments
The APD / fees vary a lot if you use mikes/points to book a fliht.
AS adding $ to the ADP for BA operated flights while Signapore Krisflyer is usually cheaper than BA etc.
Happy hunting
You can avoid the increased APD by adding a stopover (24+ hours) in Europe. For example, fly via HEL with AY, AMS with KL, FRA with LH, etc., or choose any city where a US/Canada carrier flies. Even with hotel, food, and local transportation, you might be able to get by with less than $200 (or use hotel points). If there’s more than 1 traveler, the extra day and stop can easily be worth it if you’re traveling in F, C, or PY.
Also, IIRC, the APD distance is based on the capital cities of the countries (e.g.: London to DC). I think there are some EMEA flights that are shorter than 2000 miles but are Band C because of this.
Well, you coule Book an economy Award and use aeroplan etickets to upgrade. That would lower the APD to economy rate.
Or you just take the train to Paris and fly from there.
We recently stayed in London for a week, then rode Aerostar and flew from BRU instead of LHR. Overnighted at the BRU Marriot there and flew back to US the next day. Still saved several hundred dollars, even with buying the train tickets. Got to experience a 184 mph bullet train that rode like you were floating on air… it was wonderful. Would do it again without hesitation if we ever get back to London.
Take either the Eurostar or Ba shorthaul avios are 9k but with an Amex transfer bonus come down to 7K and $1 to either paris or AMS, Spend a day or 2 and take a biz class flight out of there where there’s no APD and taxes and fees all in range from 50 to 75. I do this with my wife and child every time still cheaper than paying apd for the family
Add Scotland to your UK itinerary and fly out from one of the regional airports which avoid the APD if you begin your journey from there, regardless if you fly back through London. Inverness and the other Highlands and Islands airports all benefit from this exemption. This also applies from flights from Northern Ireland (ie Belfast) and Jersey. As mentioned in other comments you can still stop over in London and avoid the APD if your stopover is less than 24hours.
IIRC, the flight distances are based on the capital of the destination country. So, any flight to the USA is Band B.
And, the standard APD also applies to premium economy. I didn’t know this, but apparently, if extra legroom Y comes with added benefits over regular economy, you have to pay the standard rate instead of the reduced rate. 😮
As mentioned above, it’s somewhat easy to avoid the APD if you build in a stopover within Europe. Even a $200 hotel will cover the APD difference between Band A and Band B.
My personal experience, so I don’t know how much you can generalize. In my most recent trip to the UK (LHR), I was complaining to no one in particular about the taxes added on to my award ticket. Then I got to immigration hall. Anyone who’s been thru there knows the panic that can set in while riding down the escalator and seeing the zoo of a line for passengers waiting to clear immigration. Since I was in a premium cabin, I was given fast track, cutting my immigration clearance time from prob 1.5+ hrs to 5 minutes.
So I guess you could just call the increased APD for premium award tix a “perk”.
@Nameless Joe, the APD only applies on flights leaving the UK. Fast track passport control cards are only for inbound flights, and not every airline issues them. When leaving the UK, the higher APD gets you… nothing. You might get fast track security, but that depends on the airline, status, and class (PY usually won’t qualify).