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)
Mar 28, 2019, 2:56 pm
#736
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,752
I've been looking for LAX-DOH-SEZ business class award seats at end of schedule. Today, they showed up. But I was unable to book them online. I called AA. The agent was able to book LAX-DOH in biz and DOH-SEZ in coach. I thenused awardnexus. It showed DOH-SEZ in biz using the QF website. So I called AA again (roughly 3 hours after the initial call). No joy. Is there a more reliable predictor of availability than AA or QF? The BA website currently stops about one week before the date of interest to me.
Mar 30, 2019, 2:00 pm
#737
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: NYC
Posts: 214
I'm trying to book BEY-DOH-IAH in business class for May. The AA website shows availability, and BA shows 2 seats on each leg in First for BEY-DOH and Business for DOH-IAH when searched separately. However, when I try to select the QR itinerary, the website tells me that it is no longer available.
If I see each segment separately on BA, then is it really "phantom". Would an agent be able to book this ticket? This would fall under the waived fee of not being able to book on AA.com, right?
*Edit* BA now shows no BEY-DOH availability
If I see each segment separately on BA, then is it really "phantom". Would an agent be able to book this ticket? This would fall under the waived fee of not being able to book on AA.com, right?
*Edit* BA now shows no BEY-DOH availability
Last edited by future elite; Mar 30, 2019 at 2:37 pm
Mar 30, 2019, 2:23 pm
#738
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
The phenomenon you're describing should go under the married segment logic. Try saving it as a multi-segment award. If it's valid, it would go on hold for more miles than a one-way award. At that point you can ask an agent if they could reprice it as a single award. But it's highly unlikely that an agent can override the married segment logic.
Apr 1, 2019, 10:25 am
#740
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 114
Do we know if there is a trend where qatar releases more qsuite award space within 2 weeks of departure? I'm looking to fly Doh to MLE on their flight 672 with Qsuites in May. As of now there is no availability but hoping things open up closer to that date.
I know cathay has a pretty reliable trend but not sure about qatar.
I know cathay has a pretty reliable trend but not sure about qatar.
Apr 1, 2019, 11:56 pm
#741
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
I'm trying to book BEY-DOH-IAH in business class for May. The AA website shows availability, and BA shows 2 seats on each leg in First for BEY-DOH and Business for DOH-IAH when searched separately. However, when I try to select the QR itinerary, the website tells me that it is no longer available.
If I see each segment separately on BA, then is it really "phantom". Would an agent be able to book this ticket? This would fall under the waived fee of not being able to book on AA.com, right?
*Edit* BA now shows no BEY-DOH availability
If I see each segment separately on BA, then is it really "phantom". Would an agent be able to book this ticket? This would fall under the waived fee of not being able to book on AA.com, right?
*Edit* BA now shows no BEY-DOH availability
Apr 2, 2019, 1:48 am
#742
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,277
I've been looking for LAX-DOH-SEZ business class award seats at end of schedule. Today, they showed up. But I was unable to book them online. I called AA. The agent was able to book LAX-DOH in biz and DOH-SEZ in coach. I thenused awardnexus. It showed DOH-SEZ in biz using the QF website. So I called AA again (roughly 3 hours after the initial call). No joy. Is there a more reliable predictor of availability than AA or QF? The BA website currently stops about one week before the date of interest to me.
Apr 7, 2019, 2:51 pm
#743
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 150
I'm having the same struggle in regards to finding availability to India (DEL specifically). I'm a few weeks out from being able to book the flights I need for next March (one way CVG to DEL via DOH), and I'm finding availability a few weeks prior to DOH, but once I try to go to DEL, that's where the unbookable "phantom" issue comes in.
I'm new to AA, QR and Qatar and India in general (I acquired these miles specifically for this trip and have never redeemed miles with AA). Would anyone recommend booking CVG to DOH with miles and then paying for a ticket from DOH to DEL, since it's not that expensive? Or would you advise against that? Any specific issues I could run into with two separate reservations like that? We'll be traveling carry-on only, if that helps.
I'm new to AA, QR and Qatar and India in general (I acquired these miles specifically for this trip and have never redeemed miles with AA). Would anyone recommend booking CVG to DOH with miles and then paying for a ticket from DOH to DEL, since it's not that expensive? Or would you advise against that? Any specific issues I could run into with two separate reservations like that? We'll be traveling carry-on only, if that helps.
Apr 7, 2019, 4:37 pm
#744
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
... Would anyone recommend booking CVG to DOH with miles and then paying for a ticket from DOH to DEL, since it's not that expensive? Or would you advise against that? Any specific issues I could run into with two separate reservations like that? We'll be traveling carry-on only, if that helps.
Apr 7, 2019, 4:41 pm
#745
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 150
I'm new to AA and QR, are you saying I can book CVG-DOH for the 70k business saver, then, IF there's availability on DOH-DEL later I can call AA and ask to add that on with no increase in miles? If no availability ever comes, do you see any issue with booking a separate itinerary and paying for the DOH-DEL segment? Thanks for the help!
Apr 7, 2019, 4:54 pm
#746
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,632
I'm new to AA and QR, are you saying I can book CVG-DOH for the 70k business saver, then, IF there's availability on DOH-DEL later I can call AA and ask to add that on with no increase in miles? If no availability ever comes, do you see any issue with booking a separate itinerary and paying for the DOH-DEL segment? Thanks for the help!
The problem with a separate itinerary is that if you miss the 2nd flight, they are under no obligation to rebook you although they may do so anyway.
If you are seeing availability on CVG-DOH and also DOH-DEL but not CVG-DEL, I suggest calling AA and explaining the problem to see what they can do. But first double-check the availability on ba.com since aa.com can show incorrect availability.
Last edited by SeeBuyFly; Apr 7, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Apr 7, 2019, 4:59 pm
#747
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
I'm new to AA and QR, are you saying I can book CVG-DOH for the 70k business saver, then, IF there's availability on DOH-DEL later I can call AA and ask to add that on with no increase in miles? If no availability ever comes, do you see any issue with booking a separate itinerary and paying for the DOH-DEL segment? Thanks for the help!
Right now your last segment does not look very difficult. I tried clicking through on a random date in Feb'20 and had no "phantom" issue.
Apr 8, 2019, 10:59 pm
#749
Join Date: May 2013
Location: DTW
Programs: AMEX, Ritz LT-Plat Prem, Hyatt Plat, SPG Plat, Hilton Diamond, Delta Plat, United Gold, Sixt Plat
Posts: 866