I wonder if a lot of people who have Qatar loyalty cards are stuck with them! Note their price for biz class LHR to BKK Has gone from 1600 GBP to 2800 GBP.
A good reason to avoid these cards!
I wonder if a lot of people who have Qatar loyalty cards are stuck with them! Note their price for biz class LHR to BKK Has gone from 1600 GBP to 2800 GBP.
A good reason to avoid these cards!
geez...and I thought I was a cheap charlie...all this moaning and weeping over 80 pounds....for heavens sake once u get to LOS u make it back in savings within the 1st day.
Would you be equally generous if one of your rentboys tried to surcharge you with 20% Pervert Tax?
Flew here on EY=etihad (they gave me a silver cd when they started serving my homebase-gives free access to some lounges, incl for transit in Abu Dhabi, even in just eco), service and prices comparable to EK (but as of yet no AB380, I think) and you still can choose any available seat when booking online.
SOME airlines only charge extra for the most wanted seats though- is it really @ EK for any seat?
Better fora for these things are flyertalk etc.
gerefan2 - I can plan my schedule far ahead and so I only purchase tickets during one of that airline's sales periods. Last summer that saved me around 35% on a biz ticket.Originally Posted by gerefan2
The Gulf airlines have been fighting pretty successfully for market share. As planes fill up it's inevitable fares will get closer to those of other carriers. I've given up on several airlines for various reasons. If you believe one airline is screwing you, find another! I just checked. Finnair flies the BKK route and has return biz fares with for £1,312.10 return in May next year - and you get the A350 with flat bed seats for 3 of the 4 sectors.
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Last edited by fountainhall; December 2nd, 2016 at 09:46.
scotty I have been known to tip the MB over the agreed amount when he has displayed exceptional talent...there have been several that have certainly given me a good workout and by the end I've wondered who actually got used!! Maybe u only come across shy vestial virgins...
.......and if you use your BA Executive Club card on Qatar, that gets you 540 tier points which is just 60 short of Silver status which then gives access to One World lounges worldwide (inc BA, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, American etc). Another tip with Qatar is to fly from Copenhagen or Amsterdam. You have to get there first but that is easy as flight leaves AMS late afternoon. My latest Qatar business class return from Amsterdam (booked when a sale was on) was £852.......and seat selection is free.
Here's the bottom line:
If you book an EK ticket on the 2 lowest Economy Fares (I think they're called Economy Saver/ Economy Special) then you pay £20 per leg (which is £80 as they dont fly direct from UK) for ANY pre-booked seat.
Your alternative is to wait until 48 hours or less before departure when (if you have internet access at that point) you may reserve any empty seat free - but with absolutely no guarantee you'll get the type of seat you want
I think what this discussion is showing is that
- Emirates are not being as transparent as they could be on their own website and their seat reservation fees are not being flagged up before booking on the comparison sites which millions use.
- Emirates have all my personal details via Skywards and they took no action to flag up these changes in October - i.e. no email. I think that tells us something - that they hid it?
- Whilst people accept add-ons is the way things are going, the flip side is that by adopting these policies Airlines are destroying any loyalty many of us had to them
Last edited by scottish-guy; December 2nd, 2016 at 15:20.
That's the problem with loyalty cards as other posters have found out. I have travelled Qatar many times and if I has worried about the card I would be paying an extra 1000 GBP to fly Lhr to BKK.
NOw I just shop around
At the moment I still enjoy the Qatar card benefits but as some already said, the rates are gong up quite fast. If this is going to keep up, I will start shopping for other airlines also. No benefit to not use an European airline if the rate and service is the same.
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