Cancelled your flight? Claim back tax

INSURANCE company InsureandGo claims air travellers are losing out on millions of pounds a year by not reclaiming the tax and duty they paid on flight tickets that they have cancelled.

And, on a long haul flight, this can be as much as £150.

Research from InsureandGo reveals that the main reason for people not reclaiming the tax and duty paid on flight tickets which they have cancelled is that they are not aware they can.

However, some people said that the administration charge from the airline company for doing this was too high which meant they were put off claiming it back.

InsureandGo believes that the airline administration charge of as much as £30 to refund tax and duties on a cancelled ticket can be excessive - especially if the passenger has taken a short flight to Europe and only paid around £25 in tax and duties.

It would like to see greater transparency from the airline industry on how they calculate their charges for making a refund.

Giving a reason for not reclaiming the tax and duty paid on a flight ticket cancelled in the last 12 months,_ 48 per cent of those questioned said they were not aware that they could.

Three per cent said they were put off reclaiming because of the administration charge from the airline, while another three per cent said they did not have the time and just did not get around to doing it.

_Perry Wilson, Managing Director, InsureandGo said: "The amount of tax and duty paid on each flight people take has increased dramatically and it can now be as much as £150 of the cost of a long haul journey.

"From February this year, for example, Air Passenger Duty rose from £5 to £10, which applies to 75 per cent of flights, but passengers could pay much more if they are travelling long haul on anything other than economy tickets.

"Passengers are estimated to pay £972 million in Air Passenger Duty for 2006/07 and £2.117 billion in 2007/08.

" If you cancel your ticket, it really does pay to claim back the tax and duty you have paid on it."