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)
#541
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,464
(and the information in that post had been added to the wiki of that thread (AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)))
Somehow that information just hadn't registered with me
#542
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
In some hotel programs, nice hotels in Doha can be had for unusually few points. I few years ago in Feb I got a Marriott in Doha for I think 15k points, even though it wasn't cheap on cash..
#544
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UAL, Starwoods
Posts: 18
Using miles for 1st segment and cash for 2nd on married segments?
I’m hoping to use miles for 2 business class seats for ORD-DOH-SIN in December of next year. I was checking the November 2019 award calendar just to see what is available for that month and business listed for ORD-DOH but economy for 2nd leg. Just wondering if same is what is available when my dates are bookable can I use miles for the ORD-DOH leg and purchase business seats for the DOH-SIN leg? And if so would the record locators for the 2 tickets be combined?
#545
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,571
I’m hoping to use miles for 2 business class seats for ORD-DOH-SIN in December of next year. I was checking the November 2019 award calendar just to see what is available for that month and business listed for ORD-DOH but economy for 2nd leg. Just wondering if same is what is available when my dates are bookable can I use miles for the ORD-DOH leg and purchase business seats for the DOH-SIN leg? And if so would the record locators for the 2 tickets be combined?
If you wish to use miles to get to Doha and then purchase a ticket using cash, they will be 2 separate bookings and you will have no protection should you miss the onward flight
#546
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,648
Are you asking when you can reserve using AA miles? That would be 330 days more or less... I believe today you can book until November 3rd.
Dave Noble is entirely correct. US to SIN via DOH is calculated as 2 awards.
Dave Noble is entirely correct. US to SIN via DOH is calculated as 2 awards.
#548
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,571
If QR has a flight to IXE, it would be valid as an award. From what I can see on EF however, is that QR doesn't fly there
#549
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 11
Thanks so much Dave, QR definitely has a route to IXE from ATL. Please see below screenshot from QR.com.
Only thing I notice the last leg BOM-IXE is on a connecting partner AI and not QR itself.
But now I wonder how to book this with aa points as aa.com does not show this up on their website.
Only thing I notice the last leg BOM-IXE is on a connecting partner AI and not QR itself.
But now I wonder how to book this with aa points as aa.com does not show this up on their website.
#550
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,571
Thanks so much Dave, QR definitely has a route to IXE from ATL. Please see below screenshot from QR.com.
Only thing I notice the last leg BOM-IXE is on a connecting partner AI and not QR itself.
But now I wonder how to book this with aa points as aa.com does not show this up on their website.
Only thing I notice the last leg BOM-IXE is on a connecting partner AI and not QR itself.
But now I wonder how to book this with aa points as aa.com does not show this up on their website.
You cannot book a QR flight to IXE if QR doesn't actually fly there - you cannot book on Air India using AA miles
#551
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 260
Anyone know if QR opens up last-minute availability? Looking to add an extra leg to my flight in 4 days - revenue flights are *wide* open but I'm wondering if QR has a habit of opening them up if they haven't been bought yet.
#552
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
Of course, just because it happens sometimes does not prove that it happens dependably. You should try searching for dates closer in that yours and see what the pattern is (though patterns may sometimes vary based on the day of the week and such).
I'm not sure but I think there are many situations where QR opens availability only its own QMiles holders, not to partners such as AA. There's no oneworld rule that says any award availability has to be the same for all of oneworld, so many airlines in oneworld release more availability to their own members than to their oneworld (or other) partners. That's why you should never search for availability at the site of the airline you want to book on, if you don't have that airline's miles. Ie, never look for BA availability with AA miles on BA, only on QF or elsewhere, and never look for QF availability with AA miles on QF, only on BA or elsewhere.
#553
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 11
Anybody know if ME3 release award flights during christmas/new years time? Trying to use AA to book 2 seats from any US gateway to SEZ in J class. Im fine if the short haul segment is in economy, as long as the transatlantic is in J. How badly are we at a disadvantage given that we can only book 330 days out?
#554
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,648
Really depends on the route. I just snagged CDG DOH AKL on QR J at precisely 330 days... slim pickings a few days later