realgaga

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.
The 1 free change I mentioned was with fare basis rules, fare difference, charges and penalties waived
The 'unlimited changes' under the EOC policy only means waiving the change penalty.

OAL = Other Airline
IRROPS = Irregular Operations (anything that goes wrong with a flight eg. weather)
TK = A status of a flight on Amadeus (the reservation system QR uses) that means the airline has changed the timings of the flight (only agents are able to see the status of flights)

ISTFlyer

To clarify, you have unlimited changes but they would waive the fare difference once. "No change fees" stand for the service fee that they took pre-COVID for changes, not the fare difference.

If you decide to accept the change for QR127 and then try to rebook on QR69/LH248 a fare difference might apply and to avoid the change fee, you would still need to call in as the change fee ( the service fee ) needs to be waived manually by an agent.

By the way, OAL stands for other airline, IRROPS stands for irregular operations, TK stands for schedule Change

MoonJ

Ah, now it makes sense - there's a distinction between the two kind of changes and that is that there might be a fare difference involved, which I already was taking into account anyway. Thanks!
It is still annoying though because it's either a 10+ hour layover, or put the inbound flight a day later/earlier when they do operate QR123 but that involves moving my hotel dates earlier/later which appears to cost quite the sum of money.
I do however see in the last note of realgaga's screen shot that it says 'For OAL, kindly contact Qatar Airways: XXXX'. But I reckon this doesn't apply to me?

realgaga

This document was made for travel agents and they have to contact QR if involving OAL since they can't do it themselves on the system.

MoonJ

Gotcha. Weird thing, if you were to book the ticket now, the fares have increased on just the date my inbound flight is (probably because they removed QR123 in general, which means less availability on those days) however the DOH-FRA-MXP route is cheaper than QR127 DOH-MXP, it actually is the cheapest option for people to choose. But now that fares have raised I'd probably still pay a fare difference. But it sounds pretty strange they can only offer me the 'most expensive' route option, right?

ISTFlyer

QR wouldn't care about the current ticketing and fare prices when rebooking.
The point is that QR wouldn't pay any money or lose something when they rebook you to the next QR service. Despite that, if they rebook you on a LH flight, they would need to pay Lufthansa.

Also, it's pretty normal that QR wouldn't rebook you to another airline for free when there is a direct QR flight unless there is a last-minute change.

MoonJ

(Obviously) I don't agree it's pretty normal. If they are the ones cancelling a flight and ruining your itinerary, I think you should at least be able to pick between the options they offer in general. I'm not asking them to go out of the way for me, and call different airlines to get me home quickly, just that they put me on a flight schedule offered by themselves so I don't have a 10+ hour layover they now caused. It's the first time I encounter this really, with Etihad and KLM this happened dozens of times and when I called premium service line they were always ok with my option, whether it was direct with them or codeshare they offered in their system. I guess I'll just have to cut my trip short with a day. Paying €250+ for the Oryx Airport hotel is excessive.

Thanks for the help anyway! Learn something new every day.

fender5787

Hi all,

Just saw that I had a significant schedule change on an upcoming itinerary and figured I’d get you guys’ input before calling into QR. So just to make sure, if I have a schedule change (TK) that causes my layover in DOH to increase over 8 hours, I should be able to change my dates of travel to any date before dec 31, 2021 regardless if seats are or aren’t available in the original RBD I booked in on the new dates without paying fare difference, correct? As long as there’s availability in the original cabin (in this case J) I should be able to pick any date combo to change my ticket to?

Thanks in advance!

ISTFlyer

Yes, that is true. You would be able to pick any date combination with the requirement that your travel should end before December 31, 2021.
Also, a reminder that only your first change would be free of charge; unless there is another involuntary situation on your ticket, a fare difference might apply on subsequent changes.

fender5787

Awesome, thanks ISTFlyer for the quick reply, and for being a literal tome of info about all these QR policies!

Schwann

Another question, possibly a moot point if not able to travel but need to ask anyway....

Flight OSL-DOH originally at 4:00pm cancelled and rebooked to flight at 0830am (different flight number). As the flight we want to take onwards from DOH is once a day, flying at 0830am would lead to a long layover at DOH.

Asked to rebook onto a flight from CPH at similar time to original flight and Amex Travel have advised that QR say fare difference is due. I thought there was a 500 mile rule to allow for changes of airport?

realgaga

Did you accept the rebooking after the cancellation?

Schwann

Not yet.

realgaga

Since you had a cancellation and didn't accept the change, you're eligible for:

warakorn

May I ask (again): QR only waives the change fee once for a voluntary change of flights?
If the passenger opts to rebook a second time the fare rules (no rebooking or change fee) applies?