Tag Archives for doha.
Thursday morning’s American Airlines flight from Doha to Philadelphia took off back for the States. That will be the last trip between the U.S. and Qatar on the airline for a bit, as American suspends Doha service due to risks in the region.
A Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, tail number A7-BCV, sustained structural damage in a ground incident at Doha’s Hamad International Airport on October 25, 2024. The aircraft had completed flight QR663 from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and was taxiing to its assigned gate when its right main landing gear encountered an unexpected failure in the tarmac.
Several readers have complained recently that Qatar Airways simply has not been releasing business class award seats to and from the United States. My refrain has been that this is typical, not something new. Qatar releases business class awards in batches. It’s feast or famine.
American Airlines has stopped selling its New York JFK – Doha flight after October 28th. This flight is how American shuttles passengers to places like Lahore, Islamabad, and Dhaka – connecting them onto Qatar Airways. But American’s circumstances have changed in New York, and they’ll be shifting Doha flights to their Philadelphia hub starting October 29.
American does very little ultra long haul flying. And Doha’s premiums cabins are consistently empty in his observation, filling up only at the last minute (presumably with nonrevenue employees and upgrades). And they can’t be making money off of just a full coach cabin with their costs. As a result there has been speculation about this route being pulled. Here’s why I don’t think that will happen in 2023.
Now the Privilege Club program credits miles to members before they fly and permits earning and redemption for purchases at the Doha airport. I spoke with Noora Al-Ansari who heads the Privilege Club program, and with Thomas Thiollier who manages duty free, about the changes.
New long haul routes are exciting! American Airlines will fly from New York to Doha this summer. That’s great for AAdvantage elites looking for an upgrade. For most others, Qatar Airways remains the better airline of choice.
They’re adding this flight at a time they’re announcing they lack enough widebody aircraft to fly their summer Europe schedule, so they’re cancelling plans for many flights. They’re blaming Boeing’s production problems, and ignoring the decisions they made during the pandemic that put them in this bind.
Travel to places where human rights aren’t fully respected entails risks. Those risks are on the rise in China for instance. I’ve enjoyed visiting Doha. The Museum of Islamic Art is absolutely worth the stop. But this incident certainly gives pause.
With the continued blockade of Qatar led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE there are far fewer Qatar Airways short haul flights. That means fewer passengers with Al Safwa lounge access.
At the beginning of the year they started monetizing access to the lounge, upselling business class passengers initially for as little as $69 but more recently for $165. Now Qatar Airways has extended al Safwa lounge access to their Privilege Club Platinum members flying in business class.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
