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Qatar Airways / QR: Redeem AA Miles for Award (master thd)

Old Nov 19, 2013, 3:20 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Prospero
Covid-19 Update:
  • 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
link to QR Travel Alerts)

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.
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.
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Qatar Airways / QR: Redeem AA Miles for Award (master thd)

Old Nov 22, 2018, 12:06 pm
  #511  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 786
Originally Posted by SeeBuyFly
The "no longer available" message appears on aa.com when you are choosing a flight on the first day it becomes available, but including a connection that is the following calendar day (because it's overnight to Doha). It's a bug, AA should not be displaying flights that can't be booked; but it's not a conspiracy.
Really? I'm looking at a flight departing Dec 4th 2019 connecting in DOH on the 5th and getting the "no longer available" message. Flight is available on QF but not BA?
Croupier is offline  
Old Nov 22, 2018, 12:35 pm
  #512  
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Originally Posted by Croupier
Really? I'm looking at a flight departing Dec 4th 2019 connecting in DOH on the 5th and getting the "no longer available" message. Flight is available on QF but not BA?
4/12/2019 is more than a year out and will be outside of system booking period
Dave Noble is offline  
Old Nov 22, 2018, 2:16 pm
  #513  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 786
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
4/12/2019 is more than a year out and will be outside of system booking period
whoops sorry I meant to post 31/01/19, I have 4th of December 18 on my mind due to ZRH-HKG flight Im taking.
Croupier is offline  
Old Nov 22, 2018, 3:19 pm
  #514  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: ROM
Programs: BA Silver, UA, DL Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 321
Originally Posted by rinipiyan
Has anyone been successfully finding QR A380 F availability at all? I know that LHR is no longer bookable, but CDG, BKK, SYD and CAN are completely blank too in both AA and BA search.
Just booked PER-DOH-FRA all on QR A380 F for spring.
MrDplus is offline  
Old Nov 22, 2018, 11:39 pm
  #515  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 589
Originally Posted by MrDplus
Just booked PER-DOH-FRA all on QR A380 F for spring.

Keep an eye out for DOH FRA known for aircraft swaps.
ual902 is offline  
Old Nov 23, 2018, 10:18 am
  #516  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: ROM
Programs: BA Silver, UA, DL Gold, HH Gold
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Originally Posted by ual902
Keep an eye out for DOH FRA known for aircraft swaps.
Thanks for the tip. I'll set up an alert on ExpertFlyer.
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Old Nov 23, 2018, 1:58 pm
  #517  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 786

Just snagged OOL-SYD-DOH-VIE.
777 (showing Q-suites) and A350 on the long hauls. Was hoping to get to KBP but couldnt get around the phantom availability on AA from DOH-KBP, tried both +61 & +1 call centers. I could have got it with Qantas Points for 135k and over $500 in fines but meh Ill take WIZ air VIE-KBP for 27 with 20kg, will be 2hrs later than the direct route.
Departing on the 31st of January, the last day of my QF WP before I gracefully get downgraded to SG, so one last hurrah in the SYD F lounge ))

Last edited by Croupier; Nov 23, 2018 at 2:04 pm
Croupier is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2018, 5:28 am
  #518  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,645
Originally Posted by SeeBuyFly
No idea what you mean by "some sort of a blackout". It's quite common that they get booked up between 355 and 330 days; and on some days, no awards are released (and there is no rule requiring them to release awards).

The "no longer available" message appears on aa.com when you are choosing a flight on the first day it becomes available, but including a connection that is the following calendar day (because it's overnight to Doha). It's a bug, AA should not be displaying flights that can't be booked; but it's not a conspiracy.

That's originally what I thought but even within the range it happens repeatedly. I have been looking for a CDG-AKL... it shows availability on multiple flights but when you go to book it it says it's no longer available. Driving me nuts!
bostontraveler is offline  
Old Nov 30, 2018, 8:58 am
  #519  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 57
Sinagpore to Boston

I've been reading through the AA rules and the exceptions regarding transiting a 3rd zone and I still cannot figure out the answer - Is it allowed to fly from Singapore to Doha and then Doha to Bos on an aadvantage ticket? Or would this be considered two trips?

Thanks!
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Old Nov 30, 2018, 9:01 am
  #520  
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Originally Posted by jeremybe
I've been reading through the AA rules and the exceptions regarding transiting a 3rd zone and I still cannot figure out the answer - Is it allowed to fly from Singapore to Doha and then Doha to Bos on an aadvantage ticket? Or would this be considered two trips?

Thanks!
No, a North America to Asia 2 award cannot transit any 3rd region except Asia 1. SIN-DOH-BOS is bookable with AA miles, but it will require 2 awards, SIN-DOH + DOH-BOS.
JJeffrey is offline  
Old Nov 30, 2018, 9:13 am
  #521  
 
Join Date: May 2003
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Interesting observation...
I have spent hours looking at QR availability both on AA.com and BA.com and have noticed something interesting.
Flights from Europe to the middle east and Asia connecting in DOH are available.
However, there is ZERO availability in Business class to Australia or New Zealand. There were seats before... could QR be clamping down on ultra long-haul OW redemptions?
bostontraveler is offline  
Old Nov 30, 2018, 11:35 am
  #522  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 57
Sorry - This should have been a reply to a message two up from here

Originally Posted by jeremybe
I've been reading through the AA rules and the exceptions regarding transiting a 3rd zone and I still cannot figure out the answer - Is it allowed to fly from Singapore to Doha and then Doha to Bos on an aadvantage ticket? Or would this be considered two trips?

Thanks!

No, a North America to Asia 2 award cannot transit any 3rd region except Asia 1. SIN-DOH-BOS is bookable with AA miles, but it will require 2 awards, SIN-DOH + DOH-BOS.

Thanks - I was afraid of that- That would mean 110K vs 70K or so if I flew via Japan Airlines for example... Doesn't look to be worth it - Although if the availability is there...
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Old Nov 30, 2018, 12:34 pm
  #523  
 
Join Date: May 2003
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If you found availability on JL I would grab it. There is so little availability these days with CX (and ostensibly QR too) cutting back...
bostontraveler is offline  
Old Nov 30, 2018, 2:08 pm
  #524  
 
Join Date: May 2003
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@jeremybe This is a good reference for the routing rules.

https://onemileatatime.com/american-...routing-rules/
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Old Nov 30, 2018, 2:30 pm
  #525  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 57
Originally Posted by bostontraveler
@jeremybe This is a good reference for the routing rules.

https://onemileatatime.com/american-...routing-rules/
Thanks - I'm looking at March of next year - So I have lots of time till flights open up - Just trying to figure out bets mileage options now- I'm hoping for CX to Hong Kong but back home from Singapore is a different story..
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