Family of 3 (2 adults + 1 infant) - just booked flights to the Maldives with the intention to upgrade using Qcredits on the outbound and Avios on the inbound. To my surprise I could only upgrade the ticket of the adult without the in-lap infant online, so I opened a chat where they told me tickets with in-lap infants can't be upgraded with Avios or Qcredits. Does this mean my Qcredits are basically worthless now as they will expire in a year and the only travels I have planned for the next year are with the baby?

Any workaround other than booking flights with another airline and use my Miles to upgrade those flights?

Thanks!

Unfortunately not. If you want to travel with an infant you need to book an award ticket in the desired class J/F. But it will not be possible to upgrade an already issued ticket.

Thank you for confirming what I thought. I don't understand why they wouldn't let you upgrade with an infant if you can buy an award ticket with an infant, but then again, there are a lot of things I don't understand in aviation :-).
Since our flight is already tomorrow I guess we'll have to live with economy. At least the DOH-MLE and MLE-DOH flights are with the ex-Cathay 777, so we get to choose the premium economy seats.

Be grateful the infant even got a seat:
Adding Infant to Business Class Redemption Ticket

I will continue to bang my drum about their painful system with this regards for years to come, even though my "infant" with the problems after the policy change is nearing two...

Update on our return flight: We successfully upgraded to business class, though the process was long and tedious via WhatsApp and phone. Hopefully, this helps other parents traveling with infants.
On our outbound flight from BRU, we were denied upgrades both via WhatsApp and at check-in. We were told that the only way to upgrade with an infant was by paying the full cash price for all passengers�using Qcredits or Avios wasn�t an option.

For the return flight, I decided to use WhatsApp again to upgrade my wife with Qcredits before they expired. The agent confirmed availability and, surprisingly, offered a second award seat. I assumed my lap-infant would block the upgrade, but she found a solution: detaching the infant ticket, upgrading both of us with Qcredits, upgrading the infant for just �200 in cash, and then reattaching the ticket.

It took a few hours, and I had to complete the infant payment via a phone call, but eventually, we received our updated travel documents. At MLE check-in, there was a minor issue with the infant ticket not being reattached, but a quick call to Doha resolved it.

In the end, we flew both legs in business class. So for parents with Qcredits and an infant�yes, it is possible to use them!

Off topic but how do you contact Qatar Airways through WhatsApp - is there a specific number that you are using and is the support more helpful than the direct chat function on their website while logged in through your account?

In my case I'm using the Qatar Airways Gold whatsapp. I don't think there's a big difference with the chat function on the website, but find using Whatsapp easier when out and about on my phone.

I also have Gold status and I'm not able to find this on my account. Where do I get the details on how to reach out to them via WhatsApp?

+974 3131 1135