BabyBearNewYork

Hi, I have a bit of a strange issue. Just booked myself on an AA issued ticket - DEL-JFK (on AA) on the outward leg and DFW-DOH-BOM (on Qatar) on the return leg, in business class, on Expedia. Seat allocations for DEL-JFK and DOH-BOM went thru without a problem. However, as DFW-DOH is marketed as an AA codeshare on Qatar metal, Expedia said I had to call the airline directly for a seat booking.

Called Qatar Airways and was told I had to pay $95 for a seat booking which I found ridiculous. They said that since it was a discounted Biz fare in I, I would have to pay. I then called AA and the story got even weirder. The AA rep told me that yes, I would have to pay but only $50, and it was an Expedia service fee, nothing to do with Qatar! I then called Expedia who denied charging any such fee and said this was a problem arising from the codeshare. The Expedia rep then talked offline with Qatar and came back to say she had spoken to them and asked for seat 3A for me and it should be sorted out in 72 hours.

At this point, if I do not hear back in 72 hours, I'll just call AA and pay the $50. It sucks to pay for a seat in Biz but its also a 15 hour flight in Qsuites and I'd like one of the solo seats up front. Just seems so strange to get no less than three different stories on why I can't seem to get a seat allocation, or what the fees are! AA experts- has this happened to you? And what's the best next step?

ETA: Should I also post this on the Qatar thread?

Antarius

Qatar has 2 types of business class fares that do not include seat selection for free (can be selected at check in though).

R should have lounge access while P does not.

BabyBearNewYork

My fare classes on Qatar are Fare I on DFW-DOH and Z on DOH-BOM. I'm eligible for lounge access throughout.

What I'm finding confusing is that both Expedia and Qatar allowed me to do my seat selection on DOH-BOM which is marketed as a pure Qatar flight. Its the DFW-DOH leg which is marketed as a AA codeshare that's causing the grief. I have never heard that you have to pay extra for the privilege of choosing your seat in business class, except for very deeply discounted fares, which mine is not. And each person is blaming the other, which adds to the confusion.

USFlyerUS

It's fairly common and routine on BA for all but full fare J or OW Emerald. I'm not sure about QR.

formeraa

I don't think the AA charge is for seat selection. I believe it is for handling a travel agent's itinerary. In AA's opinion, this should be handled through Expedia since they are your travel agent (and where you purchased the ticket). And, many worldwide airlines do charge for seat selection on discounted fares -- even in Business class.

srikp

When you check your flights under "My Trips" on aa.com, you should get a Qatar Booking Ref #. Did you try going to Qatar website and managing your booking and choosing the seats?

BabyBearNewYork

Yes, definitely. The DFW-DOH leg is showing seat selection grayed out.

ijgordon

I thought the fee was for AA to take over the ticket/reservation -- which shouldn't be necessary just to give a seat assignment.

Antarius

Is that on AA or QR? I don't believe that QR uses the Z fare bucket at all.

BabyBearNewYork

As I had mentioned, the DFW-DOH leg is marketed as an AA flight on Qatar metal. Presumably that's why there's an AA fare bucket.

Antarius

Ok. But the AA fare bucket isn't necessarily relevant to QRs rules. What is the QR fare bucket?
​​

BabyBearNewYork

OK, I asked over on TripAdvisor and it seems that the I fare bucket does qualify for advance seat selection on AA. Only the P and R buckets do not qualify on AA and seat assignment is at checkin. So in theory, AA should not charge a fee. The person also said however that it may depend on what the I fare bucket maps over to on Qatar. If it maps over to P or R, then I would have to pay. However since it was marketed as an AA flight, I should not be theoretically charged a fee. Practically, it could be different.

I have no idea what the fare bucket is on Qatar that it maps to. Its not anywhere on my ticket.

Live and learn!

skunker

Send a DM to AA via twitter and ask for seat assignment.

Or, try using the QR PNR at rj.com. Royal Jordanian's website seems fairly basic, but is usually able to cut through the codeshare BS to assign seats.

BabyBearNewYork

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, both the AA and QR confirmation codes do not show up anywhere on the RJ website.

BabyBearNewYork

New story du jour: I printed out my confirmation from QR's website and it also shows Fare Code I (same as AA), which is eligible for advance seat selection. I tried calling QR in Doha. Got a nice agent who told me that the entire DFW-DOH flight has been blocked for advance seat bookings and it will only open up for seat allocation 24-72 hours before the flight! I asked her if I had booked a pure QR flight, would that still be the case and she said yes! She agreed with me that my QR fare code was normally eligible for advance seat selection.

At this point, I think its time to concede defeat. Every time I call, its a different story. I guess, bottom line, all the QSuites are good and even if I get a middle one, its OK.