Qatar Airways Privilege Club - Using Qatar Qmiles

Has anyone else found that it is almost impossible to use the miles as stated? It seems that every time I try to use mine (with one exception, and even that took a lot of hard work) - regardless of time of year & route - the only way I can use book or upgrade a ticket is by using double the points.

I was told two days ago that I could use my points to upgrade from Montreal-Doha -a 12-hr flight. So I was pretty happy about that. I was told to go back to one of their branches here in Doha to confirm. I got there. Waited my turn. Went up to the desk. Was told to come back in 10 minutes. Then I was told to come back in 48 hrs to purchase the additional miles needed. Then I was called and told that the upgrade was now only available at double the points (which means I'd have to spend three times the amount on additional points to get the seat).

This has been my experience pretty much every time.

So, on the one hand, they say there are no seats available, but then, if you're willing to throw down double the miles (or cash, as the miles have a cash value, given that you can buy them) somehow, there's a seat available. In other words, increasingly, the miles are worth half their stated value.

And that's if you're lucky enough to even be able to use them. Most of the time, I find my Gold membership to be essentially useless. There's no priority boarding in Doha, no priority gate pass, and with the new luxury terminal for business & first class passengers, all a Gold card gets you is a pass to a lounge in the economy terminal with some bread, cheese, coffee & soda. In other airports, say, Heathrow, the gold card would get you into the same lounge as other business-class passengers, and that's pretty much the only perk. My luggage often comes last, I *never* get a complimentary upgrade (I was told I'd get one once at check in, but it was revoked at the gate because one passenger missed the flight, therefore economy was no longer full) and more often than not, they screw up my special meal request and I end up eating almost nothing on even the longest of flights (Doha-DC, Doha-NYC, Doha-Tokyo, etc.).

Am I exceptionally unlucky with this airline or is anyone else having similar experiences?:(

It seems like it's much easier to redeem miles for award flights than for upgrades. I have had some success with the former; never tried the latter, but a lot of people on these boards complain.

It's also ridiculous that you have to go to the office in-person to redeem, among other transactions that should be routine. That's a good example of how poor pretty much all aspects of Qatar Airways are on the ground. I also find that it takes forever to get luggage in DOH, and the "priority" tag is meaningless.

I agree that Gold status is worthless. Recognition is nil; the main benefits, lounge access and priority check-in, are almost the same with Silver. (By the way, I recently found out that Gold passengers flying Y cannot access the airline's dedicated lounge at LHR, either.)

Qatar Airways aircraft are in great condition and food and entertainment on-board are excellent. But forget about any "service" on the ground. And they seem clear in their priorities: they care about paid premium-class passengers, but not about high-status fliers in Y. There are plenty of other airlines that maintain the integrity of their premium cabin but still treat elites much better than QR.

Agreed - service on board is generally far better than on the ground. For what it's worth, the one time I tried to purchase award tickets with my miles, months in advance, I still had to double down on the points. And the only time I've been able to use my points to upgrade (for a 12+ hr flight) I had to breathe fire before I could get the upgrade because although I was in the middle of a rural community at the time, the Privilege Club representative over the phone insisted that I find a way to go to a Qatar Airways office pronto.

Agree with you, had similar issues when trying to redeem miles for upgrade or free flight. I'm just thinking of to spending them in Qatar duty free and then sell it on Ebay. Do this as long your Gold card is valid as the price/miles ratio is more favorable. ;)

Funny, every time I have searched for award flights (between DOH and JFK, IAH, MLE, NRT, and RGN) it has been widely available at the normal miles (always C class, if that makes a difference). Plus the web tool is very helpful. Gold members can change anytime and cancel at no penalty. So in my experience this aspect has been a ^.

Buying at Qatar Duty Free is a terrible value in my opinion. Of course, if you have lots of miles to burn, it's better than nothing. . .

I requested an upgrade for a flight in QR, DOH-SIN for August 9th. I just needed to send an email asking for the upgrade. Qatar Airways replied within 48hrs with the positive response. Got my miles deducted (25,000 miles for one-way upgrade) but I had to "go to the nearest office to change my ticket".

You have to do that inmediately, I didn't read the email and I supposed that the change was automatic. My mistake!

When I arrived to the office, the agent told me that I had lost my upgrade, and my booking!.

I paid QAR 100 (27$) to get the re-booking and my upgrade was cleared again.

Hope this helps with the process to get it done.

Recently booked 2 return C class Awards redemption flights from Mrs IM & myself. The Qmiles came out of our respective accounts & the whole thing was achieved with a couple of emails, though it was a bit long winded if I'm being honest.

However, the key to the whole thing was establishing availability first. Once I'd established that, the rest was (relatively) easy. I emailed the ever helpful AlexCM for awards flights info on the dates I was interested in but I understand a phone call to UK reservations would have also done the business. I was emailed & told to proceed to the nearest QR office for ticket collection but UK reservations handled all payments over the phone then emailed the e-tickets. Very helpful.

Recently booked 2 return C class Awards redemption flights from Mrs IM & myself. The Qmiles came out of our respective accounts & the whole thing was achieved with a couple of emails, though it was a bit long winded if I'm being honest.

However, the key to the whole thing was establishing availability first. Once I'd established that, the rest was (relatively) easy. I emailed the ever helpful AlexCM for awards flights info on the dates I was interested in but I understand a phone call to UK reservations would have also done the business. I was emailed & told to proceed to the nearest QR office for ticket collection but UK reservations handled all payments over the phone then emailed the e-tickets. Very helpful.

manchester ticketing will do it all no need to collect, just pay the extra required email sent no problem i agree alex at bangkok is really helpful:cool:

I spent days trying to find a meaningful way to spend the miles on an award ticket that the taxes and fees didn't exceed that cheapest fare I could find online for the same route.

In the end we're taking a long weekend in First to Doha to burn a few miles as the dates were available.

Tried to get a trip to Manila but really struggling finding seats, checked every month of the year.