I am booking a round-trip flight to the United States and found that I can save up to 700 euro on a 1200+ euro ticket if I board the same plane one leg earlier. On the flight company's website a ticket from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Boston, United States costs me 1.227,75 euro. However, if I travel to Dusseldorf, Germany and board the exact same plane, the ticket will cost me 568,66 dollar (500+ euro). The latter flight will make a stop in Amsterdam and then continue to Boston.
The price from AMS to BOS is broken down as follows (in euro),
ticket price 880,00
carrier-imposed international surcharge 259,00
airport passenger service charge 13,00
noise surcharge 0,50
security charge 10,53
us customs user fee 4,84
us international transportation tax 31,34
us aphis fee 3,49
us ins user fee 6,16
usa passenger civil aviation security service fee 4,93
usa passenger facility charge 3,96
While the price from DUS to AMS to BOS is broken down as following (in dollar),
Airline Ticket Cost: 135.60
Airline Ticket taxes and fees: 433.06
This substantial difference gives me a sense of being scammed. I've read several articles on what makes up the price of a ticket but these cannot explain a 700 euro difference for a longer flight on the same plane with the same destination.
How can the same flight cost 700 euro less one leg earlier?