Qsuite seat assignment - code share AA
 

Qatar and AA seem to be at an impass on our reservation and seat assignments so thought I'd come here to see if there is an approach that has worked for others with same or similar type of reservation involving a code share.

We've flown Qatar ORD>DOH several times but previously it was either booked directly through QR or booked through AA but as a QR labeled flight.
Our new reservation is listed as AA 8126 operated by QR in Business. Unlike other code-shares I've had, when you look up the reservation on the Qatar website, it also shows the AA flight number. Not the QR flight number. There is no option to change seats online either on AA or QR.
Neither AA nor QR operators seem to be able to assign the middle EF pairs. QR operator couldn't even find the QR flight number - they tried to tell me it was an AA flight at first (it is ticketed). Since AA doesn't' fly to DOH (except maybe this odd week), that was our first hurdle.
So after much searching, the QR operator said he couldn't assign seats since it was an AA flight. AA can't see those seats as available which doesn't surprise me since we've never been able to book those with AA.
Qatar operator sadi the best he could offer was to ask at check at the airport to see if they could assign the seats. I would think they would be gone by then but with travel in October of this covid year, maybe not?

Is there a possibility that they aren't assigning these center seats as part of covid protocol? Is the code share what is messing this up? Thoughts?

I'm not sure if it makes any difference but I am AA EXP/Oneworld Emerald and my husband is AA PlatPro/Oneworld Sapphire.

Afterthought - will this codeshare mess impact our lounge access in Doha? We are flying business on Qatar but if they see it as an AA flight, would that restrict Al Mourjan lounge access?

TIA

Try using the QR PNR at rj.com and see if you can select seats. I think which FF program you are using will display that level of OW status and entry to lounges.

the QR PNR is what I used. The AA PNR wouldn't work at all.

Did you go to rj.com? Finnair and Malaysia might also allow for seat selection.

codeshare seat assignment is different.

If AA can't assign you a seat, that could mean, AA is never allocated any seats for codeshare, no one else can assign you a seat before day of travel, when QR will take over the ticket and assign you a seat,

Thank you. That seems to fit what is happening. AA can assign me the window seats but not the middle "suite" seats. QR can't assign the middle seats either.
for what it's worth, I did try opening the reservations with RJ, Malaysia, etc and while I can see the seats, I definitely can not select seats. Even tried BA since part of the return trip is on BA. Their message was a bit different as it said to wait 48 hours and try again. I suspect that won't make a difference but, hey, I'm curious now so will try

It isn't the worst problem to have I guess but we do like those center seats when traveling together

aj411 What was the final result in your situation? My wife and I are facing the same situation with AA marketed QR flights JFK-DOH in a couple of weeks. While there seems to be plenty of EF seats for the JFK-DOH segment, there's not as many for the DOH-JFK segment. Further complicating my situation, is the first flight on my eastbound itinerary is on AA metal, so I have to check in on aa.com, and I'm not sure how I will get seats assigned on the JFK-DOH flight. QR agent on the phone said when they try to assign seats on their end it asks for a payment ($140 per flight per person, so $560 total for us; no thank you!). He said he marked our reservation as having a preference for the EF seats; not sure what that will achieve.

First. With international, you won’t be able to fully check in online. No worries. That will be fine.

I finally exchanged messages with Qatar twitter team. They couldn’t change either because of the code share BUT said get back to us at 72 hours pre flight. I did at just after that 72 hour window opened and asked for any ef pair. They did it. (Mind you, they didn’t send me a message back. I had to go into my reservation to see that they had given us the ef pair. At that point I didn’t care and was just thrilled that we had the seats)

now I know. At 72 hours Qatar can make the seat assignment

Thanks for the update. Did you try the 72-hour Twitter trick in both directions, and if so, did it work both times?

I haven't flown on an international OW itinerary in many years so I wasn't sure what the current status was on checking in for international flights. Most of my recent travel has been on United and Star Alliance. With them it's hit and miss on which international itineraries allow for full check in and which don't.

Marking my calendar for the 72-hour mark to reach out to their Twitter team! My early communications were with their Facebook team. They were able to get me seat assignments on the QR marketed flights on our itinerary, but said I needed to call in and pay for the others.

What is happening here is that QR blocks the middle "quad" seats and only releases them upon request when other options are exhausted (or for Emerald status pax, I guess as they have done for me several times). AA can only access the seats that are not blocked and do not have access to unblock anything as it is under QR, hence their ability to give you certain window seats. Sounds like QR takes over the ticket 72hrs prior to departure and hence were able to help you at that time :tu:

I have emerald status. Qatar can assign the seats if the flight is designated a Qatar flight. They can not assign the seats if it is sold as an AA code share. Neither can AA. So, if you get it as a code share, 72 hours is the magic moment.

The 72 hour call worked both on our outbound and return trips. It will get riskier I suppose as the planes fill up

By the way, both AA and Qatar acknowledged that this was a "computer" (aka software) limitation with the relatively new code share arrangement. Neither had any idea when it might be fixed though.

My thought as I have additional flights like this coming up: keep checking back periodically to see if they can assign the seat prior to 72 hours

I've been trying to arrange seating for a few weeks now for my DXB-DOH-JFK return in December and think I received my "final answer" as to why I cannot receive advanced seating at least on the DOH-JFK sector. In the manage bookings section of the QR website there is no option for seat assignment, so I did obtain seat assignments on the DXB-DOH segment (which books into F) on RJ.com, but even then would not let me select seats for the DOH-JFK (AA code share). I know there is an issue with lounge access when booked into R class, however, I thought I've read on FT that lounge access is still permitted with an AA code share booked in R class rather than QR R class. I guess I will find that out in two weeks. Anyway, to make a short story long I wasted about an hour of my life yesterday on the phone with the AA EXP desk home had to go through a supervisor and the one world desk to give me the answer that QR will simply not allow any advance seat selection for R class bookings no matter if it's an AA R or a QR R.

I guess if I can't stop by the QR ticket counter on my outbound and beg for mercy then I will take the advice and go to twitter at the 72 hour mark. I've noticed on EF that there are no seats available, but about half the cabin blocked!

I had a similar issue on a Jetblue codeshare. QR Phone customer service and whatsapp repeatedly said nothing could be done until I got to the airport. Twitter CS initially said the same but with polite persistence, they assigned all 4 flights the middle Qsuites for my wife and I about 8 months out. They CAN do it, it's a matter of finding the person who WILL do it.

No longer an issue with R fares. Business Lite is now a P fare code.

The 72-hour window for my JFK-DOH flight opened on 11/28 at 8:20am local time to me. I messaged the Twitter team around 10am. I got a message back 15 minutes later asking for the reservation details, which I provided right away. Five hours later I got a response saying they couldn't make the assignments because when they tried to do it it was again asking for a payment, and I should call in to do so since they can't process payments on Twitter. I responded right away mentioning that I only reached out to them having come across information that within 72 hours they are able to help (still haven't received a response 9+ hours later). I called the AA elite line to see what they could do (if anything). The agent I talked to told me that they get calls all the time from elites complaining that Qatar wants to charge for seat assignments even in business class, and confirmed that AA Platinums (oneworld Sapphire) and up should not be charged those fees. The agent said he could see some open seats, including an EF pair (9EF, last EF row on the A350-900), but he said that when they try and select seats on Qatar, even ones they can see as open, Qatar goes in and removes those assignments after the fact. I just sent another message to Qatar's Twitter team sharing the information the AA Elite agent mentioned to me (i.e. oneworld Sapphire and up should not be getting charged those seat fess), asked to see if the issue could be escalated, and if not, asked when I could try again to get seat assignments without having to pay a fee. We'll see if that works.

UPDATE: Well, my last message did cause a reaction. I got a reply within 30 minutes that they sent an email to the "concerning department" (guessing their oneworld relationship office, but that's only a guess), and then another message 2 hours later with the seat assignment information, for both codeshare flights (I was given EF seats for both flights)! The fact that they were also able to get me seat assignments for the return flight tells me that there is a way to override the fee payment menu for oneworld elite members, but it takes getting the issue escalated.