QR withholding award seats from Qantas?

[Kaiser]

So basically, its now not possible to book Qsuites/QR J for 2 pax ex Australia - DOH (or DOH - Australia) with QFF points. I guess all the travel blogs should update their info to reflect this as well..

This was arguably the best use of QF points to Europe in J and now it's quietly disappeared. Another "enhancement" for QFF members.

 

[sd95au]

Trying to book PER-LHR via DOH - plenty of availability in J for DOH-LHR, but only 1 seat for PER-DOH - seat map showing no bookings made yet. Make it make sense!

 

[Danger]

Trying to book PER-LHR via DOH - plenty of availability in J for DOH-LHR, but only 1 seat for PER-DOH - seat map showing no bookings made yet. Make it make sense!

Seat maps aren't accurate reflections of how many seats have been sold, in part because many people don't pre-allocate their seats.

 

[Ktan89]

WOW. You can find 2 QF award seats on all QR flights in and our of Australia now - Maybe they are watching

 

[AFF Editor]

There have been some positive (and also some negative) changes on this front this week.

More Qatar Airways Reward Seats for Qantas Frequent Flyers

Qatar Airways is no longer giving reduced access to Business Class reward seats on its Australian flights to Qantas Frequent Flyer members. It comes as

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[SYD]

Do we know if the carrier surcharges are the same? They seem to be quite high - not as bad as EK via QFF or EY via VFF but not great eg SYD-LHR (return) 159k x 2 +$643 + $1009. UK departure extortion tax is there but JL and MH both only charging around $250 out and $500 back.

 

[ozflier]

WOW. You can find 2 QF award seats on all QR flights in and our of Australia now - Maybe they are watching

Important to remember that Qatar only offers economy and first class fares in the Middle east region so , a request for business class award seat will come up with an economy seat .
Getting a first class seat reward means that, if the affected QR sector is part of a bigger award , then the whole itinerary will have points needed increased to those of a first class award.
Non business class ME destinations for Qatar includes Cairo, Dubai , Amman, Riyadh and others.
I understand that if you are travelling on a revenue fare , a business ticket books into a F seat - this does not seem to apply for awards.

 

[PineappleSkip]

I travelled DXB to DOH on QR and was booked into an F ticket for what would be a J seat on any other route. I was presented with a very fine F menu though.

cheers skip

 

[ozflier]

I travelled DXB to DOH on QR and was booked into an F ticket for what would be a J seat on any other route. I was presented with a very fine F menu though.

cheers skip

Ta Skip but lets compare apples with apples - Are you comparing your meal QFs business class offering DRW-BNE of a sausage roll for the main course or other top Middle East airlines.
Seriously though ,it just shows what a good airline can dish up on a 75 minute take to land flight !

 

[PineappleSkip]

I can't remember the food, it was a while ago. It was surely as fine as you can get on a ~45 minute flight. I just remember the menu was ensconced in a fine leather folder.

A QF sausage roll is not much of an offering. CX flights HKG-BNE highlighted a pie for supper. Now that's living.

cheers skip

 

[jaseb]

Managed to get 2x J award seats on QR MXP-DOH-KUL. Pray for QSuites!

 

[sqrt()]

What is going on in July/August for QR J award availability from Southeast Asia.

There is some availability from SIN, DPS, KUL, BKK (including 1-stop trips) to DOH until July 7, then I can only see Y until September 3, where J picks up again. The whole of August is blocked...

What am I missing? The world cup isn't til November, so is it just busy season?

 

[jaseb]

What is going on in July/August for QR J award availability from Southeast Asia.

There is some availability from SIN, DPS, KUL, BKK (including 1-stop trips) to DOH until July 7, then I can only see Y until September 3, where J picks up again. The whole of August is blocked...

What am I missing? The world cup isn't til November, so is it just busy season?

Noticed the same thing and like you say, I'm not sure what we are missing. It does seem like a hard block as there is literally zero J availability DOH-SEAsia leading up to Monday 5th September PM after which flights are available to the likes of BKK, KUL, CMB, SIN etc...

 

[Must...Fly!]

Peak European summer holidays I presume

 

[SYD]

There’s actually a dearth of award and decent J revenue flight options Jul thru Sep across all airlines.

SYD+1 was keen to get back to Europe mid-year. Absolutely nothing ex-SYD but I did find QR J ex-SIN to BER for A$4k (+ $1k in QF whY repositioning)… Not as good as the EY fare highlighted on another thread but better than $10k ex-SYD.

 

[Mattg]

What is going on in July/August for QR J award availability from Southeast Asia.

There is some availability from SIN, DPS, KUL, BKK (including 1-stop trips) to DOH until July 7, then I can only see Y until September 3, where J picks up again. The whole of August is blocked...

What am I missing? The world cup isn't til November, so is it just busy season?

I'm sorry to say this, but if you're trying to book a J award now from Australia or Asia to Europe on any Qantas partner airline during peak European summer for 2022, you're too late.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I was poking around for fun, there is actually heaps of availability in August out of India to London. Not really worth the detour IMO however if you were constructing a Oneworld J award this would definitely work. Can even find flights ex-AU connecting via KUL to DEL then onwards for example. I'm sure you could find other Euro destinations through Finnair. So I'd say, you just have to use a bunch of different search engines and options and be very flexible.

 

[ragnaboy2010]

I'm looking for flights from anywhere in Europe (preferably from MAD, ATH, ROM or MXP) to Melbourne for late April 2023 but haven't been able to find any - plenty in March 2023 but not April 2023. Not sure if this is because I'm only a lowly bronze QFF member.

Has anyone been able to see business award flights for April 2023? Would appreciate if someone on a higher tier can check. Thank you!

 

[ecst]

I just booked some of these yesterday, it's very slim pickings Europe-Doha then Doha-AU. Suggest splitting your search as per above in the MultiCity tool and then see how your options work out...

 

[PineappleSkip]

plenty in March 2023 but not April 2023. Not sure if this is because I'm only a lowly bronze QFF member.

IIRC If you didn't have enough status (WP+?) you could only book QFF classic awards, at least for premium cabins, 330 days out. I could have remembered it wrong and I'm sure someond will correct me if so.

cheers skip