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)
Aug 5, 2019, 7:42 am
#916
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,466
First time on QR, read the Wiki but not the whole thread. I would appreciate comments/answers.
Flying JNB-DOH-LAX. Got coach for 3 for 40k miles, which I thought was a pretty good deal (nothing else available at the time). Yesterday I was able to upgrade JNB-DOH, for all 3. So now paying 75k which is Business for the entire routing, even though only coach for DOH-LAX (a quick 16 hours). Two questions:
1. Other than watching inventory and hoping to find a business class seat on DOH-LAX, are there any other options? For example, can I be listed for upgrade on day of flight since I have already "paid" for business class? Or is it only U inventory even on day of flight?
2. I now qualify for the "stopover" hotel deal of $28 for a 5 star hotel in Doha. Which hotel should I select?
Flying JNB-DOH-LAX. Got coach for 3 for 40k miles, which I thought was a pretty good deal (nothing else available at the time). Yesterday I was able to upgrade JNB-DOH, for all 3. So now paying 75k which is Business for the entire routing, even though only coach for DOH-LAX (a quick 16 hours). Two questions:
1. Other than watching inventory and hoping to find a business class seat on DOH-LAX, are there any other options? For example, can I be listed for upgrade on day of flight since I have already "paid" for business class? Or is it only U inventory even on day of flight?
2. I now qualify for the "stopover" hotel deal of $28 for a 5 star hotel in Doha. Which hotel should I select?
2) Check the dedicated thread in the QR forum: +Qatar - Doha Hotel stopovers no longer free
Aug 5, 2019, 1:02 pm
#917
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,422
First time on QR, read the Wiki but not the whole thread. I would appreciate comments/answers.
Flying JNB-DOH-LAX. Got coach for 3 for 40k miles, which I thought was a pretty good deal (nothing else available at the time). Yesterday I was able to upgrade JNB-DOH, for all 3. So now paying 75k which is Business for the entire routing, even though only coach for DOH-LAX (a quick 16 hours). Two questions:
1. Other than watching inventory and hoping to find a business class seat on DOH-LAX, are there any other options? For example, can I be listed for upgrade on day of flight since I have already "paid" for business class? Or is it only U inventory even on day of flight?
2. I now qualify for the "stopover" hotel deal of $28 for a 5 star hotel in Doha. Which hotel should I select?
Flying JNB-DOH-LAX. Got coach for 3 for 40k miles, which I thought was a pretty good deal (nothing else available at the time). Yesterday I was able to upgrade JNB-DOH, for all 3. So now paying 75k which is Business for the entire routing, even though only coach for DOH-LAX (a quick 16 hours). Two questions:
1. Other than watching inventory and hoping to find a business class seat on DOH-LAX, are there any other options? For example, can I be listed for upgrade on day of flight since I have already "paid" for business class? Or is it only U inventory even on day of flight?
2. I now qualify for the "stopover" hotel deal of $28 for a 5 star hotel in Doha. Which hotel should I select?
1) Nothing you can do other than monitor business award space and call AA if it opens up. There's no waitlist or upgrade list or anything like that.
2) Check the dedicated thread in the QR forum: +Qatar - Doha Hotel stopovers no longer free
2) Check the dedicated thread in the QR forum: +Qatar - Doha Hotel stopovers no longer free
Aug 5, 2019, 1:07 pm
#918
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,411
1) Nothing you can do other than monitor business award space and call AA if it opens up. There's no waitlist or upgrade list or anything like that.
2) Check the dedicated thread in the QR forum: +Qatar - Doha Hotel stopovers no longer free
2) Check the dedicated thread in the QR forum: +Qatar - Doha Hotel stopovers no longer free
Aug 5, 2019, 1:09 pm
#919
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,411
Good timing. I was editing the original post simultaneously while you were posting the correct information. The "Manage Booking" took me to that option, but I didn't qualify.
Aug 5, 2019, 1:16 pm
#920
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,474
Aug 5, 2019, 3:24 pm
#921
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
First time on QR, read the Wiki but not the whole thread. I would appreciate comments/answers.
Flying JNB-DOH-LAX. Got coach for 3 for 40k miles, which I thought was a pretty good deal (nothing else available at the time). Yesterday I was able to upgrade JNB-DOH, for all 3. So now paying 75k which is Business for the entire routing, even though only coach for DOH-LAX (a quick 16 hours). Two questions:
1. Other than watching inventory and hoping to find a business class seat on DOH-LAX, are there any other options? For example, can I be listed for upgrade on day of flight since I have already "paid" for business class? Or is it only U inventory even on day of flight?
2. I now qualify for the "stopover" hotel deal of $28 for a 5 star hotel in Doha. Which hotel should I select? [not on a QR ticket, don't qualify - still interested in hearing about good locations for one evening ever in Doha]
Flying JNB-DOH-LAX. Got coach for 3 for 40k miles, which I thought was a pretty good deal (nothing else available at the time). Yesterday I was able to upgrade JNB-DOH, for all 3. So now paying 75k which is Business for the entire routing, even though only coach for DOH-LAX (a quick 16 hours). Two questions:
1. Other than watching inventory and hoping to find a business class seat on DOH-LAX, are there any other options? For example, can I be listed for upgrade on day of flight since I have already "paid" for business class? Or is it only U inventory even on day of flight?
2.
nice place to be there day and night.
Aug 6, 2019, 7:21 am
#922
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 939
Phone Waiver
This is not a given at all. I booked two separate tickets on the phone and had to fight to get the agent to waive the phone fee. They kept saying QR bookable online now so fee applies. I'd say better advice is to check availability on BA and then put on hold or ticket online, not call in. Waste of time.
Aug 6, 2019, 7:35 am
#923
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
If you explain the error they should waive the fee. At least in my case that’s been the case.
though with AA being so terrible these days your experience doesn’t surprise me in a the least.
though with AA being so terrible these days your experience doesn’t surprise me in a the least.
Aug 6, 2019, 11:52 am
#924
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Miami
Programs: AA EXP (OW EME), Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 441
I realize this is a very vague question but, based on the lack of award availability to/from US, compared to before, any cursory input which gateways might have more availability?
Aug 6, 2019, 11:55 am
#925
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
European gateways have more availability. I would also check Canadian ones as well... the US is the land of FF miles... less so elsewhere...
Aug 6, 2019, 5:35 pm
#927
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,422
IAH should probably availability, too. Both aren't AA hubs so they seem to have more availability.
Aug 7, 2019, 11:30 am
#928
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
At the 329-day mark, all availability from the US (or at least BOS, PHL, ORD, JFK) vanished suddenly yesterday(*). Even Y, which was available on most days, is gone. Nothing on ba.com either.
Probably a glitch. Don't know if/when it will come back to normal.
(*) Except for the usual phantom availability on the very last day, currently July 3, which is still there.
Probably a glitch. Don't know if/when it will come back to normal.
(*) Except for the usual phantom availability on the very last day, currently July 3, which is still there.
Aug 7, 2019, 11:42 am
#929
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 64
At the 329-day mark, all availability from the US (or at least BOS, PHL, ORD, JFK) vanished suddenly yesterday(*). Even Y, which was available on most days, is gone. Nothing on ba.com either.
Probably a glitch. Don't know if/when it will come back to normal.
(*) Except for the usual phantom availability on the very last day, currently July 3, which is still there.
Probably a glitch. Don't know if/when it will come back to normal.
(*) Except for the usual phantom availability on the very last day, currently July 3, which is still there.
A similar thing happened last December where inventory was available for November 2019-end of schedule and then one day they blacked out everything After November 1, 2019 and availability didn't return until mid Feb dates were loaded a few months later.
Hopefully this isn't the case but if you were planning on using QR for June/July 2020, perhaps even later (tbd), you should probably look up an alternative carrier.
Aug 7, 2019, 11:54 am
#930
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
Yes, I recall last winter. It's a strange way to do business, release award seats and then take them away in a "big bang" one day.
Indeed, I was one day away from being able to book a July 2 flight (there was availability on ba.com but it was outside the AA window). So I feel specifically targeted. But yes, I have alternatives.
Indeed, I was one day away from being able to book a July 2 flight (there was availability on ba.com but it was outside the AA window). So I feel specifically targeted. But yes, I have alternatives.