Qatar Airways has added additional restrictions to its โTravel with Confidenceโ policy, the second set of changes in less than 48 hours.
The new T&Cs stipulate a 14-day waiting period in the case of voluntary reroutings, and the need to rebook into the same fare class.
I personally think that much of the allure of these bookings has gone ever since fifth freedom flights were excluded, but if youโre still thinking of getting onboard, hereโs what you need to know.
Revisions to Qatar Airwaysโ โTravel with Confidenceโ policy
Hereโs the Qatar Airways โTravel with Confidenceโ policy as it now stands:
|
In red, Iโve marked the changes that were made on 15 May, and in orange, the changes added on 17 May.
The latest changes stipulate that reroutings for voluntary purposes can only be done 14 days after the booking has been made. This means no more calling up customer service immediately after youโve booked to swap your destination/origin. It also means greater โholding riskโ, insofar as no one knows what further changes Qatar will make during that time.
Furthermore, it states that new flights must be booked in the same booking class as what was originally ticketed. Contrast this to the original policy, where theyโd just rebook you into whatever was available, with no additional fares (or even taxes) applicable.
๐ก By the way, the โRBDโ mentioned in the T&Cs doesnโt mean โR, B, or Dโ fare codes. RBD is a technical term referring to booking class; itโs short for โreservation booking designatorโ. You can find the booking class on your e-ticket. In my case, Iโve been booked into โIโ. This stayed the same even when I changed SGN-PNH to SGN-DOH-SYD. |
This oneโs potentially problematic, depending what fare bucket you originally booked into. Based on reports on Flyertalk, those who booked into โRโ fares are not seeing any space for future dates. It could simply be the result of the feeding frenzy we saw over the past few days, or Qatar has zeroed them out.
The advice I gave a few days ago still holds- if you were lucky enough to book and change a fifth freedom ticket, itโs best to hunker down for now until things become more clear. We havenโt heard any reports of Qatar Airways cancelling existing tickets, so thatโs a good thing. However, the true test will come when people start flying these, and we should get some data points towards Q4 of this year.
Look out for your bonus voucher too
On another note, I was surprised to receive an email about a US$100 voucher a couple days after booking. Apparently this is part of a separate campaign which awards a voucher and miles depending on your status in the Qatar Privilege Club program:
- Platinum: US$175 + 12,000 Qmiles
- Gold: US$150 + 10,000 Qmiles
- Silver: US$125 + 8,000 Qmiles
- Burgundy: US$100 + 6,000 Qmiles
- Not a member: US$100 + 5,000 Qmiles upon joining with the code THANKU20
This is valid for all bookings made by 31 May 2020, with travel by 15 December 2020. Youโll only receive the actual voucher code 48 hours after completing the first flight of your original trip, so sit tight.
Conclusion
Qatar continues to roll back its admittedly very generous rebooking policy, and I wouldnโt be surprised if they eventually get rid of the 5,000 mile rebooking sphere. Whether theyโre able to apply the revised policy retroactively to tickets purchased on the basis of the original terms is debatable, but thatโs something for the lawyers to work out.
As for me, Iโm treating this like a mistake fare. If Qatar decides to honor it (and they have honored these in the past), great. If they donโt, well, Iโll at least get a refund (if they cancel the tickets) or a 10% credit bonus (if they donโt cancel but instead specify that everyone has to fly their original routes- hard to see happening, but who knows).
Itโs going to be a long wait till Decemberโฆ
SYD too in Dec! Letโs hope the travel restrictions have been lifted by then ๐