I booked a Qatar flight in May as part of a business class one world points reward flight. Our itinerary at this stage for our holiday beginning April 2017 is
Syd -> Johannesburg via Doha flying Qatar
Nairobi -> Lisbon via London flying British Airways
Rome -> New York via London flying British Airways
Los Angeles -> Sydney flying Qantas
Our biggest problem has been the Qatar flight keeps disappearing from our booking and we have to contact Qantas to retrieve it. This has happened 3 times so far and is frustrating as I cannot get a clear answer as to why it is happening. It means checking our flight daily to ensure it has not been removed again.
Has anybody else experiences this and have some suggestions to stop it happening again?
I had the same issue, there’s also a thread over at AFF about it:
Basically it happens if Qantas don’t “Ticket” the booking promptly. If you read the Ts & Cs a booking is only considered final once your points have been deducted and taxes charged to your credit card, until then a booking is only “Confirmed”. After you’re charged, Qantas will email you your receipt meaning it is now “Ticketed”.
For bookings a long way in the future, Qantas won’t usually ticket them for months. Usually this won’t present a problem. Most airlines will hold your booking until Qantas ticket it. However, Qatar’s system is setup to take back any unticketed seats automatically. When this happens varies, I read it’s usually about 72hrs but mine were taken back within 4 mins once!! Every time you change your booking (such as by adding a flight), your booking needs to be re-ticketed giving Qatar another opportunity to snatch your seats back.
Bottom line: When you alter your booking, stress to the Qantas CSR the booking needs to be ticketed immediately due to Qatar being in the booking. If you don’t see that receipt e-mail come through and the point deduction in your account within 24hrs, ring up and request it to be ticketed again. Once the e-mail comes through, you’re fine, until then…keep watching the booking to make sure the QR legs don’t drop off!
Thank you fairbasa. The Qatar flight has dropped out 3 times after I added the next leg so what you are saying makes perfect sense and now I know what I should be saying to Qantas.