HB7

R class fares, at least from first glance are not priced sensibly at all now. Effectively, prices have gone up between 50 - 80% on about 12 searches I have done from a few European destinations to Asia/Australia from mid-late 2021.

All QR are doing here is increasing their prices significantly and I'm pretty certain most Y flyers will not budge because J fares have not reduced. They are the same price but with less benefits. At least at the moment.

I used to fly QR a lot before the pandemic, predominantly in J. And yes, I will admit they were reasonably priced and it is a great product, however this move is not a great one in my opinion. I would have been completely fine with an increase of 10-15%, but definitely not 50 - 80%.

I know I'm only one passenger, but I will be looking elsewhere from now.

ph-ndr

One thing I think we don't really know how will factor in yet is transfer time. Before covid stopped it all you could have reasonably short connections in Doha, I had many that were so short I couldn't be bothered to find the lounge and just have a slightly less hectic transfer and waddle on to the next gate at my pace.

Once corona passes and world is returning to normal we will have a route network that initially is very likely to be much more sparse, with longer transfers for many routes. Then lounges may be more desirable. Maybe they are gambling that more will pay for this?

-A

msm2000uk

My understanding is that not all fare classes have been fully amended yet, so I'd give it a few days for the IT to catch up.

With the upcoming sale, I wonder how many will jump at the R class fares.

M

wait2fly

Since Hamad Airport has opened in summer 2014, my family members and I were flying roundtrips from Europe to Singapore, Bangkok, Hongkong, and Tokyo (Narita) about every 4-8 weeks. Most of these trips were booked on QR flights whenever reasonable BC fares became available. In other words: if no BC offers were avaiable, we simply didn't travel at all.

Meanwhile there are several strong reasons, not to fly via Doha anymore:

- Many destinations can't be reached via Doha because of the boycott of other near-east countries.
- Various threats of Mr. Al Baker in the past to leave the Oneworld alliance.
- 10-day quarantaine upon return via Doha because our home country is considering Qatar a Covid-19 high-risk country (since June 15th).
- The disappointing new rules for business class fares in booking classes R.

Our Conclusion:

Dear Mr. Al Baker. If you like us to continue flying on Qatar Airways, we are waiting for your personal offer. Feel free to contact us anytime.

Dave_C

Surely the devil is in the detail here. There needs to be a sensible price differential between R and I for a consumer to justify buying up. Theoretically, they should offer paid lounge access that should be greater than the cost of the differential between R and I, to make it worth consumers buying the more expensive I fare.

They also need to take into account corporate travellers that have to buy the cheapest fare when offered via their corporate booking tool.

This could work (from Qatar's point of view), if implemented sensibly. As it stands with the massive differential between R and I, all they seem to be doing is driving people away.

ISTFlyer

QR elites are still getting their free seat selection and lounge access.
As the Business/First Class lounges are closed, we still have Al Mourjan Lounge access so this new change does not affect QRPC members with status ( at least for the moment ).

HB7

Completely agree - this move in my opinion can only drive people away. It makes no sense because there has been no decrease in fares at all - so no one who usually flies Y will make the jump. People who fly J however will be annoyed with this and look elsewhere.

HB7

Fair enough - do you know when the sale will begin?

Tobias-UK

The no lounge and no advance seat selection appears to apply to I fares too.

Smid

Well, now I've got to work out how to get rid of the voucher from April now, and get my money back. They don't provide the same product at the same price anymore.

kkjay77

R and I both falls under Classic at least ex-USA. Comfort is D and Elite C.
So one needs to buy up to D and not I.

jackr27

While I think Qatar's lounges are overrated, and I don't particularly like the Al Mourjan lounge, it is certainly an upgrade compared to the 'Business' and 'First' lounges.

I am curious how those lounges would actually cope if they're now supposed to cater for both status economy and status business passengers? I've been through the 'First' lounge a few times and while at some points in the day it's all but empty, at other times it is completely packed and near impossible to find a seat.

There is no way I'd be booking any flights with Qatar that involve a long stopover if it means a substandard lounge offering. Considering Doha airport primarily exists as a transit stop, this move doesn't make much sense to me.

Also - who came up with the name 'Classic'? Surely most people associate a 'classic' business class as coming with benefits such as the use of a lounge?

dodgeflyer

Cue the numerous threads: "QR changed my layover from Xhrs to Yhrs. Can I get lounge access [and who do I contact]?"

Dave_C

Wow, thanks for clarifying. Then it's truly illogical behaviour - why would someone buy up that much just for lounge access?

mpnakh

So it looks like current bookings will still get the old 'perks'. Does anyone know if a date change would classify the ticket as a new booking? I'm due to travel OSL-CPT in March but can imagine changing it, especially as they removed Qsuites until April.