philipp Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Normally when you book flights for children below the age of 12, they get a 25% discount on the adult fare. For the Thai Airways promotion to Melbourne (THB 17,800) there is no child discount. I can understand that. The fare is already quite cheap. However, Thai Airways is charging my son the same taxes as me! Everyone knows that in Australia, children below the age of 12 are exempt from the international departure tax. So Thai Airways is collecting the tax from me but they don't have to the the Australian authorities! This is illegal! So what can I do? Of course I tried to talk to Thai Airways but as you might have guessed, I didn't get anywhere. Anyone knows if there is a consumer protection board in Australia I can contact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maigo6 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 So what can I do? Change Airlines ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkjames Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Normally when you book flights for children below the age of 12, they get a 25% discount on the adult fare. For the Thai Airways promotion to Melbourne (THB 17,800) there is no child discount. I can understand that. The fare is already quite cheap. However, Thai Airways is charging my son the same taxes as me! Everyone knows that in Australia, children below the age of 12 are exempt from the international departure tax. So Thai Airways is collecting the tax from me but they don't have to the the Australian authorities! This is illegal!So what can I do? Of course I tried to talk to Thai Airways but as you might have guessed, I didn't get anywhere. Anyone knows if there is a consumer protection board in Australia I can contact? send a letter to the bk post letter section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britmaveric Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Fly Quantas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Are you saying that before, they gave you the 25% discount but charged you the "illegal" taxes and you didn't complain ? Why should kids get any discount and if some, then what percentage ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyTheMook Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Find the relevant branch of the Australian Better Business Bureau and file a complaint and forward it Thai airways office in Australia. May want to send a segment into your local Ozzie paper also. They can get away with ripping us off all day long here in Thailand , but don't let them pull that shitt back home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightcrew1 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 These are Australian rules for tickets bought and travelling from Australia? From your post you are buying the tickets in Thailand and travelling from Thailand. Perhaps these rules are just country specific as I never heard about these tax rules from other countries before. As far as discounted tickets for children, I always thought it was 50% ages 2 - 11, but not off the discounted fare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phayao Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 However, Thai Airways is charging my son the same taxes as me! Everyone knows that in Australia, children below the age of 12 are exempt from the international departure tax. So Thai Airways is collecting the tax from me but they don't have to (pay to) the Australian authorities! This is illegal!So what can I do? Of course I tried to talk to Thai Airways but as you might have guessed, I didn't get anywhere. Anyone knows if there is a consumer protection board in Australia I can contact? What you're trying to say is that Thai Airways have charged your son under 12 a "ghost" tax that they are not suppose to pay to the Australian authorities because there's no such departing tax. Can't you download the specific paragraph of that exception of tax from an Australian goverment office and send it to Thai Airways? It'll benefit others in your case and would make flying to Thailand from Australia a little cheaper for children under-12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipp Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Thanks for the help guys! Yes, when you book the normal fare, children get 25% off the adult fare and pay child taxes, i.e. no departure tax in Australia. When you book the promotion fare, there is no child discount. I get that. But children should not pay adult taxes in this case. Thai Airways is collecting a tax but not forwarding it to the authorities in Australia. To me, that's stealing. I have downloaded the relevant Act and sent it to Thai Airways. It explicitly says that children under the age of 12 are exempt. But my hopes are low. Some Thai Airways customer service rep is not going to understand a piece of Australian law. Yes, maybe wrting to Bangkok Post might help. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isee Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Report it to the ACCC, but make sure you can provide evidence of Thai airways conduct as well as correspondence. If they can't help you, they should direct you to a body that can. ACCC will want to know how you tried to resolve it at the start, but I would expect they would be very interested in what you say is correct. One way to argue it to the ACCC is that the Thai are misleading the public in believing that the surcharges are paid to the Government. If Thai are doing the wrong thin gand the ACCC get their teeth into them, I bet Thai wished they had quietly credited you the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbk Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Are you buying your ticket in Thailand? If so, would Australian rules be relevant or even enforceable for a ticket purchased in Thailand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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