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 19, 2022, 10:09 pm
#2371
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: AA 1MM CK, DL Plat, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Ambassador (RIP SPG), BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,166
That's the exact scenario I'm in. I don't mind paying the extra miles/$$, but I don't want to risk losing the ticket in the process of rebooking, as there is zero availability from the US to DOH. We'll just have to pray we land on time to make the transfer at this point. Appreciate your post.
Was booked on DOH-JFK in J from the end of January departing on 5/19. I booked a JFK-BOS segment to get me home. Space on DOH-LHR-BOS (Q-suites then BA F) opened up. Longer journey, but it’s much nicer to walk off the plane in Boston versus JFK then fly up. I immediately put it on hold and called up. Travel was commencing ~20 hours from all of this.
The agent said the ordering of events was to cancel my confirmed ticket then ticket the new flights / send to QR and BA. If both were still live, QR would cancel both as they’d be overlapping. The agent said that I needed to be okay with being stranded in Doha if the ticket was bounced back. She wanted to ensure I understood the risk before proceeding, which I did. Like I said, it all worked out (ticketed within 75 minutes) and I’m currently having a glass of champagne in the AS lounge thanks to the inbound F from Male. Also holding the BA F ticket on QR stock, which is nice as I can’t obtain a BA mobile boarding pass.
Two other things:
1) Even though my JFK flight was cancelled, the agent in Male showed me as still checked in and asked where I wanted to go. (Male to Doha was a separate PNR).
2) I mentioned it in the “QR misery” thread, but the agent in Male linked my separate PNRs together. It popped up on her end (despite not being linked) and she then formally linked it up. It may have also had to do with the test requirement to re-enter the US. My guess is that it looks for all flights on a given day associated with a the traveler.
May 20, 2022, 4:08 am
#2372
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
But I don't think that they can sell a separate ticket for it
c.f. person has a ticket JFK-LHR and then decides wants to start from ORD. Easy to change the booking to be ORD-LHR via JFK, but if wanting to purchase a separate ticket ORD-JFK, that isn't doable
Also where a through fare exists, getting the airline to issue a through itinerary consisting of 2 separate fares is , ime, not possible with AA
Maybe it can be done, but it seems moot since the passenger seems to be sticking to original 70k itinerary
c.f. person has a ticket JFK-LHR and then decides wants to start from ORD. Easy to change the booking to be ORD-LHR via JFK, but if wanting to purchase a separate ticket ORD-JFK, that isn't doable
Also where a through fare exists, getting the airline to issue a through itinerary consisting of 2 separate fares is , ime, not possible with AA
Maybe it can be done, but it seems moot since the passenger seems to be sticking to original 70k itinerary
Forcing a fare break is something not all AA reservations agents are knowledgable about. They can call Tariff (the rate desk) to do it, but not all Tariff agents are knowledgable either. In theory it can be done, but in practice depends on which agents one gets. Fare breaks can be used on one ticket, or separate tickets can be used for force it. (To issue separate tickets out of one itinerary, the agent indicates which segments are to be ticketed, and tickets those.)
May 20, 2022, 4:11 am
#2373
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
That's a "reinstate/reclaim" and applies to the miles (certificate) ad is required when changing the type of award or the origination (not the destination). It doesn't require cancelling and rebooking the held segments.
May 20, 2022, 4:17 am
#2374
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
The agent said the ordering of events was to cancel my confirmed ticket then ticket the new flights / send to QR and BA. If both were still live, QR would cancel both as they’d be overlapping. The agent said that I needed to be okay with being stranded in Doha if the ticket was bounced back. She wanted to ensure I understood the risk before proceeding, which I did.
May 20, 2022, 7:22 am
#2375
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: AA 1MM CK, DL Plat, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Ambassador (RIP SPG), BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,166
That was my initial ask, but she was adamant that everything would have been immediately cancelled, and AA would have done similar due to my JFK-BOS leg. I agree reality is different, but no sense in arguing. (Though I would probably feel differently if it didn’t work out!)
May 22, 2022, 1:38 pm
#2376
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 31
I'm going MSP>ORD>DOH next week. Going to spend some time in the Flagship Lounge at T3 before heading over to T5 for the QR flight. Is QR going to want me to re-check-in with them over at T5? And if so, should I do that at the counter before going through security? Or will the boarding pass I get when I check-in with AA at MSP be enough?
May 22, 2022, 1:53 pm
#2377
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 750
I'm going MSP>ORD>DOH next week. Going to spend some time in the Flagship Lounge at T3 before heading over to T5 for the QR flight. Is QR going to want me to re-check-in with them over at T5? And if so, should I do that at the counter before going through security? Or will the boarding pass I get when I check-in with AA at MSP be enough?
You may or may not be asked for visa/covid info at Qatar gate. We were on our last trip on that exact same route last month but not last fall. Still, no need to go to the main Qatar checkin counter
i will add, we had one extended layover in DOH where AA in MSP could not check through our bags ((12hour rule). We did go to the Qatar checkin counter in ORD. They called baggage and retagged our bags to be checked through. Generally, we like the Qatar ground crew in ORD
May 22, 2022, 3:17 pm
#2378
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 31
boarding pass is fine to get through T5 security at ORD.
You may or may not be asked for visa/covid info at Qatar gate. We were on our last trip on that exact same route last month but not last fall. Still, no need to go to the main Qatar checkin counter
i will add, we had one extended layover in DOH where AA in MSP could not check through our bags ((12hour rule). We did go to the Qatar checkin counter in ORD. They called baggage and retagged our bags to be checked through. Generally, we like the Qatar ground crew in ORD
You may or may not be asked for visa/covid info at Qatar gate. We were on our last trip on that exact same route last month but not last fall. Still, no need to go to the main Qatar checkin counter
i will add, we had one extended layover in DOH where AA in MSP could not check through our bags ((12hour rule). We did go to the Qatar checkin counter in ORD. They called baggage and retagged our bags to be checked through. Generally, we like the Qatar ground crew in ORD
May 22, 2022, 4:53 pm
#2379
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 750
Oh this is good to know. We have a little over 12 hour layover in ORD (gotta love sAAver availability...), then another 8 hour layover at DOH before final destination of MLE. Hoping they can check-through all the way to MLE with that schedule? I'm wasn't planning on completing any of the necessary entry requirements for Qatar since we're just staying in the airport.
The DOH layover shouldn’t be an issue.
been there done that (and doing it again coming up) with award flights. 😁
Last edited by aj411; May 22, 2022 at 5:07 pm
May 23, 2022, 1:29 am
#2380
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 8
There is some blocking of award seats going on for sure. For example, I was only able to book 2 award business seats on QR from SEA-DEL for March 2023. And now, there isn’t one available at all on AA. Even on QR website, it’s for 2x Avios. Not sure what’s going on.
May 23, 2022, 6:37 am
#2381
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 1,400
This year that's not happening. While I certainly agree with those who attribute it to pent up travel demand -- that that's certainly part of it and makes it harder this year --- it doesn't explain it all IMO. People still adjust their travel plans and cancel awards. Even more so with no AA redeposit fees. What I'm seeing seems too uniform and consistent not to be an intentional block.
Unless one is willing to route through JFK on the new AA flights to/from DOH and other carriers than QR to Europe. Then there's a plethora of award options available.
May 23, 2022, 7:21 am
#2382
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP (OWE), VA PLAT, EY GLD, SPG PLAT, Hyatt DIA, Hilton DIA, Hertz PC
Posts: 8,527
EY, EK, QF, QR and many others are not offering premium awards because people are willing to pay for them and cabins are flying full.
In the case of EK, upgrades might be available but not full redemptions.
May 23, 2022, 7:58 am
#2383
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 1,400
"Blocking" to me could mean either. That 1) AA is blocking the partner awards from AA Award inventory, or that 2) QR is blocking (not releasing) premium awards to AA during select periods nor allowing them back into inventory.
May 23, 2022, 8:48 am
#2384
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,403
I don't consider releasing 2 seats as "blocking", as pretty much no carrier makes ALL seats on a plane available for awards, and even less for partners. Same applies to EY.
May 23, 2022, 9:43 pm
#2385
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP (OWE), VA PLAT, EY GLD, SPG PLAT, Hyatt DIA, Hilton DIA, Hertz PC
Posts: 8,527
I may not have been using "blocking" precisely enough. I agree with what you're saying, that this is very possibly the reason.
"Blocking" to me could mean either. That 1) AA is blocking the partner awards from AA Award inventory, or that 2) QR is blocking (not releasing) premium awards to AA during select periods nor allowing them back into inventory.
"Blocking" to me could mean either. That 1) AA is blocking the partner awards from AA Award inventory, or that 2) QR is blocking (not releasing) premium awards to AA during select periods nor allowing them back into inventory.