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)
Mar 22, 2019, 1:08 pm
#721
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,273
The AA site is glitchy. If you see the QR space on BA.com, you can most likely book it through AA, but you should call. If the AA website errors when booking, it ties up that inventory for some time on an incomplete PNR floating out there in the ether, so if availability is limited, don’t try online first because if it fails then there won’t be any left for a phone agent to grab when you call. But just in the last week I have booked 4 different J awards on QR metal using AA miles.
Mar 22, 2019, 3:29 pm
#722
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: GSO/HAM
Programs: UA MM, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 280
The AA site is glitchy. If you see the QR space on BA.com, you can most likely book it through AA, but you should call. If the AA website errors when booking, it ties up that inventory for some time on an incomplete PNR floating out there in the ether, so if availability is limited, don’t try online first because if it fails then there won’t be any left for a phone agent to grab when you call. But just in the last week I have booked 4 different J awards on QR metal using AA miles.
Mar 22, 2019, 10:37 pm
#723
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 1
American airline award travel
I am trying to book an award ticket using Advantage miles. After I enter the date of travel, origination and destination cities, the portal displays a list of flights. None of these flights have a seat available. When I select any flight from the list, it says "The flight you selected is no longer available. Please modify your request." I have been trying for last one week and every time, I have same issue. I am trying a business class flight from AMD-ATL in February, 2020.
Thinking that seats may be going fast, I tried to book at 12.01 AM (yes, midnight), but still no seats are available,
My question, if no seats are available, why do they present a list of flights for a given date and to/from cities?
Either it is an error or a shrewd business tactic. I just bought missing miles worth $1800 to get a business class ticket.
Anyone knows how to escalate the issue?
Thinking that seats may be going fast, I tried to book at 12.01 AM (yes, midnight), but still no seats are available,
My question, if no seats are available, why do they present a list of flights for a given date and to/from cities?
Either it is an error or a shrewd business tactic. I just bought missing miles worth $1800 to get a business class ticket.
Anyone knows how to escalate the issue?
Mar 23, 2019, 10:52 am
#724
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,632
You could have read a few of the preceding posts before posting.
Mar 23, 2019, 10:43 pm
#726
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 26
Hello all...
I am trying to find award space availability from India to Doha and onwards to US. I can find DOH-US segments but not to Doha, not even through Colombo. Any ideas on what strategy needs to be. I am looking for travel around end of April 2019.
Thanks...
I am trying to find award space availability from India to Doha and onwards to US. I can find DOH-US segments but not to Doha, not even through Colombo. Any ideas on what strategy needs to be. I am looking for travel around end of April 2019.
Thanks...
Mar 23, 2019, 11:53 pm
#727
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,273
Travel is only a month away... you're quite late to the party. Cabins are getting full. If you can't find availability on QR all the way through, you might have to try combining Sri Lankan via CMB to DOH and then QR to the US, which I'm sure would require calling in.
Mar 24, 2019, 2:53 am
#728
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
How about positioning through KTM. I saw award space on the KTM-IAH route in April.
Mar 24, 2019, 7:54 am
#729
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AA EXP, HH Diamond, MR Gold, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,252
Mar 24, 2019, 4:58 pm
#731
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 464
Mar 24, 2019, 5:53 pm
#732
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, GE
Posts: 5,123
Mar 25, 2019, 3:47 pm
#734
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Houston, TX
Programs: UA 1K, DL Platinum, BA Gold
Posts: 181
The AA site is glitchy. If you see the QR space on BA.com, you can most likely book it through AA, but you should call. If the AA website errors when booking, it ties up that inventory for some time on an incomplete PNR floating out there in the ether, so if availability is limited, don’t try online first because if it fails then there won’t be any left for a phone agent to grab when you call. But just in the last week I have booked 4 different J awards on QR metal using AA miles.
Mar 25, 2019, 6:20 pm
#735
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,273
Any idea how long the PNR is tied up when trying to book QR space on AA.com and it errors? I read this post after attempting to book several flights and now none are available. I assume that space is being "tied" up after my previously failed attempts to book. How long do they hold that inventory before cancelling and then it goes back into the pool and is available for booking again?