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 31, 2021, 5:11 am
#1951
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Jan 9, 2022, 10:05 am
#1953
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DFW
Programs: OWE AA EXP;*A TK Gold; Marriott LTT; Hyatt Globalist; IHG Plat; National VIP
Posts: 3,097
QR flights dont show up
When searching to award availability no QR flights appear to show up. Is there a glitch for QR flights for AA redemptions?
Jan 9, 2022, 10:13 am
#1954
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 2,203
Checking random dates to DOH, I am seeing award seats available. Award seats must not be available for your dates, city pairs, and COS that u are checking
Jan 9, 2022, 10:57 am
#1955
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DFW
Programs: OWE AA EXP;*A TK Gold; Marriott LTT; Hyatt Globalist; IHG Plat; National VIP
Posts: 3,097
Thank you for checking. Looking at some random dates Im also now seeing the availability. Apologies for the false alarm.
Jan 11, 2022, 8:51 am
#1957
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DFW
Posts: 1,145
Just got hosed by Qatar due to some arbitrary rule that doesn't even match. Been searching daily for weeks for good flight combos and routing through different US Cities to CMB and back through DOH for qsuites. Finally got settled on some dates, but didn't like the routing, but still booked and figured I'd wait and see what I found as it was the best at the time. Two days later I found a more direct flight back to DFW instead of going through SEA. Put that on hold while I reworked the departure dates. Went back and had to call to book b/c it wouldn't let me online. Agent didn't see any reason for the issue, but went ahead and booked my new flights. Once booked, I planned to cancel the old itin. Checked this morning to see why they hadn't book, new itin was canceled. QR says b/c I was departing within 48 hours, they canceled my booking. This booking could still be on hold until midnight tonight, but now, it's gone. Award space is gone as well. Oh, the the flight difference was 55 hours, so it was already more than 48, so it was outside their rule. What a joke. I'll complain to AA, doubt I'll get anywhere or get that flight back, and go back to drawing board to line these up. So frustrating.
Jan 11, 2022, 9:18 am
#1958
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,347
Quick question, in the wiki it says the following: "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."
I'm planning to fly from Cairo to US and typically J should cost 70k miles. Currently there is availability on CAI-DOH sector in Y only. If premium availability would open up it would be in F and not J from what I could gather so far. Does anyone know how much of a mileage bump from 70k it would be to upgrade the CAI-DOH sector from Y to "F"? Currently I'm booked CAI-DOH (Y) and DOH-US (J) which is 70k miles.
I'm planning to fly from Cairo to US and typically J should cost 70k miles. Currently there is availability on CAI-DOH sector in Y only. If premium availability would open up it would be in F and not J from what I could gather so far. Does anyone know how much of a mileage bump from 70k it would be to upgrade the CAI-DOH sector from Y to "F"? Currently I'm booked CAI-DOH (Y) and DOH-US (J) which is 70k miles.
Jan 11, 2022, 9:57 am
#1959
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,495
Quick question, in the wiki it says the following: "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."
I'm planning to fly from Cairo to US and typically J should cost 70k miles. Currently there is availability on CAI-DOH sector in Y only. If premium availability would open up it would be in F and not J from what I could gather so far. Does anyone know how much of a mileage bump from 70k it would be to upgrade the CAI-DOH sector from Y to "F"? Currently I'm booked CAI-DOH (Y) and DOH-US (J) which is 70k miles.
I'm planning to fly from Cairo to US and typically J should cost 70k miles. Currently there is availability on CAI-DOH sector in Y only. If premium availability would open up it would be in F and not J from what I could gather so far. Does anyone know how much of a mileage bump from 70k it would be to upgrade the CAI-DOH sector from Y to "F"? Currently I'm booked CAI-DOH (Y) and DOH-US (J) which is 70k miles.
You can even verify this yourself if search aa.com and find a date where "First" is available on the intra-gulf segment connecting to business on the long-haul flight. The award prices at 70k with the longhaul segment in 'U' business and intra-gulf segment in 'Z' first.
If you do see space open up and call AA, but the agent doesn't understand the situation or insists it should now be an F award, definitely HUCA.
Jan 11, 2022, 2:22 pm
#1960
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,347
There won't be any mileage bump. That would still price as a 70k business award in spite of QR marketing the highest cabin on the intra-gulf flights as "First".
You can even verify this yourself if search aa.com and find a date where "First" is available on the intra-gulf segment connecting to business on the long-haul flight. The award prices at 70k with the longhaul segment in 'U' business and intra-gulf segment in 'Z' first.
If you do see space open up and call AA, but the agent doesn't understand the situation or insists it should now be an F award, definitely HUCA.
You can even verify this yourself if search aa.com and find a date where "First" is available on the intra-gulf segment connecting to business on the long-haul flight. The award prices at 70k with the longhaul segment in 'U' business and intra-gulf segment in 'Z' first.
If you do see space open up and call AA, but the agent doesn't understand the situation or insists it should now be an F award, definitely HUCA.
Okay, will try that out. Thanks.
Jan 11, 2022, 8:31 pm
#1961
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,408
I don't remember, does AA require availability for the entire routing to make a change/add a segment? I'm contemplating putting YUL-DOH as a booking and hoping DOH-CPT opens up closer to my travel date.
Jan 12, 2022, 4:19 am
#1962
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 217
We have some miles seats booked lhr-doh-mle but the layover in doh is long,I checked again and there is 2 seats available on a earlier flight.
The same reward seats are also available on BA and QR themselves but when I contacted AA they say there is only 1 seat available,anyone any idea what I can do to secure the seats ?
The same reward seats are also available on BA and QR themselves but when I contacted AA they say there is only 1 seat available,anyone any idea what I can do to secure the seats ?
Jan 12, 2022, 4:28 am
#1963
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,495
The problem is that many AA agents are just poorly trained and/or confused by these rules, so some wrongly insist you need availabilty on the whole routing to make a change when you really don't. So you may have to HUCA.
Jan 12, 2022, 4:30 am
#1964
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,495
We have some miles seats booked lhr-doh-mle but the layover in doh is long,I checked again and there is 2 seats available on a earlier flight.
The same reward seats are also available on BA and QR themselves but when I contacted AA they say there is only 1 seat available,anyone any idea what I can do to secure the seats ?
The same reward seats are also available on BA and QR themselves but when I contacted AA they say there is only 1 seat available,anyone any idea what I can do to secure the seats ?
Jan 12, 2022, 10:21 am
#1965
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 217
When you search that flight at aa.com does it show 1 seat available or 2? If aa.com shows 2 seats availabe but the agent could only see 1, then HUCA. But if aa.com only shows 1, and the agent could only see 1, then there's not much you can do as it appears QR is only making 1 seat availabe to AA.
Will try again later