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)
Dec 6, 2020, 1:24 pm
#1427
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,639
We usually book QR in biz from a low-cost city in Europe to LAX/return and too often it seems QR hasn't published a biz fare for the route. Perhaps designed to 'save' the DOH-LAX capacity for more lucrative pairings. Or to placate AA, back when they weren't getting along.
Dec 6, 2020, 1:49 pm
#1428
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
My recollection is that QR does use married segment availability for award classes
Dec 8, 2020, 2:39 pm
#1429
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,437
Can you guys chime in how you resolved your issues with qr. Here is what happened to me.
I booked dca-clt-atl-doh-mle ow in all award business 8 months or so ago(flight is in 3 weeks). Called last week to see what they could do to reaccomodate. The lady says dca-ord-doh-mle but doh-mle in economy. I firmly decline her alternative. I checked my pnr a couple of hours later and despite my disapproval she still reissued my ticket through ord.
I have called numerous times and apparently my ticket has been sent to the qr liason and it has been on request for the past week. Now from what I have read so far there is a slim chance that I will ever get the biz seat to mle. I have no idea what to do. I would fly ba but they also denied that because of avail. I would also fly dca-ord-doh-maa-cmb-mle but there is no avail on cmb-mle so they can't ticket that either with all else in business. Regardless of what I try there is no connection that will get me to mle in style. It's their mistake and yet they can't help me when they messed up. The twitter team apparently disciplined the agent because I sent them recording that I firmly declined their alternative. But that does not help me sadly.
Anyone been in the same boat before?
I booked dca-clt-atl-doh-mle ow in all award business 8 months or so ago(flight is in 3 weeks). Called last week to see what they could do to reaccomodate. The lady says dca-ord-doh-mle but doh-mle in economy. I firmly decline her alternative. I checked my pnr a couple of hours later and despite my disapproval she still reissued my ticket through ord.
I have called numerous times and apparently my ticket has been sent to the qr liason and it has been on request for the past week. Now from what I have read so far there is a slim chance that I will ever get the biz seat to mle. I have no idea what to do. I would fly ba but they also denied that because of avail. I would also fly dca-ord-doh-maa-cmb-mle but there is no avail on cmb-mle so they can't ticket that either with all else in business. Regardless of what I try there is no connection that will get me to mle in style. It's their mistake and yet they can't help me when they messed up. The twitter team apparently disciplined the agent because I sent them recording that I firmly declined their alternative. But that does not help me sadly.
Anyone been in the same boat before?
Last edited by libuser; Dec 8, 2020 at 3:50 pm
Dec 8, 2020, 2:47 pm
#1430
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
Can you guys chime in how you resolved your issues with qr. Here is what happened to me.
I booked dca-clt-atl-doh-mle ow in all business 8 months or so ago(flight is in 3 weeks). Called last week to see what they could do to reaccomodate. The lady says dca-ord-doh-mle but doh-mle in economy. I firmly decline her alternative. I checked my pnr a couple of hours later and despite my disapproval she still reissued my ticket through ord.
I have called numerous times and apparently my ticket has been sent to the qr liason and it has been on request for the past week. Now from what I have read so far there is a slim chance that I will ever get the biz seat to mle. I have no idea what to do. I would fly ba but they also denied that because of avail. I would also fly dca-ord-doh-maa-cmb-mle but there is no avail on cmb-mle so they can't ticket that either with all else in business. Regardless of what I try there is no connection that will get me to mle in style. It's their mistake and yet they can't help me when they messed up. The twitter team apparently disciplined the agent because I sent them recording that I firmly declined their alternative. But that does not help me sadly.
Anyone been in the same boat before?
I booked dca-clt-atl-doh-mle ow in all business 8 months or so ago(flight is in 3 weeks). Called last week to see what they could do to reaccomodate. The lady says dca-ord-doh-mle but doh-mle in economy. I firmly decline her alternative. I checked my pnr a couple of hours later and despite my disapproval she still reissued my ticket through ord.
I have called numerous times and apparently my ticket has been sent to the qr liason and it has been on request for the past week. Now from what I have read so far there is a slim chance that I will ever get the biz seat to mle. I have no idea what to do. I would fly ba but they also denied that because of avail. I would also fly dca-ord-doh-maa-cmb-mle but there is no avail on cmb-mle so they can't ticket that either with all else in business. Regardless of what I try there is no connection that will get me to mle in style. It's their mistake and yet they can't help me when they messed up. The twitter team apparently disciplined the agent because I sent them recording that I firmly declined their alternative. But that does not help me sadly.
Anyone been in the same boat before?
Dec 8, 2020, 3:59 pm
#1432
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
Why did you need to be reaccommodated or do you mean that you just wanted to change the booking?
Unless QR chooses to allow the award booking, then I think that your choices are to either cancel or travel in economy for the DOH-MLE sector
Unless QR chooses to allow the award booking, then I think that your choices are to either cancel or travel in economy for the DOH-MLE sector
Dec 8, 2020, 4:14 pm
#1433
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,437
because i knew that atl-doh was no more and they did not proactively put me on new flights, my itin stayed as booked for at least 7+ months. So I called and asked what are the alternatives.
Last edited by libuser; Dec 8, 2020 at 4:43 pm
Dec 8, 2020, 7:46 pm
#1434
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,467
and I checked just now, and AA is showing J award availability (on the SFO-DOH segment, I didn't check SFO-xDOH-MLE)
The problems might be:
- too big a detour for you
- QR does not have an allowed routing WAS-MLE via SFO (per ExpertFlyer)
Since AA messed up your booking, maybe it can change your ticket to be SFO-MLE rtn and AA adds on DCA-SFO return
Dec 8, 2020, 9:33 pm
#1435
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
With the extra information provided, it doesn't seem that AA messed up the booking - it has now rebooked the passenger on flights that exist rather than an unusable itinerary
The poster hasn't ended up in a worse state due to AA's actions, but in a better one - just not what is wanted
Given that QR seems to have cancelled a flight, it may well rebook into business as requested, but cannot see AA offering a free award flight to SFO
The poster hasn't ended up in a worse state due to AA's actions, but in a better one - just not what is wanted
Given that QR seems to have cancelled a flight, it may well rebook into business as requested, but cannot see AA offering a free award flight to SFO
Dec 8, 2020, 9:47 pm
#1436
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,437
With the extra information provided, it doesn't seem that AA messed up the booking - it has now rebooked the passenger on flights that exist rather than an unusable itinerary
The poster hasn't ended up in a worse state due to AA's actions, but in a better one - just not what is wanted
Given that QR seems to have cancelled a flight, it may well rebook into business as requested, but cannot see AA offering a free award flight to SFO
The poster hasn't ended up in a worse state due to AA's actions, but in a better one - just not what is wanted
Given that QR seems to have cancelled a flight, it may well rebook into business as requested, but cannot see AA offering a free award flight to SFO
Dec 8, 2020, 10:07 pm
#1437
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
well it was aa's fault that they reissued the ticket without my approval. If they did not do that 24 hrs before takeoff it would have gone to airport control which would have put me on any open seat award or revenue. I would have been able to get on IAD-DOH-MLE all in biz and not mess with call centers. I wish that is what happened
What you have now is flights that will get you to your destination , albeit with one sector downgraded , with the potential that QR will action the request to rebook in original class of service
Dec 8, 2020, 10:32 pm
#1438
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,437
No it wouldn't - it would have got you to an airport and QR telling you that your fliught was cancelled and that you need to get your agent to rebook
What you have now is flights that will get you to your destination , albeit with one sector downgraded , with the potential that QR will action the request to rebook in original class of service
What you have now is flights that will get you to your destination , albeit with one sector downgraded , with the potential that QR will action the request to rebook in original class of service
Dec 8, 2020, 10:42 pm
#1439
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
AA could happily complete its sectors
Dec 9, 2020, 7:04 am
#1440
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,437
AA is that evil? My original thought was that they will reaccomodate me on whatever was available since they will see that there was a cancellation in my ressie. If that had happened that would have been extremely douchy on their side.