---
title: "What is a carrier-imposed surcharge? | BuyBusinessClass"
description: "A charge an airline adds to a ticket on top of the fare and government taxes, shown in the taxes box. It is the airline's own charge, not a tax."
canonical_url: https://buybusinessclass.com/glossary/carrier-imposed-surcharge
last_updated: 2026-11-04
---

# What is a carrier-imposed surcharge?

Source: https://buybusinessclass.com/glossary/carrier-imposed-surcharge

A charge an airline adds to a ticket on top of the fare and government taxes, shown in the taxes box. It is the airline's own charge, not a tax.

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## Carrier-imposed surcharge, explained

Some airlines add surcharges to international tickets, often shown with codes such as YQ or YR among the taxes. On some routes they are large.

They vary by airline and by the country you fly from, which is one reason two business class tickets with a similar fare can have different totals.

Because they sit in the taxes box, they are easy to miss when comparing prices. Comparing the full total, fare plus taxes and charges, is the only fair way to compare two business class tickets.

### On a business class trip

Two business class tickets to London have similar fares, but one carries a large airline surcharge in the taxes box and the other only government taxes, so their totals differ.

## Related terms

-   [Published fare](https://buybusinessclass.com/glossary/published-fare)
    
    The fare an airline files publicly and sells to anyone, on its own website and on booking sites: the price discounted fares are measured against.
    
-   [Fare rules](https://buybusinessclass.com/glossary/fare-rules)
    
    The conditions attached to a fare: whether you can change or cancel, at what cost, the minimum and maximum stay, stopovers and open jaws.
    

[Every term in the glossary](https://buybusinessclass.com/glossary).

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