Qatar Airlines? ????️????️

[bermondburi]

I flew out of Thailand on Qatar to Saudi Arabia a couple of weeks ago. I was originally going with Emirates but Saudi banned all those flights as UAE is on their red list. My wife had planned to visit me in Saudi soon but I now see that no flights are available on Qatar website. Have they stopped flying out of Bangkok? 

 

Furthermore are any Middle East carriers apart from UAE based ones flying at the moment? Gulf aren't, Qatar maybe not, and Emirates and Etihad are a no no as they're UAE. 

 

So far the only flight I've managed to find to Riyadh that complies with the restrictions is with Philippines Airlines which obviously is going the long way round. 

[bermondburi]

To answer my own question, Qatar is still flying but they're only showing flights up to the 27th of March on the website. Presumably in time they'll show flights in April as well. 

 

Okay. Panic over. 

[stubuzz]

Saudi borders are closed until May 17.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1800521/saudi-arabia

 

 

[Tanoshi]

I can get flights up for April, BKK - Doha.

[bermondburi]

46 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Saudi borders are closed until May 17.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1800521/saudi-arabia

 

 

That's only for Saudis. They've not been allowed to travel for nearly a year now. For non Saudi residents, or people visiting non Saudi residents there are no restrictions. Just have to follow quarantine guidelines on arrival. 

[bermondburi]

32 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

I can get flights up for April, BKK - Doha.

Yeah, I think it's just the airline not showing too far ahead. I'll look again next week and hopefully they'll have the 1st week of April showing by then. 

 

Speaking to my wife earlier. She wasn't too enamoured with the idea of going via the Philippines!

[stubuzz]

1 hour ago, bermondburi said:

That's only for Saudis. They've not been allowed to travel for nearly a year now. For non Saudi residents, or people visiting non Saudi residents there are no restrictions. Just have to follow quarantine guidelines on arrival. 

Are you sure. I have some colleagues trapped overseas who claim they cannot return.

[bermondburi]

1 hour ago, stubuzz said:

Are you sure. I have some colleagues trapped overseas who claim they cannot return.

Absolutely. I arrived in Saudi only 2 weeks ago. There are people who are having to spend 14 days somewhere before entry because they've come from, or passed through a country on the Saudi red list, but entry is still permitted. I have 2 South African colleagues in Zanzibar right now doing exactly this. 

[jaideeguy]

Don't know if this answers your OP, but we just booked a repatriation flight arranged by the Thai embassy from LAX to BKK [via Doha] for the 1st week in March.  Maybe a charter flight?

[ozfarang]

8 hours ago, bermondburi said:

To answer my own question, Qatar is still flying but they're only showing flights up to the 27th of March on the website. Presumably in time they'll show flights in April as well. 

 

Okay. Panic over. 

Daylight saving starts in the northern hemisphere on the 28 March 2021 and this is the time all the airlines change to their summer timetables.

 

Qatar may not have finalised their timetable for the summer. Check back in a week or two and you may well find the flight you are looking for after 27 March

[mtls2005]

6 minutes ago, ozfarang said:

Daylight saving starts in the northern hemisphere on the 28 March 2021

 

14 March 2021 in the U.S. I think.

 

Qatar made a big splash when they re-launched service (stopped since 2017) last month. 

 

Last scheduled date right now is 26 MAr for DOH-RUH

 

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2021/January/saflightsresume.html

 

Can't see why they wouldn't extend that (daily) service?

 

Other schedules published out 330+ days.

 

Maybe drop them a DM on Twitter, or via one of their other contact points. Extremely responsive IME.

 

@qrsupport

 

 

[bermondburi]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

14 March 2021 in the U.S. I think.

 

Qatar made a big splash when they re-launched service (stopped since 2017) last month. 

 

Last scheduled date right now is 26 MAr for DOH-RUH

 

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2021/January/saflightsresume.html

 

Can't see why they wouldn't extend that (daily) service?

 

Other schedules published out 330+ days.

 

Maybe drop them a DM on Twitter, or via one of their other contact points. Extremely responsive IME.

 

@qrsupport

 

 

Cheers, sounds reasonable. 

[Tuvoc]

I had notification that my flight to London on 31st March has been cancelled. I never intended to go on that date anyway, I'll move it to something like July/August under their flexible booking conditions, but that is most unusual.

[DFPhuket]

Qatar is flying twice a day from Bangkok to Doha. 

 

Yesterday I booked round trip flights (BKK/DOH/ORD) in early May with a return in late June. If you're not seeing available flights, it must just be an issue with the particular Saudi city you're choosing.

[cormanr7]

1 hour ago, DFPhuket said:

Yesterday I booked round trip flights (BKK/DOH/ORD) in early May with a return in late June. If you're not seeing available flights, it must just be an issue with the particular Saudi city you're choosing.

I have been looking at flights to Europe (via Doha) in May/June 2021. Plenty listed on the Qatar website, with -presently- two departures listed from BKK. Situation is very fluid however, can change -for better or worse- at any moment. Note that with limited flights, stopover time can be long, so choose carefully!

Edited February 24, 2021 by cormanr7
add sentence

[richard_smith237]

On 2/22/2021 at 6:54 PM, bermondburi said:

To answer my own question, Qatar is still flying but they're only showing flights up to the 27th of March on the website. Presumably in time they'll show flights in April as well. 

 

Okay. Panic over. 

Nope.. Qatar Airways are showing flights well beyond that.

 

Try Bangkok - Doha without any onward leg to Saudi. Also try with a different browser or clear your cache. 

 

 

[mtls2005]

BKK-DOH is fine, that's not the issue.

 

It's the DOH-RUH segment that WAS not showing past ~ 26 Mar

 

either as BKK-RUH or BKK-DOH-RUH

 

 

All that said, looks like the DOH-RUH is now loaded for April, bit looks like it is NOT daily service. but rather 4X weekly, Mo We Th Sa, so you'll have to book one of those DOW specifically.

 

 

 

 

[bermondburi]

7 hours ago, DFPhuket said:

Qatar is flying twice a day from Bangkok to Doha. 

 

Yesterday I booked round trip flights (BKK/DOH/ORD) in early May with a return in late June. If you're not seeing available flights, it must just be an issue with the particular Saudi city you're choosing.

Been playing around on the app and I've found the issue. It's not the Bangkok Doha leg that's the issue, it's Doha Riyadh. As things stand there are no direct flights showing after 27th March. 

I'm presuming that because this route only opened up last month due to the embargo they're still seeing how the demand is, and they'll be showing updated direct flights soon, which will then connect with the Bangkok leg. 

 

It was full when I flew from to Doha to Riyadh, and fairly full when a colleague arrived yesterday. 

[bermondburi]

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Nope.. Qatar Airways are showing flights well beyond that.

 

Try Bangkok - Doha without any onward leg to Saudi. Also try with a different browser or clear your cache. 

 

 

I'm in the app, and that's no good to me. I know I can go to Doha but I don't want to. 

[bermondburi]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

BKK-DOH is fine, that's not the issue.

 

It's the DOH-RUH segment that WAS not showing past ~ 26 Mar

 

either as BKK-RUH or BKK-DOH-RUH

 

 

All that said, looks like the DOH-RUH is now loaded for April, bit looks like it is NOT daily service. but rather 4X weekly, Mo We Th Sa, so you'll have to book one of those DOW specifically.

 

 

 

 

Agreed. But the Doha Riyadh flights in April are not direct. Showing up as going via Kuwait or Oman etc taking 8 or 10 hours!

 

I'm hoping this will change nearer the time to a direct flight and then can book from Bangkok with no issues. 

 

I'll keep checking every few days I guess and see what happens. 

[Hanuman2547]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:48 PM, mtls2005 said:

 

14 March 2021 in the U.S. I think.

 

 

You are correct!  Daylight Savings Time begins again at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2021.

[Hanuman2547]

My Thai niece has been a flight attendant with Qatar for at least 10 years now.  She made no mention last week of any changes in flights out of or into BKK.

[mtls2005]

15 hours ago, bermondburi said:

I'll keep checking every few days I guess and see what happens. 

 

What are the travel dates?

 

17 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

All that said, looks like the DOH-RUH is now loaded for April, bit looks like it is NOT daily service. but rather 4X weekly, Mo We Th Sa, so you'll have to book one of those DOW specifically.

 

Strange, these (direct, non-stop DOH-RUH) showed yesterday. Today they do not show.

 

 

Drop QR a DM, or just keep checking.

 

Can't see why they wouldn't keep this service after 26 Mar. Looks like two flights now but both are not dailies: QR1164 (xTH) and QR 1166 (xTU).

 

And it's not like a flight will sell out.

[watgate]

Had a great experience with Qatar Airlines recently. I cancelled a flight I had booked last year to return to the US on April 1, 2020. I had booked the flight with a consolidator and did not have trip cancellation insurance. When the pandemic hit last year I decided to cancel my return flight with Qatar Airlines back to the US and had decided to remain in Thailand during the pandemic. My consolidator, who will remain nameless initially told me I would be getting 200 usd from Qatar Airlines due to my cancelling my flight. After checking with them several times about the refund they then proceeded to tell me I was SOL and that I was not going to get a 200 usd refund from Qatar Airlines. I was not very happy and the consolidator basically told me tough doodoo and was very curt. 

     Just recently, I was contacted by my credit card company and was informed that Qatar Airlines had posted a 200 usd credit to my account. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised and contacted Qatar Airlines for the 200 usd credit. I thanked them for understanding about all the difficulties that were encountered due to the pandemic and for showing that they truly cared about their customers. It was a very nice gesture by Qatar Airlines and they were not legally obligated since I did not have trip cancellation insurance. 

     i will most definitely use Qatar Airlines for future flights and have always been happy with flights I have taken with them in the past. 

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, watgate said:

I cancelled a flight I had booked last year to return to the US on April 1, 2020. I had booked the flight with a consolidator and did not have trip cancellation insurance. When the pandemic hit last year I decided to cancel my return flight with Qatar Airlines back to the US and had decided to remain in Thailand during the pandemic

 

Was your ticket USA-BKK-USA? And you used the USA-BKK portion? Did QR cancel any of the segments for BKK-USA? Or did you actually initiate a cancellation? With whom? Or did you just no-show?

 

Getting $200 is awesome, no question. You may have been able to get a lot more, but with a consolidator in the middle, who knows? Had you booked directly with QR, and with any sort of schedule change (doesn't have to be a cancellation) you coud get a voucher (110%), or a free re-booking. Even a proactive request, without a cancellation/change could ersult in a voucher/re-booking.

 

Or was it BKK-USA-BKK, and you did not begin your journey?

 

Totally agree that Qatar has been a blessing to deal with during the pandemic. Awesomely responsive. Now if I could get that $250 I "lost" on Fx back. ????

 

[watgate]

My ticket went from Chiang Mai to Bangkok then Bangkok to Doha Qatar and then Doha to JFK NY. I did not use any portion of my  ticket and called the consolidator a couple weeks before my flight was to depart to cancel my whole trip. I might try to book directly with the airline in the future but my previous experiences always seem to find a lower airfare going through a consolidator. As I said before I am happy with receiving 200 usd considering I had no trip cancellation insurance and I in fact cancelled my flight.

[blackcab]

Qatar (the country) week be added to the UK's red list from 4am on Friday 19 March 2021.

If you are transiting through Doha then the Red List restrictions will apply.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-countries-added-to-red-list-to-protect-uk-vaccination-programme-against-variants-of-concern

[bermondburi]

Flights to Saudi are now available. They came up a couple of days ago. Prices are reasonable too. Only negative is a very long layover on the return leg. 

[Chelseafan]

On 3/16/2021 at 1:45 AM, blackcab said:

Qatar (the country) week be added to the UK's red list from 4am on Friday 19 March 2021.

If you are transiting through Doha then the Red List restrictions will apply.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-countries-added-to-red-list-to-protect-uk-vaccination-programme-against-variants-of-concern

 

Am I reading this right? Are they saying that there are no passenger flights arriving into the UK from Qatar ?

"A ban on commercial and private planes travelling from Oman, Ethiopia and Qatar will also come into force on Friday to reduce the risk of importing variants of concern. This excludes cargo and freight without passengers."

[blackcab]

1 hour ago, Chelseafan said:

 

Am I reading this right? Are they saying that there are no passenger flights arriving into the UK from Qatar ?

"A ban on commercial and private planes travelling from Oman, Ethiopia and Qatar will also come into force on Friday to reduce the risk of importing variants of concern. This excludes cargo and freight without passengers."

 

That's the first time I have read that. I just checked Qatar airlines, and there are no flights available from Bangkok to London after Thursday 18th March 2021. On Thursday there are only business class seats available, so it looks like the plane is full of people taking the last flight from Qatar.

I'm really not sure what that means for people with tickets on Qatar, other than they will have to buy another ticket on a different carrier. Qatar has a flexible rebooking policy, but they don't give cash refunds. Hopefully people can claim the cost of the ticket back from their credit card company.