Qatar Airways - what happened to them?

[samtam]

I cannot find a travel forum, so please move as required.

 

I was a true fan of Qatar Airways pre-pandemic, but since then they have gradually deteriorated in every respect. My latest attempt was to use my Avios points on their website with their partner airline, Japan Airlines. You request a booking through their website and it gets acknowledged. They claim they will respond within 48 hours. They didn't the first time around, so I rang their Doha office and was informed the dates (in May) were not available, so I asked them to advise me which dates were available. They gave me them. I had to then go back online to rebook, and was asked to call Doha back with the acknowledgement reference ID, which I did within a few minutes. The answer came back "dates not available". So I thought this silly game could go on forever, I'll just trip off to their office in Exchange Square, Rachadapisek. Arrived there and was informed that walk-ins for customers no longer available. OK, my fault for reading an out-of-date website with the office details and opening times. Was given a Thai number to ring, which I did. The rep informed me of "wide open" dates to book my reward flights with their partner airline and they would respond within 72 hours. That deadline passed today, so I rang them again. They now say response with 96 hours, but as it's Friday, by Tuesday at the earliest.

 

This is a joke service. Or more likely, reward points on Qatar are literally pointless.

 

So I will book the Business Class tickets on JAL and pay the USD3,500 (for 2)...BKK to HND.

 

Thinking how I might instead use my Avios points on Qatar, I checked their website for flights on their airline. The use of points is bonkers. A round trip flight on Business to Madrid is 300,000 points plus THB14,000 or some such BS. I've lost track. Booking without points is only about THB120,000, but flights are nearly all sold out for May.

 

So, I shall continue to live the life of a hermit, and stay put.

 

In all my years of travelling I have rarely had success with mileage points, which must surely be the biggest load of nonsense. But Qatar are taking their disdain of usage of reward points to a new level.

 

OK, rant over. I'm having a much cheaper excursion, daily from my flat to my pool, as per usual.

[proton]

As mentioned before went Q suite biz class with them from UK last year. Changed a plane type so cancelled reserved seats with no notification, promised a refund then changed their mind. Stuck on loading bridge for 35 minutes in the heat while they were getting the plane cleaned. Special meal Asian veg turned out to be lo calorie inedible muck, broken seat and one toilet was out of order. Never again with those jokers.

[Woof999]

2 hours ago, samtam said:

In all my years of travelling I have rarely had success with mileage points,

 

I feel your pain. I've given up being loyal to one airline / alliance and am now very much a travel slag. Happier for it too.

 

Having said that, about a decade ago Etihad were doing some bonkers deals. Business > First upgrades where you gained more miles back by flying first than it cost you in miles to upgrade. I must have flown in their A380 first apartments 20+ times and was treated like a king. Little wonder that they nearly went bust.

[treetops]

You can use your Qatar Avios on Bangkok Airways flights if that's any use to you?

 

Still a bit longwinded to book but availability seems OK (for BKK-USM anyway which is what I've been checking).

[Guderian]

20 hours ago, proton said:

As mentioned before went Q suite biz class with them from UK last year. Changed a plane type so cancelled reserved seats with no notification, promised a refund then changed their mind.

 

They agreed to refund me 3,000 Baht for a seat reservation from DOH to BKK which was cancelled by them when they changed the aircraft from a 777 to an A380. Three months later and still nothing has appeared in my bank account.

[proton]

9 minutes ago, Guderian said:

 

They agreed to refund me 3,000 Baht for a seat reservation from DOH to BKK which was cancelled by them when they changed the aircraft from a 777 to an A380. Three months later and still nothing has appeared in my bank account.

 

Same here they told me when the money would be in then said no as the seat I did get was similar to the one I booked! Complained at length, even to the CEO, only ever got a firm no after that from the so called customer service dept.

[Hummin]

Just arrived with Qatar for first time, and after next return, I will continue with Emirates if I fly another Middle east company ever again! All depends on availability and prices from European airways. 

[richard_smith237]

21 hours ago, samtam said:

In all my years of travelling I have rarely had success with mileage points, which must surely be the biggest load of nonsense. But Qatar are taking their disdain of usage of reward points to a new level.

 

I think this issues is multifaceted.

 

#1) The Use of pints issue with a partner airline seems a JAL issue rather than a Qatar Airlines Issue. Last Year I was able to transfer a load of Avios to British Airways and used them for family flights within Europe (on British Airways) - it was a surprising how easy it was. 

Thus: I suspect the 'set up' between Qatar Airways and JAL Rewards scheme is extremely clunky. 

 

#2) Contacting a help line - Pre-covid many airlines were much much better. It seems all airlines let a load of staff go - All airlines are struggling terribly on the customer service front.

 

#3) Booking Air-miles tickets direct with some Airlines themselves is often easier than with others.... Wife was on the phone with TG for an hour yesterday to book Air-miles flights for next year (because they have limited availability even a year from now) - TG make it very difficult to get simple things done if not conforming perfectly to the very narrow lines they expect us to colour within. 

 

Thus: You [OP] are colouring outside expected lines - The system of using Air-miles of one airline to purchase a ticket with a different airline hits a 'does not compute' with most customer service staff as they are not familiar with such a request - hence the hiccups. 

 

 

All air-lines seem to have got worse I hope that tide chances, worse still the prices are massively elevated. 

 

As you are prepared to pay directly anyway, In your shoes [Op] - I'd be a little stubborn and play it out. 

 

As your timing seems little flexible... you have a number of options when paying out of pocket.

Thus: Wait it out and see what you get - worse case scenario you have to buy a ticket, but as the cost of business class doesn't vary to the same extent Eco does, that shouldn't bother you and in the mean time you may get what you want. 

 

 

 

[Chivas]

21 hours ago, proton said:

special meal Asian veg turned out to be lo calorie inedible muck,

 

If all airlines stopped pandering to about a 100 different ludicrous options than airline prices would probably be 10% cheaper all around

 

Meat....Fish.....or go hungry

[proton]

6 minutes ago, Chivas said:

 

If all airlines stopped pandering to about a 100 different ludicrous options than airline prices would probably be 10% cheaper all around

 

Meat....Fish.....or go hungry

 

Its called service, not pandering. Maybe you would like no alcohol served as well to save you a few quid?

[richard_smith237]

17 minutes ago, Chivas said:

21 hours ago, proton said:

special meal Asian veg turned out to be lo calorie inedible muck,

 

If all airlines stopped pandering to about a 100 different ludicrous options than airline prices would probably be 10% cheaper all around

 

Meat....Fish.....or go hungry

 

Agreed...  Airlines have a long way to go to please the more 'out-there' dietary restrictions...

 

.... However, if someone is ordering a 'Vegetarian LACTO-OVO' mea or a 'special Asian vegetarian meal'...   their expectations should not be high.... Thats obviously difficult on a long flight when hungry etc... but I see airline meals as simply filling a gap, I have no taste or quality expectations whatsoever. 

[samtam]

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Agreed...  Airlines have a long way to go to please the more 'out-there' dietary restrictions...

 

.... However, if someone is ordering a 'Vegetarian LACTO-OVO' mea or a 'special Asian vegetarian meal'...   their expectations should not be high.... Thats obviously difficult on a long flight when hungry etc... but I see airline meals as simply filling a gap, I have no taste or quality expectations whatsoever. 

 

I agree. The meals are dire, whatever class. My last trip on Qatar I closed the door (Q Suite) after take off and telling the female waiter that I didn't want to be disturbed for the rest of the flight. Qatar's "meal on demand" is a complete load of <deleted>, resulting in waiters and waitresses walking up and down the aisles all the time. At least with the Q Suite you can mitigate that irritation but just closing the door. 

[samtam]

55 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I think this issues is multifaceted.

 

#1) The Use of pints issue with a partner airline seems a JAL issue rather than a Qatar Airlines Issue. Last Year I was able to transfer a load of Avios to British Airways and used them for family flights within Europe (on British Airways) - it was a surprising how easy it was. 

Thus: I suspect the 'set up' between Qatar Airways and JAL Rewards scheme is extremely clunky. 

 

 

 

Yes. transferring reward points from Qatar to JAL, (one of their partner airlines), is indeed clunky. Apparently they have to do it "manually". Avios transfers between Qatar and BA can be done by the customer online. Not so with any of their other partners. And weirdly, BA requires 90,000 points plus THB12,500 to transfer to a JAL flight, whereas Qatar requires 77,500 for the exact same flight. I tried doing it from BA too, but their IT systems are worse, and obviously with the variation in point requirements, I was not prepared to fork out for more Avios points. Ergo, best only to use Avios on BA or Qatar, and not with any other of their so-called airline partners. It's a guaranteed exercise in futility and time wasting. I wish they would just be honest about it. But I know now, and so will anyone reading this. 

Edited March 23 by samtam

[xeniv23]

1 hour ago, samtam said:

 

I agree. The meals are dire, whatever class. My last trip on Qatar I closed the door (Q Suite) after take off and telling the female waiter that I didn't want to be disturbed for the rest of the flight. Qatar's "meal on demand" is a complete load of <deleted>, resulting in waiters and waitresses walking up and down the aisles all the time. At least with the Q Suite you can mitigate that irritation but just closing the door. 

I took Qatar for a return to Thailand from Sweden last summer business class.  There were 8 of us in the 24 business class seats.  The kind attendant took my dinner choice and then I never ever received any food.  The purser came around to do the normal blah blah about thanking me for choosing them just before landing.  I thanked her for her interest and then expressed my disappointment and my determination to not book again with Qatar.  

[gearbox]

The Qatar avios bookings with partner airlines are "pseudo online", as one can't see which dates are available. I had similar to the OP experience booking one way ticket Samui - Singapore with Bandit Airways. The requested date was not available,  after 4 days waiting had to request a different date. The tax for Samui - Singapore was nearly 2400 baht, quite steep.

 

IMO it is better to use the support chat than calling numbers.

[samtam]

I travelled with my partner, and we had the two centre seats together. On one leg we decided to have dinner, with a pre dinner drink. Everything was served at different times, so would have been better sitting on the same side, and separately. Again the "meal on demand" means that service is haphazard, and even between seats divided by an aisle. Some customers received food and beverages long before others, in that configuration. They really are uncoordinated. After that experience we decided to pass up on the F&B service, as it was just too irritating. The answer is to eat in the lounge before you depart, and at the lounge in Doha, if it's not too crowded. On the first leg there was a queue of 10 or more for each of the shower facilities.

[samtam]

17 minutes ago, gearbox said:

The Qatar avios bookings with partner airlines are "pseudo online", as one can't see which dates are available. I had similar to the OP experience booking one way ticket Samui - Singapore with Bandit Airways. The requested date was not available,  after 4 days waiting had to request a different date. The tax for Samui - Singapore was nearly 2400 baht, quite steep.

 

IMO it is better to use the support chat than calling numbers.

 

I did chat online yesterday, but cannot find the chat facility today, (just now). I used the search option, but nothing comes up.

 

Maybe it's closed for the weekend. Certainly the booking request doesn't get handled over the weekend, despite Qatar being an international airline, and it's headquarters operating in a country that has it's day off on Friday.

Edited March 23 by samtam

[samtam]

12 minutes ago, samtam said:

 

I did chat online yesterday, but cannot find the chat facility today, (just now). I used the search option, but nothing comes up.

 

Maybe it's closed for the weekend. Certainly the booking request doesn't get handled over the weekend, despite Qatar being an international airline, and it's headquarters operating in a country that has it's day off on Friday.

Oops. Found it.

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, samtam said:

I agree. The meals are dire, whatever class. My last trip on Qatar I closed the door (Q Suite) after take off and telling the female waiter that I didn't want to be disturbed for the rest of the flight. Qatar's "meal on demand" is a complete load of <deleted>, resulting in waiters and waitresses walking up and down the aisles all the time. At least with the Q Suite you can mitigate that irritation but just closing the door. 

 

Same...   When I fly Buisness Class (which seems to be more rarely these days)... I used fly at 2am (already knackered and not hungry).. 

I'd just drop a sleeping tablet and ask the Flight Attendant to wake me up as late as possible with a coffee...

....as soon as the seatbelt sign is off, I'm horizontal and asleep a few mins later... 

No need for food etc... I just want to lie flat, sleep and have the flight pass as quickly as possible - IMO that the best way to fly.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, samtam said:

Yes. transferring reward points from Qatar to JAL, (one of their partner airlines), is indeed clunky. Apparently they have to do it "manually". Avios transfers between Qatar and BA can be done by the customer online. Not so with any of their other partners. And weirdly, BA requires 90,000 points plus THB12,500 to transfer to a JAL flight, whereas Qatar requires 77,500 for the exact same flight. I tried doing it from BA too, but their IT systems are worse, and obviously with the variation in point requirements, I was not prepared to fork out for more Avios points. Ergo, best only to use Avios on BA or Qatar, and not with any other of their so-called airline partners. It's a guaranteed exercise in futility and time wasting. I wish they would just be honest about it. But I know now, and so will anyone reading this. 

 

Yup... We just had a right old song and dance trying to get Air-mile Seats with TG.

3 of us... BUT... some flights did not have 3 seats available... so we've had to mess about with what we can get at what times etc..

 

We ended up outbound with 2 Air-miles Seats... And a regular Ticket paid for with Miles+Cash... and then a return with 3 Air-miles seats.

It was a lot of messing about...  as the availability shown on the TG Website is not quite the same as that shown with the call centre. 

1 hour on the phone for something which takes 10mins with Emirates !!

So.. we could only get the Air-miles seats over the phone... 

And I could only get the 1 way regular ticket with Cash+Miles online....

 

Just an awful lot of faffing around... in total with taxes etc it was still 30,000 baht for 3 return tickets BKK to Japan.

 

It just doesn't need to be this awkward - its as if the airlines want to present the 'facade' that its all giving and shares with other airlines etc, but they really don't want to so have no interest in making the process seamless. 

 

 

 

[samtam]

49 minutes ago, samtam said:

Oops. Found it.

 @gearbox Thank you. I managed to get through and thought I was about to book, but they've asked me to come back and try again in 2 hours, as they have an IT glitch🤨

 

Initially they asked me to do what I have already done....go and make the booking request on their website. Not sure we wont go back to that rigmarole again, which is a complete waste of time and effort.

 

The Avios points (77,500 each) come with a service fee of THB14700 each.

[samtam]

23 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Same...   When I fly Buisness Class (which seems to be more rarely these days)... I used fly at 2am (already knackered and not hungry).. 

I'd just drop a sleeping tablet and ask the Flight Attendant to wake me up as late as possible with a coffee...

....as soon as the seatbelt sign is off, I'm horizontal and asleep a few mins later... 

No need for food etc... I just want to lie flat, sleep and have the flight pass as quickly as possible - IMO that the best way to fly.

 

 

 

Absolutely agree.

[samtam]

16 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Yup... We just had a right old song and dance trying to get Air-mile Seats with TG.

3 of us... BUT... some flights did not have 3 seats available... so we've had to mess about with what we can get at what times etc..

 

We ended up outbound with 2 Air-miles Seats... And a regular Ticket paid for with Miles+Cash... and then a return with 3 Air-miles seats.

It was a lot of messing about...  as the availability shown on the TG Website is not quite the same as that shown with the call centre. 

1 hour on the phone for something which takes 10mins with Emirates !!

So.. we could only get the Air-miles seats over the phone... 

And I could only get the 1 way regular ticket with Cash+Miles online....

 

Just an awful lot of faffing around... in total with taxes etc it was still 30,000 baht for 3 return tickets BKK to Japan.

 

It just doesn't need to be this awkward - its as if the airlines want to present the 'facade' that its all giving and shares with other airlines etc, but they really don't want to so have no interest in making the process seamless. 

 

 

 

 

Yes, it is a protracted process to make it as unattractive as possible. To put it bluntly, it is a complete con. If the airlines don't want to give reward miles, just drop it, and stop pretending it's a benefit.

[VBF]

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

Just arrived with Qatar for first time, and after next return, I will continue with Emirates if I fly another Middle east company ever again! All depends on availability and prices from European airways. 

My experience with Emirates is largely positive in that each booking, I use up the miles obtained on my previous flight.

This time however, they've annoyed me by changing my last sector (DXB - LGW) from an A380 to a 777. This is within contract of course as it's still a business class flight, BUT there's apparently no bar in the 777 so I'm getting less than I paid for. I shall complain when I return to London, but I suspect I'll get little except maybe a few points in  compensation.

Not such a bad problem to have though 🙄

 

Ethiad really annoyed me a few years ago, when they changed my return arrival from  Gatwick  to Heathrow and offered me NO compensation 😡 

 

Returning to the topic in hand (sorry) I've never actually flown on Qatar.

Edited March 23 by VBF

[samtam]

23 hours ago, samtam said:

 @gearbox Thank you. I managed to get through and thought I was about to book, but they've asked me to come back and try again in 2 hours, as they have an IT glitch🤨

 

Initially they asked me to do what I have already done....go and make the booking request on their website. Not sure we wont go back to that rigmarole again, which is a complete waste of time and effort.

 

The Avios points (77,500 each) come with a service fee of THB14700 each.

@gearbox

I am indebted to you for your advice to use the Live Chat facility. Was going along swimmingly yesterday until they had an IT glitch. Then couldn't get back on Live Chat until today, and spent 4 hours booking 2 flights, (using 2 laptops for the two of us), and we successfully managed to book JAL with Avios points (plus the fees) from Qatar. The Live Chat went down in the middle of the process, but everything confirmed, except now I need to check the JAL site for booking, (which is not yet showing), and to select seats. When/if that happens, I will proceed with the unrefundable accommodation bookings.

 

A major palaver, and frankly not one I will undertake again. Only use Avios on Qatar or BA, not any of their partner airlines, as the system is simply not geared to it. 

Edited March 24 by samtam

[gearbox]

2 hours ago, samtam said:

@gearbox

I am indebted to you for your advice to use the Live Chat facility. Was going along swimmingly yesterday until they had an IT glitch. Then couldn't get back on Live Chat until today, and spent 4 hours booking 2 flights, (using 2 laptops for the two of us), and we successfully managed to book JAL with Avios points (plus the fees) from Qatar. The Live Chat went down in the middle of the process, but everything confirmed, except now I need to check the JAL site for booking, (which is not yet showing), and to select seats. When/if that happens, I will proceed with the unrefundable accommodation bookings.

 

A major palaver, and frankly not one I will undertake again. Only use Avios on Qatar or BA, not any of their partner airlines, as the system is simply not geared to it. 

Glad you figured it out. Sometimes the airlines' points are pain to navigate and use.

 

I had some points with Etihad expiring this month and I didn't need any ticket to book. Luckily they have an option to open a digital visa card, convert the points to currency and move to the card. I've put the card on Google pay and spent the points in Tops.

[samtam]

3 hours ago, samtam said:

except now I need to check the JAL site for booking, (which is not yet showing), and to select seats. When/if that happens, I will proceed with the unrefundable accommodation bookings.

 

All done. I had an SG VPN on and the JAL website was much for navigable, (than even the Japanese site). Go figure.

[RayC]

"Qatar Airways - what happened to them?"

 

(Partial) answer: Nothing happened to the airline directly but now that the World Athletic C'ships and the football WC have moved on, Qatar has no need to try and impress. Consequently, services on the State airline have deteriorated.

[samtam]

18 hours ago, RayC said:

"Qatar Airways - what happened to them?"

 

(Partial) answer: Nothing happened to the airline directly but now that the World Athletic C'ships and the football WC have moved on, Qatar has no need to try and impress. Consequently, services on the State airline have deteriorated.

 

I'm sure there's something in that. I flew on them in October 2022 ahead of the World Cup, and there had been a hiatus between that trip and my previous one, due to covid. Even in October 2022, despite trying to impress, they were woefully short of their previous levels of service in Business, which I have enjoyed and previously lauded, over the preceding 10 years. Anyway, they slipped off their perch as the Best Airline to Best in Business, but I guess Skytrax is bought and paid for, so it's all a bit meaningless.

Edited March 25 by samtam

[Letseng]

On 3/22/2024 at 2:30 PM, samtam said:

I cannot find a travel forum, so please move as required.

 

I was a true fan of Qatar Airways pre-pandemic, but since then they have gradually deteriorated in every respect. My latest attempt was to use my Avios points on their website with their partner airline, Japan Airlines. You request a booking through their website and it gets acknowledged. They claim they will respond within 48 hours. They didn't the first time around, so I rang their Doha office and was informed the dates (in May) were not available, so I asked them to advise me which dates were available. They gave me them. I had to then go back online to rebook, and was asked to call Doha back with the acknowledgement reference ID, which I did within a few minutes. The answer came back "dates not available". So I thought this silly game could go on forever, I'll just trip off to their office in Exchange Square, Rachadapisek. Arrived there and was informed that walk-ins for customers no longer available. OK, my fault for reading an out-of-date website with the office details and opening times. Was given a Thai number to ring, which I did. The rep informed me of "wide open" dates to book my reward flights with their partner airline and they would respond within 72 hours. That deadline passed today, so I rang them again. They now say response with 96 hours, but as it's Friday, by Tuesday at the earliest.

 

This is a joke service. Or more likely, reward points on Qatar are literally pointless.

 

So I will book the Business Class tickets on JAL and pay the USD3,500 (for 2)...BKK to HND.

 

Thinking how I might instead use my Avios points on Qatar, I checked their website for flights on their airline. The use of points is bonkers. A round trip flight on Business to Madrid is 300,000 points plus THB14,000 or some such BS. I've lost track. Booking without points is only about THB120,000, but flights are nearly all sold out for May.

 

So, I shall continue to live the life of a hermit, and stay put.

 

In all my years of travelling I have rarely had success with mileage points, which must surely be the biggest load of nonsense. But Qatar are taking their disdain of usage of reward points to a new level.

 

OK, rant over. I'm having a much cheaper excursion, daily from my flat to my pool, as per usual.

This is an experience I had with them when I tried to book with points plus cash. They would only allow me to book economy. Now I use Etihad. Ticket was slightly cheaper.