Firstly apologies for the incorrect headline that was published today. I know you were all keen to hear about the Qatar deals but I have been dealing with some technical issues so was unable to get the fares out as quickly as I would like. I don’t like to publish them without having all the rules and potential drawbacks researched…But I got there eventually!
The fares below represent great value but there are some drawbacks worth mentioning. Firstly, how easy is it to get to the start points? Sofia has quite a few direct flights including BA but Belgrade only has one direct flight from London with Air Serbia. This adds to the risk and costs of an ex EU. Secondly, the flights from Belgrade and Sofia to Doha involve 5 hours in a regional business class seat on an A321 which is not a flatbed. Plus then a long connection at Doha for some routes.
Qatar are currently using B777-300s on this route. You could be lucky and get the QSuites which has been on this route until the end of last month. If not the old seats are very comfortable but in a 2-2-2 configuration they are not to everyone’s taste. Doha to Narita Tokyo does feature the QSuites for the foreseeable future. Phuket has the B787 which has good reverse herringbone seats.
Prices return in business class start from:
- Belgrade to Hong Kong £1133
- Belgrade to Tokyo £1268
- Belgrade to Phuket £1184
- Belgrade to Kuala Lumpur £1146
- Belgrade to Singapore £1248
- Sofia to Shanghai £1212
- Budapest to Maldives £1375
The rules are:
- Book by: 30 April 2019
- Travel: Before or on 30 June 2019
- Minimum stay: 3 nights
- Maximum stay: 12 months
- Transfers: Unlimited
- Stopovers: Permitted – free in Doha both ways up to 96 hours
- Refundable: For a fee
- Changeable: For a fee
You can book direct with Qatar here or try Skyscanner for the cheapest online travel agents.
9 comments
Thanks Michelle for getting these fares posted. I guess that a return from these locations would not generate 560 tier points?
Thanks for getting this out, Michelle. Some amazing fares there but would think twice before booking QR again, even paying extra for the current BA CW product!!
I’ve just booked the ARN-BKK deal for £1300 in June. Studied the website which states flights 172 out and 171 in are QSusite cabins, this is also shown on SeatGuru. When selecting seats in my bookings it’s an old style config!! QR claiming no change of aircraft which must mean they are falsely advertising!!
Their customer service, specifically response times are apalling too. Feeling so annoyed.
Any advice for your biggest fan and neighbour in Havant would be gratefully received.
I had a similar thing where they changed the aircraft shortly after booking. Sadly legally there’s little you can do and it happens on virtually every airline. There are only two options if q suites is available on another BKK flight. Pay to change or hope for a +2 hour time change when you can do it for free. That’s what happened to me. Are you now on an old B777?
It’s so annoying isn’t it, Michelle. If it was down to aircraft change I could understand it as these things happen but it’s not, they stated that part of the reason for the delayed response was due to checking there hadn’t been a change of aircraft and they confirmed there hasn’t been! My booking on the app still shows an A359 which they state on their website is QS configured for the flight numbers I’ve booked and seatguru is also still showing a QS config.
Ruling out an aircraft change or the slim chance that the seat map in my booking is incorrect, I can only deduce that they’re blatantly, falsely advertising??
The BKK-DOH leg is QS on a 773ER so I will get to experience it but that doesn’t change/explain any of the above.
Whatever the reason, unless they confirm I actually am on QS flights or fast tracked my status to gold by the time I’ve finished my Swiss Muesli on Monday morning, Matty will be popping up to their London office and not leaving without blood!
Yes they do Dave P. I did a QR J fare ex SOF in Jan and its 140 TPs for SOF – DOH.
I agree with Matt. Last week had a trip from London to Hong Kong. Instead of 3 flights in Qsuite we had just 1. Also they changed 1st leg so we had awful 4 hrs stopover early morning – instead of 2.5 as initially booked. I am aware it was legal form the airline point of view but I was so disappointed, upset and tired that next time I will think twice – at least – before I book a flight with Qatar. If they advertise and invite passengers to try their new product they should be able to provide it. Otherwise it is misleading and unfair.
Did you complain and what was the reason given, Rob? Was it down to an aircraft change or not? They have confirmed no change of aircraft for my flights so I can only assume false advertising.
Thanks very much for posting these 😉
Wonderful.
Matt, don’t be too disheartened as the QR product on the A350 with the B/E Super Diamond seat is still excellent.(And as you’re flying on aircraft with both types of seats you might get a feel for what the new BA Club Suite may be like as it seems to be an amalgamation of the Super Diamond seat with QSuite features!)
The QR171/2 was a QSuite aircraft during the winter, but has been showing as a B/E seat aircraft in the summer timetable for some time. (The QR A359 designation does not give you any indication of the seat type fitted, just the aircraft type) While a specific seat can never be guaranteed, In addition to the Qatar site I use a number of other places to cross refer with before booking. Google flights is usually accurate with ‘Individual Suite’, for QSuite, ‘Lie-flat seat’ for all other flat bed products and ‘Extra reclining seat’ for cradle type seats; If your booking is being made within the current timetable season, Flightradar24 is also useful for checking the registrations of the aircraft that have operated the particular flight you’re interested in on the preceding seven days. The registrations can then be checked on Flyertalk’s Complete Guide to the Qatar Airways Fleet – which, to their credit, is kept up to date – to find out the configuration and seating type.
I very much doubt that not getting a QSuite on an already very competitively priced ticket will lead to a fast tracked Gold card or any other recompense.?
Enjoy your Swiss Muesli on Monday morning and save yourself the hassle of South Western Railways whilst looking forward to your experience.
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