Ticketed Qatar Flights Disappeared

[jpp42]

They have told me within 24 hours, is that reasonable or should I call back and politely ask them to ticket while I'm waiting? I don't want another QF ticketing delay to boot us off the QR flights again

You said you made this change on Saturday night, right? That's well over 24 hours ago. They can't just say "within 24 hours" over and over again every time you call. Yes, I would insist that it be done while you hold (it might take a while...).

 

[VeniVidiVici]

You said you made this change on Saturday night, right? That's well over 24 hours ago. They can't just say "within 24 hours" over and over again every time you call. Yes, I would insist that it be done while you hold (it might take a while...).

Friday is when I noticed the flights were gone and I called Qantas and at first they said they will request the flights from QR and that it could take up to two weeks. I pressed them on that and they said they would expedite.

Saturday morning the flights showed back up in the Q app however they were showing as "on request" and remained that way yesterday.

As of this morning I could see they were now confirmed so called Qantas to ask they be ticketed. Now I'm getting the 24 hours line.

I will call them again this afternoon to press them to ticket while I'm waiting.

 

[Ktan89]

Glad you got a response and the reinstatement!
can I ask if you hold status with QF? I've been waiting for a reinstatement for weeks now it still shows "requested" on my PNR.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Glad you got a response and the reinstatement!
can I ask if you hold status with QF? I've been waiting for a reinstatement for weeks now it still shows "requested" on my PNR.

Like my pops once said, it ain't over till the fat lady sings. Let's see if this sucker get ticketed or if'll be another case of Uncle Alan being terribly sorry for their not match fit customer service!

-RooFlyer88

 

[VeniVidiVici]

Glad you got a response and the reinstatement!
can I ask if you hold status with QF? I've been waiting for a reinstatement for weeks now it still shows "requested" on my PNR.

I'm only silver but I was reasonably forceful without being rude in letting them know I wanted it sorted straight away.

They didn't sort it it whilst I was on the phone but I've just received a call from the same lady saying they are working on it and will call me back as soon as it's ticketed.

Hope that helps!

 

[RooFlyer]

I've just received a call from the same lady

Did it sound like an Australian call centre?

 

[VeniVidiVici]

Did it sound like an Australian call centre?

Nope. Fijian if I had to guess.

 

[VeniVidiVici]

Update - it's been 24 hours since Qantas told me my trip would be ticketed within 24 hours.

Back to the phones....

 

[Seano987]

Hi Veni VIdi Vici,

Just wondering how you're progressing with the re-ticketing? I'm in a similar position where I'd made a Oneworld Classic Flight Reward (aka round the world) booking, beginning with Qatar Ariways from Melbourne to Frankfurt. Itinerary was issued and all flights were Confirmed. I made a change to the final flights in the booking which caused the Qatar flights to drop off the booking completely.
I called Qantas and the flights have now returned to my booking but are 'Not Confirmed' and have been waiting re-ticketing from Qatar for close to a month. Every time I call, Qantas say to wait 48 hours and see if they've been ticketed. There seems to be no certainty as to when (or if) they will be ticketed. Very frustrating as we don't want to book too much more of the trip until we have confirmed flights.

 

[VeniVidiVici]

It took one more phone call to get it sorted but the flights are all ticketed again and have been able to change seat selections on Qatar site.

I do have one more issue that I'll need sorted though and that's a shorter than allowed connection time in Melb. We are at 80 mins but the min is now 90 mins. So I'll need to get that changed and hopefully this time Qantas can ticket it in a timely manner.

I've read that Qantas are supposed to handle that but not heard anything yet.

 

[NM]

Hi Veni VIdi Vici,

Just wondering how you're progressing with the re-ticketing? I'm in a similar position where I'd made a Oneworld Classic Flight Reward (aka round the world) booking, beginning with Qatar Ariways from Melbourne to Frankfurt. Itinerary was issued and all flights were Confirmed. I made a change to the final flights in the booking which caused the Qatar flights to drop off the booking completely.
I called Qantas and the flights have now returned to my booking but are 'Not Confirmed' and have been waiting re-ticketing from Qatar for close to a month. Every time I call, Qantas say to wait 48 hours and see if they've been ticketed. There seems to be no certainty as to when (or if) they will be ticketed. Very frustrating as we don't want to book too much more of the trip until we have confirmed flights.

Oh @Seano987, this is not looking good for you. The ticket issuing is done by Qantas, not Qatar. The fact that the Qatar flights have been showing as "Not Confirmed" for so long means that there are no award seats available on those flights and no matter how much Qantas requests Qatar to release additional reward seats, there is no obligation for Qatar to do so. While this is 100% completely due to a Qantas failure/incompetence, the chance of them actually fixing it for you is extremely low, and the longer you wait the less options you will have.

The best advice is to make lots of noise to Qantas via every channel available to you. Be the really squeaky wheel. Remain polite but persistent and insist they find a solution.

 

[Seano987]

Oh @Seano987, this is not looking good for you. The ticket issuing is done by Qantas, not Qatar. The fact that the Qatar flights have been showing as "Not Confirmed" for so long means that there are no award seats available on those flights and no matter how much Qantas requests Qatar to release additional reward seats, there is no obligation for Qatar to do so. While this is 100% completely due to a Qantas failure/incompetence, the chance of them actually fixing it for you is extremely low, and the longer you wait the less options you will have.

The best advice is to make lots of noise to Qantas via every channel available to you. Be the really squeaky wheel. Remain polite but persistent and insist they find a solution.

Thanks for the info. Have been in the points game for a while but am still unclear on exactly how everything works behind the scenes in regard to ticketing etc.
When the flights dropped off I immediately started looking for other options. On a separate booking, I managed to book Melbourne-Delhi, then Delhi-Madrid via Helsinki the following day, all in business. Would require a night at the airport hotel in Delhi but would arguably arrive less tired as all flying is during daylight hours. I booked these in an attempt to try and 'reserve' the flights in case our original flights weren't reinstated, and can currently cancel them without penalty. A big step down from Q Suites but better than economy. Do you know if Qantas will be able to incorporate these flights into the original booking if I tell them to forget about the Qatar flights? Or will I need to cancel these new flights and hope they reappear as award availability and then call Qantas back?
Am wondering if I just bite the bullet and proceed down this path rather than waiting for the Qatar flights that probably won't be reinstated. As keen as I am to keep the Q Suite dream alive, it's getting tiring calling Qantas every second day and getting nowhere. Have also tried emailing Stephanie Tully and also the generic frequent flyer email and no reply yet (1 week later).

 

[djkelly69]

Do you know if Qantas will be able to incorporate these flights into the original booking if I tell them to forget about the Qatar flights? Or will I need to cancel these new flights and hope they reappear as award availability and then call Qantas back?

Unfortunately you can't combine two separate bookings into one PNR, and also it is unlikely QR flights will be returned to the pool if cancelled/released.

 

[Mr H]

A big step down from Q Suites but better than economy… keen as I am to keep the Q Suite dream alive,

Q suites are not as great as people say. Basically a standard Business Class seat with inadequate storage. It’s only real selling point is a sliding bit of plastic that they call a door, creating a sense of being entombed. Doha Airport is a pit and well worth avoiding. Having recently sampled a range of products, I was surprised to find BA the best Business Class product. Their seats were actually comfortable.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Q suites are not as great as people say. Basically a standard Business Class seat with inadequate storage. It’s only real selling point is a sliding bit of plastic that they call a door, creating a sense of being entombed. Doha Airport is a pit and well worth avoiding. Having recently sampled a range of products, I was surprised to find BA the best Business Class product. Their seats were actually comfortable.

Say what ?

QR suites are light years ahead of the majority of J class and several competitors F offerings.

BA are a very poor offering with the exception of their new A350 and B777
But the service is not even in the same ball park as QR.

As for DOH airport I think of all the ME3 ones it’s actually extremely easy to transit and great lounges.

YMMV

 

[Mr H]

Say what ?

QR suites are light years ahead of the majority of J class and several competitors F offerings.

BA are a very poor offering with the exception of their new A350 and B777
But the service is not even in the same ball park as QR.

As for DOH airport I think of all the ME3 ones it’s actually extremely easy to transit and great lounges.

YMMV

My mileage obviously does vary. I had very lacklustre service with QR MXP-DOH, being told I could only choose four things on the menu, skipping some of the advertised courses. The windows were locked shut and when I asked for mine to be opened it was as though I had set a labour of Hercules. No departure drink because I did not want alcohol and my glass was never topped up without my calling, even though the wine seemed to be free flowing. Oh, and I had to argue to get the seat on my boarding pass because the cabin crew has put someone else there and thought I wouldn’t mind moving back down the aircraft. And a further recollection has come to me of being refused boarding with my BA issued pass and being made to stand aside as the rest of the plane boarded while my travel documents were questioned and verified. This seemed to require multiple staff and generous use of walkie-talkies.

As for Doha Airport, it was bright, loud, chaotic, inadequately signposted. I was told by QR staff that I could not leave the airport in transit. The lounge seemed to have queues for everything including seats, and food was on request only if you waited for a table and then waited for a waiter. All to the sound of a brass band (at 6am) and lounge agents calling out names of people who has reached the front of one queue or another.

I’ll admit the service was acceptable on the nearly empty flight to Tehran - which has the Q suites.

 

[jeza]

Say what ?

QR suites are light years ahead of the majority of J class and several competitors F offerings.

BA are a very poor offering with the exception of their new A350 and B777
But the service is not even in the same ball park as QR.

As for DOH airport I think of all the ME3 ones it’s actually extremely easy to transit and great lounges.

YMMV

I enjoyed the Q Suites as well (backward facing) but not the 787 seats with the sliding door, they felt cramped. Much preferred the A380 J class experience over 787.

My J class experiences are relatively limited though compared to others on AFF

 

[Muppet501st]

Unfortunately you can't combine two separate bookings into one PNR, and also it is unlikely QR flights will be returned to the pool if cancelled/released.

When i had a flight change and the new E-ticket failed to be ticketed in time and lost my BNE-DOH-DUB flights, my 2 lost J seats went straight back into circulation. Which i was lucky to snag back up and add to my OWA.

 

[HSB44]

No departure drink because I did not want alcohol and my glass was never topped up without my calling, even though the wine seemed to be free flowing.

That seems really bizarre for a gulf based airline...

 

[drron]

Again I have experienced some good BA crews. 2 out of 2 on our recent trip.
And when the BA option can be much lower than the price of the other airlines I have no problem using BA.

And I am certainly not going to do any award bookings on partner airlines until QF sort themselves out.