Changing Qatar reward flight (with Privilege Club)

[philr2000]

Anyone have any experience changing a Qatar rewards flight (through the Qatar program) - I am in the process of acquiring more Avios which will take a few weeks to (hopefully) allow me to book the Business award flight I'm after.

At the moment I only have enough Avios for an Economy flight so want to at least 'lock' that in as I need to be on a specific flight. Then, assuming the J availability is still there in a few weeks, what is the actual process to change this Economy reward flight to Business - is it as simple as cancel and re-book? Can I call and they can do it over the phone?

Just want to avoid any unforeseen scenario where I can't make the change, or there is a long delay in the Economy points returning to my account etc.

Thanks all as always

 

[RooFlyer]

process to change this Economy reward flight to Business - is it as simple as cancel and re-book? Can I call and they can do it over the phone?

i’ve never tried it, but imagine it’s just a matter of cancelling it (and incurring any penalty) and then re-booking. Beware there may be a time lag for the return of your points. I don’t think it should involve the QR call centre - they are about as handy as Qantas' offshore call centres

 

[JayTee]

Once you cancel the existing booking, it 'can' take up to 72hours to get back those points. If you need the refunded points ( plus the points you are expecting in a couple of weeks), to make an award booking, there will be no guarantee you will find availability. Call and ask to be put through the privilege club team. You never know, they might be able to upgrade you to the new seat with the difference in points.. What sector are you looking to avail in business class and when?

 

[philr2000]

It is a Milan to Doha leg...glad i asked the question as reading some horror stories on other forums around point returns and cancellations taking many weeks or not appearing at all

 

[JayTee]

It is a Milan to Doha leg...glad i asked the question as reading some horror stories on other forums around point returns and cancellations taking many weeks or not appearing at all

If you call them and say ' hey, I need the points ASAP so I can book a flight today, they do haver the ability to return them to you sooner than the 72 hour timeframe. However, when it comes to your refund on taxes paid, that generally takes longer. I found using the online chat via the QR website, very helpful.

 

[Mon]

Adding my experience with this, in case it helps anyone else out there, as this thread helped me!

I was trying to change a family member's Economy award ticket to Business Class. Noticed a Seats.Aero alert email (don't think they do QRPC but I must've set up partner alerts). Jumped on QR app, confirmed new space available. Called PC for help. Agent said I had to cancel myself, and then call back if points not immediately refunded. I asked, "Can I stay on the phone while I cancel and see if they're refunded?" Answer was that I had to call back!

Cancelled online using dedicated button in my PC account area (bloody terrifying, TBH, as was a Saver rate booked a year out).
Points not refunded.
Called back.
System has not processed it, we have no ability to push the points back to you. Just wait 5-7 days.
Explained I was in a bind, reiterated that points seat was teetering on the edge and could vanish at any second... explained that I would never have tried this but the Qatar agent said they can push them straight through if I just call. Explained that I also read online accounts of people who had agents that were able to help them instantly receive their points and rebook another class on Chat. Agent said I should try chat but that they will say the same, nothing can be done until the system processes it.

Tried chat. I have had numerous experiences where QR chat is superior and where their call centres are unhelpful and even incompetent (one, last year, insisting I could upgrade an *award* ticket via the online area).
Chat worked.
Agent offered to manually process refund as indeed it had not yet registered, then was able to push the points to me!

All of this took a while. Very nerve-wracking. Recommend being conservative if you find award availability on an exceptionally busy route and need to cancel award ticket & rebook award ticket using those points. If your agent isn't fast (or competent), you may miss the availability if it's a once-off that's just appeared (BA tells you how many award seats available on QR flights but think this is only for Saver, not Flexi? Not sure). I was also arranging all this at about 1am AEST (for a flight originating in Australia) so hoped less chance anyone would be awake to nab that seat!

Can be done if you're willing to find an agent who will assist you through the entire process. Seems to be faster if you get them to cancel for you, rather than doing it online yourself. Or if you can perhaps ... 'guide' them, if needed (and if they're open to you suggesting how they can do their job). Obviously the first agent didn't know he could manually cancel for me (and neither did I, at the time)!

Just sharing my experience!