Originally Posted by
Grace B
QR are definitely sticklers for the rules, and their default reaction to any request for entry would appear to err towards denial.
I wonder if the default is really denial, or if that just seems to be the case because we're so accustomed to travel providers making exceptions. After all, as FTers, we probably know better than any other group of travelers how these things work and where there may be soft spots in the system which may give under a little pressure. Maybe we just perceive it as denial, but the default is really that QR just adheres to the rules and makes no exceptions.
Originally Posted by
Grace B
I recently had an interesting experience with al Safwa. I was ticketed (revenue) ADL-DOH (J) - BEY (F), and the incoming flight was a couple of hours late, thus misconnecting with the flight to BEY.
On arrival at DOH, I was met by a QR employee who handed me a boarding pass for the next DOH-BEY flight (about 5 hours later). I indicated that I did not want to take this flight as it would misconnect with an A3 flight I had booked from BEY to ATH, and asked (nicely) if QR could possibly see their way to re-ticketing me directly to ATH from DOH (more in hope than anything else).
The QR agent took it on board to try and make this happen (had to consult her supervisor, etc, etc) and then escorted me to al Safwa, where I arranged for a quiet room while QR was sorting out my ticket. No problems at all.
Several hours later, the QR agent came along and said they had managed to change my ticket to DOH-ATH in J, with the flight leaving in about 90 minutes. I happily accepted this, and then was told I had to immediately leave al Safwa and go to al Mourjan, as I was no longer travelling in F.
Not really a big deal, but I was a little surprised that they wouldn't let me stay in al Safwa for another 45 minutes or so.
Although that may feel like an unnecessarily harsh and somewhat illogical outcome to us, it strikes me as entirely logical if the marching orders are to follow the rules without exception. Of course we can have a separate conversation about whether that's a good business decision for QR. AAB apparently thinks that it is.