In case anyone missed it, British Airways have sneaked a little nasty under the wire. With effect from December, last year, if you buy a non-refundable ticket, then if you cancel, you will not get the YQ “tax”" back. Let us say you buy a ticket on BA from London to Sydney. This will cost you about £614.10. The fare is £332, which you would lose. Before, you would get the “tax and charges” back, which meant you would receive £282.10 back – less, of course any fees that your rip-off travel agent (me!) would charge. Now, BA say you will NOT get the YQ “tax” back – the charge for petrol and for “security” (9-11 is a long while ago, now, you would have thought they could get that in the fare by now) . On this ticket the YQ tax is £178.00 which you will now lose. Further, your travel insurance (assuming you cancel for a valid reason) will only refund the nonrefundable fare, so on the face of it, you cannot get a refund from your travel insurance either!
Why have BA done this? Because they can. because no-one will do anything about it. The media hop up and down when someone suggest £1 to go for a pee and yet they do not notice when BA neatly trouser an extra £178 (in this case) from some of the most needy air travellers – those that have to buy the cheap seats.