Qatar Airways' New Business Class Fare Families

The EQD for the Lite fares is ridiculously low for a biz fare. I would love to consistently see $2400 fares from SFO-DOH, which is what you are earning on it.

What is the lounge rules for OW Elites on those fares? Can you access other OW lounges or no? I know Qatar makes up their own rules, and doesn't participate in the alliance for their own DOH lounge, but what about other players out outstations?

How does it work when you're booking using AA miles.
I mostly fly using my Advantage miles (70K each way in a Q-suite from New York to Dubai) and my tickets have always included lounge access. Will this still be the case or will the award tickets be booked into the lowest (P) fare?

By the way- the Doha Business Class Lounge is spectacular- certainly the best I've ever had (though I have not experienced that many to be honest).

The most recent time I went through Doha (Sept 21st, landing 3pm, then departing 7pm), the lounge was filled to the gills. I had to wait for shower facilities (though certainly worth the wait1) and the upstairs formal dining also had a wait for a table.

The previous two visits the lounge was empty and a tranquil oasis.

Do you still have lounge access booking the lite fare if you are Platinum member?

This doesn't affect award tickets at all.

My route had the Classic fare, but they took it away and just have the Comfort and Elite.

I book cheap Qatar fares for the BA tier points so as long as that’s not affected I’m ok. I don’t mind paying a bit more for lounge access if it’s a long layover, especially for the al safwa lounge.

Then you try their Al Safwa First class lounge.

We are scheduled to take a Qatar Airways flight in October. The reason why we booked the "Comfort" class (I) was because it included lounge access and seat selection. We could have saved like $1-2k if we would have booked the cheaper "Classic" fare but we kind of wanted lounge and seat selection - rats.

Nothing changes with Alaska Airlines miles crediting as a result of this?

"Mileage earning has been reduced significantly for the cheapest business class fares — previously they earned 125% miles, while now they earn 75% miles, at least in the Privilege Club program"

I hope this statement can explain to some people why other programs are also revenue based not just US based programs, even if they never have an actual requirement figure.
But sometimes you just can't fix stupid.

Admittedly, it’s now been well over two years since my last visit to the business class lounge, pandemic and all, but I am really struggling with the praise. Have I missed anything?
Dining area setting is beautiful, but the food itself was very ordinary. I stopped using the shower suites because of the long lines and the lack of aircon in the shower suites themselves became sweat baths very quickly. Great place to work and have a drink, but definitely nowhere near top of the lounge list.
It is very possible that I just visited on bad lounge days, but still…

You spent 2k$ for a seat selection amd Lounge access. Wow. I think the access to the Lounge is cheaper than that. :-))

I was going to book at the end of this month , for s trip next March. They had the classic fare up for months, so I thought it would stay. One day, they just took it off and only have the Comfort and Elite. $1,000 more! If they don't release more at the cheaper price, I will have to take Turkish.

At least with AA you earn 150% qualifying points for the flight! If you are in the QR Privilege Club program there is NO BONUS qualifying Q-Points allocated! It's almost like QR does not want people to requalify for Platinum status.

I checked a fare MAD-DOH-BKK on QR's website for January next year and what I find of particular interest is the differential between the fares.

Lite - €1,166
Classic - €1,263
Comfort - €1,364
Elite - €2,098

So, is the lounge worth €100, moving from Lite to Classic? Is seat selection worth €100 (classic to comfort)? t's up to the individua, I guess.

I was just there about a week before you from around 6pm - 10pm and there was no wait for the showers and lounge was half full. It was lovely. I guess I got lucky.

If that's the price for a round trip ticket I would pay the extra. Seat assignment on all 4 flights + 4 x lounge access for that price is fair.

I find Qatars strategy here quite baffling. On one hand they spend like there's no tomorrow with the best business class cabins and lounges of just about any airline. Then they nickel and dime their customers to squeeze every last cent out of them by forcing them to pay more for lounge access on a business class ticket.

I thought the purpose of Qatar Airways was to promote the state of Qatar and get people to visit Doha (which they have both done very well). For such a wealthy, state run airline I didn't think profit was a top priority in their strategy yet they then come out with new fare classes to squeeze some extra revenue from pax.

Am I missing something? Is it just such a large company now that the brand and product teams don't talk to the revenue management teams anymore?

How does a OW elite pick a seat on R fares? Will the QR online system recognize my Alaska MVP status and allow me to pick a seat? Or do I have to call in?

We wanted to do the middle seat Q Suites specifically for my wife and I, didn't want to risk none being available at check in as that was the whole point of our booking. It was probably just a little over $1000 to be honest

Lucky, what about accrual to other FFP, e.g. BA. On their website, they state that P credits 75% of the Avios, but is mute about Tier Points? How about AAdvantage?

I messaged them on Twitter with my AA number and I was then able to pick seats.

Good to know, but there's gotta be a better way to do this than having to rely on Twitter!

@Lucky,
you mentioned "The good news is that those who previously booked “R” class tickets for travel starting October 1, 2021, will now be picking up lounge access, even though their ticket wouldn’t previously include that"
is this verified with Qatar Air or just your take on it?

@Lucky - You didn't write about crediting to Alaska. Right now their website ( https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/how-to-earn-miles/airline-partners/qatar-airways) doesn't reflect the P fare.

In any case, it seems better to credit to Alaska for RDM and AA for EQM.

Lucky, you state that OneWorld elites will be allowed to pick seats for free irrespective of the fare class. Can you point me to a OneWorld site that says that? Qatar is telling me that the fare class controls the privileges. I have a paid biz ticket, one direction P, one direction R. Their escalation team refuses to allow free seat selection.

Once I enter my frequent flyer number, the fee selection automatically changed to free

Hi, good thread, as a QR platinum would I still get AL Safwa losing access on any business fare class? David

what is the best seats to get on this airline? I am going from California to India.

Hi! Can I upgrade my ticket from economy class, to buseness class? I’m flying from Washington DC to Philippines.

It’s ridiculous to deny some business class flyers lounge access yet the fair is not that much discount. It was my first time flying business class but I will never waste my money again. This is open discrimination

Just booked 3 QR business class award tickets with AS points. Premium points paid for one ticket due to lack of award availability. 2 tickets booked into U class (showed as economy on AS PRN) but the more expensive award booked into R. Unable to a select a seat online for the "R" ticket. Tried calling QR 3 different times and tweeting support. No luck. Was told classic ticket can not be preassigned a seat without a fee regardless of it actually being a premium award ticket or being OW Emerald. Told to call AS. AS sees ticket booked as "premium" award on their end. Stalemate

Just been told I can’t access the lounge at Melbourne despite having paid for business class. Disgraceful.

Group of 8 traveling to Asia on QR business class. Unable to get seat assignment till we check in for flight. Surprisingly QR assigns seats to Economy class passengers. Would have never travelled this airline with headaches associated getting a seat next to spouse even in business class. Paid twice airfare compared to 2018.

The new four classes of Business class are ridiculous and and a disgrace for what we thought was highly respected airline, until now. My wife and I bought standard business class tickets, traveled from Karachi to Miami on June 08 2022 and used the business lounge in Doha, as we've been doing for years.
On the return journey with the same return ticket, when we arrived at Doha, the business lounge REFUSED TO LET US IN. This was not just torture after a 15 hour flight, but downright humiliating and disgraceful. We were standing there, begging the staff that there must be some misunderstanding, but they said "You have LITE class, so no entry". How shameful. How could QR do it to us?
Obviously, I will spread the word, "Don't ever trust QR."

Even my travel agent with whom I have worked past 2 decades was unaware after the high price I paid for business class at the last minute for travel, that Qatar airways restricts use on certain business class tickets, it’s lounge usage.
I am truly disappointed.

The problem with these "fare" structures is they are intrinsically bad for Qatar and bad for the passenger. My PA booked a flight for my trip and only when trying to enter the lounge in Singapore did I discover I was not permitted entry. In fact, they had my name on a sticky note with express instructions to stop me at the door. I am a member of their club (albeit, Silver) but this had no sway. I had my PA check the booking as she routinely keeps screenshots and there was no specific mention of the class in the booking process or the terms- which they assured me would be the case. Bottom line, a bad vibe, a bad impression. If the fares are meant to be introductory, it introduces you to a second-class flyer feeling and a disdain for Qatar. Not ideal me thinks. Very low-cost way of acquiring faithful customers letting them experience the lounge. By the by, their online support when questioned was a rebuttal process with no solutions and inadvertent insults. I think anyone buying a business class ticket would expect entry to a lounge. Full stop.

I booked an award ticket through Alaska Airlines for January 2024, noted as “R” class. Does anyone know if that includes lounge access in Doha through either Qatar Air or a lounge partner?

I booked an award ticket through Alaska Airlines for January 2025, noted as “R” class. Does anyone know if that includes lounge access in Doha through either Qatar Air or a lounge partner?