Nov 19, 2013, 3:20 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Covid-19 Update:
For further information on AA awards see:
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion
and
AA oneworld and Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (2015 on)
N.B. Upgrades on QR book into fares not granted EQD/EQM by AA. If you're upgraded on QR, be prepared for pushback from some AA agents. You may have to submit a formal request with accompanying documentation reflecting you purchased an eligible fare class.
NOTE:AA has removed most EY and QR award access from aa.com due to a glitch booking these:
If you experience difficulties with the AA reservations system, you may be able to book by calling AA Australia (+61 2-9101-1948 ) then press 4 - or the New Zealand number (+64 09-308-4014) as an alternative - although the call center is actually in Suva, Fiji (South African agency Mindpearl) - as they can often see the inventory more reliably, and you can book.
NOTE: USA Canada travel on QR will earn EQ miles etc. in accordance with the fare class purchased.
Links:
Link to AA.com Qatar miles earning etc.
AA miles earning on QR changed 1 May 2016 (Link):
Minimum miles guarantee applies.
Checking QR award availability:
You can check QR availability on AA's site, BA's site, QF's site, www.awardnexus.com (which pulls from BA and/or QF), or the KVS tool. (A certain number of searches are free to FlyerTalk members at AwardNexus; click the "more signup options" link under the green Purchase button to sign up as a FlyerTalk member.)
When checking QR award availability, you have to check each segment individually. Both BA and QF can generate very misleading information if you try to check QR award availability all the way through [xxx-(DOH)-yyy] in one step. Be aware AA can only book 330 days out, even if you see availability farther out.
Awards on QR may not be visible to AA agents if a multi-segment itinerary is requested; broken into individual segments will generally reveal availability, however.
As well, AA Australia or New Zealand (actually MindPearl in Fiji) can often see and book AA awards on QR US-based ones might not be able to.
From danger: For AA awards, Economy is X, Business is U, First is Z. NOTE: Those with Z (First) awards may see "Z (Business Class)" shown on the QR website; this is a known glitch.
As well, QR sells intra gulf two class service as First and Economy, as AA does domestically. This can cause some issues with a Business flight including a Gulf "First" flight potentially incurring an F award redemption.
From hotelmotel: "Got my QR PNR from AA. Popped over to QR and selected seats." (AAdvantage award.)
Days of the week: To/from the USA, especially in business class, Qatar often only offers awards seats for Mon..Thu departures, not Fri..Sun departures. So makes sure you check different parts of the week, and not just always weekends (if you're not finding anything on weekends).
NOTE: At DOH / Hamad International Airport, lounges as follows:
Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Lounge (not a oneworld lounge): only accessible to those flying First Class on Qatar or oneworld airlines and QRPC Platniums flying in ticketed Business (not oneworld Emeralds flying other lower classes of service)
Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge (not a oneworld lounge): only accessible to those flying Business Class on Qatar or oneworld (not oneworld Sapphire flying lower classes of service)
Oryx Lounge: Third party lounge.
Qatar Airways HIA First Class Lounge (oneworld lounge): First Class ticketed customers, Emerald members, as well as their accompanying guests, travelling on Qatar Airways and other oneworld member flights.
Qatar Airways HIA Business Class Lounge (oneworld lounge): First and Business Class ticketed customers, Emerald and Sapphire members, as well as their accompanying guests, travelling on Qatar Airways and other oneworld member flights.
Arrivals Lounges (not oneworld lounges): only accessible to those arriving in First or Business Class on Qatar Airways (not oneworld Sapphire flying other oneworld airlines or other classes of service)
See FT: QR Lounges at HIA
Selecting Qatar Airways Seats
If you want to assign a seat after booking an award, you should first try the Qatar website or app. If you experience issues, please try a partner site like Royal Jordanian, Malaysia Airlines, or Sri-Lankan. You can also reach out to the QR Twitter team to fix your record in order to be able to select seats on their own site.
- Sapphire+ status pax are temporarily allowed to use the Al Mourjan Business Lounge
- Only tickets issued on QR 157 stock are eligible for the Extending Our Commitment (EOC) rebooking policy
For further information on AA awards see:
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion
and
AA oneworld and Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (2015 on)
N.B. Upgrades on QR book into fares not granted EQD/EQM by AA. If you're upgraded on QR, be prepared for pushback from some AA agents. You may have to submit a formal request with accompanying documentation reflecting you purchased an eligible fare class.
NOTE:AA has removed most EY and QR award access from aa.com due to a glitch booking these:
From One Mile at a Time (link)
Bottom Line
For the time being you’ll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that aren’t for travel to & from the US or Canada. It makes sense that American took these awards “offline,” and now it also makes sense why so many passengers have been having issues with checked bags on awards.
Bottom Line
For the time being you’ll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that aren’t for travel to & from the US or Canada. It makes sense that American took these awards “offline,” and now it also makes sense why so many passengers have been having issues with checked bags on awards.
NOTE: USA Canada travel on QR will earn EQ miles etc. in accordance with the fare class purchased.
Links:
Link to AA.com Qatar miles earning etc.
AA miles earning on QR changed 1 May 2016 (Link):
Minimum miles guarantee applies.
Checking QR award availability:
You can check QR availability on AA's site, BA's site, QF's site, www.awardnexus.com (which pulls from BA and/or QF), or the KVS tool. (A certain number of searches are free to FlyerTalk members at AwardNexus; click the "more signup options" link under the green Purchase button to sign up as a FlyerTalk member.)
When checking QR award availability, you have to check each segment individually. Both BA and QF can generate very misleading information if you try to check QR award availability all the way through [xxx-(DOH)-yyy] in one step. Be aware AA can only book 330 days out, even if you see availability farther out.
Awards on QR may not be visible to AA agents if a multi-segment itinerary is requested; broken into individual segments will generally reveal availability, however.
As well, AA Australia or New Zealand (actually MindPearl in Fiji) can often see and book AA awards on QR US-based ones might not be able to.
From danger: For AA awards, Economy is X, Business is U, First is Z. NOTE: Those with Z (First) awards may see "Z (Business Class)" shown on the QR website; this is a known glitch.
As well, QR sells intra gulf two class service as First and Economy, as AA does domestically. This can cause some issues with a Business flight including a Gulf "First" flight potentially incurring an F award redemption.
From hotelmotel: "Got my QR PNR from AA. Popped over to QR and selected seats." (AAdvantage award.)
Days of the week: To/from the USA, especially in business class, Qatar often only offers awards seats for Mon..Thu departures, not Fri..Sun departures. So makes sure you check different parts of the week, and not just always weekends (if you're not finding anything on weekends).
NOTE: At DOH / Hamad International Airport, lounges as follows:
Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Lounge (not a oneworld lounge): only accessible to those flying First Class on Qatar or oneworld airlines and QRPC Platniums flying in ticketed Business (not oneworld Emeralds flying other lower classes of service)
Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge (not a oneworld lounge): only accessible to those flying Business Class on Qatar or oneworld (not oneworld Sapphire flying lower classes of service)
Oryx Lounge: Third party lounge.
Qatar Airways HIA First Class Lounge (oneworld lounge): First Class ticketed customers, Emerald members, as well as their accompanying guests, travelling on Qatar Airways and other oneworld member flights.
Qatar Airways HIA Business Class Lounge (oneworld lounge): First and Business Class ticketed customers, Emerald and Sapphire members, as well as their accompanying guests, travelling on Qatar Airways and other oneworld member flights.
Arrivals Lounges (not oneworld lounges): only accessible to those arriving in First or Business Class on Qatar Airways (not oneworld Sapphire flying other oneworld airlines or other classes of service)
See FT: QR Lounges at HIA
Selecting Qatar Airways Seats
If you want to assign a seat after booking an award, you should first try the Qatar website or app. If you experience issues, please try a partner site like Royal Jordanian, Malaysia Airlines, or Sri-Lankan. You can also reach out to the QR Twitter team to fix your record in order to be able to select seats on their own site.
Qatar Airways / QR: Redeem AA Miles for Award (master thd)
Dec 11, 2021, 9:19 am
#1876
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 161
Looking to fly Qsuites to the Maldives next November. I live in Connecticut so I can make BOS, JFK, and PHL work within driving distance with BOS being the preference. I’m also willing to take a position flight.
is there a difference between the Qsuites on the 77W - 777 and the Qsuites on the Airbus a350?
is there a difference between the Qsuites on the 77W - 777 and the Qsuites on the Airbus a350?
Dec 11, 2021, 11:52 am
#1877
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Vienna, Austria
Posts: 710
Looking to fly Qsuites to the Maldives next November. I live in Connecticut so I can make BOS, JFK, and PHL work within driving distance with BOS being the preference. I’m also willing to take a position flight.
is there a difference between the Qsuites on the 77W - 777 and the Qsuites on the Airbus a350?
is there a difference between the Qsuites on the 77W - 777 and the Qsuites on the Airbus a350?
Dec 11, 2021, 1:15 pm
#1878
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I have BOS-DOH for 2 on QR J booked with AA award for 12/29. I'm going to DXB. I've been watching for a while for any DOH-DXB award availability to see if I could put it on hold and add it to my existing PNR before paying $500 to flydubai. Pulling up the AA DOH-DXB and looking out from tomorrow thru months ahead, I only see Royal Jordanian (20+ hour flights). Just wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything before I spend the $$$. I couldn't find any way apart from air to get from DOH-DXB. Thanks.
Update: I just tried to toggle on award flights on QR website but it toggles itself back off. Not sure if I actually need Qmiles to search, but it seems it should only be 7K Qmiles/pp for that flight. Makes sense at that rate to xfer UR to Hyatt to QR @ 2.5:1. 35k UR for 2 vs $500. (I have no TYPs). But I don't know if QR has awards available with that auto-toggle off.
Update: I just tried to toggle on award flights on QR website but it toggles itself back off. Not sure if I actually need Qmiles to search, but it seems it should only be 7K Qmiles/pp for that flight. Makes sense at that rate to xfer UR to Hyatt to QR @ 2.5:1. 35k UR for 2 vs $500. (I have no TYPs). But I don't know if QR has awards available with that auto-toggle off.
Dec 11, 2021, 2:04 pm
#1880
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
Looking to fly Qsuites to the Maldives next November. I live in Connecticut so I can make BOS, JFK, and PHL work within driving distance with BOS being the preference. I’m also willing to take a position flight.
is there a difference between the Qsuites on the 77W - 777 and the Qsuites on the Airbus a350?
is there a difference between the Qsuites on the 77W - 777 and the Qsuites on the Airbus a350?
The short answer is that there isn't much difference in the seats themselves, but there are differences in the aircraft configuration that may or may not matter to you. For example, if you tend to be hot on planes (and QR does keep their cabins warmer than, say, AA does) and are traveling with someone and want to be able to interact while seated, be aware that QR does not have individual air nozzles over the center seats of their Airbus aircraft, while they do on their Boeing aircraft
Similarly, only their Boeing aircraft have overhead bins over the center seats. While overhead bin contention occurs less frequently on QR, it does happen.
Another factor is that QR has fewer lavatories per passenger on their Airbus. E.g., their A350-1000 has only three lavs for 46 J passengers while their 777/77W have four lavs for 42. Fewer lavs means more lines and waiting, especially during peak times such as after dinner and before landing. It's worse on overnight flights where PJs are handed out, since many people want to change at the same time.
On the other hand, the A350-1000 has lower cabin altitude (higher air pressure) and humidity than their B777 and B77W aircraft, which does make a difference on a long flight.
Doing a search in the linked thread can provide lots of details and specific comparisons. For example, post 3335.
Dec 14, 2021, 7:56 pm
#1881
Join Date: Apr 2008
Programs: AA EXPLT, Marriott Titanium (LT PLT), HHonors Gold, AMEX PLT, UA Silver, National EXC
Posts: 1,059
I've noticed trying to search that it's only showing Main Cabin availability on AA dot com. For ME/Asia flights on QR and JAL... any ideas why? Maybe I'm just searching the wrong dates - but is there something else as far as J showing on dot com? Do I need to go search elsewhere then call?
EDIT: Nevermind... I found a date on BA and was able to find on AA at least for a return towards end of schedule. Too bad the calendar shows as broken
EDIT: Nevermind... I found a date on BA and was able to find on AA at least for a return towards end of schedule. Too bad the calendar shows as broken
Dec 15, 2021, 2:05 am
#1882
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 154
Looking for advice
Looking to use AA miles to book a QR flight next July, PER-EDI, can see it on Expert Flyer, but it's not showing up on the AA search, is it worth phoning up AA or are QR still keeping back their redemption flights and it would just be a wasted call?
Looking to use AA miles to book a QR flight next July, PER-EDI, can see it on Expert Flyer, but it's not showing up on the AA search, is it worth phoning up AA or are QR still keeping back their redemption flights and it would just be a wasted call?
Dec 15, 2021, 4:57 am
#1883
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 161
Successfully was able to book business class to Maldives. I used the Record Locator on Malaysian Airlines to choose, however all the middle seats are blocked off. My fiancée and I are traveling together under the same record locator so I’m not sure why this would be the case. All seats along the windows are open.
Last edited by dwhelan5; Dec 15, 2021 at 5:22 am
Dec 15, 2021, 6:08 am
#1884
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, LT Gold
Posts: 3,148
Another factor is that QR has fewer lavatories per passenger on their Airbus. E.g., their A350-1000 has only three lavs for 46 J passengers while their 777/77W have four lavs for 42. Fewer lavs means more lines and waiting, especially during peak times such as after dinner and before landing. It's worse on overnight flights where PJs are handed out, since many people want to change at the same time.
On the other hand, the A350-1000 has lower cabin altitude (higher air pressure) and humidity than their B777 and B77W aircraft, which does make a difference on a long flight.
On the other hand, the A350-1000 has lower cabin altitude (higher air pressure) and humidity than their B777 and B77W aircraft, which does make a difference on a long flight.
I like the A350, but it's almost TOO quiet for me. I think I more preferred the 772 on the return with QSuites. And since the 777s have overhead bins in J, I feel like the cabin is cozier and not as open as the A350s.
Dec 15, 2021, 7:49 am
#1885
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
Successfully was able to book business class to Maldives. I used the Record Locator on Malaysian Airlines to choose, however all the middle seats are blocked off. My fiancée and I are traveling together under the same record locator so I’m not sure why this would be the case. All seats along the windows are open.
Dec 15, 2021, 9:12 am
#1886
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,425
Successfully was able to book business class to Maldives. I used the Record Locator on Malaysian Airlines to choose, however all the middle seats are blocked off. My fiancée and I are traveling together under the same record locator so I’m not sure why this would be the case. All seats along the windows are open.
Dec 15, 2021, 7:33 pm
#1887
formerly willbbiddy
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 208
You can look for QR award availability using Expert Flyer or the BA web site. I wouldn't rely entirely on the AA web site. Also, if you do find availability on the AA web site, I wouldn't recommend putting it on hold and then trying to add it to your existing booking. You're more likely to have success calling AA directly (you can try an overseas office). Putting it on hold takes the seat out of inventory, and there's no process for AA reservations agents to move an award flight from one record to another. Cancelling it might or might not cause it to go back into inventory.
How do I see this and set up an alert? All I get is "J9 C9 D9 I0 R0 P0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S0 N0 Q0 T0 O0 W0" I'm looking for 2 U awards I think.
Dec 15, 2021, 7:50 pm
#1888
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937