Major QRPC Changes - effective 27 May 2018
Feb 11, 2019, 5:57 am
#511
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 74
Hi,
I am mulling to buy a ticket with a partner in it XXX-DOH-YYY-ZZZ (where the YYY-ZZZ flight is not operated by QR).
I would like to buy it in Y and upgrade the sectors operated by QR, there are avail on all flights but was wondering if the QR glorious IT could prevent me to do so with the last flight.
Any experience on this ?
Thanks
I am mulling to buy a ticket with a partner in it XXX-DOH-YYY-ZZZ (where the YYY-ZZZ flight is not operated by QR).
I would like to buy it in Y and upgrade the sectors operated by QR, there are avail on all flights but was wondering if the QR glorious IT could prevent me to do so with the last flight.
Any experience on this ?
Thanks
Feb 11, 2019, 7:11 am
#512
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Monaco
Programs: Amex Plat
Posts: 105
After seeing QR privileged program downgraded, what are everyone's thoughts? Did a majority really shifted to crediting QR flights into BA Avios with the intention to utilize attractive redemption at BA OneWorld partners (the ones with low fuel charges) I can rack-up to QR Gold/Platinum pretty quickly (currently between silver and gold) if I keep putting miles into it (double miles promotion till end of Feb, plus possibly a few more during during 2019)
I've heard a few recommendation towards BA, but when i look into my sample flights for the next 3-6 months I do not see good availability of BA redemption's (may be less availability due my lowest BA tier) on OW partners (Finnair, Cathay Pacific, QR etc.) Can BA downgrade Exec.Club Avios the same way as other companies did (QR, SQ etc)?
I am based in Europe and majority of my flights are to Asia. Will appreciate your suggestions.
I've heard a few recommendation towards BA, but when i look into my sample flights for the next 3-6 months I do not see good availability of BA redemption's (may be less availability due my lowest BA tier) on OW partners (Finnair, Cathay Pacific, QR etc.) Can BA downgrade Exec.Club Avios the same way as other companies did (QR, SQ etc)?
I am based in Europe and majority of my flights are to Asia. Will appreciate your suggestions.
Last edited by Gobber; Feb 11, 2019 at 7:28 am
Feb 11, 2019, 2:44 pm
#513
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: PAR
Programs: QR Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,090
That’s enough for a DOH-BKK upgrade or your partner can either spend them at QR duty free at DOH airport or convert them to Le Club AccorHotels points.
Feb 11, 2019, 3:21 pm
#515
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: PAR
Programs: QR Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,090
Feb 12, 2019, 11:29 pm
#516
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: CPT
Programs: BA BD SA
Posts: 4,467
I’d happily blow them on duty free just to get some value out of them. But my next transit has been reduced to 55 minutes due to schedule changes - so it will have to wait!
Feb 13, 2019, 6:57 pm
#517
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Singapore & Globe trotting
Programs: QR Gold, ITA Club Executive, Hilton Gold, GHA Titanium, Taj Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Gold Elite
Posts: 425
I was stuck with 135k miles at the time of QRs massive devaluation. I've been wondering what to do with them ever since. A last minute business trip came up this week to fly to Denmark over the weekend and for the first time ever in my experience, QR actually had online upgrade award availability so close to departure and that too for all 4 segments. As it was a last minute ticket, only an Economy Flex ticket was left to book, which meant I could get a super cheap upgrade to business on all segments - 85k miles return from SIN 
Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of my mostly useless miles 
Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of my mostly useless miles
Feb 14, 2019, 11:07 am
#518
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: qr
Posts: 262
I was stuck with 135k miles at the time of QRs massive devaluation. I've been wondering what to do with them ever since. A last minute business trip came up this week to fly to Denmark over the weekend and for the first time ever in my experience, QR actually had online upgrade award availability so close to departure and that too for all 4 segments. As it was a last minute ticket, only an Economy Flex ticket was left to book, which meant I could get a super cheap upgrade to business on all segments - 85k miles return from SIN Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of my mostly useless miles
Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of my mostly useless miles
Feb 15, 2019, 3:14 am
#519
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Singapore & Globe trotting
Programs: QR Gold, ITA Club Executive, Hilton Gold, GHA Titanium, Taj Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Gold Elite
Posts: 425
Off late I haven't been having an issue with the tool itself (late last year I used it to upgrade myself using Qcredits) but more that this close to departure I have never found availability in the past. This is probably because QR would of course love to offer paid airport upgrades and at least make some money that way.
Feb 15, 2019, 12:20 pm
#520
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: qr
Posts: 262
Thats interesting re upgrade tool as since everything went on line or via APP and the loss of the call centres I have had no luck at all. system kept bugging out and sending weird messages. took it up with QR ( sending screen shots) and requesting they resolve my upgrade requests, guess what no hope. so had to rely on asking at Airport for upgrades.
Mar 24, 2019, 6:58 am
#521
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Muscat/Doha/Manchester
Programs: Oman Air Gold, Qatar Airways Platinum, Marriott Ambassador, HH Diamond, GHA Black, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 432
So, as we know, there was much discussion about the "major changes" really being little more than an across-the-board devaluation. I wasn't sure, as I didn't see any really specific numbers that would make it clear. I did see that award availability has increased since a couple of years ago, and the increased availability seems to have held, at least so far.
I have an upcoming RTW MR in F coming up in about a month; and I thought that it might be interesting and instructive to compare the earnings and benefits of the two programs that I use for OneWorld, AA and QR, to see what the real story was with the "devaluation."
A few introductory notes which will help you understand my analysis:
1. I spend most of my time in Thailand, but go to BOS five or six times per year. So I'm looking at 5-6 roundtrips annually, BKK-BOS.
2. My two preferred routings are CX (BKK-HKG-BOS) and QR (BKK-DOH-BOS).
3. I consider QR J more or less equal (at least in terms of desirability for me) to CX F. The bed in CX F is unbeatable, IMO; but QR wins on pretty much everything else. So I'm perfectly happy with either.
4. The HKG and DOH airport experiences, at least for me, while very different, are roughly equivalent in terms of desirability. I like and enjoy them both. Same with the lounges.
5. Current redemption rates are 110K AA miles for CX F and 169K QR miles for QR J, both one way BKK/BOS.
6. I assumed my current elite status levels, AA PLT PRO and QR PLT for elite status levels. My AA earnings will be a little higher since I would reach EXP at some point towards the end of my itinerary (if I credit to AA), but I did not take that into account in the calculation.
How I did the calculations: For AA, I used Milecalc.com to calculate the BIS miles, then applied the multipliers listed on AA.com for elite status bonus and class of service bonus. I used the formulas on the website to calculate bonuses on a segment-by-segment and carrier-by-carrier basis, again using the info provided on AA.com in the AAdvantage section of the website. For QR, I used the QCalculator.
Itinerary: SEZ-LHR-LAX-JFK-HKG-NRT-CMB-NRT-SIN-SYD-DOH-CDG-DOH-LHR-JNB. I did not include in either of the calculations the earnings from a side trip LAX-SEA-LAX I have to make for one day while I'm in Los Angeles.
Fare Basis: A for those routes with F service, D otherwise.
Standard of Measure: I don't care about how many miles are earned because you still have to factor in the redemption rate to understand what one has really earned on a flight. What I look at is how many one-way tickets the flight/itinerary gets me on a redemption. (I don't think that I've explained this clearly, but it will become more clear below.)
Credit to QR: The itinerary earned 114,351 QMiles, equivalent to ⅔ of a one way ticket BOS/BKK in QR J.
Credit to AA: The itinerary earned 135,809 spendable AAdvantage miles, equivalent to 1¼ one way tickets BOS/BKK in CX F.
So there's the answer. The devaluation was both real and quantifiable. I'll be crediting to AA.
I have an upcoming RTW MR in F coming up in about a month; and I thought that it might be interesting and instructive to compare the earnings and benefits of the two programs that I use for OneWorld, AA and QR, to see what the real story was with the "devaluation."
A few introductory notes which will help you understand my analysis:
1. I spend most of my time in Thailand, but go to BOS five or six times per year. So I'm looking at 5-6 roundtrips annually, BKK-BOS.
2. My two preferred routings are CX (BKK-HKG-BOS) and QR (BKK-DOH-BOS).
3. I consider QR J more or less equal (at least in terms of desirability for me) to CX F. The bed in CX F is unbeatable, IMO; but QR wins on pretty much everything else. So I'm perfectly happy with either.
4. The HKG and DOH airport experiences, at least for me, while very different, are roughly equivalent in terms of desirability. I like and enjoy them both. Same with the lounges.
5. Current redemption rates are 110K AA miles for CX F and 169K QR miles for QR J, both one way BKK/BOS.
6. I assumed my current elite status levels, AA PLT PRO and QR PLT for elite status levels. My AA earnings will be a little higher since I would reach EXP at some point towards the end of my itinerary (if I credit to AA), but I did not take that into account in the calculation.
How I did the calculations: For AA, I used Milecalc.com to calculate the BIS miles, then applied the multipliers listed on AA.com for elite status bonus and class of service bonus. I used the formulas on the website to calculate bonuses on a segment-by-segment and carrier-by-carrier basis, again using the info provided on AA.com in the AAdvantage section of the website. For QR, I used the QCalculator.
Itinerary: SEZ-LHR-LAX-JFK-HKG-NRT-CMB-NRT-SIN-SYD-DOH-CDG-DOH-LHR-JNB. I did not include in either of the calculations the earnings from a side trip LAX-SEA-LAX I have to make for one day while I'm in Los Angeles.
Fare Basis: A for those routes with F service, D otherwise.
Standard of Measure: I don't care about how many miles are earned because you still have to factor in the redemption rate to understand what one has really earned on a flight. What I look at is how many one-way tickets the flight/itinerary gets me on a redemption. (I don't think that I've explained this clearly, but it will become more clear below.)
Credit to QR: The itinerary earned 114,351 QMiles, equivalent to ⅔ of a one way ticket BOS/BKK in QR J.
Credit to AA: The itinerary earned 135,809 spendable AAdvantage miles, equivalent to 1¼ one way tickets BOS/BKK in CX F.
So there's the answer. The devaluation was both real and quantifiable. I'll be crediting to AA.
Brilliant analysis and what a crazy schedule, SEZ-LHR-LAX-JFK-HKG-NRT-CMB-NRT-SIN-SYD-DOH-CDG-DOH-LHR-JNB, if you do not mind me asking, over how long would that trip take you? and when booking it, do you have to firm the dates from the outset or are the dates flexible? is there any threads for RTW as I find it fascinating!
Mar 24, 2019, 8:14 am
#522
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,753
Brilliant analysis and what a crazy schedule, SEZ-LHR-LAX-JFK-HKG-NRT-CMB-NRT-SIN-SYD-DOH-CDG-DOH-LHR-JNB, if you do not mind me asking, over how long would that trip take you? and when booking it, do you have to firm the dates from the outset or are the dates flexible? is there any threads for RTW as I find it fascinating!
- LHR: about 18 hours
- LAX: about 43 hours (including my side trip to SEA)
- TYO: about 15 hours
- SIN: about 18 hours
- SYD: about 13 hours
- DOH: about 24 hours
You are theoretically allowed to have open segments, I believe, other than the first segment, which must be set. However, from a practical perspective, I don't believe that any issuing carriers are willing to do that any more.
Best place to start if you want to learn more about this fare and how it works is the OneWorld Explorer Ticket FAQs thread. Read it carefully; and you'll have to read it several times, too. Remember it's just a start. The rules are many and complex. When you call an airline to book one of these tickets, the staff doesn't always know the rules. The online booking tool at the OneWorld website is notoriously bad, with numerous things programmed in which are inconsistent with the rules. Start by reading the FAQs thread. If/when you start to plan one of these, ask questions over in the appropriate OneWorld thread. You'll find a group of people there with a lot of experience with these tickets, and we'll be happy to help.
Mar 24, 2019, 1:07 pm
#523
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Great Britain
Programs: Air: QR Silver. BA Silver Emirates, Hotels: CC Gold, IHG Spire AMB, Hilton Diamond.
Posts: 1,487
Experiences / suggestions ?
Has anyone found a phone number of anyone at Qatar who is able to assist with upgrades using QCredits and QMiles ?
Want to book flights for my parents arn-doh-bkk / bkk-doh-arn in economy (found Q Booking Class which are allegedly upgrade-able) but upgrade all 4 sectors for each parent into business class.
I can see that the KVS tool is reporting availability on the flights for upgrade to business class, however don't want to encounter problems !
I can see them preventing the upgrade from Q Class economy tickets for example or saying that availability is gone by the time the request goes in. Therefore I would like to do it all over the phone.
The only other times I have done upgrades is in this manner - however before QRPC went through the cvhanges in May.
Frankly I don't want the economy flights if I can't upgrade them to business class !!!
What would people suggest ?
Want to book flights for my parents arn-doh-bkk / bkk-doh-arn in economy (found Q Booking Class which are allegedly upgrade-able) but upgrade all 4 sectors for each parent into business class.
I can see that the KVS tool is reporting availability on the flights for upgrade to business class, however don't want to encounter problems !
I can see them preventing the upgrade from Q Class economy tickets for example or saying that availability is gone by the time the request goes in. Therefore I would like to do it all over the phone.
The only other times I have done upgrades is in this manner - however before QRPC went through the cvhanges in May.
Frankly I don't want the economy flights if I can't upgrade them to business class !!!
What would people suggest ?
Mar 24, 2019, 11:54 pm
#524
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Singapore & Globe trotting
Programs: QR Gold, ITA Club Executive, Hilton Gold, GHA Titanium, Taj Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Gold Elite
Posts: 425
Has anyone found a phone number of anyone at Qatar who is able to assist with upgrades using QCredits and QMiles ?
Want to book flights for my parents arn-doh-bkk / bkk-doh-arn in economy (found Q Booking Class which are allegedly upgrade-able) but upgrade all 4 sectors for each parent into business class.
I can see that the KVS tool is reporting availability on the flights for upgrade to business class, however don't want to encounter problems !
I can see them preventing the upgrade from Q Class economy tickets for example or saying that availability is gone by the time the request goes in. Therefore I would like to do it all over the phone.
The only other times I have done upgrades is in this manner - however before QRPC went through the cvhanges in May.
Frankly I don't want the economy flights if I can't upgrade them to business class !!!
What would people suggest ?
Want to book flights for my parents arn-doh-bkk / bkk-doh-arn in economy (found Q Booking Class which are allegedly upgrade-able) but upgrade all 4 sectors for each parent into business class.
I can see that the KVS tool is reporting availability on the flights for upgrade to business class, however don't want to encounter problems !
I can see them preventing the upgrade from Q Class economy tickets for example or saying that availability is gone by the time the request goes in. Therefore I would like to do it all over the phone.
The only other times I have done upgrades is in this manner - however before QRPC went through the cvhanges in May.
Frankly I don't want the economy flights if I can't upgrade them to business class !!!
What would people suggest ?
Good luck!
You can read my experience here - Success story: QR Doha contact centre (Y to J Qmiles upgrade.
Jan 6, 2020, 7:34 am
#525
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: DXB
Programs: Marriott Titanium Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver, A3 Gold, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 2,811
Seems like this didn't go so well for them:
Qatar Airways Careers - Current Opportunities
Qatar Airways Careers - Current Opportunities