S7 Airlines increased the so-called fuel surcharge on its domestic routes from July 26. This led to a price increase of 200 rubles per flight segment—for both regular cash tickets and premium tickets from the S7 Priority loyalty program, reports Travel.ru's own correspondent.
On domestic routes, the fee has increased from 1,500 to 1,700 rubles per flight segment, in addition to the base fare and other fees. For a roundtrip or one-way flight within Russia with a transfer, the fee has increased from 3,000 to 3,400 rubles. For a roundtrip connecting flight, the fee has increased from 6,000 to 7,200 rubles. The increased fee also applies to international tickets that include a domestic flight segment. The fee amounts are the same for economy and business class.
As a reminder, Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline, and its subsidiary carriers also implemented a similar increase on the same day. This is the second time Aeroflot has increased its so-called fuel surcharges in just four months. In total, Aeroflot's domestic surcharges have already increased by more than a third compared to the beginning of the year.
As is well known, this surcharge has long since had no bearing on the fuel component of the ticket price and exists for purely commercial purposes. Specifically, the so-called "fuel surcharge" allows airlines to sharply reduce the benefits of frequent flyer programs, reduce child and other discounts, minimize agent commissions, and advertise supposedly low fares that bear no relation to the actual ticket price.
Some of these practices have long been banned in a number of foreign countries, and many Asian countries explicitly regulate the possibility of charging fuel surcharges solely based on current oil prices. However, Russian aviation authorities turn a blind eye to all of this and, as usual, avoid protecting passenger rights.
Several years ago, Aeroflot and Siberia Airlines (like some other Russian airlines) stopped refunding the "fuel surcharge" when returning non-refundable tickets, effectively declaring that it has nothing to do with the cost of jet fuel and is simply a hidden part of the fare.
As a result of this increase, for which Siberia Airlines did not disclose the reason, the benefits of the S7 Priority loyalty program will be somewhat reduced (issuance of premium tickets is currently suspended "for technical reasons"). Now, a round-trip premium ticket on the vast majority of direct domestic routes will require, in addition to the mileage value, an additional fee of approximately 4,000 rubles (previously, approximately 3,600 rubles). One-way surcharges are half the price, connecting domestic routes will cost twice as much, and international flights that include a domestic segment will also cost more.
In other words, in many cases, award tickets will simply be pointless. Furthermore, the effective discount on children's tickets will be reduced again. Regular tickets will also become 200 rubles more expensive for each domestic flight segment.
Source: travel.ru