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 youll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that arent 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 youll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that arent 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)
#2281
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,927
Am seeing great QR U availability in March 2023. If I book the flight, then QR (a) reschedules or (b) cancels, am I in trouble unless there is another flight with U availability?
I feel like it's a catch 22, you need to book early to get the award space before other people, but QR could also make life difficult.
I feel like it's a catch 22, you need to book early to get the award space before other people, but QR could also make life difficult.
Where it can be a problem is if the connecting flights are on another carrier and there's no award availability on alternate flights and AA doesn't have flights that can be substituted. In this situation, AA will ask QR to move you to a flight with a valid connection. If QR isn't willing, then there is a problem.
#2283
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 744
As of now, it looks like we may one of the last to have reserved seats on the flight on our day.
We had a DOH>ORD flight come through as cancelled just last week so I expect these August flights to come through as cancelled soon. Keep check your reservation
Last edited by aj411; Apr 26, 2022 at 2:41 pm
#2284
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 9
we have confirmed reservation on the same flight in August (though likely not the same day). Waiting for the official cancellation/reschedule to come through. I already have alternatives ready if I dont like where they put us. The last reschedule they sent us was for two days later. Easily fixed back to a same day arrival with one phone call but Ive not been thrilled with their first attempts at reschedules lately.
As of now, it looks like we may one of the last to have reserved seats on the flight on our day.
We had a DOH>ORD flight come through as cancelled just last week so I expect these August flights to come through as cancelled soon. Keep check your reservation
As of now, it looks like we may one of the last to have reserved seats on the flight on our day.
We had a DOH>ORD flight come through as cancelled just last week so I expect these August flights to come through as cancelled soon. Keep check your reservation
#2285
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 744
do you have expert flyer? I use that to check alternative flights and get an idea how full the flight is. Right now most of the other alternatives for us are pretty empty. There is an earlier evening flight to Doha
#2286
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 9
No, unfortunately I don't have expert flyer. I did manually search all USA-DOH routes today and found zero saver space all of August. The earlier ORD-DOH flight would be ideal if they could rebook us on that.
#2287
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: TVC
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLT., Marriott LT GLD
Posts: 503
We are in the same position. CPT for about $20K worth of safari travel for our 40th anniversary. AA miles ORD-DOH 9/10 and back 9/30. Both showing 0.
I actually prefer the 1900ish from ORD, and the earlier departure from DOH might save us a forced overnight.
Will be watching this very carefully and subscribing to this thread.
I actually prefer the 1900ish from ORD, and the earlier departure from DOH might save us a forced overnight.
Will be watching this very carefully and subscribing to this thread.
#2288
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 744
I think we all may meet in the lounge in Doha at this rate. Lol.
#2289
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,290
We are in the same position. CPT for about $20K worth of safari travel for our 40th anniversary. AA miles ORD-DOH 9/10 and back 9/30. Both showing 0.
I actually prefer the 1900ish from ORD, and the earlier departure from DOH might save us a forced overnight.
Will be watching this very carefully and subscribing to this thread.
I actually prefer the 1900ish from ORD, and the earlier departure from DOH might save us a forced overnight.
Will be watching this very carefully and subscribing to this thread.
#2290
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 744
#2291
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,290
#2292
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: TVC
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLT., Marriott LT GLD
Posts: 503
#2293
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,927
AA can't overbook on partner airlines. As I explained just a few posts up, when a partner airline cancels a flight, they normally move passengers onto alternate flights. If that happens, as long as your connections are OK, just check your seats and call AA to reissue the ticket. If your connections are affected, then find alternates and call AA. AA can overbook you onto AA flights. If the flight cancels and QR didn't move you to another flight (which would be unusual), then you can call AA and ask them to ask QR to put you on an alternate flight (you can request a specific flight). There's no guarantee in this situation, but hopefully they will accommodate. I wouldn't expect it to come to that, though.
#2294
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: DFW
Programs: AA, 3MM
Posts: 37
I am starting the process to book an awards trip to MLE from DFW for the wife and I. Just doing a "pick a date" and seeing if there is available award seats is ridiculous and was going to get EF so I could actually see when there is open award inventory. I don't have a specific date in mind, just need to know when available and thought EF was the way to go. But, if EF cannot show me QR it does me no good.
I appreciate anyone's comments regarding EF and QR info/updates.
Thanks
#2295
Left Expert Flyer 4/23
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,741
Is this still the case??
I am starting the process to book an awards trip to MLE from DFW for the wife and I. Just doing a "pick a date" and seeing if there is available award seats is ridiculous and was going to get EF so I could actually see when there is open award inventory. I don't have a specific date in mind, just need to know when available and thought EF was the way to go. But, if EF cannot show me QR it does me no good.
I appreciate anyone's comments regarding EF and QR info/updates.
Thanks
I am starting the process to book an awards trip to MLE from DFW for the wife and I. Just doing a "pick a date" and seeing if there is available award seats is ridiculous and was going to get EF so I could actually see when there is open award inventory. I don't have a specific date in mind, just need to know when available and thought EF was the way to go. But, if EF cannot show me QR it does me no good.
I appreciate anyone's comments regarding EF and QR info/updates.
Thanks