Just started a forum for those of you are lucky enough to get your promo codes. Trying to get some ideas and strategies on how get around travel restrictions and extend the travel period.
Qatar Airways Complimentary Airline Tickets for Frontline HCW Bookings
Lklim23 on 16/05/2020 - 10:05
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Uk has the highest air passenger duty (tax) for flights. Heathrow is especially expensive, Sydney is pretty bad as well.
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/reduce-surcharges-airports-gui…Yikes that's an expensive surcharge and taxes. You might need some advice from Stewardo's pointhack website. I haven't tried booking yet. I'm thinking of multi city booking through Asia and Europe. Are there plenty of red star tax only options or are they very limited?
I'm not too optimistic about travelling to US or UK before December. We might still have exit restriction in place or mandatory quarantine at our destination. Best bet is a vaccine before December but everything is still up in the air. I will try and book for December and if unable to travel due to exit restriction I will try and change the date to next year.
That's $335 return per person from Sydney to London. That's expensive? In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't. Its less than a third of the price of a China Southern 48 hour hell flight.
Getting to and from Sydney will add some cost on but not too much.
Tried to do a few test bookings. Taxes only available up to Nov 10 for most European cities. Nothing in December.
Hi all, just got mine this morning. Will test it out soon. Trying to Go to Switzerland.
Is the idea to book for a date before expiry and then to reschedule to a time when the travel restrictions are lifted?
How’d you go with Switzerland?
Haven’t got my code yet but would be keen on a syd to gva flight and curious about costHaven't had a chance to try yet actually
It says in the terms and condition flexible ticket and unlimited date change but whether they would allow travel after 10/12 i'm not sure. They may cancel your ticket and refund you the taxes or extend it to next year if travel restriction is not lifted. I'm tempted to go to the Maldives or Seychelles. 2nd honeymoon for my wife and myself.
i submitted on Thursday morning but still haven't gotten the code yet. Can anyone please share what the email looks like?
It looks like a branded email from Qatar Airways that contains the promo code for booking.
From: Qatar Airways
Subject: Your exclusive promo code for your complimentary ticketsIf you haven't received it, then there's nothing you can do but wait or contact them.
Thank you for your response.
I have managed to submit succesfully on Sat and got the blue box…still waiting, anyone waiting for more than 48h before they got the email? Cheers
Mine was Thursday and still haven't gotten it. I don't know why.
Submitted successfully on Sunday so that's a little worrying.
Hopefully this is just an administrative/processing issue and not something more.
It would be great if you could update us once you get your code!Update: Received the code at around 6.00pm today.
I got mine just after 48hrs. They have to process tens of thousands of codes everyday and I suspect they are running behind. I did mention that if you resubmit it and it says you have already submitted you details means you are definitely in their system. Just have to be patient. Check your spam folder. The sender is clearly labelled Qatar Airways.
I got my code after the first day, found 450 for two return to heathrow but no one knows when travel will open. Besides, you cant travel out past december I feel all of these tickets are going to be wasted here. You cant rebook past December.
Can't reschedule? Gonna be wasted then 🤦♂️
Not sure that you can’t travel past December? As in the coupon code won’t work for tickets past then but who knows what happens once booked, if you can change for a date beyond dec 10. It’s all a bit grey from the wording of the T&C
I booked 2 return to Paris end Nov to early Dec for $500. From Sydney no cheap tickets after 9th Dec. You can only fly out one way on this date. If you book return after this date code doesn't work. Melbourne somehow is much worse. You have to travel and return by mid Nov to get cheap tickets. Once booked you can log in and manage your booking and change the dates. I haven't tried doing anything yet. I hope if travel restriction is not lifted by Nov they would allow me to rebook for a later date.
I am looking for travel to London too to visit my parnter. May I ask which dates did you put in for the 450 return?
Any tips on how to filter flights that have tax only option?
I was hoping to fly to the US, but sees not possible
Interesting- which airport? I was thinking about a trip to New York
New York.
Probably not practical because going to US via Qatar is over 30 hours.
Damn that sounds like a nightmare
Any luck with multicities? Once I had a third city, I get the error:
No fare can be found for the flights and/or cabins you selected. Please search again and select another cabin and/or different flights. (5685 - 2201)
:(
Still no code here
Blue box Monday morning
The waiting game beginsSame here, let me know if/when you get it
Came in this morning phew
Do they do direct flights to anywhere? I'd prefer not to have like a 12 hour layover in Doha
All their flights go to Doha first. I tried Japan and SEA and apparently no direct flights. Europe, Seychelles and Maldives are probably the most ideal destinations.
Seychelles all have 20 hour layover that I could see?
Yeah i had called them after this comment, forgot to update - It's mandatory for all flights to layover in Doha no matter the destination.
My booking to France from Sydney is 2 1/2 hrs layover in Doha on the way there and 3 hrs on the way back. Just enough time to disembark and maybe do some duty free browsing.
Anyone found a way to do this with kids?
The voucher only works for Bookings for 2 adult seats booked at the same timeI’m not sure if I’d have to book the adult seats then add The kids to the booking afterwards over the phone
I think you have to do separate for yourselves and the kids. Make sure you choose the seats with the booking that are together.
Apparently, they only check that you have a medical ID when you board the plane, the information submitted when getting the code is irrelevant. I was wondering how they would match the code up with the information supplied.
This means that those that are unable to travel may be able to pass their code on to another medical worker.
The codes are all unique. They may somehow link your details from your code to your booking. If anyone has successfully used someone else's code let us know.
I've asked both on the phone and via email - all agents seem to state that you only need to provide relevant medical ID.
Anyway, it doesn't look like anything other than transtasman flights will open this year.
Anyway, it doesn't look like anything other than transtasman flights will open this year.
Not sure about that, it’s a pretty dynamic situation
Restart taskforce says trans Tasman aim is from July 1
Other safe bubble countries to be considered from sept 10Hawaii reportedly considering removing quarantine provided negative test result prior to travel
Many places simply will not survive a whole year locked down so will work around it I guess
This is what I saw in an article about free flights
"Flights must be booked by November 26 2020, for departure by December 10 2020.
However, “if restrictions on travel still apply for certain nationals leaving their countries in December, we will make a special exemption to extend the validity” of the ticket, a Qatar Airways spokesperson confirmed to Executive Traveller.
Given the uncertain nature of international leisure travel as well, all tickets will be fully flexible, with recipients able to make an unlimited number of destination or date changes without paying any change fees."
I booked end of Nov and if exit restriction is not lifted by then I'll try and extend it to April next year.
Thanks for posting that much appreciated
Just wondering if anyone has booked their free flights yet?
I'm from Victoria Australia currently we are in lockdown. I have booked a ticket using promotion to September however not able to receive exit permission to go away from Australia. Tried to call to Qatar head office in order to reschedule the ticket but promotional tickets it is not available anymore. So no help and no use of these tickets. Any advice? Thank you.
Wow are the promo tickets all sold out?
Or just for your desired route?Honestly don’t know what the point of this promo was from an Aussie perspective, we aren’t going to be allowed anywhere.
I didn’t book anything because I was waiting for some indication we might be able to use the flights. Now it sounds like I should’ve just booked the flights for any time and then relied on them extending
You cannot go to any route without going to Doha first. Can not see flights to Doha. You can try using your code
I've just looked.
There are plenty of flights from Sydney, I can see enough flights to Maldives, London, Geneva, all around $200The bigger question is how to make the most of it given we can't leave Australia
- book the flight now and then hope they allow for a change to a date after borders open?
vs - hold off booking until borders open and risk not being able to use the promo code at all as it may be past the Nov 28 use by date
- book the flight now and then hope they allow for a change to a date after borders open?
Will this get extended if international travel is still closed by December?
See comment above by klim
Thanks.
Hopefully Qatar can make this official in their terms and conditions somewhere.
I got onto Facebook chat and was surprised to hear back within an hour.
Their response was:
Thank you for your message. This is to confirm that the travel validity under the Medics campaign has been extended until the 31st of March 2021. You may book your tickets until the 28th of November 2020. Please note that when promotional seats are sold out, there will not be any additional seats made available. Passengers are advised to secure their seats on their preferred flight before inventory is sold out. We hope to see you soon onboard. Stay safe and thank you for being in the frontline 🙂
So yay, extended travel until March 31 but still need to book early
So we have to take a stab in the dark at where we'll be allowed to travel March 2021 in November? There's no guarantee it will even be possible. Guess I'll have to pick somewhere like Japan / South Korea instead of Amsterdam.
Maybe if travel continues to be restricted they’ll allow changes to flights and destinations for a later date
And regarding child fares
The promotional tickets are to be booked for 2 adults (12 years and older). Booking for a child/infant (with seat, aged below 12 years) will be priced at regular fare level without any discount, and the booking for children or infants should be made separate from the promotional booking. Should you require further assistance, feel free to let us know.
Any idea if we book tickets for next year before March 31, if they'll be able to be covered under the flexible ticket scheme? Bit of conflicting data on their site. One Page says you can hold on to your tickets for 2 years if tickets are issued before 31/12/2020. Another page says it will be covered if booked for travel before this date..?
I’d suggest using Facebook messenger to ask them as they respond very quickly and clearly. You then have a written reply as well to cover yourself if needed
Thanks, I've just booked the flights I wanted for Feb, and they've confirmed via messenger that I can reschedule till end of 2021. If things aren't looking good towards then, lets hope they continue to extend it.
Win! Where are you going?
@Hoju: Booked a flight into Rome, out of Amsterdam. Probably make our way up through Italy, Switzerland, Paris then finish the trip up in Amsterdam :)
I've just tried to reschedule my flight till later in 2021 but they don't actually have any promotional flight tickets after March , so travel must be done before then.
I've booked for end of Nov to Paris earlier. Just went online and changed the flight to end of Jan 2021. Cheap tax only flights are showing up till end of March. Hopefully I can reschedule it again before Jan to my preferred date of Sept next year.
Trying to book using the promo code for march next year. I've tried departing Sydney and Brisbane either the flights appear full price or it's not valid for the route. Is anyone else having this issue?
Depends on the destination. I can’t find any for LHR but can for others
Damn I can’t see any flights to anywhere at all anymore, departing Syd Bris or Melb even just to Doha.
Would seem odd that they had less promo seats available than free tickets but guess I missed out
So when you click through the link and search for a flight - does any flight that pops up quality, or does it have some sort of 'Medics discount' label attached to it?
It will say ‘heroes’ at the top of the search results and the listed fares will be negligible
None exist from any Australia airports that I can see. You can book a multi city flight that starts eg in the us or Singapore, goes to Europe then returns to aus
Hey, thanks for that! I wonder if we'll be able to rebook the flights to depart from and return to Australia? Given that we have access to unlimited destinations and date changes?
@poppingtags: I was told no the origin must remain the same
If I do go to change my booking online I can’t change the originating port
I can see this prize ending up costing me money for nothing if I can’t make the flight :(
@Hoju: Oh did you end up finding a flight? I still couldn’t find any :( which route did you find? Or can you PM me?
@magster: There are none out of Australia
I did a multi city starting from Singapore
Singapore - Maldives - Sydney
Other options are starting in the US and heading to Europe eg Boston / lax - London - Sydney
Just means finding a one way flight to your start point but we’ve always wanted to visit Singapore so guess it’s all good
How we do even search/filter for promotion flights and available routes? Or is there just none available anymore to book anymore?
Has anyone been able to take advantage of this promotion seeing border closures and quarantine measures are still in place everywhere?You have to spam search global airports to find a fare, many aren't available.
I'm not sure how they've limited the seats - if it's by region or what - but there are no longer any fares from Australian airports.I don't know if this is because they've genuinely sold out of them or if they've canned all the promo fares from Australia because of the ongoing travel ban and the fact that of the flights that are still going, seats are going for a bomb. Or, they've cancelled so many flights for that period and may not even be running the previously scheduled ones.
Either way, a couple of weeks ago you could pick any day of the week out of Sydney and now there is not a single seat.
They recently ran an identical free seats promo for teachers. Interestingly their bookings were until the end of September 2021. It would be nice if they would do the same for us…
Can confirm no flights departing from Aust. I had to book from Singapore > Maldives > Sydney as Hoju above
Just an update from my experience
Had flights booked to depart to Europe in December. Called today to try and change them. Essentially told that I can't. As others have mentioned, unable to change the origin (Sydney) and there are no more promo tickets out of Sydney to anywhere.
I haven't cancelled yet. What has anyone else done in this situation?Looks like unfortunately these tickets will end up not being a deal at all unfortunately
FYI - 45min wait today for Qatar, so don't be surprised if it takes a while to get through
Far out that’s astonishing
Sad that it might actually be a disadvantage to have won this ‘prize’. Fair enough they can’t have expected Australia to have continued this travel ban so long but amazing they aren’t more accommodating particularly given the teacher promo is for flights til sept
Did you get around to asking if all your taxes will be refunded in the event you cancel? I will be disgusted if this prize ends up costing me money
Ah, did not - I have to admit I assumed they would be - surely they can't charge taxes for a flight you don't go on? I'll keep you posted, departing flight was supposed to be 10 Dec so I'll cancel them prior to that
edit: I think I read somewhere you pay taxes if cancelling <3hrs before the flight? but I may be imagining that
Going to try once more tomorrow with a different person (some people on here have been told they can reschedule to later in the year?)
They said to me something like ‘unused refundable airport taxes’ will be refunded
I originally booked to travel in late November and rescheduled it in late October to travel mid Jan to Feb. I'll try and rebook again by end of Dec. From what I'm reading here I'll probably end up cancelling my tickets and getting my taxes back.
So it took another hour on hold, but confirmed that I was unable to change the origin port and was unable to find any dates to rebook to
Unfortunately the person I spoke to yesterday was 'in a different country' to the call centre today and therefore they were unable to read anything that was written on my file yesterday so started from scratch again
I was able to cancel and refund the taxes (>3 hours prior to departure)
But essentially, the whole promotion was a waste of time
What I have learnt, is that the booking process, searching for flights, customer service, call centres etc for Qatar are all far inferior to Qantas or Virgin. Would not rate Qatar as a world-leading airline at all
Thanks for the info. Do you know if the taxes are going to take months to refund like many of the other airline refunds are taking?
I’d love to be able to expose this joke of a marketing ploy for what it is. I know many people that had heard of the campaign but who knew it would be little more than a publicity stunt.
I have sent all the details to Choice - only thing I could think of. I'm not too upset about the tickets but as you say, it feels like a fake marketing ploy. There are also teachers with tickets now who should be aware of these restrictions too.
When you cancel the ticket it doesn't say how long the refund takes but I will keep you posted
I wonder if there is some sort of petition or joint letter we can send to the Qatar airline CEO to complain. Or maybe an article in the media to highlight their marketing ploy.
They will not refund credit card surcharges, even though their service support said they will.
Just a quick update to the above posts
The refund did come through fairly quick (~ 5 days)
For me at least - I haven't been charged any additional fees. But I think I paid with debit card so maybe no fees originally.
Choice returned my email and just said they have it on file, but aren't taking it any further for the moment but perhaps if enough people contact them?
I personally think something in the media would be the best (and potentially more effective than a letter) but whether that can happen I don't knowGood luck to everyone else, hopefully you have better luck than me
One final thing - can confirm that the code no longer works, I get an error code if I try to book anything
I have never won any promotion before - they can't take that away from me! But a bit disappointingAs I said above, what I found even more surprising is the website, wait times, general customer service, communication between service agents have all been far below what I would have expected from an airline with such a good reputation and I would really not consider the whole experience to be even close to a top tier airline
Thanks for sharing, I wonder if media watch would have any interest in the empty gesture of this campaign
https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/tipoffs/
It would be interesting to see what a bit of negative attention might do to Qatar’s supposed good will
Hi all,
For those who missed out at booking a flight, you have been sent an email with a new code.
Quickly book a flight!!
Any further details?
Expiry date etc
I haven’t received an email …See below.
Unlimited changes still applies.
Yes my husband also received this email with a new code last night. Book by 30th Sept 2021, fly by 31st March 2022! Though I had a brief look on my mobile and couldn’t find any promo flight routes yet.
Also recieved a new voucher. Can't find any promo flights avaliable though.
Received 9pm last night. I found Sydney to Paris for Sep-Oct 2021 and booked it last night. Changed it a few times too from 2 months to 5 weeks and particular days.
Yes I have received a new code too! Note there's a block out travel period from15th Dec to 7th Jan.
Ok I’m guessing I didn’t get a code because I still had a booking for the end of March. The system is glitchy though, sometimes it lets me select a future date to change the current booking but won’t complete the change process, just goes back to the start.
Other times it won’t let me select a date past the end of March 2021None of which is very encouraging for any future qatar interactions
I noticed this bug too but to get around it, once I find a date with a discounted fare and it glitches out when I select it, I go back to manage my booking and select the specific date which I saw the discounted fare, then it goes thru once I choose that fare.
Was anyone able to book their flights using the new code?
Note: the new code is for those who missed out using the initial code.
Keeping this thread alive.
I've been checking flights in 2022 every week, and Qatar opened some more 'free flights'. Thus I rescheduled my Sep flight to Feb next year.
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Hey Klim, my wife got hers this morning, around 48 hours after submitting.
We are in Brisbane, so will need to travel to Sydney to fly out. She is very dubious on being able to leave the country and as the UK would probably be her intended place of travel, worried about another big wave of Covid hitting that country. I can't see us booking anything for a couple of months at least and just keep monitoring things.
But I've been trying the code this morning and getting Sydney to Heathrow for $770 for two return. If it's not showing a red star and tax only options on your flights then you will need to change dates/places.