Welcome to Flyertalk Grp Grp, and a warm welcome to the QR Forum.

It sounds like you've had quite an experience, and evidently not a good one.

Your Original Post (OP) was pretty lengthy, understandably, so I'll do my best to try and address a few of the points you've raised.

1) The first thing to say, is that I have taken the liberty of deleting your Booking Reference from your Original Post - this is purely for your own online safety.

2) I'm glad to hear that you were able to take advantage of the lower than average fares with QR. Based on your comments in terms of requesting an upgrade (more on that later) I presume you were booked in Economy.

As such, and dependent on the fare type you booked, it is entirely likely that you would not be entitled to the Stopover Package (STPC...sorry, Flyertalk (FT) is full of acronyms!). Without knowing your fare type, I cannot confirm. But, the STPC rules changed earlier this year, and it is entirely possible that when you booked the tickets (in April), you were entitled to the STPC. However, upon calling up in October, the rules had changed. That, to me, would be the most obvious reason behind the wrong information being given.

3) With regards to your first flight, MIA-DOH, there is little anyone can say. Irregular Operations (IRROPS) happen all the time, and they can hit any airline. Fortunately you landed safely, but the joy of IRROPS is the Ground-Handling side of things...especially at an Outstation.

In terms of the lack of information from the cockpit and cabin crew, the latter would not know anything - as they rely on the cockpit for their info. The Pilot/First Officer, may well have been involved with the Engineers etc trying to address the problem. If it's any consolation, I had flights last week with Emirates (EK), and we suffered IRROPS on the ground. No info was given, and only through my connections was I able to find out the actual problem...I knew before even the crew did!

4) The weather in ZRH is cold, but again, this is down to IRROPS. I would much rather you complain about cold weather, than we have to be commenting on an air disaster because the Flight Crew did not land when they noticed a fault.

With regards to the fault, I will need to check the information properly before alleging the actual issue - but had there been dangerous fumes in the cabin, I can assure you that QR would have evacuated the aircraft immediately. As it happened, the aircraft was fine, and so there is no need to over-dramatise this point.

5) You mention that there were flights leaving ZRH to other destinations, but re-booking can be tough. It is reliant on QR having a relationship with that airline, and the Ground-Staff getting approval from the team in Doha. Evidently they did not, and hence the awful wait in Zurich. Fortunately, there are worse places to be stuck!

6) To presume that QR wanted to nickel and dime you, is wrong. Rebooking is more complicated than one can imagine, and while there may have been seats showing as available when you looked, Expert-Flyer is not a friend of QR - so the info you were viewing may have been outdated and simply incorrect. While QR did rebook you on another airline, you should be able to claim EU261 (€600 per passenger) for your troubles - so actually, you may end up with a nice financial payment.

7) With regards to your lost half-day in Barakhamba, this sounds like a standard problem for IRROPS. Because you didn't take your flights in sequence, you were offloaded and your ticket invalidated. This, of course, doesn't help you as it's after the fact, but it is the reasoning behind the glitch.

In terms of the fact you chose to go to the office - that is your own decision and not something QR requested you to do. That being said, I think it was probably for the best - albeit the airport staff would have been able to do the same.

8) In terms of the Upgrade request etc, this is something QR simply do not do. It is frustrating, especially when you can see empty seats, but it doesnt happen - and no supervisor at Doha is able to do anything about it. To put it simply - it is above their position.

9) Finally, and with regards to your damaged baggage, this is airline policy - and one which American Airlines, British Airways, and others have adopted. If you cannot show a receipt for purchase, they are frustrating to deal with.

I wholly sympathise with you, and if it were me who had been affected by the perfect storm of problems, I would probably say I'd never fly QR again. I think your issues were poorly handled, but the seasoned traveler in me, says IRROPS do happen. They suck whenever they do, but they still happen nonetheless.

Fortunately, cheap fares help the mind, and you may want to have a look through the EU261 information available on Flyertalk to see whether you can claim anything for your troubles €600 per passenger would go a long way to recovering the total cost of your ticket.

Others will be along shortly to comment I'm sure, but I hope you stick around and help contribute to Flyertalk.

Safe travels,

M