You may recall that earlier in the year; I got very excited by the prospect of flying Colombo to Europe in Business/First class for around $700 return. Back then, I was also still optimistic about international travel happening in 2020 (guess I got that one wrong!). Luckily, Qatar Airways has come to the rescue with yet another flexible booking policy update.
Qatar Airways has been leading the way with one of the best covid booking policies out there, and while it was supposed to end at the start of October, the good people at Qatar Airways have just extended the policy for another year!
The original and rather lucrative policy has seen a few versions since its inception, so don’t get too excited just yet. However, if you’re one of those crazy people who jumped on the deal… only to realise that we’ll be locked up in Australia for at least another year; this is good news for you.
The original deal allowed for free changes up until the end of 2020, luckily this has now been extended, so I just rebooked my flights (third time already) for a random date in the future at no cost.
Here’s The New Qatar Airways Policy
- Keep your unused ticket and use it when you are ready with our extended ticket validity, now valid for 2 years from the date of ticket issuance for greater flexibility. Call any of our offices or contact centres to extend your ticket validity.
- You can change your travel date free of charge, as often as you need, for travel until 31 December 2021. Note that there’s a special condition for flights to Australia, these will be rebooked at the current prices…
- You can exchange the unused value of your ticket for a future travel voucher with 10% additional value. Vouchers are valid for two years from the date of voucher issuance.
If your flight has been impacted, you also enjoy some additional benefits (previously these were granted to everyone).
- Swap your ticket for Qmiles and redeem them towards reward flights, extra baggage or cabin upgrades when the time is right. For every 1 USD, you will earn 80 Qmiles that are valid for at least 3 years, so you can have the flexibility to choose how, when and for whom to redeem them.
- In addition to changing your travel date, you can change your destination free of charge, for travel until 31 December 2021 (this is the famous 5,000-mile rule we took advantage off earlier in the year).
- Qatar Airways will refund the unused value of your ticket to the original form of payment if your travel plans are impacted. (This is new and a welcome new addition!)
Summing Up – Qatar Airways New Covid Policy
The original policy was rather good, and while the new policy isn’t anywhere as lucrative, it’s still welcome news for anyone travelling during this time or anyone that purchases tickets this year hoping to go somewhere!
To check out the policy in full, you can visit this page here.
