QR award availability down to 219 days???

[KarenD]

We ended up taking QR905 & QR037... gives us plenty of time in the Doha QR J lounge and 7 hours in QSuites for the onward leg. Better than the paid Y we are used to flying

Same, we took qr909 on the a380 and then qr7 on the a350-1000 QSuites, so also get 7 hrs in the suites .

We liked the timing of these flights better out of Sydney, as we don't need to take annual leave in the day if departure if the flight leaves at approx 9pm. Also means we arrive in London at 2pm right in time for hotel check in.

 

[Battymum]

Yes - certainly
I am undecided, we are not premium flyers either and the day flying business class in an A380 is not good enough is when I will hang up my FF card.
An 8 hour layover is not appealing either - I have to decide whether it’s better to sleep on the flight and miss out on that experience or in a lounge in Doha.

 

[KarenD]

Yes - certainly
I am undecided, we are not premium flyers either and the day flying business class in an A380 is not good enough is when I will hang up my FF card.
An 8 hour layover is not appealing either - I have to decide whether it’s better to sleep on the flight and miss out on that experience or in a lounge in Doha.

Hahaha first world problems indeed. It's a big decision.
Keep in mind it's unlikely you will sleep for the whole flight, so can so some sleeping and some lapping up the luxury of business class

 

[Battymum]

Either way we will be on the same flight to Mykonos - which is only an A320. Arriving at 1:00pm

 

[Pug1]

This is what I plan on doing - if it’s not still available I will grab QR907 -and add ongoing sectors the next day.

QR909 is often there the next day. QR907 goes quickly as it’s a QSuite flight.
but I thought you were set on getting the flight from CBR.

Only for convenience with connection in Sydney but not if double the points as kempvet advises. We have enough points for the flights to Oslo and will pay for the rest. I'm also happy to get Melbourne Doha Oslo if available and we'll pay for CBR to MEL. Life wasn't meant to be easy but aren't we very lucky to have this type of problem and to travel the world?

 

[BriarFlyer]

FWIW, I flew a variety of QR business products earlier this year (4 flights, to Europe and back) and loved them all. While the Q-Suite is pretty special because of the privacy, I also loved the A380 bar where we enjoyed the odd coughtail and chatted to the FA and another passenger. You do meet interesting people at 40,000 feet. Whichever you book, I think you'll enjoy the experience.

 

[Pug1]

All flights available again this morning for travel on 22/8 except for ADL. Although interestingly no economy seats only business class.
PUG I notice CBR to DOH is available but as mentioned earlier this flight is always first to go. It won’t be available by the time the European flights open up tomorrow -
This is why you won’t ever see availability all the way to Oslo. You should grab this leg as soon as your dates open up.

based on KarenD's comments I assume if I grab the Syd/Doh leg I then have to phone to book Doh/Oslo assuming this second leg can't be booked on-line because Doha doesn't seem to come up as a starting city when I try.

 

[KarenD]

based on KarenD's comments I assume if I grab the Syd/Doh leg I then have to phone to book Doh/Oslo assuming this second leg can't be booked on-line because Doha doesn't seem to come up as a starting city when I try.

Apparently it's because Qantas can't charge in Qatari Rial, so can't originate a flight there online. If you manage to call up and get through around 10am (not before, they won't wait on the line for you), you need to ask them to add it to your booking as a connecting flight, so it will charge the currency of origin (AUD/euro etc).

I called around 840am and got my callback just after 10am. If the callback is early let it go and wait for the second callback. There's an element of luck involved as well.

 

[BriarFlyer]

I assume to want to add DOHA-OSLO to your existing booking, so it prices as one award rather than as two separate awards at a higher price. Hence, you need to call and change the initial booking rather than purchasing a second leg (even if you could use DOH as a starting point.)

 

[Pug1]

I assume to want to add DOHA-OSLO to your existing booking, so it prices as one award rather than as two separate awards at a higher price. Hence, you need to call and change the initial booking rather than purchasing a second leg (even if you could use DOH as a starting point.)

Yes I will want to add the second leg assuming I get the first one the day before. Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Pug1]

Apparently it's because Qantas can't charge in Qatari Rial, so can't originate a flight there online. If you manage to call up and get through around 10am (not before, they won't wait on the line for you), you need to ask them to add it to your booking as a connecting flight, so it will charge the currency of origin (AUD/euro etc).

I called around 840am and got my callback just after 10am. If the callback is early let it go and wait for the second callback. There's an element of luck involved as well.

Thank you. I will give it a go estimating the callback time.

 

[Pug1]

Hi everyone, got my flights SYD to OSL in one booking. Thanks to you all for advice. I wanted to fly out on 24/8 next year but saw QR909 was still available on the 23rd so logged in at 10am and searched for the Syd to OSL flight on the 23rd and got lucky. I see it's A380 to Doha and 787 into Oslo. Then my Amex got the usual shock with the Qantas fees! Now have to book some seats in the "couples in the middle" section.

 

[KarenD]

Hi everyone, got my flights SYD to OSL in one booking. Thanks to you all for advice. I wanted to fly out on 24/8 next year but saw QR909 was still available on the 23rd so logged in at 10am and searched for the Syd to OSL flight on the 23rd and got lucky. I see it's A380 to Doha and 787 into Oslo. Then my Amex got the usual shock with the Qantas fees! Now have to book some seats in the "couples in the middle" section.

Congrats! Seems like the award availability is getting back to normal.
You need to put the Qantas booking ref into the Qatar website to select seats. If it won't work you can call Qatar airways and they will do it for you, just know what seat numbers you would like

 

[Battymum]

Good job!!
Enjoy your flights.

Although I see nothing today to DOH for travel on the 24th.
So it’s still all over the place.

Also, am I the only one who doesn’t want to sit next to my DH in the double seat?? We like to sit one behind the other.
I just can’t give up a window.

Also I wonder if it gets noisy with that family/business suite with four colleagues potentially chatting away well into the flight with the alcohol flowing.

 

[KarenD]

Good job!!
Enjoy your flights.

Although I see nothing today to DOH for travel on the 24th.
So it’s still all over the place.

Also, am I the only one who doesn’t want to sit next to my DH in the double seat?? We like to sit one behind the other.
I just can’t give up a window.

Also I wonder if it gets noisy with that family/business suite with four colleagues potentially chatting away well into the flight with the alcohol flowing.

We booked a window each, I don't need to sit with my husband, and we both get a window for once!

I wonder how often people actually turn those seats into a meeting room. How often do 4 people travel in J together anyway?

 

[BriarFlyer]

I've seen a family of four using the configuration, but with everyone busy on their screens it's no different noise-wise than any other seats.

(I'm also a window-seat person.)

 

[Pug1]

Congrats! Seems like the award availability is getting back to normal.
You need to put the Qantas booking ref into the Qatar website to select seats. If it won't work you can call Qatar airways and they will do it for you, just know what seat numbers you would like

Thank you. The booking reference didn't work as I got a message about duplicate FF numbers. Will ring when I get home tomorrow or Monday.

 

[KarenD]

Thank you. The booking reference didn't work as I got a message about duplicate FF numbers. Will ring when I get home tomorrow or Monday.

Yep got the same, had to call up. All sorted pretty quick.

 

[Battymum]

So there has been nothing out of Sydney or Melbourne for the last few days.
My preferred day was September 2 and nothing came up yesterday, except the Perth flight in F. I have not seen anything come up for any of the other missing days.

So I sat on it and waited and today when the second leg came up I booked it!! Flying via HKG was going to use just as many points. Will cancel if I see anything come up from Sydney.

Although we do have to get to Perth, but happy to fly economy on that one. Hubby thinks we may leave a few days before and spend a couple of nights there first.

Leaves me with 283,000 points which should be just enough to get us home in J. Expecting a few more points to land in our account this month.

Let’s hope flights become available. Has anyone else been checking for returns?

Anyway I am off to the UK for three weeks on Friday and not taking a laptop so I won’t be able to check flights - but it will be the first thing I have to do when I get back.

 

[KarenD]

We've been tracking return Frankfurt > Doha > Syd and the last few days the Doha > Syd has not been available. Before that it was fine, and both flights are on the one day so if it's available, it's much easier to book all on the one day.

We have just enough velocity points to transfer to Krisflyer and fly Singapore Airlines business class on the way home if needed, so I'm not terribly concerned. Their availability is very consistent every day so far.

Don't forget award redemptions in business/first through Qantas increase by about 15% points after Sept 19, so you need more than 280k for two people to come home in business.