Qatar Airways raises taxes on award tickets. It's a devaluation, but it could have been much worse
In the last few hours there has been a real uproar in our FB group (and everywhere else) and [...]
Qatar Airways
Oneworld
In recent hours there has been a real uproar in our FB group (and throughout the rest of the world) and the subject of discussion was the fees and surcharges charged by Qatar Airways on award tickets.
In this article:
Night time all Privilege Club members noticed an increase, practically to a doubling, in the costs applied to booking award tickets.
As is well known Qatar has historically Always applied taxes and surcharges not based on the actual distance flown, but each ticket issued was taxed with a fixed cost per segment flown.
What happened with the Qatar prize tickets
Yes there has been a devaluation, i.e., the nightmare of all serial mileage accumulators, but fortunately the nightmare of an Emirates-like situation vanished after less than 24h. Qatar admitted the mistake (and the devaluation) in a press release.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience our esteemed members may have encountered during the implementation of our award commission policy reviewed earlier today.
Award fees displayed for booking Qatar Airways award flights were higher than expected. The problem has been resolved and the corrected award fees, as per the revised policy, are now reflected and applied for all Qatar Airways award flight bookings.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club has Transformed Qatar Airways flight redemption award commission policy from an industry-based model to a distance-based structure, as of today. Award fees have decreased to 15% or remained the same for many of our most popular short- and medium-haul routes, while others have increased based on distance traveled.
Increased fees for long-haul award tickets
Depreciation occurs when it costs more to go to the same place for the same trip. The cost is related to the number of miles or taxes applied to the award ticket.
In this case although QR sweetens the pot by saying that on short/medium haul the surcharges are unchanged or reduced, it is on long haul that miles are mostly used and this is where passengers will notice the difference.
This is an example of the last ticket I redeemed using avios points with Qatar. A combination of economy from Malpensa to Doha and first class from Doha to Hong Kong, totaling 96,500 avios plus 162.44 euros in taxes and surcharges.
The same reservation, made today, requires the same number of avios points but the cost of fees has increased by about 60€.
In conclusion
Yes it is a devaluation, but unlike Emirates Qatar has raised fees by tens of euros, not hundreds, of course it is not good news, but I like to look at the glass half full and say it could have been definitely worse.
Last but not least as many TFC readers have noted. Taxes and surcharges increased only for direct bookings with Qatar, not those made via British Airways or other carriers using Avios as currency.
