AFamilyflyer

Hi all,

Have an (optimistic) Maldives booking this Christmas which I've booked a BA holiday for.

I'm flying Qatar as the BA flight wasn't the day we wanted, but interested in why today I got a cancellation email of BA7002 (to Doha) and rebooked into Qatar QR2. These are the exact same flights, just BA7002 is the codeshare onto QR2.

What would be the reason for this? Just out of interest...
I know it makes no real difference!

Hope all are keeping safe!

wilsnunn

I cannot offer an answer as to why that has happened, but just pointing out that if you are BAEC Bronze or higher then you will earn fewer Avios on the QR flight number as opposed to the BA flight number.

realgaga

Possibly BA stopped codesharing on that flight?

toothy

Interestingly I've had the same happen, DOH-MAN. The website 'appears' to offer a refund a an option, which is what I'd prefer, but it means calling in. I'll try and do that at some point.


T

JAXBA

Quote:

Originally Posted by realgaga

Possibly BA stopped codesharing on that flight?

BA/QR have a joint business on the route; stopping the codeshare wouldn’t make sense.

Someone, somewhere, probably pushed the wrong button. For those affected, don’t accept or decline the rebooked QR flight yet, but wait and see if the codeshare is reinstated so you can booked back on to it. Unless of course you’re looking for a reason to be allowed to cancel w/out penalty...

chspw1

I had a JNB-DOH-LHR flight booked via QR for June.



The first flight was QR while the DOH-LHR flight was a BA codeshare. Over the weekend the flight also appeared cancelled, but all that had happened was the flight to LHR was changed to QR with flight times the same.



I tried to cancel online, it appeared to work. Today I had the money refunded to my credit card……feeling lucky.

irishguy28

You could also argue that, given their joint business, they don't need codeshares anymore (the relationship has gone far beyond mere codesharing; both BA and BA customers are treated in a particular way given the nature of the relationship, which far supersedes anything added by a codeshare, rendering the codesharing superfluous and unnecessary - though, of course, it may have the effect of changing to some extent the mileage earning for the customer).

It's not unheard of for airlines to cancel codeshares; I had a similar case last year when CI stopped codesharing on AF, and got booked onto the underlying AF flightcode (with a corresponding huge drop in the number of Flying Blue miles earned!)

JAXBA

Yes codeshares agreements do end - but while a JB is in place? Unusual. From my limited understanding of interline agreements, codeshares and JBs, the formula used to prorate the revenue earns more for BA when booked under the BA code.

It's also easier for BA to sell when the QR flights appear with the BA code in availability, especially if BA coded flights are requested - with no BA code in place, only BA operated flights are displayed.

I just checked Amadeus availability and timetables for the week of Christmas, and while the codeshares do still appear in the schedule, the BA operated by QR flights are currently closed for sale. The BA operated flight is showing available.

Weird.

irishguy28

Again, BA and QR have a joint venture which involves revenue sharing. As such, the type of arrangements which are used by otherwise non-partner airlines to determine how much of the fare each partner gets, with reference to codeshares, doesn't apply; BA and QR have a much deeper, more integrated partnership than would the airlines that rely on the mechanism you indicate to pro-rate fares between them.

I suspect that the reason for discontinuing codeshares at the present time is that, with timetables likely to remain fluid for some time, and with either airline likely to "rejig" flights, flight times and flight numbers at short notice, across a large set of their scheduled programme, and for an ongoing period, it is simply easier not to have to "chase" up all the codeshare flight numbers which may not update automatically in existing bookings in the same way that the "native" flightcode might.

It may be far easier to "track" changes to flights across various systems, or to push out the changes to other systems, by only using their "native" flightcodes.

Confus

This is deliberate - there’s a piece on the Travel Trade portal about it. No idea why though. Refunds NOT allowed if booked onto the same underlying operated flight.

chspw1

See my post above.
i was refunded in this exact situation.....maybe i was lucky.

Dave Noble

No luck involved - your flight was cancelled and so you were entitled to a refund or rebooking at your choice