I have been rejected three times in relation to an upgrade award, but I won't stop trying. I will continue trying, because I want to make sure this issue stays at the top of Qatar’s redemption policy. Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker has already stated that, "Like other airlines we also have set a limit on the number of redemption seats in each flight. The demand for redemption tickets is increasing. We cannot fully cater to their demand with the existing capability." Qatar Airways recently made changes to their frequent flyer program including raising the mileage necessary to redeem upgrades. "When I have only eight seats in first class, how can I give away six seats to frequent flyers? What do I sell if I give away six of the total eight seats to frequent flyers?" al Baker asked. He continued on to say that the FFP is very important to the airline and that the changes were borne out of necessity. "As we grow in fleet strength we will be able to accommodate more frequent flyers in each of our flights. But the existing restrictions will have to continue until then."
So basically from what Mr. Akbar al-Baker comments when Qatar Airways starts to receive some of its 250 aircraft, including Boeing 787s, 777s, Airbus A350s, A380s and A320 Family of aircraft, in the next twenty four months, the upgrade redemption in theory should go up. Of course this will not happen. However has in the past us Flyertalk members can put a lot of uncomfortable pressure on Qatar by saying us FFP have been patient for a long time now, but now you need to start practicing what you preach.
I initially think Qatar will need to think about, at the very least, introducing a Premium Class tier membership card that will give their most loyal FFP members the ability to redeem an upgrade award. After all if you always flying business class what is the worth of a gold card anyway? I think they are going to have to tinker with their Privilege Club scheme a lot more over the next 24 months has the fleet grows, but in reality just like their ground staff they will need to incorporate a more modernistic approach otherwise it will fail like other FFP programs.
So in a nutshell keep plugging away, because flyertalk does seem to be making a real difference to the way Qatar operates their Privilege Club program.