Not sure if this has been discussed previously.

Has anyone had any luck booking segments in A class with QR when flying Middle East segments. More specifically, trying to use the online tool to book a CAI-DOH segment and its forcing me into economy.

Fare rules state that QR flights in the ME with no D class can be booked as A class. If I make the reservation over the phone will they allow me to book A class?

Thank you!

Welcome to Flyer Talk OWRTW :)

That is a known bug with the online tool. You'll need to book directly with an airline or through a travel agent to get A class on QR middle east flights on a business class RTW.

Thank you for the welcome and clarifying this issue Kiwi Flyer! :)

This should no longer be a bug. I emailed oneworld about this exact thing years ago when QR joined oneworld and they did fix it.

Have you tried checking different dates?

Are you sure the flights have availability in A?

QR seems to be restricting the A bucket quite tightly of late.

Tried to change the dates but no luck in finding availability in A. I also tried to look for availability in A between DOH-DXB and couldn't find any on the 18 flights they run per day.

Do you mean restricting the A bucket to RTW tickets?

The majority of flights between DOH-CAI only have A as their premium cabin. The same goes for DOH-DXB.

I mean QR often limits availability in the Alpha ("A") bucket. QR uses the A bucket internally for discount first class fares, and so QR tends to keep the numbers in it tightly capped.

For instance, the availability for Friday two weeks for now is [as seen from an office in London],
For QR 1304 and QR 1302, we have AL, meaning alpha class is full but open to wait listing.

(There is no mechanism to restrict what kind of fare uses the bucket, except by modifying the fare rules. The fact that the AONE* products use the same bucket as discount first class fares is unfortunate.)

We agree that QR renames its premium cabin as "first class" on some regional middle east routes. QR also uses Foxtrot ("F") and Papa ("P") classes as a first class buckets on these (and other) routes. Fares that book into F or P are usually more expensive than fares that only permit booking into A.

The AONE* fares do not allow booking into F or P on QR. On QR, only A, D, L or Y may be used (in that order of preference).

If A on a middle east regional flight is full, and there is no D class, then you will be offered L or Y class instead.

Can Oneworld Explorer Fare start in Russia (Asia)?
 

I am trying to purchase an LONE3 or LONE4 starting in VVO with an internal S7 flight.
However, a UK travel agent I have previously used to book Oneworld Explorer fares before says
"The Oneworld Explorer fare is offered from Asia, but not every city or country. In this case, Russia doesn’t offer one."

However, I can get a quote for a fare on Expertflyer VVO-VVO.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

Thanks

Find a better travel agent!

Any suggestions? I have been using a UK travel agent which does a lot of RTW bookings.
PM me if you wish.

Actually, user Leo123 recently reported here a very good experience booking direct with S7 - this post contains the contact details.

Have you tried using the online booking tool?

If your proposed itinerary has BA or AA segments, then you should be able to phone the airline to purchase the ticket

Can Oneworld Explorer end with an overland segment?
 

Thanks for your helpful suggestions.
A related question for planning this trip:
Can Oneworld Explorer end with an overland segment from where I really intend to finish to where I started?
If so, are there any rules about it (e.g. overland segment must be in the same continent)?
Thanks