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 17, 2018, 9:27 pm
#556
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 41
I'm looking to book qsuites to BOS for Jan 2020 and I know it's too early but I've been getting familiar with the process. While looking up seat maps on expertflyer I noticed that some time in October it changes from Qsuites to non-Qsuite A350. Is this a glitch or are Qsuites seasonal on some routes?
Dec 18, 2018, 5:48 am
#557
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,468
I'm looking to book qsuites to BOS for Jan 2020 and I know it's too early but I've been getting familiar with the process. While looking up seat maps on expertflyer I noticed that some time in October it changes from Qsuites to non-Qsuite A350. Is this a glitch or are Qsuites seasonal on some routes?
Dec 19, 2018, 1:20 pm
#558
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 305
I am trying to purchase J tickets on Qatar from DOH to DFW via AA website for November 2019...availability shows just fine, but when I try to proceed, I receive a message "these tickets are no longer available, please modify your search"...when I try a different date in November - same thing...I would have thought that perhaps by November 2019 QR will be out of OneWorld, but then I try the same route but flying BA (for the same day in November 2019), same thing happens again...so it makes me think it's not QR specific...what could it mean?
Dec 20, 2018, 9:47 am
#559
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
Has anybody booked DOH-AMM-DXB ?
Given the current ongoing political debacle that cuts off Qatar access to UAE airspace, travel must go thru other countries, Kuwait, Oman or Jordan.
Both DOH-AMM and AMM-DXB are bookable on AA website independently but AA site tells me no partners fly DOH-DXB when searching for the flights.
I suppose this would be those situations one puts both itineraries on hold then call to have agent book it as one redemption. But I would like to check here if anybody has had success.
The longhaul to DOH is independent because we would like to have a few days stopover at DOH (to visit the Islamic museum and spend more time at Souq Waqif, to name a few activities that we would like to do.)
Given the current ongoing political debacle that cuts off Qatar access to UAE airspace, travel must go thru other countries, Kuwait, Oman or Jordan.
Both DOH-AMM and AMM-DXB are bookable on AA website independently but AA site tells me no partners fly DOH-DXB when searching for the flights.
I suppose this would be those situations one puts both itineraries on hold then call to have agent book it as one redemption. But I would like to check here if anybody has had success.
The longhaul to DOH is independent because we would like to have a few days stopover at DOH (to visit the Islamic museum and spend more time at Souq Waqif, to name a few activities that we would like to do.)
Dec 20, 2018, 5:56 pm
#560
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
This could also be related to AA implementing the married segment logic in award travel or direct route requirement, and not just the blockade of Qatar. I would create a single multi-city itin, then ask a phone agent to reprice it as one award (perhaps as an exception due to the hostilities). No personal experience like this, but can't hurt to try.
Dec 21, 2018, 2:33 pm
#561
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever
Posts: 6,367
I found that there is pretty strong married segment logic with AA awards involving QR for US-ME/India. I was looking for 5 business class seats and there was never a single DOH-India flight that showed 5 biz seats available but miraculously if we book LAX-DOH-xxx for 3 and DFW-DOH-xxx for 2 then we could get all 5 of us on the DOH-xxx flight together, as there were 5 award seats on DOH-xxx as long as it was paired with US-DOH. The 4 seat release of US-DOH is a hassle though, will watch both LAX-DOH and DFW-DOH on our dates and see if we can get moved onto the same plane together for the US-DOH segment.
Dec 24, 2018, 1:58 pm
#562
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: New York City
Programs: SPG Plat, Hyatt Globalist, DL Platinum
Posts: 96
I'm trying to fly Qsuites NYC-DOH-MLE (possibly DOH-CMB-MLE with Sri Lankan) and NYC-DOH isn't available. My date is in Feb, so I realize it may never come available, even though the seat map looks fairly empty for NYC-DOH currently. My backup plans are ORD-DOH and IAD-DOH, both of which do have availability for my date. The issue is that I can book either:
- NYC-ORD/IAD-DOH-CMB
- ORD/IAD-DOH-CMB-MLE
Dec 24, 2018, 6:17 pm
#563
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
AA has been making award redemption intentionally difficult with their married segment logic. You're not in a bad position with most of your intended itin available on one award. I would just buy the positioning segment separately (perhaps as a BA award or cash, whichever works best for you).
Dec 25, 2018, 12:58 pm
#564
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever
Posts: 6,367
Did you not find Comment 947 (immediately preceding yours) to be of any help?
AA has been making award redemption intentionally difficult with their married segment logic. You're not in a bad position with most of your intended itin available on one award. I would just buy the positioning segment separately (perhaps as a BA award or cash, whichever works best for you).
AA has been making award redemption intentionally difficult with their married segment logic. You're not in a bad position with most of your intended itin available on one award. I would just buy the positioning segment separately (perhaps as a BA award or cash, whichever works best for you).
Dec 25, 2018, 1:00 pm
#565
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: New York City
Programs: SPG Plat, Hyatt Globalist, DL Platinum
Posts: 96
i think a call to AA is in order. I found that the married segments are with the US-DOH and DOH-xxx QR segments. No problem at all getting US-gateway flight on AA added by agents. We did SEA-DFW for 3 and SEA-LAX for the other 2, all eventually meeting up in DOH for the same oneard flight. Had to call to book these.
Dec 25, 2018, 1:06 pm
#566
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,405
Did you not find Comment 947 (immediately preceding yours) to be of any help?
AA has been making award redemption intentionally difficult with their married segment logic. You're not in a bad position with most of your intended itin available on one award. I would just buy the positioning segment separately (perhaps as a BA award or cash, whichever works best for you).
AA has been making award redemption intentionally difficult with their married segment logic. You're not in a bad position with most of your intended itin available on one award. I would just buy the positioning segment separately (perhaps as a BA award or cash, whichever works best for you).
Dec 25, 2018, 4:58 pm
#567
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,595
Except that the agents cannot , iirc, combine a paid ticket and an award ticket into one booking
Dec 25, 2018, 7:57 pm
#568
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,405
They most certainly can combine an award and paid ticket into one PNR at booking (as long as AA-oneworld). At booking. After booking they can't, but they most certainly can.
Last edited by no1cub17; Dec 25, 2018 at 8:08 pm
Dec 26, 2018, 12:29 am
#569
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
Will combining PNR's be still possible if the paid portion is already booked, e.g. outside of AA but still on OneWorld?
Dec 26, 2018, 7:08 am
#570
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,468