The YR or YQ charge that appears as a line item on your airline ticket is a fuel surcharge. According to "Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2009," airlines claim that the rising price of jet forces them to add a fuel surcharge to the ticket price. Each airline has a different surcharge assessed to tickets based on the origin and destination of your ticket and the class of service. Individual airlines impose and set the fuel surcharge price, the fuel surcharge is not a government controlled tax.
Jet Fuel Prices
In 2006, many airlines started to impose a fuel surcharge on international flights. In 2008, as fuel costs peaked at $147 per barrel many airlines started to apply the fuel surcharge to all published fares. Even though oil costs started to decline after the 2008 peak, many airlines continued to impose and even increase fuel surcharges. According to "Trends and Issues in Global Tourism," airlines claim that they continue to require fuel surcharges to offset potential fluctuations in jet fuel prices.
Refunds
The fuel surcharge airlines add the price of the ticket is usually non-refundable. To qualify for a refund of the fee, airlines require that the associated ticket purchased was a refundable ticket. In other words, if your ticket was non-refundable the fuel surcharge also becomes non-refundable. All airlines have specific refund policies, so check with your airline for information about the refundability of your ticket and fuel surcharge.
Discounts
When an airline imposes a fuel surcharge, the charge does not change when the airline offers discounted tickets. Fuel surcharges are, therefore, a type of fixed income for the airlines. When airlines discount tickets, the airlines will typically offer discounts on the price of the ticket before fees, surcharges and taxes. The fuel surcharge also typically applies to frequent flier mile redemption. This means you will still have to pay the fuel surcharge when redeeming a free ticket.
Rates
The airlines do not disclose how they calculate the fuel surcharge. Further, although all airlines pay similar prices for jet fuel, the fuel surcharge various considerably from airline to airline. Therefore, when shopping for airline tickets, you should compare the total ticket costs including all taxes, fees and surcharges.
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