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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 Jul 26, 2018, 5:33 pm
  #301  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,401
Originally Posted by arav_m
Hello All,

I am trying to redeem AAdvantage miles on Qatar Airways for business class. The US segment to Doha is available but not DOH-HYD or DOH-BOM. I have read few messages on it but I would appreciate those who are current on this aspect and can guide me how to proceed to get it. I am planning to fly mid August.

Thanks
Arvind
Have you looked into award space on EY? Have you looked at other cities such as DEL, BLR, MAA? If you really want to use miles for QR J class you might have to get creative and find another city with award space, then buy a separate ticket on Indigo or something to your final destination. My extended family lives in NAG so I'm used to doing this.
no1cub17 is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2018, 3:57 pm
  #302  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 26
Originally Posted by mrwise
I had a similar challenge as you have, was able to book US-DOH, but not DOH-India due to non-availability of any seats on that portion of my trip. I ended up booking DOH-CMB-India for the dates I wanted, which are also in August. However, I did my bookings in May, whereas you're looking now to book for August. If the CMB route is not possible, I'm not sure if you will have any other options. Your only hope is for QR to release seats as you get closer to the travel date. Otherwise you may have to buy that leg using $$.
Thanks for the response. Yes, I was able to get the same route but through Chicago (ORD-DOH-CMB-HYD), so that I can experience QSuites. DOH-CMB and CMB-HYD are on Sri Lankan Airlines. I will keep checking for better options closer to the travel date.
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arav_m is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2018, 4:03 pm
  #303  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 26
Thanks for the response. Yes, I could find award space on Etihad and I have one on hold until early next week. I did fly Etihad last year on A380 and I would like to try QSuites this time. I am also waiting for Cathay Pacific to release any seats in business/first from JFK/IAD as HKG-HYD segment is already available.
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Old Jul 27, 2018, 6:39 pm
  #304  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,384
Originally Posted by husky96821
Has anyone noticed that Qatar F award seats seems to be pretty much gone these days? I'd seen that they aren't releasing F seats on the LHR route, but I don't see availability on other routes either.
that's what i said!
yerffej201 is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2018, 2:22 pm
  #305  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,401
Originally Posted by arav_m
Thanks for the response. Yes, I could find award space on Etihad and I have one on hold until early next week. I did fly Etihad last year on A380 and I would like to try QSuites this time. I am also waiting for Cathay Pacific to release any seats in business/first from JFK/IAD as HKG-HYD segment is already available.
Did you check on CX award space out of ORD/LAX/SFO?
no1cub17 is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2018, 10:56 pm
  #306  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 26
I could find some space in CX flight out of BOS. BOS-HKG-HYD but there is long wait time at HKG.
arav_m is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2018, 10:18 am
  #307  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,401
Originally Posted by arav_m
I could find some space in CX flight out of BOS. BOS-HKG-HYD but there is long wait time at HKG.
How long is the layover in HKG? It's very easy to pass several hours in CX's business class lounges. Or if you have time, hop on the train and spend a few hours in HK (if you've never been). Go to Victoria peak and enjoy the spectacular view. Find some good street food or dim sum.

Is there NYC-BOS award space as well? If so, I'd book that then keep checking for CX award seats out of JFK.
no1cub17 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2018, 12:29 pm
  #308  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,061
If I redeem this as a one way award
CGK-DOH-LHR-KEF where CGK-DOH and DOH-LHR legs are on QR while LHR-KEF leg in on BA, is AA supposed to charge 35,000 miles or 45,000 miles?

I'm aware that Asia-Europe costs 35K miles if it's Asia-DOH-EU1, but how about Asia-DOH-EU1-EU2?
hightide is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2018, 2:10 pm
  #309  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,427
Originally Posted by hightide
If I redeem this as a one way award
CGK-DOH-LHR-KEF where CGK-DOH and DOH-LHR legs are on QR while LHR-KEF leg in on BA, is AA supposed to charge 35,000 miles or 45,000 miles?

I'm aware that Asia-Europe costs 35K miles if it's Asia-DOH-EU1, but how about Asia-DOH-EU1-EU2?
Looking at QR's routing rules for CGK-KEF, it seems that it doesn't have published fares, only constructed fares

The routing for the constructed fare dies aliw for travel JKT-DOH-LHR-KEF but since it is not a published one, I would expect the airline to charge for Asia 2 - Europe and Europe-Europe for 35,000 plus 12,500 = 47,500

The only way that you can be sure though is to actually try booking it and seeing what AA quotes - it may quote it as 35,000
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Dave Noble is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2018, 2:38 pm
  #310  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,061
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
Looking at QR's routing rules for CGK-KEF, it seems that it doesn't have published fares, only constructed fares

The routing for the constructed fare dies aliw for travel JKT-DOH-LHR-KEF but since it is not a published one, I would expect the airline to charge for Asia 2 - Europe and Europe-Europe for 35,000 plus 12,500 = 47,500

The only way that you can be sure though is to actually try booking it and seeing what AA quotes - it may quote it as 35,000
I first requested CGK-DOH-HEL-KEF, first 2 legs on QR and last leg on AY. Was quoted 45K miles (not sure how did this add up). According to the rep, the 35K miles price is only valid if it's CGK-DOH-immediate destination city in Europe on QR. As I didn't like the 45K miles price, I settled with CGK-HKG-LHR-KEF for 35K miles.
Yesterday, my HKG-LHR CX257 flight got cancelled and I was automatically rebooked on CX239. I used this as an opportunity to change the CGK-HKG-LHR portion to CGK-DOH-LHR. The rep did an even exchange without refunding extra taxes paid (not too important as it's just a few dollars different).

Maybe I will call later today simply out of curiosity
hightide is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2018, 3:00 pm
  #311  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,427
Originally Posted by hightide
I first requested CGK-DOH-HEL-KEF, first 2 legs on QR and last leg on AY. Was quoted 45K miles (not sure how did this add up). According to the rep, the 35K miles price is only valid if it's CGK-DOH-immediate destination city in Europe on QR. As I didn't like the 45K miles price, I settled with CGK-HKG-LHR-KEF for 35K miles.
Yesterday, my HKG-LHR CX257 flight got cancelled and I was automatically rebooked on CX239. I used this as an opportunity to change the CGK-HKG-LHR portion to CGK-DOH-LHR. The rep did an even exchange without refunding extra taxes paid (not too important as it's just a few dollars different).

Maybe I will call later today simply out of curiosity
CDG-DOH-HEL-KEF comes out at 45k if priced as Asia-2 to Middle East plus Middle East to Europe (25k + 20k)

You were lucky that in dealing with a flight cancellation, that the agent did it as an exchange ; if done in relation to just a voluntary change, it would have been repriced and probably needed 2 awards

Last edited by Dave Noble; Jul 31, 2018 at 3:23 pm
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Old Jul 31, 2018, 7:28 pm
  #312  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: SPG/MR Plat, HH Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 159
Anyone know if I can hope for compensation for a terrible flight if I book an AA award on Qatar metal? Had the worst J experience of all time today. A family of 8 decided it was okay for them to share 5 Business class seats... They had 3 kids in Economy that they kept sneaking in to Business. Finally the purser and crew gave up and just let them stay. Sprawled out on the floor, running down the aisles screaming and roaring, sitting on my seat when I would go to the restroom, and even eating meals meant for true Business class passengers. I wouldn't even know who I would complain to (AA/QR)??

Last edited by forkknifespoon; Jul 31, 2018 at 7:39 pm
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Old Jul 31, 2018, 8:08 pm
  #313  
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Join Date: Feb 2001
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Posts: 12,361
Originally Posted by forkknifespoon
Anyone know if I can hope for compensation for a terrible flight if I book an AA award on Qatar metal? Had the worst J experience of all time today. A family of 8 decided it was okay for them to share 5 Business class seats... They had 3 kids in Economy that they kept sneaking in to Business. Finally the purser and crew gave up and just let them stay. Sprawled out on the floor, running down the aisles screaming and roaring, sitting on my seat when I would go to the restroom, and even eating meals meant for true Business class passengers. I wouldn't even know who I would complain to (AA/QR)??
Definitely not AA.
JJeffrey is offline  
Old Aug 1, 2018, 2:24 pm
  #314  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 26
Originally Posted by no1cub17
How long is the layover in HKG? It's very easy to pass several hours in CX's business class lounges. Or if you have time, hop on the train and spend a few hours in HK (if you've never been). Go to Victoria peak and enjoy the spectacular view. Find some good street food or dim sum.

Is there NYC-BOS award space as well? If so, I'd book that then keep checking for CX award seats out of JFK.
Thanks for the advice. I booked the QR route from ORD-DOH-CMB-HYD going into India. CX availability is so bad flying out of India to US. Hardly any seat in the flight to any destination in US.
arav_m is offline  
Old Aug 1, 2018, 7:13 pm
  #315  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: AAdvantage Asia Miles Air China
Posts: 866
Originally Posted by arav_m
Thanks for the advice. I booked the QR route from ORD-DOH-CMB-HYD going into India. CX availability is so bad flying out of India to US. Hardly any seat in the flight to any destination in US.
Since the changes to the MPC programme on 22/6 CX availability for virtually everything has been a problem even for the members, and where there is availability it is for stupid amounts of Air Miles. There is a long thread on the CX forum, and sadly the situation does not appear as if it will be resolved any time soon.
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