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)
Nov 26, 2022, 5:48 pm
#2881
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
It's a solid place to stay with decent sound proofing. I was happy I went this route on the way home from the Maldives even though it is a bit pricey.
Nov 26, 2022, 6:00 pm
#2882
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Programs: AA EXP; United 1K, Delta, IHG Plat Amb, PE, Marriott/Hilton Gold
Posts: 749
btw. Never had an issue with Qatar and them checking through bags for really long layover. Just keep a small overnight bag with you.
Nov 26, 2022, 8:28 pm
#2883
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,597
Never likely to have an issue with bags checked through - the issue you are more likely to have is if you want to collect the bags at Doha. On a lot of QR fares , it actually has a restriction that collecting bags at Doha on a connection is not permitted
Nov 26, 2022, 9:00 pm
#2884
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,445
Great. Have no interest in collecting checked bags… good riddance until arrival at home 😀
Nov 26, 2022, 11:30 pm
#2885
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: AA 1MM EXP, DL Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Ambassador (RIP SPG), Aeroplan 75K
Posts: 1,157
I missed the point that you used miles so you should be set re: AM access given that not all business fares qualify. I’ve done the hotel and AS sleep rooms before and agree that having an actual bed is nice. Depending on the hotel price, you can always try AS lounge access and ditch the hotel.
Dec 7, 2022, 9:37 am
#2886
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 5
Looking into booking Qsuites for JNB-DOH-XXX (XXX- open to multiple US hubs). I'm wondering if I booked JNB-DOH now, then book DOH-XXX later, would it still be 75k AA miles? Would there be any risk in me booking JNB-DOH now just to hold it, until DOH-XXX possibly opens up?
Dec 7, 2022, 9:47 am
#2887
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,152
Looking into booking Qsuites for JNB-DOH-XXX (XXX- open to multiple US hubs). I'm wondering if I booked JNB-DOH now, then book DOH-XXX later, would it still be 75k AA miles? Would there be any risk in me booking JNB-DOH now just to hold it, until DOH-XXX possibly opens up?
Dec 7, 2022, 9:55 am
#2888
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,880
Looking into booking Qsuites for JNB-DOH-XXX (XXX- open to multiple US hubs). I'm wondering if I booked JNB-DOH now, then book DOH-XXX later, would it still be 75k AA miles? Would there be any risk in me booking JNB-DOH now just to hold it, until DOH-XXX possibly opens up?
Dec 7, 2022, 11:14 am
#2889
Join Date: May 2019
Programs: Virtuoso
Posts: 27
Lap Infant ticketing update
Just wanted to provide everyone with an update from my previous post and everyone’s responses.
quick background: booked an award ticket on AA for QR operated flights for 2023 in J class. Ticket is 001 stock and both AA and QR customer service over the phone said they cannot ticket a lap infant on an award ticket.
update: I was in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup and the day of departure from Doha I arrived an extra 30 minutes early to the airport and made by way to the premium customer service/ticket desk located between first and business class check-in. I provided the agent my QR PNR and requested to add an in lap infant. NO EXCUSES, no BS reasoning and within 10 minutes I was asked to pay 10% of the fare for the infant addition. Received both printed and email copies of the in lap infant ticket which is issued on QR ticket stock and associated with the 001 stock ticket.
Agent told me any US based customer article agent should be able to do it as well however we have no call centers here anymore. I’m glad it worked but only because I happened to be in Doha. I wonder if the same could have applied at any ticketing counter in the US where QR flys.
quick background: booked an award ticket on AA for QR operated flights for 2023 in J class. Ticket is 001 stock and both AA and QR customer service over the phone said they cannot ticket a lap infant on an award ticket.
update: I was in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup and the day of departure from Doha I arrived an extra 30 minutes early to the airport and made by way to the premium customer service/ticket desk located between first and business class check-in. I provided the agent my QR PNR and requested to add an in lap infant. NO EXCUSES, no BS reasoning and within 10 minutes I was asked to pay 10% of the fare for the infant addition. Received both printed and email copies of the in lap infant ticket which is issued on QR ticket stock and associated with the 001 stock ticket.
Agent told me any US based customer article agent should be able to do it as well however we have no call centers here anymore. I’m glad it worked but only because I happened to be in Doha. I wonder if the same could have applied at any ticketing counter in the US where QR flys.
Dec 9, 2022, 12:03 pm
#2890
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cape Cod, MA, USA
Programs: American Airlines - Executive Platinum / Marriott - Ambassador
Posts: 45
QR First Award Space not bookable by AA agents
I have AA reward tickets on 001 stock on QR going from the US to DOH to MLE next month. Since QR added first class to the DOH/MLE flights, I have seen award space open up in First (Z) on that leg, both while looking on BA, but also on AA's website and app as bookable. I have chatted, talked (even to the AUS call center), and even DM'd on Twitter to change my flights and upgrade my award to a First award and take advantage of those seats. Despite the fact that they say they see the space on the website, it is not bookable in their systems and there is nothing they can do.
Has anyone else run into this or a similar issue? Am I out of luck or is there anything I can do to grab the upgraded award space before it goes away? I wanted to make this trip as special as possible!
Has anyone else run into this or a similar issue? Am I out of luck or is there anything I can do to grab the upgraded award space before it goes away? I wanted to make this trip as special as possible!
Dec 9, 2022, 1:52 pm
#2891
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 234
I have AA reward tickets on 001 stock on QR going from the US to DOH to MLE next month. Since QR added first class to the DOH/MLE flights, I have seen award space open up in First (Z) on that leg, both while looking on BA, but also on AA's website and app as bookable. I have chatted, talked (even to the AUS call center), and even DM'd on Twitter to change my flights and upgrade my award to a First award and take advantage of those seats. Despite the fact that they say they see the space on the website, it is not bookable in their systems and there is nothing they can do.
Has anyone else run into this or a similar issue? Am I out of luck or is there anything I can do to grab the upgraded award space before it goes away? I wanted to make this trip as special as possible!
Has anyone else run into this or a similar issue? Am I out of luck or is there anything I can do to grab the upgraded award space before it goes away? I wanted to make this trip as special as possible!
But wouldn’t your AA award go up in price? If they did see it and changed it to F?
We did Zrh-Doh-Mle in first and to be honest the 4.5 hours went by really fast because it was 2AM departure.
Dec 9, 2022, 8:01 pm
#2892
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: AA 1MM EXP, DL Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Ambassador (RIP SPG), Aeroplan 75K
Posts: 1,157
Dec 9, 2022, 11:19 pm
#2893
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: So Cal
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 2,701
QR has Krug?? B/c I'm not getting it at Soho how the original menu said & the bloggers all touted. I just bumped up from J to F on DOH-BKK. Wanted to try their A380 and compare to Emirates. Krug would be a huge bonus... Cant wait to compare it to the Dom EK had (oddly prefer LPGS over the Dom EK had).
Dec 9, 2022, 11:20 pm
#2894
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: So Cal
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 2,701
QR has Krug?? B/c I'm not getting it at Chelsea how the original menu said & the bloggers all touted (nice AA). I just bumped up from J to F on DOH-BKK. Wanted to try their A380 and compare to Emirates. Krug would be a huge bonus... Cant wait to compare it to the Dom EK had (oddly prefer LPGS over the Dom EK had).
Dec 12, 2022, 7:08 am
#2895
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cape Cod, MA, USA
Programs: American Airlines - Executive Platinum / Marriott - Ambassador
Posts: 45
It would go up in price, but I am ok with that. If I had the option to book in F originally, I would have. Trying to make this trip as special as possible! I have decided to check it every 5 days or so and while still available reach out to the Twitter Team to ask them to check again and/or Contact QR or put in a ticket to get it resolved... Hopefully I will eventually get a Twitter Rep that knows what to do.