The news came out from February 2017 that the fuel surcharge is expected to be restored.
If fuel surcharge for free, which lasted about 10 months, is over, the cost burden on overseas travel will increase.
I would like to understand the mechanism of fuel surcharge fee determination and try to reduce fuel surcharges as much as possible.
What is fuel surcharge
In Japan it is the expenses incurred for fuel that has been reported under the nominal fuel surcharge.
Collection of cargo flights surcharge started in 2001, collection of passenger flights started in 2005
Currently, ANA, JAL etc. do not collect fuel surcharges on domestic flights, but Fuji Dream Airlines (FDA) collects on domestic flights from September 1, 2011 boarding.
Also, since it became Japanese yen from April 2015, it is structured so that users are responsible for currency risk, so even if the airline company does not suffer any damage as long as the fuel surcharge goes up There is.
From April 1, 2016, JAL and ANA had a fuel surcharge of 0 yen for the first time in six and a half years on international flights from Japan due to a significant decline in crude oil prices and other factors.
However, from February 2017 the fuel surcharge will be restored for the first time in about 10 months, this is not due to the high oil price but due to the soaring fuel price during Japanese yen conversion due to the depreciation of the yen.
In other words, this survival surcharge revival is due to the mechanism that users pay for currency risk.
Until a system called fuel surcharge could be built, both users and the company were responsible for incorporating turbulent expensive crude oil prices and exchange risks into the airline tickets, but under the name of a fuel surcharge system, users Only the risk and burden are borne by us.
It is collected from users if the price of crude oil or yen depreciates, it is unpopular from travel agencies, etc. because the airline company gains profit of the depreciation of the crude oil and yen appreciation below the standard.
Fuel surcharge fee
Because the price of fuel surcharge varies depending on crude oil, yen denominated, and routes, it can not be said that it can not be said to any extent.
However, since the fuel surcharge decision is made every two months, it will be announced how much fuel surcharge will be available by 2 months in advance.
It is a fuel surcharge which was 0 yen from April 2016 ticket issuance, but it is expected to recover from February 2017 ticket issuance fee, the fee will be announced from ANA, JAL etc. in mid December 2016.
There is no distinction between adults and children in fuel surcharge.
Because it is assigned to the seat, charges will be charged uniformly to all users except in the case of infants who do not need a seat.
Time to determine the fuel surcharge fee
Fuel surcharge fee is not fixed according to use day (boarding day), but it is confirmed on the ticket date.
In other words, even though the fuel surcharge will be restored from February 2017, if you discover by the end of January 2017 the fuel surcharge will be 0 yen for the flight on February 2017.
Those who can determine the itinerary can use it for fuel surcharge 0 yen until 330 days after issuing tickets by the end of January 2017 free of fuel surcharge.
However, if you change the ticket issued at 0 yen, you need to be careful as the change date will be the fuel surcharge decision date.
Even if you issue a ticket at 0 yen, you will be charged 10,000 yen if you change it at the timing of 10,000 yen.
On the contrary, if you issue tickets at the timing that takes 10,000 yen, if you change at the timing when it fell to 0 yen, 10,000 yen you paid will be refunded.
If you use a mechanism to increase or decrease fuel surcharge by making a change, you can use it advantageously, but there is no guarantee that the same flight will be taken again at the time of change.
It is recommended to some extent, such as when there are empty seats or if it is okay to change the schedule without taking the same flight.
Summary
The fuel surcharge that had been 0 yen from April 2016 will be restored from February 2017.
It is important to firmly understand the mechanism of fuel surcharging and to issue tickets aiming at timing where fuel surcharges can not be consumed as much as possible when traveling overseas.
