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Qatar business class fares change again – lounge access back for R class
Earlier this year Qatar decided to make cutbacks to its cheaper business class tickets which were rebranded as Classic by withdrawing lounge access to Qatar branded lounges and withdrawing seat selection for non-status passengers. I’m guessing this hasn’t worked as well as they hoped as they have now added yet another category, called Lite. This is fare class P. The change is for fares bought from 4 September for travel from 1 October.
This new category means that the Classic fares (R class) regain lounge access, but not free seat selection unless you have status (Qatar or oneworld). This applies to previous bookings as well for travel from 1 October.
Here are the rules for all the business class fares:
For business class lite:
- You will get access to any oneworld lounges regardless of status, but not Qatar branded lounges. This is because the oneworld arrangements are that you are able to access any oneworld lounge flying in business class unless the lounge specifically forbids it.
- You will not be able to select seats free unless you have oneworld or Qatar status.
It is quite clear when you search, which fare you are choosing.
HT: GSTP
UK sale prices in business class
There is also a special offer on flights from the UK. Most of these are not great but a few of the sub £2000 fares are reasonable value. Qatar also have a great Book With Confidence policy which is for travel until 31 May 2022 which you can find here.
- Kathmandu From £1917
- Bangkok From £1730
- Colombo From £2026
- Bali From £2475
- Islamabad From £1524
- The Maldives from £2618
- Doha from £2171
- Sydney from £4939
- Brisbane from £4200
- Perth From £3871
- Adelaide From £4422
- Auckland From £3379
- Cape Town From £2268
- Abu Dhabi from £1607
- Singapore from £2179
- Zanzibar From £1924
- Seychelles from £1832
- Phuket from £1751
- Hong Kong from £1902
- Seoul From £2091
- Tokyo (NRT) From £2334
- Johannesburg from £1938
- Kuala Lumpur from £2108
Cheap stopovers from $14
How to book:
1. Choose “Qatar Stopover” in the flight search panel and enter your origin and destination
On the Qatar Airways homepage, as you search for your flights, click the “Qatar stopover” tab and enter the starting point and the final destination of your trip. Please do not enter Doha or Qatar in these fields.
2. Select your stopover timing and duration
Select your preference for planning your stopover, either on the departing or returning flight journey, and how many days you would like to stopover in Qatar.
3. Select your flight and stopover package
For flights departing from the following countries, you can book your flights and hotel packages together.
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, India, Cyprus, Finland, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania & Czech Republic.
For flights departing all other countries, you can book your flight first, then click the stopover link on the booking confirmation page or email to book your stopover hotel package directly with Discover Qatar.
The cost of a stopover varies based on the hotel star-rating and the duration. See the table below for pricing options.
Prices listed are per person based on double room share.
| 1 night | 2 nights | 3 nights | 4 nights | ||
| Standard packages | 4-star hotel | Starting $14 | Starting $22 | Starting $46 | Starting $69 |
| Premium packages | 5-star hotel | Starting $21 | Starting $36 | Starting $66 | Starting $97 |
| Luxury packages | 5-star hotel | Starting $54 | Starting $103 | Starting $166 | Starting $230 |
You can find the stopover page here.
