SSSSmiserable

so I used american airlines miles and booked a qatar business flight from Amman to Doha to Dublin. Flight departs at 2:45am. The latest I can check out of the hotel is at 4pm. So I got to Amman airport around 6pm.

They were opening the check in counter for a 9pm flight. They wouldn't check me in for the 2am flight, saying the jordan immigration won't allow me to go inside...

So I ask, can you change me to the 9pm flight then? I am willing to take economy for the amman to doha leg.

"no, we are not reservation, you have to call reservation yourself"

Are they being extra inflexible? Very rigid...

so I called qatar airline, and told me to call american

american airline said they can't change the flight because they can only change flights that's at least 2 and half hours later.. and I was around 2 hours...

In between, I asked if I buy an extra ticket from Amman to Doha, can they check me in with the second leg of the original flight at the same time? no. This I kinda understand...

What I can't understand is the check in counter cannot put me on an earlier flight? I get put on earlier flights/later flights many times at the check in counter/gate in america and other countries as well. Many times when I check in, there's some problem for example with the connecting flight, they just change the reservation at the check in counter and put me on a different flight..

But they way those qatar airline ground staff, they are just so rigid and everything is a no to them...

SeeBuyFly

There is absolutely nothing to complain about here. QR cannot, repeat cannot, change an AA award ticket.

Yes, in the case of irrops, these rules are suspended. But there were no irrops here.

plunet

If you come from the US you may find this experience frustrating, but this is standard operating mode elsewhere in the world. We don't have a general policy of being able to do same day change like is common in the US. And because it's not a normal thing, the frontline staff are probably not trained up to do it.

If you had asked to do a flight change at Doha (I.e. A hub airport with airline direct employees all over the place), whilst it might not have been free, they would have had someone who probably could have facilitated the request at a cost. But you have to appreciate that you're at an outstation, all the staff apart from the station manager are contractors. They might be wearing a Qatar uniform, but after their shift they have a break and then go and wear a different uniform for the next flight.

As the poster above notes, the fact that this was an AA ticket complicates things for voluntary changes once a flight is open for check in, as Qatar will only want to make changes for IRROPS but AA have lost control of the ticket because it's under airport control. Award ticket makes it double complicated as there's no hard currency monetary value to use towards the rebooking.

There's also a cultural thing going on as well. As an employee in the Middle East you do what you're told to, and tread carefully when you have the opportunity to move outside of those boundaries. Management's view of employees going the extra mile to do something unusual or exceptional for a customer will typically be viewed as doing something they shouldn't. Unless the customer was super important, then a dim view is usually taken and it can result in the termination of the employee's contract. If you were an employee on the check-in counter working under these parameters and you are given the opportunity to do something beyond checking a customer in for the flight that is open for check in, what would you do?

florin

Well put, plunet!

Mwenenzi

Normal airline procedure is if you no show a segment all subsequent segments will auto cancel.

As above in most places in the world/most airlines check-in and ticketing/re-ticketing (& bag fees) are very different functions. Check-in agents getting involved in tickets/money just slows every one on the queue behind. USA is different.

TonyBurr

Only American could have changed your flight, not QATAR. You were asking for something they could not do.