US travel has become quite expensive yo!

[ee2k]

Travel to the US has become quite expensive in terms of taxes. Look at these charges for an Aeroplan redemption to Chicago. I checked Los Angeles and it wasn't much different.

U.S. International Transportation Tax $49.00

U.S Agriculture Fee $5.20

U.S. Customs User Fee $7.60

U.S.A Immigration User Fee $9.20

U.S. Passenger Safety Fee $7.40

U.S Passenger Facility Charge $5.90



The Canadian ones pale by comparison:

Canada Domestic/International Air Travel Security Charge $12.10

Canada Goods and Services Tax $2.11

Canada Domestic/International Airport Improvement Fee $38.00

Canada Harmonized Sales Tax $1.04

[ee2k]

And I have found the culprit: U.S. International Transportation Tax. This is a new tax I am seeing for travel as of summer this year. The routes above in March don't have this, but I see it in August. It's applied to both frequent flyer redemption and paid ticket fares on AC.

[roopi]

Still cheaper to fly to the US then it is to Toronto on most days.

[ExtraSlow]

I think the currency exchange makes a much bigger difference than the airport fees

[colsankey]

Gotta pay for that wall somehow.

[mr2mike]

Good thing we're (Canada) exempt from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Fee.
https://www.state.gov/ofm/resource/imp/tax/20129.htm