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)
May 15, 2022, 11:52 pm
#2341
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: So Cal
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 2,703
May 17, 2022, 7:59 am
#2342
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 1,400
Mainly I was thinking about space and windows/positions. Sometimes with certain configurations, folks will say Row 1 has additional room in the footwell. Or there is wonkiness with certain seats being minus or plus a window, or the window is positioned behind you, etc.
My old laptop had bookmarks complied from years of FT research with all these types of discussions for QR and QF. I know the info is buried in these large threads in different places but of course couldn't find much of it again when I tried.
May 17, 2022, 8:35 am
#2343
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 1,400
So, a few months ago I nabbed ORD-DOH-MLE award tickets for early July. Kicking myself now because I didn't book a return at the time. I was waiting to see if Tanzania would change post arrival testing requirements and add a week on there, or if that didn't work out, setting up DOH - wherever was available in Europe, spending a few days, and flying back to the states from there.
I wasn't overly worried, even knowing QR usually blocks North American travel in J after a certain point, because in years past DOH - Europe routes have mostly stayed open. Last night I literally tried probably 60% of all DOH onward (QR operated) destinations, and all of them are blocked in J the entire summer. ~ July 7th - Sept 7th. It doesn't seem worth slogging through the rest - what I found so far seems consistent and systemic.
Anyway - my own stupid fault trying to juggle too many scenarios and waiting too long.
But all this makes me curious how the Award tickets work with partners -- has QR pulled all the J award inventory from AA, or is AA limiting the partner offerings on these routes? Perhaps trying to force customers into spending more for awards on their new DOH-JFK routes (or whatever reasons)?
I wasn't overly worried, even knowing QR usually blocks North American travel in J after a certain point, because in years past DOH - Europe routes have mostly stayed open. Last night I literally tried probably 60% of all DOH onward (QR operated) destinations, and all of them are blocked in J the entire summer. ~ July 7th - Sept 7th. It doesn't seem worth slogging through the rest - what I found so far seems consistent and systemic.
Anyway - my own stupid fault trying to juggle too many scenarios and waiting too long.
But all this makes me curious how the Award tickets work with partners -- has QR pulled all the J award inventory from AA, or is AA limiting the partner offerings on these routes? Perhaps trying to force customers into spending more for awards on their new DOH-JFK routes (or whatever reasons)?
May 17, 2022, 8:43 am
#2344
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,401
So, a few months ago I nabbed ORD-DOH-MLE award tickets for early July. Kicking myself now because I didn't book a return at the time. I was waiting to see if Tanzania would change post arrival testing requirements and add a week on there, or if that didn't work out, setting up DOH - wherever was available in Europe, spending a few days, and flying back to the states from there.
I wasn't overly worried, even knowing QR usually blocks North American travel in J after a certain point, because in years past DOH - Europe routes have mostly stayed open. Last night I literally tried probably 60% of all DOH onward (QR operated) destinations, and all of them are blocked in J the entire summer. ~ July 7th - Sept 7th. It doesn't seem worth slogging through the rest - what I found so far seems consistent and systemic.
Anyway - my own stupid fault trying to juggle too many scenarios and waiting too long.
But all this makes me curious how the Award tickets work with partners -- has QR pulled all the J award inventory from AA, or is AA limiting the partner offerings on these routes? Perhaps trying to force customers into spending more for awards on their new DOH-JFK routes (or whatever reasons)?
I wasn't overly worried, even knowing QR usually blocks North American travel in J after a certain point, because in years past DOH - Europe routes have mostly stayed open. Last night I literally tried probably 60% of all DOH onward (QR operated) destinations, and all of them are blocked in J the entire summer. ~ July 7th - Sept 7th. It doesn't seem worth slogging through the rest - what I found so far seems consistent and systemic.
Anyway - my own stupid fault trying to juggle too many scenarios and waiting too long.
But all this makes me curious how the Award tickets work with partners -- has QR pulled all the J award inventory from AA, or is AA limiting the partner offerings on these routes? Perhaps trying to force customers into spending more for awards on their new DOH-JFK routes (or whatever reasons)?
May 17, 2022, 9:22 am
#2345
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 1,400
This seems more systemic and deliberate, across available routes and dates from ~ the first week of July through the first week of September. More like a blackout.
May 17, 2022, 9:29 am
#2346
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,401
Not sure I agree with this. People change travel plans all the time. Isolated limited availability pops up here and there across routes.
This seems more systemic and deliberate, across available routes and dates from ~ the first week of July through the first week of September. More like a blackout.
This seems more systemic and deliberate, across available routes and dates from ~ the first week of July through the first week of September. More like a blackout.
May 17, 2022, 9:51 am
#2347
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 1,400
I'm not whining; it is what it is. Just curious, especially with the new AA-DOH route.
May 17, 2022, 10:34 am
#2348
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 31
There is a separate FT thread on this very issue here, but I don't think anyone really knows what's going on:
I am in the same situation (my flight not until early August, but not bookable anymore and EF showing all 0's for availability). QR Cargo still shows my flight as operating. I too sent a DM via Twitter and was told my current flights are "confirmed". I guess I will have a keep a close watch on it.
Can you report back here with an update after your trip?
I am in the same situation (my flight not until early August, but not bookable anymore and EF showing all 0's for availability). QR Cargo still shows my flight as operating. I too sent a DM via Twitter and was told my current flights are "confirmed". I guess I will have a keep a close watch on it.
Can you report back here with an update after your trip?
May 17, 2022, 11:07 am
#2349
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 9
Update: This morning I checked my reservation on QR's website and I have been rebooked from QR724 on June 4 to QR726 on June 3. Works fine for me but appears they are finally getting around to cancelling and adjusting flights. The timetables on QR's website are also now updated and show 724 only flying one or two days/week this summer.
May 17, 2022, 12:00 pm
#2350
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 750
thanks for the heads up. Mine was status quo this morning but now AA "can't display trip details". Qatr moved us to the 726 flight (fine by me) but now our connection is about 30 minutes in Ohare. I think AA has some updates to make.LOL
May 17, 2022, 1:08 pm
#2351
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: So Cal
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 2,703
Yeah, I ended up selecting 7. I doubt the lav would bother me too much, but why deal with it on a long flight - especially if everything else is equal. And directly next to the bassinets also, will steer away from if possible.
Mainly I was thinking about space and windows/positions. Sometimes with certain configurations, folks will say Row 1 has additional room in the footwell. Or there is wonkiness with certain seats being minus or plus a window, or the window is positioned behind you, etc.
My old laptop had bookmarks complied from years of FT research with all these types of discussions for QR and QF. I know the info is buried in these large threads in different places but of course couldn't find much of it again when I tried.
Mainly I was thinking about space and windows/positions. Sometimes with certain configurations, folks will say Row 1 has additional room in the footwell. Or there is wonkiness with certain seats being minus or plus a window, or the window is positioned behind you, etc.
My old laptop had bookmarks complied from years of FT research with all these types of discussions for QR and QF. I know the info is buried in these large threads in different places but of course couldn't find much of it again when I tried.
May 18, 2022, 3:48 pm
#2353
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 81
Have a trip coming up to Maldives, DCA-PHL-DOH-MLE. What are the chances I can switch the last leg of DOH-MLE to an earlier flight? Currently, our flight is scheduled to leave at 0825, but I see couple of flights few hours earlier. Our original flight gets in to Male at 1520, which makes our seaplane transfer to our resort risky should we hit any kind of delay.
May 18, 2022, 3:52 pm
#2354
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 31
Have a trip coming up to Maldives, DCA-PHL-DOH-MLE. What are the chances I can switch the last leg of DOH-MLE to an earlier flight? Currently, our flight is scheduled to leave at 0825, but I see couple of flights few hours earlier. Our original flight gets in to Male at 1520, which makes our seaplane transfer to our resort risky should we hit any kind of delay.
May 18, 2022, 3:56 pm
#2355
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 31
That is nice. In 2019 I had a QR award “on request” still 48 hours before departure. Called AA and was assured it would be ticketed in time. Got an email a few hours later from AA all in German! Found out it was my ticketing confirmation.