I am a devoted fan of Qatar Airways, my preferred airline. I am a One World Emerald passenger, which is the highest level for frequent fliers in the One World system. I appreciate the benefits that come from heat arrangement. However, what should have been a seamless, terrific One World experience, however, turned into a more stressful experience due to the handling of a sudden change in my flight itinerary.
I booked a four-segment flight from Jakarta, Indonesia to New York’s JFK and back, with connections in Doha, Qatar. The total miles for the roundtrip is around 23,000! The initial booking process was straightforward, securing special fares through American Airlines but flying on Qatar. The fare was insanely excellent.
Interestingly, Qatar Airways emailed me very regularly about changes in flight times. A lot of changes occurred. Each adjustment was by a few minutes, so I wasn’t too concerned.
Things took a turn three weeks before my trip when I discovered, through an innocuous-looking email, from Qatar Airways that my third segment from JFK to Doha had been moved to the next day. The fourth segment was now timed to occur before I arrived for that connection! My connection time was minus 21 hours. Slightly impossible without a time machine!
When I called Qatar, I discovered that the change had rendered my ticket invalid due to a “missed connection”. Qatar denied all responsibility, insisting it was American Airlines who had made the flight change and therefore their responsibility. American Airlines claimed that Qatar had done the change and it was Qatar’s issue. Neither airline would talk to each other and kept sending me back to the other. I did gain more information each time from the two carriers, which made each subsequent call easier. This navigation took three hours and six calls between myself and Qatar Airways or American Airlines.
Finally, on-call six, a senior agent from American Airlines acknowledged the error and rectified the situation by moving me to an American Airlines flight and changing my connecting flight. They assigned me a good seat and reinstated the ticket. I then called Qatar who acknowledged that the ticket was now “valid for travel”. Even so, I held my breath a little at the check-in.
The flights themselves were fabulous from check-in to boarding to onboard with phenomenal meals. I could not fault the service and experience. But the period before the flight left a little bad taste in the mouth. If I had missed that email, I would have arrived at the airport with an invalid ticket! The lack of coordination and clarity between the two airlines resulted in a frustrating episode for a loyal customer. The entire process was unnecessarily cumbersome and time-consuming.
Have you had a similar interline experience?
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