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)
Jul 4, 2020, 12:26 pm
#1232
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond, UA Silver
Posts: 1,366
I’ve recently booked two sets of flights on QR for travel next spring. I found and booked the flights via AA’s website. I was watching for a while for the dates I wanted and can tell you that there was definitely some phantom availability- when I found flights I liked I’d check on BA before trying to book. On general, though, I was surprised at how wide open us-doh was next spring, particularly BOS.
Jul 4, 2020, 1:43 pm
#1233
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, GE
Posts: 5,123
I’ve recently booked two sets of flights on QR for travel next spring. I found and booked the flights via AA’s website. I was watching for a while for the dates I wanted and can tell you that there was definitely some phantom availability- when I found flights I liked I’d check on BA before trying to book. On general, though, I was surprised at how wide open us-doh was next spring, particularly BOS.
Jul 9, 2020, 3:56 am
#1234
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 639
Hi, trying to book MEL-CPH for this month. I can see availability (J) DOH-CPH but nothing MEL-DOH. I know this might related to a married segment issue but why is there award space on MEL-LHR via DOH but not on MEL-CPH? (Same travel dates and similar flight times). Just called American and the agent had the same issue, also said could they could not build itinerary segment by segment as there is no space on MEL-DOH. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
Jul 9, 2020, 6:10 am
#1235
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,494
Hi, trying to book MEL-CPH for this month. I can see availability (J) DOH-CPH but nothing MEL-DOH. I know this might related to a married segment issue but why is there award space on MEL-LHR via DOH but not on MEL-CPH? (Same travel dates and similar flight times). Just called American and the agent had the same issue, also said could they could not build itinerary segment by segment as there is no space on MEL-DOH. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
Also, you should try clicking through to book the MEL-DOH-LHR to make sure its bookable and not some phantom space issue (whereby the MEL-DOH segment really isn't available regardless of where you're connecting to).
If you provide your flight date we can troubleshoot further...
Jul 9, 2020, 6:19 am
#1236
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 639
Thanks. If you want to check any date in July on MEL-CPH that would be great (J). I had a similar issue a few weeks ago, also with QR but on that occasion the AA agent did manage to build the itinerary (not sure if there was availability on MEL-DOH from the start).
Edit: I don't think the MEL-LHR is phantom space as I can go all the way to payment page. Also, I have seen other city pairs available MEL-Europe (J) but not others (even when there is space on their own DOH-XXX).
Edit: I don't think the MEL-LHR is phantom space as I can go all the way to payment page. Also, I have seen other city pairs available MEL-Europe (J) but not others (even when there is space on their own DOH-XXX).
Last edited by Mister P.; Jul 9, 2020 at 6:38 am Reason: Update
Jul 9, 2020, 11:36 am
#1237
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
Hi, trying to book MEL-CPH for this month. I can see availability (J) DOH-CPH but nothing MEL-DOH. I know this might related to a married segment issue but why is there award space on MEL-LHR via DOH but not on MEL-CPH? (Same travel dates and similar flight times). Just called American and the agent had the same issue, also said could they could not build itinerary segment by segment as there is no space on MEL-DOH. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
Jul 12, 2020, 5:39 am
#1239
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,975
Looks like AA cancelled my October MLE-DOH-PHL flights but my outbound DFW-DOH-MLE looks intact as QR isn’t flying to PHL anymore. I wonder what the chances are my outbound stays intact? Anyone have success is getting AA to work with QR go open up space on another route? So far they are just telling me tough luck as there is no business or first award space for 2 passengers on any dates in October.
Jul 13, 2020, 6:00 am
#1240
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 150
Looks like AA cancelled my October MLE-DOH-PHL flights but my outbound DFW-DOH-MLE looks intact as QR isn’t flying to PHL anymore. I wonder what the chances are my outbound stays intact? Anyone have success is getting AA to work with QR go open up space on another route? So far they are just telling me tough luck as there is no business or first award space for 2 passengers on any dates in October.
There's hope, just call AA until you can get them to request QR to open up space via their liaison.
Jul 13, 2020, 6:26 pm
#1241
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
For existing QR awards do married segment rules apply? As in if I want to change a segment availability has to be open on all sectors even if I am only changing the first flight and keeping the second flight?
Trying to get out of a CMB connection in an upcoming MLE-US award. Want to book MLE-DOH nonstop instead connecting to my US bound flight. Thanks!
Trying to get out of a CMB connection in an upcoming MLE-US award. Want to book MLE-DOH nonstop instead connecting to my US bound flight. Thanks!
Jul 13, 2020, 7:16 pm
#1242
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,494
For existing QR awards do married segment rules apply? As in if I want to change a segment availability has to be open on all sectors even if I am only changing the first flight and keeping the second flight?
Trying to get out of a CMB connection in an upcoming MLE-US award. Want to book MLE-DOH nonstop instead connecting to my US bound flight. Thanks!
Trying to get out of a CMB connection in an upcoming MLE-US award. Want to book MLE-DOH nonstop instead connecting to my US bound flight. Thanks!
That is, if the CMB-DOH-USA segments were originally booked as married segments then you (most likely) will not be able to change just one segment without availability on all segments.
But if your flights were not booked as married segments originally, then it should be no problem to change MLE-CMB-DOH to MLE-DOH without affecting your existing DOH-USA segment (or needing availability on that one). In this scenario if you happen to get an agent that insists you need availabity on everything in order to change a segment just HUCA.
Jul 13, 2020, 7:28 pm
#1243
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
Married segment logic is unrelated to the current availability of one or more segments. You're just not able to test if your new segments can be used together with the AA interface b/c one of them has no additional award space. But an airline agent can give you that answer. There's nothing in the desired itin that makes it impossible, and you can't guess the married segment logic without trying.
Jul 17, 2020, 12:19 pm
#1244
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,975
I was supposed to fly CVG-PHL-DOH-DEL in October, but they cancelled my PHL-DOH segment. I was able to call and have AA submit a request to the QR liaison top open up space on ORD-DOH so I could route through ORD instead. After waiting a few weeks I ended up getting an email with a confirmation number and, as of now, everything's confirmed and ticketed with seats assigned via QR's Twitter.
There's hope, just call AA until you can get them to request QR to open up space via their liaison.
There's hope, just call AA until you can get them to request QR to open up space via their liaison.
Jul 18, 2020, 10:18 pm
#1245
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Transit Qatar
Visa, Visa required.
Visa Exemptions:
- Nationals of USA with a normal passport traveling as tourists for a maximum stay of 30 days. They must have a passport valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date.
TWOV (Transit Without Visa):
- Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.
Additional Information:
- Passengers in transit with a pre-arranged Stopover Paid by Carrier (STPC) and a passport valid for a minimum of 3 months are permitted to leave the airport.
James