Taxes on my commercial flight

AKBill

AKBill

En-Route
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Messages
3,735
Location
Juneau, AK
Display Name
Display name:
AKBill
I was laughing/crying when I read the receipt for my upcoming commercial flight to Seattle. Round trip flight. Here are the taxes..

Flight $420.10
United States flight segment tax domestic .. $12.90
United States passenger civil aviation security service fee.. $11.20
US Alaska/Hawaii departure tax.. $19.20
US passenger facility charge.. $9.00
US transportation tax.. $12.90

Total..$485.30

I'm surprised I did not get charged for peanuts and toilet paper....
 
  • Like
Reactions: YKA
If it makes you feel any better, at least most of those taxes stay in aviation.
 
If you think that's something, rent car at the airport. Fees/Taxes will be 50% or more of the cost. States know that travelers don't vote in their state.
 
Any hotel/rental car in Florida. How do you think they can have no state income tax? Let the tourists pay...
 
Bill said:
Any hotel/rental car in Florida. How do you think they can have no state income tax? Let the tourists pay...
Click to expand...
Yep, and if you own a home in Florida but don't live [vote] there, the property taxes are higher.
 
midwestpa24 said:
If it makes you feel any better, at least most of those taxes stay in aviation.
Click to expand...

The federal taxes go into the general fund and all taxes collected are fungible, meaning once the Treasury has it the Congress can spend it anyway they want. That’s what happens in the Appropriations Committee.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I swore off a couple of cities after I looked at the hotel taxes and found them well in excess of 20%. Visitors don't vote....
 
Hang 4 said:
If you think that's something, rent car at the airport. Fees/Taxes will be 50% or more of the cost. States know that travelers don't vote in their state.
Click to expand...

or look at your cable TV/internet/phone bill...
 
Now you know who really pays your way as a GA pilot - the airline passenger.
 
AKBill said:
I was laughing/crying when I read the receipt for my upcoming commercial flight to Seattle. Round trip flight. Here are the taxes..

Flight $420.10
United States flight segment tax domestic .. $12.90
United States passenger civil aviation security service fee.. $11.20
US Alaska/Hawaii departure tax.. $19.20
US passenger facility charge.. $9.00
US transportation tax.. $12.90

Total..$485.30

I'm surprised I did not get charged for peanuts and toilet paper....
Click to expand...

If $485 is the RT price, that's pretty good to/from SEA and JNU. In non-Covid times, that's a one way fare. Best of luck with your medical needs. Hope it all works out.
 
AKBill said:
I was laughing/crying when I read the receipt for my upcoming commercial flight to Seattle. Round trip flight. Here are the taxes..

Flight $420.10
United States flight segment tax domestic .. $12.90
United States passenger civil aviation security service fee.. $11.20
US Alaska/Hawaii departure tax.. $19.20
US passenger facility charge.. $9.00
US transportation tax.. $12.90

Total..$485.30

I'm surprised I did not get charged for peanuts and toilet paper....
Click to expand...

Not many people ever look at all the taxes they pay.

I'm old enough to remember when the signs on top of the gas pumps broke down the per gallon price.
 
NHWannabe said:
Not many people ever look at all the taxes they pay.
Click to expand...

Hiding taxes in plain sight is the number one job of modern politicians.

Most people don’t even get, let alone read, a paper pay stub anymore.

But it’s the season. Look hard at the taxes paid line on your W2 forms arriving at mailboxes and email addresses near you!

See if you enjoy the legalized theft level.
 
denverpilot said:
Hiding taxes in plain sight is the number one job of modern politicians.

Most people don’t even get, let alone read, a paper pay stub anymore.

But it’s the season. Look hard at the taxes paid line on your W2 forms arriving at mailboxes and email addresses near you!

See if you enjoy the legalized theft level.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly Washington made rules that prevented airlines from not breaking out costs...though to be fair they were also trying to not show the fuel surcharge in the initial price.

Why people think it's a great thing getting a refund of their own money
 
Htaylor said:
If $485 is the RT price, that's pretty good to/from SEA and JNU. In non-Covid times, that's a one way fare. Best of luck with your medical needs. Hope it all works out.
Click to expand...
I agree not a bad round trip price I was just surprised by the different taxes when I read the statement.
 
What do your suppose the airline paid in taxes for the "privilege" of selling you that ticket and hauling your ass around the country for cheap?
 
I just booked a fare on frontier... round trip from MI to Florida. $73.00 with taxes. In my cart it shows the flights as like $2.00 and the remainder taxes and fees!

hoping to not use em... they are the back up plan if it’s looking like a bad weather week for a vfr trip.
 
What about the taxes on the JetA and the plane itself :)
 
(edit - posting problem during nightly server backup time made a duplicate... deleted)
 
Oldmanb777 said:
What do your suppose the airline paid in taxes for the "privilege" of selling you that ticket and hauling your ass around the country for cheap?
Click to expand...

Probably less than the airspace system and security costs mortgaged in massive debt — cost the people who never fly...

Heh. Just answering. I don’t care in the slightest. But there’s a lot of non-flyers propping up airlines in all sorts of convoluted ways.

About all one can truly say about us all, is that we sure do like the lifestyle levels afforded by running lots of public stuff on the credit card.

I certainly enjoy the ATC system in my spamcan that everyone else bought for me. LOL! I won’t lie.

I also don’t have paved roads but pay less than a third of most east coast property taxes. So... yay? LOL
 
Doesn't the use of a fuel surcharge save the passenger some taxes as compared to the same amount being rolling into a higher base fare?
 
PAJN to KSEA is approximately 800nm (1,600 RT).
In my bonanza that would be approximately 10 hours, or about 135 Gallons of fuel. At $5/gal that is $675 just for fuel. And that is if you take the short cut through some truly nasty terrain and weather. So maybe $485 isn't too bad.
 
And yet...I tried to book a ticket on Delta to go from Salt Lake to Boise this weekend. Delta wanted $744 for the coach comfort provided by an RJ. $78 was taxes. Baggage fees are not included. I can do that flight for $300 in fuel and the same amount of time.

It's never hard to feel bad for the pilots/FAs/line crew trying to survive Covid, but it sure is easy to hate the airlines.
 
Wingsofglass said:
And yet...I tried to book a ticket on Delta to go from Salt Lake to Boise this weekend. Delta wanted $744 for the coach comfort provided by an RJ. $78 was taxes. Baggage fees are not included. I can do that flight for $300 in fuel and the same amount of time.

It's never hard to feel bad for the pilots/FAs/line crew trying to survive Covid, but it sure is easy to hate the airlines.
Click to expand...

That's because you are trying to book last minute. Fares skyrocket within the last week before a flight.
 
Wingsofglass said:
And yet...I tried to book a ticket on Delta to go from Salt Lake to Boise this weekend. Delta wanted $744 for the coach comfort provided by an RJ. $78 was taxes. Baggage fees are not included. I can do that flight for $300 in fuel and the same amount of time.

It's never hard to feel bad for the pilots/FAs/line crew trying to survive Covid, but it sure is easy to hate the airlines.
Click to expand...
Delta just reported a loss of $12,390,000,000 for 2020.

I'm seeing fares as low as $155 round-trip a couple of weeks out.

SLC-BOI is an excellent route for G.A. instead of airlines. I've actually flown that route quite a few times in DC9s in the 1990s and 2000s and three employers ago.
 
JOhnH said:
PAJN to KSEA is approximately 800nm (1,600 RT).
In my bonanza that would be approximately 10 hours, or about 135 Gallons of fuel. At $5/gal that is $675 just for fuel. And that is if you take the short cut through some truly nasty terrain and weather. So maybe $485 isn't too bad.
Click to expand...

Your Bonanza cruises at 80 knots?
 
Jet-A federal taxes are $0.22 and state taxes are mostly around $.03.

Car gas is $0.18 a gallon on the federal level.
 
AKiss20 said:
1600NM/10hrs = 160 knots??

Round trip, not one way
Click to expand...
You are right, but perhaps I was mistaken. Was the OP's price one way or round trip? If one way, then my numbers were off by half.
 
  • Like
Reactions: YKA
AKiss20 said:
1600NM/10hrs = 160 knots??

Round trip, not one way
Click to expand...

Okay, did you edit it just before I quoted your post? I'm certain that it originally said just 800 nm, not 1600.
 
Larry in TN said:
Delta just reported a loss of $12,390,000,000 for 2020.

I'm seeing fares as low as $155 round-trip a couple of weeks out.
Click to expand...

This is my point exactly. Delta loses $12 billion but still wants to grossly overcharge their best customers for the exact same product that their worst customer can buy for 1/4 the price.
 
  • Like
Reactions: YKA
YKA said:
Okay, did you edit it just before I quoted your post? I'm certain that it originally said just 800 nm, not 1600.
Click to expand...
I am not the one who you quoted....that would be JOhnH. I just jumped in to clarify with a bit of math.

Go look earlier in the thread. He said "800NM (1,600RT)" as you quoted. OP shows a commercial flight at $485 round trip. JOhnH is saying a comparable round trip in this Bonanza would be $675 in fuel alone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: YKA
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top