Azamaraal

I learned a valuable lesson on Mar 29 when I was denied boarding on a Qatar Airlines Q-Suite ticket from MLE - DOH - SEA. My wife on the same PNR was fine but Qatar checkin in MLE denied my boarding claiming that AA had cancelled the first leg of the return so I was not allowed to board. I had received multiple confirmations of the flight indicating ticket number, itinerary, NEW SEAT ASSIGNMENT, etc on the afternoon of Mar 28 directly from QR so all was well at that point.

Qatar has a checkin desk in MLE but the agents claimed that there was NO WAY they could help. Period. Phone AA they said and get them to fix it. No phone or internet access but borrowed a phone. AA wait time was 3 hours and we were at 2:30 prior to boarding. AA had call back feature but would not accept my Canadian Cell number for call back. Borrowed another phone and called DOH. Qater agent stated not their problem - call AA to get it fixed. Stranded at 10 PM in MLE with no hotel, resources (we stayed on Rangali Island so had no hotel). Phone refused to connect to airport wifi because it was deemed unsafe.

In desperation purchased a one-way Y ticket at inflated last minute prices ($3500) and flew back to SEA in row 42. Wife had the row 4 seat sitting next to a stranger. The 6 hour stopover in DOH spent with transfer desk and they also refused to help or do anything. They did grudgingly send an email to the One-WOrld help desk (in DOH!) that also refused any assistance.

What did we learn? On boarding the flight to Seattle it became instantly obvious what had happened. They switched 777's at the last minute to a crapped out early vintage that did not have Q-suites so they switched us around. In the process of switching obviously some agent made a mistake on my ticket from MLE-DOH. Of course they would not admit it was their problem so claimed that AA cancelled the ticket from MLE-DOH but retained valid the ticker DOH-SEA. Since I did not fly the first leg they automatically cancelled my reservation and would not "upgrade" me to my paid seat in J. 15 Hours in 42A. Joy. (I was our 50th anniversary trip).

This is the problem you incur when travelling on an AA ticket on one of their partners. I don't know if Qatar is the WORST but the lack of assistance is rather standard in my experience. On arrival in SEA the AA reps looked at the PNR and stated no problem from the AA end. The rep looked at the ticket numbers and identified that the numbers had been switched around which caused the problem MLE-DOH but that would have been at Qatar's desk. So in future be VERY careful booking Qatar ON AA TICKET STOCK because if anything goes wrong (especially possible at Qatar end) they will TOTALLY REFUSE TO HELP whatsoever. Especially bad idea at a small less than full serviced destination like Male Maldives at 10 PM. Anywhere else I would have just gone to a local Hilton and worked it out for the next day.

I sent a FAX request to AA to start the refund process and have heard nothing so it is time to escalate. I would appreciate advice on whether I should be working on AA or Qatar or both. Until now I wanted AA to identify the problem as happening in Qatar but have heard nothing. A proper contact at AA/QR would also be much appreciated.

corporate-wage-slave

Indeed, this looks like a case of involuntary denied boarding due to no ticket number. This would seem to be something that you need to take up via Canada's small claim court system (depending on your Province) with AA, but I would be out of my depth in advising any further.

Microwave

On its face, it sounds like QR were correct to point you to AA (assuming the ticket was indeed issued on 001 stock). When flying an airline other than the one who issued a given e-ticket, the e-ticket number is how the operating airline gets paid. No e-ticket number = not going to fly. As in, no way, no how. It was 100% AA's responsibility to issue a valid e-ticket and attach it to the PNR.

Assuming the choices were indeed 1) wait on the phone for longer than you had before your flight, or 2) pay a walk-up fare, if you couldn't wait another night in Mal� I reckon you did the best you could given the situation. I might have been minded to put less money at risk by staying 1 night in Mal� and giving AA a chance to issue the ticket, though if you had to get back to work or had onward unconnected travel plans that would have been difficult to move, you probably did the best you could do.

Have you tried following up with AA customer service by phone? I'd probably start there before going to small claims—they'll be able to see that a ticket was issued at some point before the flight, and that one wasn't attached to the PNR when you were meant to fly. Getting your walk-up fare back may take some haggling, but you were in a very difficult spot and I'd hope this extremely unusual situation would warrant them doing the right thing.

Antarius

It depends. If there was a change to the ticket due to a day of ops issue, then it's the operating carrier who has the ability to fix the issue. For example when CX had an MX issue (AA mileage ticket), they rerouted me.
​​​​​​
​​​​​If an equipment swap screwed up the ticket, then it's QR who should fix it.

Unfortunately, QR are the worst at any thing out of the ordinary. My dog has better situational awareness and capability.
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no1cub17

Geez, that sounds about as bad as it gets. What truly awful customer service (non-existent, even!). IANAL but I'd be looking into any and all legal avenues to recoup at least some of that money. Make QR answer in court if you can.

lkruppa

At MLE also, late at night, ticket wasnt there for return because they said last leg on flight into Europe wasnt taken. It was indeed taken,
and in their accounts. QATAR refused to help, my daughter did contact AA, and consequently were put on a later flight out of MLE, having to overnight
in Chicago coming back to CMH. Of course they didnt overnight, but took a United flight back to CMH. They were returning from their honeymoon
and of course quite stressful. They loved the QATAR suites but AA and QATAR do not talk, and I�d be reluctant to book a long trip with them
on the same ticket.

stevendorechester

What makes it harder for the OP is that the replacement ticket was probably purchased direct from Qatar.

I would have tried to purchase a ticket with AA direct and then done a chargeback, on the basis that I was charged twice for the same flights. It worked for me twenty years ago.

However if ticket was purchased through Qatar OP, if he lives in Canada should send a polite letter to both airlines giving them 30 days to pay back what is owed it goes to SCC.

The reason to include Qatar is that they will both blame each other, even though AA seems to be at fault, QR will provide evidence during the hearing against AA which could help in this case.

As a downgrade was also involved OP can also go after the difference for the J fare paid and the Y fare in effect at time of purchase although that might be a bit more complicated.

It will most likely not get to a court case once AA sees they were in the wrong; they will pay up and perhaps even offer mile as a goodwill gesture.

seawolf

Doesn�t look like Canada is involved in this itinerary at all.

In any case not enough details to determine what caused the issue.

If QR scheduled changed in advance, AA would have been responsible to reissue the ticket.

If QR did a last minute equipment swap (no change to flight number/times/class of service), then this is really a QR issue.

Even if there was a last minute flight time/number change, it could have been a simple fix by QR MLE agent in associating the ticket coupon with the changed segment of the change was minor unless they have been given strict instructions not to touch PNR from OAL.

azepine00

While not relevant now to op, when waits are insane it is worth trying skyping international numbers - I had luck with AA australia and BA Singapore resolving time sensitive rebookings..

guv1976

The OP lives in Canada, and both AA and QR do business in Canada. But the OP would have to investigate whether that suffices to give a particular small claims court jurisdiction in this case.

The OP might want to reach out to Christopher Elliott for assistance if neither AA nor QR is responsive:

https://www.elliott.org/

seawolf

Agree that OP would have figure if Canadian courts would even have jurisdiction.

Following offers a window into things that a US judge considered. In this particular case plaintiff is US resident and airline does business in US but trip didn�t involve US at all.
https://condonlaw.com/2020/10/federa...-jurisdiction/

Again, things could work differently in Canadian system.

guv1976

If the OP purchased the AA ticket while in Canada that might be a relevant factor as well.

RetiredATLATC

This sounds horrible.

I have a ow AA ticketed TBS-DOH-PHL-ATL over new years, first two legs on QR in J.

I can only pray this doesn't happen often.

Hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.

stevendorechester

As the flights themselves do not involve Canada CTA had no jurisdiction but if the ticket was purchased in Canada then the contract was entered to in Canada. It depends on the airline.

I' ve purchased US domestic flights before on my Canadian credit card. The charge was converted into CAD and listed as " United Airlines Toronto" so it depends.

OP can also threatened to file suit in a US SCC near the border as it's a lot of money. It shouldn't come to that as whatever airline made the mistake will pay up if the grievance is legit.

Azamaraal

Thanks for the advice. I want to add again that on 28 March QR I was sent an email with the new seat selection and supposedly VALID TICKET NUMBERS on the email. (With the big Green Checked note)

As pointed out - QR changed an AA ticket on stock starting with code 001.

Jurisdiction of who "owns" the ticket gets really tricky. QR took over the ticket to make the involuntary seat change due to aircraft switch. I had booked row 5 center honeymoon Qseats. QR then switched us to 4 HK. At that point QR owned the reservation but with AA ticket numbers.

I had a previous experience where I had an Alaska Flight on an AA ticket that got re-routed because of weather onto Air Canada to YVR for the first leg and then onward with AA. When I tried to change the onward flight to a better route the first response from AA was that the ticket had been re-assigned to AC and they couldn't do anything. Luckily this was in YVR and with patience AA reacquired the ticket and made the changes. Using this logic QR had control and definitely is to BLAME..