sam

I'm Qatar Platinum due to expire 20 Oct. On 20 Oct I've got a Economy Reward booking from Sydney to London (via Doha). Will I be treated as Platinum throughout the flight? Will that make any difference? Can I use it to get a legroom seat?

I have 60 QCredits that expire on 20 Oct. Can I use these to upgrade? I guess not.

I booked Economy because Business was only available on 2x Flex Award. I only have 83000 miles left. Is there any chance they might release more regular Business redemption availability?

hotwingz

1) If your status is still valid throughout the flight you should receive the Platinum treatment. However, I have not found a significant different between having Plat or Gold status when flying in Economy.

2) As for every passenger, bulkhead and exit row seats are available on a first-come-first-serve basis at check in at the airport (usually 3hrs before departure).

3) My understanding is that award tickets cannot be upgraded using either Qmiles or Qcredits. But maybe someone else can clarify this?

4) It doesn't hurt asking QR to open up a regular award for you. While it seems that QR sometimes opens up upgrade award space for Elites, chance they open up a normal level award seat for you will probably be rather slim.

AVIATORPJ

From Sydney you should be able to use the QANTAS first lounge before the flight.

As a Platinum with an economy reward you should be able to select a seat upstairs in the Y section if QR flies an A380 SYD DOH on that day. Said to be the best Y section on the aircraft
You won't be ale to up grade you award economy tkt with either Qmiles or with Q credits.

If you drop to Gold as you seem to indicate. on 21 October, you will receive 40 "new"Qcredits - but loose any Qcredit balance you have left before 21 Oct. If you reach Platinum again during your Gold year, you will receive 60 new Q credits. Meaning you could have up to 100 Qcredits after you regain Platinum. Ive found Best use of Q credits is to upgrade married long haul segments. From the UK, I found MAN to be offered to SYD/MEL as married, but not LHR.

Grace B

Have you looked at AKL-Europe? I've found that it usually has better availability than AU-EU.

And a case in point. I recently flew SOF-AKL in J on a QR reward for 85,000 miles. Would have preferred anywhere in Australia, but zero availability when I needed it. So I booked to AKL (lots of availability at the single reward price), and redeemed a QF reward AKL-MEL (could have purchased a cheap revenue ticket on JQ if I had wanted).

So you might be better off looking at AKL, as you will only need to buy a cheap ticket from OZ to NZ.

That's what I would do, as I absolutely would not fly non-stop to DOH in Y from AU. Life's too short for that.

sam

I have looked at AKL but no dice unfortunately.

The other option I'm considering is book & upgrade. Is upgrade availability the same as basic reward availability? If not, is there a way to see if there is upgrade availability prior to booking?

How can I get an up-gradable fare class? I just chose a combination with two 'Economy Value' fares where the outbound was O (not upgradeable) and the return was Q (upgradeable)

hotwingz

You will see the fare classes before completing your booking, so you can see if your flight will be upgradeable or not.
If you want to check availability before booking, I would recommend calling QR and asking them directly. They can book the flight for you and directly upgrade it if there is availability

orbitmic

That thread cheers me up a little as I am likely to have to fly LHR-DOH-AKL in Y for work (and for only 48 hours there at that!) It's work and one of those where only Y is acceptable, I usually propose to pay the difference out of pocket to fly J, but it's nearly Ł3000 extra on this occasion so not an option that I am willing to consider.

As OWE (BA GGL), my understanding is that my lounge access would be the Skyteam lounge at LHR T4, 'First class lounge' at DOH, and the QF F lounge at AKL. Is that correct? Any preferential seating or anything else I can hope for (point taken about emergency exit only available at check in). And I've looked at the paid upgrade thread but sees nothing on AKL - sadly - so I imagine I should have no hope!

impeymac

Yes that's pretty much it, but don't forget you also have access to the LHR MH lounge as a OWE, assuming it's open at that time.

hotwingz

I would add two things that can come in very handy:
1) QR tries to block the seat next to you as long as its possible
2) You will most likely be personally greeted after boarding or shortly after takeoff. Usually they will let you know the meal choices already and ask you for your preferred option and reserve that for you.

orbitmic

Fantastic, thank you both! Is the MH lounge a better choice? I've bizarrely never tried it but find their KUL lounges a bit underwhelming. I'm very familiar with the ST lounge which is fine, but the MH one would certainly be open I think as I'd be on the 4pm LHR-DOH flight.

And good to know about the blocked seat (I don't suppose it's worth asking them is there is an empty row at the gate if the fight isn't too full? ) and meal choices! I have literally flown QR dozens of times in J and (less frequently) F, but it will be my first time in Y. I'll admit that the prospect of the 18 hour leg in Y twice in 3 days seem overwhelming (I've done the flight in J which was perfectly tolerable, but in Y it seems like the worst possible flight choice!)

impeymac

You're very welcome!

I'd rate the MH lounge above the SkyTeam lounge; quite pleasant with OK F&B, has fantastic views across LHR & is likely to be a lot closer to the QR gate. However, as you're aware even if the MH lounge is closed you won't exactly be slumming it in the ST lounge. Neither are a match for the QR lounge of course.

'Enjoy' your flights in Y, though I'm not sure that's the appropriate word!

hotwingz

You can check the loads on Expertflyer at check-in or directly ask if there is an empty row. If you go for the bulkhead or emergency seats you will have more legroom, but most likely no chance of getting a whole row to yourself as these tend to be at the back of the bus.
Long-haul in Y is all about managing expectations. Don't expect great food or champagne!

Ask for a bottle of water when boarding so you can stay hydrated and if you can get a free row, it is better than a middle seat on BA premium economy already :P

sam

I've chosen the LHR T4 MH lounge over the Qatar lounge on a number of occasions. If you like SE Asian food it is much better. Better drinks too and all self service (which I prefer).

impeymac

As always it's each to their own, but I suspect you're in the minority.

Nice to have such good choices!

sam

I don't like to conform

As Gold you also get to use MH First lounge whereas Qatar only have one lounge.