Qatar refund option in 2021

[ricco]

QATAR REFUND OPTION. Bought 2 business class tickets Singapore Frankfurt return (paid in SGD) in January 2020 for travel in Aug/Sept 2020. Had to cancel those flights due to COVID stopping conferences in Europe. Qatar suggested leaving the booking open for the future i.e. 2021 and up to January 2022. That was fine by us. I recall Qatar putting out a Covid update on their website during 2020 stating that it was possible to use our tickets in 2022 provided we didn't book during a blackout period October 2022- January 2023 - extending the ticket validity beyond the 2 years. I contacted Qatar again this week and it appears the policy has changed. All tickets bought before the end of April 2020 have to be used by December 31 2021. The 2022 travel option appears to have gone. Got no notice to that effect.
We can't travel in 2021 but were planning travel for 2022 - all being well - based on what appears to be the "old" policy. So my option now is only a refund.
Qatar will refund but wants to charge a penalty fee which for two passengers. That will be 690 USD. (2 x 345USD). The new policy was published by Qatar on January 1 2021.
I can't find the old policy on the web and I think the refund penalty is unfair. Any suggestions on how to get around this penalty fee?

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Qatar?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

QATAR REFUND OPTION. Bought 2 business class tickets Singapore Frankfurt return (paid in SGD) in January 2020 for travel in Aug/Sept 2020. Had to cancel those flights due to COVID stopping conferences in Europe. Qatar suggested leaving the booking open for the future i.e. 2021 and up to January 2022. That was fine by us. I recall Qatar putting out a Covid update on their website during 2020 stating that it was possible to use our tickets in 2022 provided we didn't book during a blackout period October 2022- January 2023 - extending the ticket validity beyond the 2 years. I contacted Qatar again this week and it appears the policy has changed. All tickets bought before the end of April 2020 have to be used by December 31 2021. The 2022 travel option appears to have gone. Got no notice to that effect.
We can't travel in 2021 but were planning travel for 2022 - all being well - based on what appears to be the "old" policy. So my option now is only a refund.
Qatar will refund but wants to charge a penalty fee which for two passengers. That will be 690 USD. (2 x 345USD). The new policy was published by Qatar on January 1 2021.
I can't find the old policy on the web and I think the refund penalty is unfair. Any suggestions on how to get around this penalty fee?

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Qatar?

The Qatar policy is constantly changing The current terms and conditions of 'fly with confidence' seem to indicate a full refund with no cancellation penalties: https://www.qatarairways.com/en-au/travel-with-confidence.html#terms

I'm not sure if you need to call Qatar to get the 'fee free' refund. But certainly worth trying again.

If you want historical terms and conditions you can find them at various places on the web. There is also a long (very long) thread on Flyertalk that I found, which has discussion on the various iterations of the policy from the time it commenced, until today: Covid-19: Book with Confidence QR Policy - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[Guvner]

Too late now I know, but I always screenshot or download policies or announcements/updates related to any booking I may have.

 

[ricco]

Info is much appreciated. Thanks very much. I did find a hard copy of the old policy but that was back in March which stated that on an open ticket you could travel after January 2022 but observe a blackout period between October 24 2022 and January 15 2023. I'll get back to Qatar on the penalty fee because as you say the current website info does indicate no penalties on a refund. I think I struck the wrong Qatar employee yesterday.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Info is much appreciated. Thanks very much. I did find a hard copy of the old policy but that was back in March which stated that on an open ticket you could travel after January 2022 but observe a blackout period between October 24 2022 and January 15 2023. I'll get back to Qatar on the penalty fee because as you say the current website info does indicate no penalties on a refund. I think I struck the wrong Qatar employee yesterday.

Might be worth checking the last 10 pages or so of the Flyertalk thread to see how people are handling the refund (with no penalty) thing. I know at one stage the right to refund was restricted to involuntary changes only, and so people were simply waiting until their flights got changed/cancelled and then got their full refund that way. Dunno how it goes with an open dated ticket, but worst case scenario you might have to book a date and then wait for that flight to be cancelled? (for a full refund)

 

[ricco]

Update. Still waiting for the refund. Jan 12 called Qatar office in Doha. Made the call about 4.30 am Doha time. Waited about 10 minutes to get on.
The agent told me a full refund would be coming and that it would take 30 days turnaround. No info about a confirmation email. He inputted the refund request into the system.
I waited 30 days. No refund back to the credit card I used to buy the tickets. Called Qatar office again this week - again around 2.30 am Doha time and chose option 4 on the phone menu. Got an agent immediately. He indicated that the refund request was in the system and that it would be 14-28 business days after the confirmation email detailing the refund amount. He indicated there are thousands of refunds requests at present, they were working 24/7 to process them so sit back and wait for the email. He could not give me a time frame on when the refund would be processed.

So, I found the email address of the Senior Customer Care Manager for Qatar in Doha and sent a very polite email requesting a time frame for the processing of the refund. So far no reply after 4 days. Not holding my breath on a reply but it would be nice to know when.

Note that if you're on Vodafone Australia on a relevant plan, Qatar is not on the list of priority international dial countries so it will cost $1.00 a minute for the pleasure.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Update. Still waiting for the refund. Jan 12 called Qatar office in Doha. Made the call about 4.30 am Doha time. Waited about 10 minutes to get on.
The agent told me a full refund would be coming and that it would take 30 days turnaround. No info about a confirmation email. He inputted the refund request into the system.
I waited 30 days. No refund back to the credit card I used to buy the tickets. Called Qatar office again this week - again around 2.30 am Doha time and chose option 4 on the phone menu. Got an agent immediately. He indicated that the refund request was in the system and that it would be 14-28 business days after the confirmation email detailing the refund amount. He indicated there are thousands of refunds requests at present, they were working 24/7 to process them so sit back and wait for the email. He could not give me a time frame on when the refund would be processed.

So, I found the email address of the Senior Customer Care Manager for Qatar in Doha and sent a very polite email requesting a time frame for the processing of the refund. So far no reply after 4 days. Not holding my breath on a reply but it would be nice to know when.

Note that if you're on Vodafone Australia on a relevant plan, Qatar is not on the list of priority international dial countries so it will cost $1.00 a minute for the pleasure.

Looking at various sources around the web it looks like refunds are taking anywhere from 4-8 weeks. Mostly at the latter end of that timeframe. And often after people have followed up.

At least it looks like money will come... eventually.

 

[ricco]

Just a final update. Qatar refunded the airfares in full this week. Approximately 3 weeks after the confirmation email detailing the refund amount.

 

[Flashback]

Too late now I know, but I always screenshot or download policies or announcements/updates related to any booking I may have.

Doesn't help in this matter. The EOC (Extending our Commitment) is not T&C, it's a customer service statement. Therefore they are at their liberty to change it as and when they see fit. They're still providing a hell of a lot more flexibility than other companies are.

FWIW, here is the current iteration of the policy.

https://www.qatarairways.com/content/dam/tradepartners/pdf-files/Extending%20Our%20Commitment%20v2.3%20-%20Trade.pdf

In 2021 it's changed pretty much every month on the first, so likely another change on 1/4 but we'll see.

Update. Still waiting for the refund. Jan 12 called Qatar office in Doha. Made the call about 4.30 am Doha time. Waited about 10 minutes to get on.
The agent told me a full refund would be coming and that it would take 30 days turnaround. No info about a confirmation email. He inputted the refund request into the system.
I waited 30 days. No refund back to the credit card I used to buy the tickets. Called Qatar office again this week - again around 2.30 am Doha time and chose option 4 on the phone menu. Got an agent immediately. He indicated that the refund request was in the system and that it would be 14-28 business days after the confirmation email detailing the refund amount. He indicated there are thousands of refunds requests at present, they were working 24/7 to process them so sit back and wait for the email. He could not give me a time frame on when the refund would be processed.

So, I found the email address of the Senior Customer Care Manager for Qatar in Doha and sent a very polite email requesting a time frame for the processing of the refund. So far no reply after 4 days. Not holding my breath on a reply but it would be nice to know when.

Note that if you're on Vodafone Australia on a relevant plan, Qatar is not on the list of priority international dial countries so it will cost $1.00 a minute for the pleasure.

Out of curiosity why did you opt for calling the Doha number? I've called my local (UK) number and through straight away each time and no cost to me (other than my usual mobile plan) as its a local call.

I was in a similar situation, ticket was placed on hold mid-December last year as it was clear I couldn't take my flight to PER; left open till 2 years from the date of original purchase, so good until late January 2022. Told on the phone I could book any flights up till that date so long as the same fare bucket was used but when trying to avail of that, same issue re: 31/12/2021. Requested refund 13/2 and it's not clear if it has been refunded yet; the card it went to is closed.... and the bank near enough to gone, as they're sending back any merchant issued refunds back to the merchant. I'm in a cycle now trying to chase that one down with Qatar and change where the refund goes to. You know how much fun that will be as merchants will generally not change where they refund cash to............ fun times ahead.

The Twitter team (Qatar Support) who are usually quite good, have been absolutely useless this time around with lots of misinformation.

 

[ricco]

Yes, I called the Doha number. The local number in Melbourne 1300... I didn't bother with that since I think it was non-operational after the pandemic started. Maybe they were just overwhelmed. Who knows. I found the best time to contact was early in the morning Doha time e.g. 3. am, thinking it would be less busy there with less pressure on the staff. That seemed to work. If there is no joy there, try sending an email to the head of Customer Relations for Qatar in Doha. I got a quick standard apology reply from him and the refund process appeared to pick up after that email. The refund went to my credit card as Qatar indicated in its information on refunds. And, the card I used originally is decommissioned since Citibank went from Visa to Mastercard in 2020. But it should not make a difference. The old Visa card number is still in my Citibank account so it was no problem. If your bank is the problem "near enough to gone" then try the CEO of the bank. I found many times that going to the top usually gets action pretty quick. If the bank head office is nearby, pay the CEO a visit or find their email etc. and initiate the contact. They get quite nervous when confronted by a real customer.
In this instance, my initial thought was to contact Mr Al Bakr, the CEO of Qatar, but I thought I'd give the head of customer service a chance to resolve the situation and it appeared to work. Appeared. Customer manager address is
Abdulla Al Hanout
Senior Manager Customer Care
Qatar Airways
Airport Road
Doha Qatar
[email protected]
Good luck with the refund