It depends what you mean by lower. If we are talking materially lower then I would go with the preferred, but if it isn't materially lower then I would go with the pricier alternative. As an example. BA v VS. If the J seat on BA is $6000 + $200 additional cost of seat while on VS J is $6,500 seat included, I would book VS.
However, if J on BA was $3,000 + $200 for the seat and VS was $6,500 seat included, I would book BA.

There are certain services at certain price points that should never be in question. As an example: I refer again to QR asking people to pay an additional fee for a J class seat allocation when the price of the ticket is already over $12,000.

Thanks.

The issue is that there appear to be enough people willing to pay for unbundled ancillaries on top of whatever the cash fare may be that it's a sustainable business model at the moment. It�s good to draw a line somewhere on a personal basis and buy elsewhere, as in your BA v VS example and I commend you for that, but principles can be expensive. $300 expensive in that example.

$12k is a LOT of money, of course, and I'm not defending fare levels. But even ignoring inflation and fuel costs etc, it�s just reality currently that there are enough passengers / people with money to burn / mugs / etc who are willing to pay those fares plus fees that it doesn't matter what you or I might think. And if it were your or my business, we might be thinking "lucky me!'

If QR eliminated your hypothetical $8000 Lite fare that is upsetting you, and only offered your hypothetical $10000 fare that includes lounge access, would that make you feel better and continue to book them as opposed to going elsewhere?

Agree by and large. Sometimes, upholding principles can indeed come with a steep price.

On the whole, my strong objection likely stems from my 15-year experience working with an airline, during which I extensively analyzed route profitability and performance. In my view, no airline seat or service justifies a $12,000 price tag in today's market. However, I do find merit in the idea of an around-the-world fare, encompassing at least 20 countries and exclusively in first class, potentially justifying such a cost.This business strategy appears to be centered around incremental charges, even when passengers are already paying a premium. It's intriguing to consider how things might have transpired if passengers had demonstrated their dissent by making decisions with their wallets � it's conceivable that British Airways would have reconsidered their profit-oriented approach. Yet, as long as there exists a clientele willing to cover these expenses or even higher fares, the motivation to retract such an unreasonable policy remains low.

I tell you, my anticipation builds as I wait to witness what other services they might begin monetizing, all while maintaining the fa�ade of business class and justifying the premium pricing.

As long as there exists a clientele willing to cover these expenses or even higher fares, the policy is [by definition] reasonable.

Reasonable only to those willing to pay.

So for the uninitiated (in travelling QR), what are the lounge access and seat selection benefits available to OW Sapphire and Emeralds flying on Lite and Classic fares?

And specifically, could anyone advise what lounge access at DOH you have in this case:

BA Silver (OW Sapphire), travelling on a Business Lite fare BHX-DOH-MCT, booked into P class on BHX-DOH and A class DOH-MCT

- Al Safwa, based on departing flight in first class
- Al Mourjan, based on a business class itinerary, with "no lounge" cancelled out by the OW status
- Gold, based on above lounges not applying to a Lite fare even with OW status, therefore only the FF lounge (the same as if travelling in Y, with status)

Option 3 - the Gold lounge

Think of the A ticket effectively as an op-up because there is no business class cabin, so the restrictions of the business class fare bucket apply throughout.

If your underlying business-class fare bucket were other than P, the regional first sector would do its magic and open the gates of Safwa.

Sadly, the P fare strips the whole itinerary of lounge access, so you'll be down to the backing of your OneWorld status. The Gold lounge is absolutely fine.


That said, Qatar runs a strangely nuanced ship: there's a body of underlying and unpublished rules which can shift without notice. So if you are OK running the (almost certain) risk of rejection, there's no harm in presenting your first-class boarding card with a confident smile at the staircase to Safwa. If you get through, the next hurdle will be the gatekeepers at the top of the escalator. If you do try your luck, please report back.

Thanks for this. In the end, didn't even get to try. The BXH-DOH flight was 30 mins later, long walk to transfer security, and the departing DOH-MCT was from the far-off gate 30A with a bus to the aircraft and already boarding.

See, for once, I would love unbundled Business Class fares if it actually served the purpose of providing a Business Class experience at a cheaper price. But that isn't how it is now. A significant number of airlines including QR and EK simply eventually reprice the restricted fare class to that of the cheapest flexible fare class before unbundling. You pay more to get services (like seat selection, chauffeur car - in case of EK, not relevant here, sorry! , and lounge access) that you got for free in the yesteryears. Now that's one thing I love about booking on WY, SV, KU or even GF. The service levels may not be the same but there are no hidden surprises at the end of the day. You get the Business class service that you pay for, but it's only a few months or years until these airlines too follow the concept of unbundling fares.

The exercise was probably better for you than a visit to Safwa

Hi All,
New to this page, but have hung out in AA, BA and EK .
I just booked JFK-DOH-MAA and return MAA-SFO for early October and had a couple of questions.

I had to book via Egencia as its work travel and have an odd Mix.
AA- JFK-DOH in Business
QR- DOH-MAA in Economy (luckily 4.3 hours)
QR- MAA-DOH Business I
QR- DOH-SFO Business I

I looked and couldn't find wether an "I" class ticket has lounge access as a 3rd party booked the ticket. total cost was $5100. Based on the above, I think I have a cheap fare.

I think I know the answer to be no, but asking anyway as this is my first year as AA Executive Platinum. For my DOH-MAA flight as an EXP who flew in on AA Business- does that gain me lounge access? If not the QR lounge is there another that I would be able to visit?

Thank you -
Paige

Have you checked you are flying QR on the Chennai sector? That you're in economy for that flights suggests you could be on the Indigo code-share.

I can't believe arriving in business-class and leaving in economy is going to enhance your status-driven lounge access, which would seem to be the Gold one: it's a large, well catered space equipped with shower rooms.