Neilgcal

Hi

I have just come back from a trip with Qatar and used the book with confidence policy to make it work. All perfect in the end.

I am now looking at booking a good J fare in February 2022. Now I can see that the book with confidence policy only covers changes etc free up to the end of 2021. But from my understanding of the policy the refund waiver would still apply as it applies to all tickets issued prior to 30 April21.

Can anyone clarify that this is the case just incase borders are still shut in Asia next year. Route incase required is LHR BKK // SIN LHR

Thanks for any assistance.

flashware

Yes but do keep in mind the policy changes just about every month right now so what is in place now may not necessarily be when you want to use it.... It's a customer service policy only so not binding.

dc10forlife

I agree that the policy changes would not be binding for those tickets which were purchased prior to the implementation of the policy. After all, people purchased those tickets with the expectation that they could only get refunds as provided in the fare rules.

But when you advertise the ability to get fee-free refunds in order to induce the sale of new tickets, it becomes binding for those tickets. The current policy has no time period limitation for getting a refund (e.g., to qualify for a fee-free refund you must cancel before December 31, 2021). The only requirement is that the ticket be issued before April 30th and that you cancel a few hours before your scheduled flight.

Chrisnichols

Hi everyone,

Firstly, apologies if this is really simple, or has already been covered, but I am a bit confused! My first time posting in the Qatar forum - I normally book with BA, and understand their book with confidence policy, but I am seeking some clarification of the Qatar policy.

I am trying to plan my honeymoon, and have been looking at flights from Budapest - Bangkok out 17 December 21, return 02 Jan 22. There is a very good business class fare available.

As this is past 31 December, the ‘travel must be completed by’ date specified in the policy online, what would my options be if we were unable to travel to Hungary or to Thailand by then? Would we still be able to rebook and / or obtain a refund in this case?

I would be really grateful of any advice. This would be my first booking with Qatar, and my first ex-EU, so I want to avoid any pitfalls!

many thanks,

Chris

flashware

I'd strongly advise against an ex-EU flight, especially at that time of year. There's so much unknown still and you cannot guarantee anything. I wouldn't risk it. That's coming from someone who usually does 3 or 4 ex-EU a year.

realgaga

Under the current policy (it will have further changes in the future), if you choose to cancel you're allowed

- A refund to the original form of payment with the no show penalty and refund penalty waived if cancelled at least 1h before departure; OR
- A voucher with the remaining value of your ticket and an additional non-refundable 10% value

Chrisnichols

Thank you for the replies.

I appreciate that an ex-eu carries some risks.... but I was trying to establish more what rights I would have around cancellation - I.e if my travel ends after 31 December, then will I still be able to request a refund under the current book with confidence policy if I’m unable to travel at that date

Chrisnichols

My main concern is that the return flight falls after 31December

Newbtravelle

I don't see any wording about vouchers in the new policy? Do you mean the ticket can be kept open? The 10% additional value is the old policy?

The latest policy doc in the wiki seems to have pre end of 2021 as a condition for waiving change fees, but I can't see any text that mentions date conditions for waiving the refund fee.
Worth calling QR or hopefully someone here can confirm. But as others have said the policy has changed so many times. You would need the EU and Thailand to be open OR hope that the latest QR policy down the road was still favourable :/

realgaga

No I don't. If you go on qatarairways.com, the booking page still mentions that tickets can be converted/refunded as vouchers with 10% extra credit.

Chrisnichols

Thanks everyone. I’ll try to give them a call to clarify 👍

warakorn

This is not a good idea.

deepakvrao

This is confusing. If I book today and the policy changes in April, I presume I will be able to avail of this fee free refund policy? Or, will the policy change retroactively? That doesn't make sense.

realgaga

As stated in the wiki section of this thread, the policy at the time of change/refund applies.

GGLwannabe

I don't think that is correct. If I buy a ticket today because Qatar currently states that I will be able to get a refund on that ticket any time up until December 31st, then that statement will form part of my agreement with Qatar, and cannot be revoked if a later version of the TWC policy no longer includes this statement. This is the same point that was made by dc10forlife upthread, but what you're saying seems to contradict this.