Qatar Airways Schedule Changes

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)

  • David
    Participant

    What is up with Qatar Airways and their unadvised schedule changes recently? I get they have had some significant issues with the Gulf ban, but they appear to be changing their flight schedules regularly and not bothering to notify customers. I have 3 long haul business class trips (two Asia and one South Africa) booked with them over the coming few months and each one has at least once had a schedule change that I have only become aware of once I’ve logged into the Manage My Booking facility on the site. In the past I always received emails from Qatar with even the smallest of changes.
    One of the recent changes was not small at all- in fact they had inexplicably moved the dates of one of my flights (even though the plane was still scheduled to go and they were still selling business class tickets for that flight) and bumped me on to a later connection out of Doha which would’ve left me with 9 hours in Doha rather than the originally scheduled (and still available for sale on their website might I add!) 2 hours. When I called them to discuss, I waited for 45 minutes to speak to an operator (they don’t appear to have a priority line for business class from what I can see?) and when I got through, the quality of the line was so poor I couldn’t hear the operator properly. He told me he was unable to call me back, email me or give me a direct number to call- in fact my only option was to call the call centre and wait for 45 minutes again. I found this extremely poor, especially given that I later tried calling the call centre from various different phones and the quality was as poor on each. Eventually I got some response via Twitter although this in itself took 3-4 days to finalise. I’ve always found the service on board Qatar to be exemplary and have never experienced this sort of thing with them before- I hope it isn’t the beginning of a downward spiral!


    MarkivJ
    Participant

    I don’t think it’s the end of a downward spiral. Their support has always been poor. That’s what I’ve always maintained about the ME3 even during the so called Golden years – when it’s good, it’s great. When it’s bad, let’s not even go there!


    SGJNI1961
    Participant

    My flights to/from EDI/CPT next month on QR have been changed a few times over the past couple of months. Not a word form QR except as you say when you log in to MMB.
    Use the MY Flights App if yo can (iOS not sure about Android). Sorts out this sort of issue quite well I find.


    TominScotland
    Participant

    Funny – I noted these regular changes to my two up-coming QR itineraries elsewhere. Maybe because they were booked via travel agents, I seem to have got most of the notifications. One hassle, however, took some time to sort out. Flight departure on a return from Manila was scheduled for 23.59 and then moved 41 minutes forward to 00.40. It was sent to me as a 00.40 departure THE SAME DAY – ie. 23 hours and 19 minutes earlier, giving me a 27 hour wait in Doha. Neither the agent or QR seemed to understand the problem for quite a while and insisted that they were correct… Now sorted (I hope)!!


    RedBaron
    Participant

    Got a few updates this week with flights out of MEL moved forward 40 mins , DUB moved forward 10 mins etc. Flights ex-AU could be attributed to daylight savings not being taken in to account but the flight lengths suggest allowing for blockade flightpaths and making DOH connections.


    donkeyasia
    Participant

    David – join the Privilege Club and use the very efficient dedicated number for members. The line quality is very good, although reception is not always at the receiving end. Their call centre is in Doha and the personnel are courteous and speak excellent English. I believe that their general call centre operates out of Poland.
    I always book online directly with QR. The Bangkok office always calls me personally if there are any itinerary or schedule changes.


    David
    Participant

    Thanks donkeyasia! I wasn’t aware there was a separate line for Privilege Club- I’ll call them in future as I am a Privilege Club member but usually credit all my miles to my BA Account.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Perhaps they’ve been too busy rolling out their latest gimmick to be able deal with schedule changes :

    Suite dreams! Qatar Airways becomes the world’s first airline to launch DOUBLE beds in business class

    The Qsuite allows passengers to recline two middle seats into a flat bed, with partition panels for privacy
    New feature is being trialed on a 777 service from Heathrow, but could be rolled out to Paris and New York
    Four passengers are also able to transform their seats to form a private area, complete with TV screens


    rferguson
    Participant

    David – cannot recommend the ‘myflights’ app high enough. It’s free and it constantly monitors your bookings for any changes and advises you as soon as timings etc change.

    I have some QR flights coming up and have experienced the same issues as yourself (albeit thankfully time changes of only 30 minutes or so). Each time i’ve been notified immediately by myflights.


    seasonedtraveller
    Participant

    Unable to locate this app on Android?
    Sounds very useful to me. Is it IOS only?


    David
    Participant

    Thanks for this rferguson- I downloaded the app last night and it looks great- an excellent way to avoid these issues being last minute problems at a later stage.
    I do hope QR picks up on this though… they are so good at many things but this is just pretty sloppy and to my mind, is an absolute basic.


    Spotter
    Participant

    We booked direct with QR but have not been notified of any changes to times although there have been 3 flights affected so far this month.

    The aircraft have also reverted from QR A350s to the LATAM versions and we have been reallocated seats from the centre bank to the left – 1A and C. Not sure how noisy they will be immediately behind the galley.

    The return leg is still showing QR metal.

    I use Checkmytrip which notified me of the time changes but not the latest seat change. Funnily enough, when I changed my seats a couple of weeks ago for the B777 leg, the app sent me an e-mail.


    Andrew
    Participant

    I had this problem too on LHR – KUL. However I was notified a few days in advance. I assumed it was because of problems in Gulf airspace.


    Polly
    Participant

    David,

    We use the 02072442960 no, directly to very good English speakers in Poland. Very smart, on the ball. The Doha lot, like speaking to 12 year olds, am afraid. And unfortunately their customer service centre there leaves a lot to be desired. So you are really left up to your own devices with QR, the app is really useful. Saying that, their ex eu J fares are the best around ESP to Asia.


    seasonedtraveller
    Participant

    Very glad I saw this thread as I have just checked my Qatar flights to fine them all changed and NO notification from Qatar.

    Most concerning is – MAN to DOH brought forward from 16.10 to 15.25 without any communication at all – the train I’ve booked is now cutting it fine….

    BKK to DOH still showing same time but – DOH to MAN now arriving 50 mins later than booked, meaning I’ll miss the train I booked to Leeds.

    Serious lack of communication from Qatar – just confirmed our TMC has not been informed either.
    Wow – that’s pretty poor

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)
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