Originally Posted by plunet

So the strategy here is

1. Talk to your insurance and see if they would cover the cost of an alternative flight IF you can't reclaim the cost of an alternative flight from Qatar.
2. Assuming this was booked with Qatar, try to contact Qatar and ask them to rebook on another carrier. Technically you probably need to wait for the flight to actually to be cancelled but it's all probably a moot point. You need to get clarity that they will not rebook on another carrier.
3. Then rebook yourself on another carrier in your original class to get to MEL if you can.

DO NOT ACCEPT A REFUND FROM QATAR as you then become a former customer

4. Then when all the kerfuffle has died down, put a claim into Qatar to pay the cash cost for the replacement flights to get you to/from MEL.
5. If they refuse, get your travel insurance to sort it out, they can legally claim from Qatar on your behalf.