QR award availability down to 219 days???

[KarenD]

I don't see why not. I did hear that if there was an option for a shorter layover then you may not be eligible though.

I think you just punch your ticket number etc into the site in order to book, so might just babe to try your luck?

 

[KarenD]

Still no award availability Doha to Sydney, for any flights since Sept 1 departure. It's been 10 days now with nothing.

We want to book for Sept 22 departure from Doha to Sydney, so will continue to monitor. Otherwise I'll use my velocity points to fly home on Singapore Airlines.

 

[Pug1]

Still no award availability Doha to Sydney, for any flights since Sept 1 departure. It's been 10 days now with nothing.

We want to book for Sept 22 departure from Doha to Sydney, so will continue to monitor. Otherwise I'll use my velocity points to fly home on Singapore Airlines.

I'm doing the same KarenD but for a different date. I can get Montreal to Doha but nothing into Oz. I did some sums this morning and frankly if we have to pay for two J seats from DOH to Syd, or Canberra where we live, it would be cheaper to buy the circle return ticket and keep the points. I get prices for both of us around $14,000 for the trip Canberra, Oslo and then Montreal to Canberra, whereas the quote for the two J tickets from DOH to Canberra is around $12,000. When you add the Qantas charges the overall cost is the same and with QFF award booking I drop 462,000 points! I know we are fortunate to be able to pay for such tickets but the Qantas system certainly doesn't make it easy, especially for two one way flights. I also know we could do better paying for flights out of Asia or perhaps with more stops, however for age and health reasons we don't want to do that. Keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll do the same for you

 

[KarenD]

I'm doing the same KarenD but for a different date. I can get Montreal to Doha but nothing into Oz. I did some sums this morning and frankly if we have to pay for two J seats from DOH to Syd, or Canberra where we live, it would be cheaper to buy the circle return ticket and keep the points. I get prices for both of us around $14,000 for the trip Canberra, Oslo and then Montreal to Canberra, whereas the quote for the two J tickets from DOH to Canberra is around $12,000. When you add the Qantas charges the overall cost is the same and with QFF award booking I drop 462,000 points! I know we are fortunate to be able to pay for such tickets but the Qantas system certainly doesn't make it easy, especially for two one way flights. I also know we could do better paying for flights out of Asia or perhaps with more stops, however for age and health reasons we don't want to do that. Keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll do the same for you

I also looked up the cost of paying for Doha to Syd and it was really expensive.
I'm hoping the awards return to normal soon, like they did last time when we booked our outbound flight!
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you too

 

[Scr77]

Try booking from Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok etc with reward points and just purchase the AU to Asia flights.

 

[Pug1]

Try booking from Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok etc with reward points and just purchase the AU to Asia flights.

Have looked at that but it involves too many stopovers and long transits. Booked an award flight for two, Montreal to Doha, today and called Qantas to see if I could get Doha to Sydney. Got a call back after two hours from a most unhelpful lady who said "nothing available, maybe keep trying in the next few weeks". Obviously had a long day or had no idea how the award flights work! Maybe I should cancel the whole lot and join a more favourable ff program!! will give it a try in the morning and await another long call back period. Wouldn't you like to have a chat in Alan Joyce's ear at one of his coughtail parties?

 

[Pushka]

Have looked at that but it involves too many stopovers and long transits. Booked an award flight for two, Montreal to Doha, today and called Qantas to see if I could get Doha to Sydney. Got a call back after two hours from a most unhelpful lady who said "nothing available, maybe keep trying in the next few weeks". Obviously had a long day or had no idea how the award flights work! Maybe I should cancel the whole lot and join a more favourable ff program!! will give it a try in the morning and await another long call back period. Wouldn't you like to have a chat in Alan Joyce's ear at one of his coughtail parties?

What exactly did you expect them to do? If Qatar doesn’t release them then Qantas is powerless to have them released.

 

[KarenD]

Have looked at that but it involves too many stopovers and long transits. Booked an award flight for two, Montreal to Doha, today and called Qantas to see if I could get Doha to Sydney. Got a call back after two hours from a most unhelpful lady who said "nothing available, maybe keep trying in the next few weeks". Obviously had a long day or had no idea how the award flights work! Maybe I should cancel the whole lot and join a more favourable ff program!! will give it a try in the morning and await another long call back period. Wouldn't you like to have a chat in Alan Joyce's ear at one of his coughtail parties?

Your best bet might be Doha to Hong Kong and then Cathay back to Australia or similar, if Qatar don't release the direct flight. Then keep checking back to see if the direct flight pops up later.

Doha to Singapore is also an option, and then Qantas back to Australia.

 

[Battymum]

I am wondering if Qatar are holding back releases until the new points table applies ?

Well wishfully thinking that is the case anyway.

If we don’t get an award flight we will be flying home in economy

 

[Pug1]

Your best bet might be Doha to Hong Kong and then Cathay back to Australia or similar, if Qatar don't release the direct flight. Then keep checking back to see if the direct flight pops up later.

Doha to Singapore is also an option, and then Qantas back to Australia.

Singapore is an option as SIA flys into Canberra where we live. If a direct DOH to Syd pops up later I may not have enough points as I have just enough to make up to a total of 278,000 for the full return. Que Sera Sera!

 

[KarenD]

I doubt it's accidental, the award flights abruptly stopped on 1 September. All we can do is keep checking back and hope for the best.

 

[KarenD]

Oh yes the extra points after the increase do all add up!

I think Cathay and Qantas both have premium economy, so if you can get to HK or Singapore on Qatar in business you might be able to fly the remainder in premium economy. Cathay award flights are a day behind QR so maybe check again today for a flight home via HK.

 

[Pug1]

What exactly did you expect them to do? If Qatar doesn’t release them then Qantas is powerless to have them released.

Fair point Pushka. I guess it was her attitude that irritated as she didn't want to explore any other options such as via Bangkok Singapore etc., which have been available. Maybe I was having a bad day! However it's raining in Canberra today, which is beautiful and much needed, so today will be a good one for award flights - hopefully

 

[Pug1]

Oh yes the extra points after the increase do all add up!

I think Cathay and Qantas both have premium economy, so if you can get to HK or Singapore on Qatar in business you might be able to fly the remainder in premium economy. Cathay award flights are a day behind QR so maybe check again today for a flight home via HK.

good advice. I will of course keep trying and we've flown PE many times on CX and others and it's fine.

 

[KarenD]

Fair point Pushka. I guess it was her attitude that irritated as she didn't want to explore any other options such as via Bangkok Singapore etc., which have been available. Maybe I was having a bad day! However it's raining in Canberra today, which is beautiful and much needed, so today will be a good one for award flights - hopefully

I find the staff in the call centre to be quite blunt, they are so busy so would rather move on to the next caller than think outside the box and help the customers out.

A few years ago the call centres seemed to be in NZ and the service was great.

Suggest putting in a call to the call centre early so that you get the callback between 10am and 1030am. Hopefully by then you might have sourced a viable option and will be able to just ask them to book it.

 

[Pug1]

I find the staff in the call centre to be quite blunt, they are so busy so would rather move on to the next caller than think outside the box and help the customers out.

A few years ago the call centres seemed to be in NZ and the service was great.

Suggest putting in a call to the call centre early so that you get the callback between 10am and 1030am. Hopefully by then you might have sourced a viable option and will be able to just ask them to book it.

Will do. Checked a few minutes ago and the call centre wait was only 4 minutes.

 

[KarenD]

Will do. Checked a few minutes ago and the call centre wait was only 4 minutes.

Wow that's quick. Might be a good day to get someone more helpful then.

Ps. Pouring rain in Sydney too!

 

[Pushka]

Fair point Pushka. I guess it was her attitude that irritated as she didn't want to explore any other options such as via Bangkok Singapore etc., which have been available. Maybe I was having a bad day! However it's raining in Canberra today, which is beautiful and much needed, so today will be a good one for award flights - hopefully

I agree it’s really frustrating. QR is our much preferred airline but it’s disappeared of late.

 

[Pug1]

Hi Everyone, phoned in this morning and got onto a very nice helpful lady who advised there was no award availability from DOH into Oz in September 20 apart from Y into Adelaide. I saw that Doha to Singapore, with a good connection in Doha, was available and she booked it for me. So we will be able to get Singapore to Canberra with a number of airlines. SIA is the best but it leaves Changi at 10.30am whereas the QR flight arrives at 09.05 at a different terminal, which I think is too tight. Anyway we are happy with the outcome. My Montreal to Doha flight is not ticketed yet but Qantas still wants 10,000 points for the change for the two of us. Incidentally I tried the chat line to Qantas on my mobile and it works pretty well and seems to save a long wait on the phone.

 

[KarenD]

Hi Everyone, phoned in this morning and got onto a very nice helpful lady who advised there was no award availability from DOH into Oz in September 20 apart from Y into Adelaide. I saw that Doha to Singapore, with a good connection in Doha, was available and she booked it for me. So we will be able to get Singapore to Canberra with a number of airlines. SIA is the best but it leaves Changi at 10.30am whereas the QR flight arrives at 09.05 at a different terminal, which I think is too tight. Anyway we are happy with the outcome. My Montreal to Doha flight is not ticketed yet but Qantas still wants 10,000 points for the change for the two of us. Incidentally I tried the chat line to Qantas on my mobile and it works pretty well and seems to save a long wait on the phone.

Well done! Singapore is a lot closer to home than Doha so you are nearly there! Even if you need to fly home in economy it's only 7 hours or so. Maybe spend a night in Singapore if you can't find a good connection? Would remove the risk of missing the flight if your QR flight is late too.

Agree the Qantas sms line on mobile seems to be manned by onshore staff so easier to deal with somehow. Surprising isn't it!