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)
Sep 16, 2022, 7:36 am
#2686
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: NYC
Posts: 92
I am looking to book Qatar for August 3rd 2023 coming back to East coast.. When do I need to book ? I don't see anything in AA available at all any month from january to august 2023? Did it miss the window? Please let me know here or PM me. Much appreciated it.( Using AA miles only )
Sep 16, 2022, 10:03 am
#2687
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,729
I am looking to book Qatar for August 3rd 2023 coming back to East coast.. When do I need to book ? I don't see anything in AA available at all any month from january to august 2023? Did it miss the window? Please let me know here or PM me. Much appreciated it.( Using AA miles only )
Sep 17, 2022, 11:42 am
#2688
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 17
I have an MIA-DOH-CPT booking in Sept booked through AA. I'd really like to cancel and book with Avios instead since I value AA miles a lot. However, I can't seem to figure out if availability returns to inventory right away. Would the safest way to do this be to call Qatar, and once I have them on the phone, then cancel the AA booking and start the whole thing over? I realize the fees are higher on Qatar, but 150K AA miles are at stake.
Sep 19, 2022, 11:04 pm
#2691
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AS MVP, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 803
Is the availability on QR different for different airlines, or it is just phantom availability on other sites?
I am seeing plenty of IAH-DOH-MLE availability through Alaska's website, however AA's website is showing none.
Is this a problem with AS or a problem with AA?
I am seeing plenty of IAH-DOH-MLE availability through Alaska's website, however AA's website is showing none.
Is this a problem with AS or a problem with AA?
Sep 20, 2022, 5:02 am
#2692
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Miami
Programs: AA EXP (OW EME), Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 441
It can be worthwhile to call AA and check availability. I have often had success recently where QR J/F seats were available on ba.com, but not aa.com. AAgents could see it on their end.
Sep 20, 2022, 10:31 am
#2693
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 6
Schedule Change Resulting in Connection Less Than MCT
I have an AA award ticket for SIN-DOH on QR/J and DOH-AMM on RJ/J. RJ changed my flight such that I only have 45min between the two at DOH. MCT is 45min if both legs are QR.
AA Reservations agent can’t rebook me on the next QR DOH-AMM because it’s intra-gulf and classed as First. But I could accept a voluntary downgrade or write to customer relations for a refund of miles (but no guarantee!).
SIN-DOH is always early by at least 15 minutes though and I won’t have any checked bags.
Any advice on what to do in this vexing scenario?
AA Reservations agent can’t rebook me on the next QR DOH-AMM because it’s intra-gulf and classed as First. But I could accept a voluntary downgrade or write to customer relations for a refund of miles (but no guarantee!).
SIN-DOH is always early by at least 15 minutes though and I won’t have any checked bags.
Any advice on what to do in this vexing scenario?
Sep 20, 2022, 12:57 pm
#2694
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: Denver, CO
Programs: AAdvantage, Hyatt, QR Privilege Club
Posts: 24
Sep 20, 2022, 2:05 pm
#2695
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 223
There already a WC-associated blackout from Mid-Nov to Late-Dec (which actually hugely impacted me), so this new blackout is unrelated. I asked a few weeks back here and on Reddit if anyone had speculation, but it's a complete mystery as said above.
Sep 20, 2022, 2:14 pm
#2696
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,542
I have an AA award ticket for SIN-DOH on QR/J and DOH-AMM on RJ/J. RJ changed my flight such that I only have 45min between the two at DOH. MCT is 45min if both legs are QR.
AA Reservations agent can’t rebook me on the next QR DOH-AMM because it’s intra-gulf and classed as First. But I could accept a voluntary downgrade or write to customer relations for a refund of miles (but no guarantee!).
SIN-DOH is always early by at least 15 minutes though and I won’t have any checked bags.
Any advice on what to do in this vexing scenario?
AA Reservations agent can’t rebook me on the next QR DOH-AMM because it’s intra-gulf and classed as First. But I could accept a voluntary downgrade or write to customer relations for a refund of miles (but no guarantee!).
SIN-DOH is always early by at least 15 minutes though and I won’t have any checked bags.
Any advice on what to do in this vexing scenario?
Sep 25, 2022, 7:57 pm
#2697
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: San Francisco area
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott T
Posts: 457
Folks, I have a sinking feeling that the QR award availability bonanza may be over, and with that the #1 reason for me to earn AA miles at least for the past 5+ years. Previously I would see regular availability in J from DOH to secondary airports in India, now there is zip and nada, looking all the way to next year summer.
Wonder what may be driving this:
- QR gaining enough paying customer base and deciding to cut down the award availability?
- AA acting bad to QR?
- Rev management?
Wonder what may be driving this:
- QR gaining enough paying customer base and deciding to cut down the award availability?
- AA acting bad to QR?
- Rev management?
Sep 26, 2022, 10:41 am
#2699
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Platinum Premier
Posts: 58
Had the usual QR schedule change and notification ~6 months in advance for an AA award booking on QR metal. While schedule times stayed the same, there was a different aircraft loaded in the first of two legs. QR's website shows the updated flight info confirmed, but AA's website just says "please call reservations." Do I have to contact them to have this re-ticketed? Or will it happen automatically in a few days? Appreciate the input!
Sep 29, 2022, 8:40 am
#2700
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: DL (MM), UA(MM) , AA(MM) , Bonvoy - LT Titanium
Posts: 262
I just noticed this as well. I realize AA is trying to redirect passengers to the JFK-DOH flight but at 120K miles each that's pretty steep.
Just curious if anyone has any insights on why AA is not showing any QR availability in J using Award seats.
Just curious if anyone has any insights on why AA is not showing any QR availability in J using Award seats.