Qatar Airways have introduced a new flight change rule due to the current situation. This allows people to change the origin to another city within the same country, or you can change the destination of your flight.
In an interesting move, you can change the destination to within 5,000 miles of your original choice. This opens a lot of opportunity for people who need to select a new place to go.
My Flight Change Experience
In February, I booked a flight from Gothenburg in Sweden to Sydney Australia via Doha. It was a decent business class deal, setting me back 22,914 Swedish Krona. That translates to about €2,150 which is an excellent deal. I live in Dublin, so I also booked connecting flights via British Airways, from Dublin to Gothenburg via London Heathrow.
Of course, this means a longer journey, which I am well used to doing to take advantage of a cheaper fare. With the new 5,000 mile change rule, it meant I could save myself some effort. While I can’t change the outbound, I could change the return. Calling Qatar Airways meant a 15 minute wait on the phone (not bad) and then I asked for my change.
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- The salubrious delights of Qatar Airways business class await
Initially the operator thought I wanted to change the origin, and said I couldn’t do that. Once I explained, he was happy to change the return. Rather than flying Sydney to Doha to Gothenburg, I elected to come straight home, Sydney to Doha to Dublin.
This was all done free of charge, with only two caveats. My original booking is in R class, and there was no R class availability on the day I wanted to travel. There was availability on the day before or the day after so I selected the day before. He also said only one change was permitted, though I do believe that is incorrect and you can change it again.
Overall Thoughts
Happily I had booked my return from Gothenburg as an Avios redemption on British Airways, so I was able to cancel that and have my points and cash refunded, less a small fee. I really dislike having to connect on the return as I like to get home as quickly as possible.
With the flight change, it means I only connect on the outbound, which is fine. Heading out I don’t mind extra flights, as I’m excited for a trip. Now I get to come back without having the extra hassle of two extra flights. An utter joy all round.
The information on the flight change policy is here. Will you be taking advantage of this new Qatar Airways policy? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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The agent you spoke to might not know the full policy. You are allowed to change the outbound. I called yesterday and the agent allowed me to change both the departure point and destination. Also, I was originally booked in R but now I’m booked in I/J. You might want to check with another agent.
I tried to build in a stopover in DOH but this was the only thing they would not allow me to do.
Yes, you can change the outbound, but only within the same country. That’s what is written on the Qatar Airways web site anyway. Did your agent change it to another country? I also read online that people were having their flight booking change not being restricted to the fare class. I don’t mind, I am happy to come back a day earlier, as that suits me well enough. Thanks for the feedback on your experience, it’s very helpful!
Correct. The updated policy is not restricted to your original booking class. You’re allowed to change your ticket within same cabin (Eco, Bizz or First), so it seems like the agent you spoke with was not entirely up to speed 🙂
Indeed! Hopefully they’re getting better with it as time passes. Thanks for the comment 🙂