It’s still alive! That Qatar Airways Change Policy Hack

Ahh I’ve been dreading this call for the past couple of months! So glad to have finally gotten it done with a favourable outcome.

Background

May 2020
You may remember the hack that I shared last year about Qatar Airways’ ultra-generous ticket change policy.

The hack allowed us to change a 50 mins flight into an epic 24 hours Business Class journey in one of the best Business Class seats in the world, all for just S$944!

I had initially booked these flights for travel on Dec 2020.

October 2020
Of course, we all know that the pandemic situation worsened since May 2020.

I had the option of getting a Qatar Airways voucher with 10% bonus value but tried to call to request for another change, and succeeded!

I wrote about how I changed my flight dates for a second time in October last year.

The new flight dates were for travel in Jul – Aug 2021 and I even managed to change my departing city to Singapore.

It is now July 2021 and New Zealand is still going through occasional lockdowns!

How I changed the flight dates for a 3rd time

Qatar Airways’ ticket change/flexibility policy has changed a number of times since May 2020 and passenger experiences with how the rules are implemented have been wildly inconsistent.

For that reason, I was prepared to make up to 3 calls before calling it quits and opting for a refund.

Here’s how I managed to change my flight dates for a third time:

1. Before calling Qatar Airways, I did a search on the airline’s official website for possible travel dates in May 2022. The new policy mentioned that dates can be changed for travel up to 31 May 2022.
2. I called the Malaysian hotline at +60 392125457 as I couldn’t get through the Singapore number. I had to wait only a few seconds before an operator answered.
3. I said that I wanted to change the dates of my flights and proceeded with the usual verifications.
4. The operator asked if I have the preferred dates, I said yes and he went ahead to look for availability.
5. He found availability and double-confirmed the dates and flight times with me.
6. He then mentioned that he will send me the new e-tickets soon after the call. I requested to wait on the line until I have received the e-tickets via email.
7. I received the e-tickets via email and all details were accurate. I could also see my booking details on the airline’s official website were correctly updated.

That was it! The call lasted 14 minutes.

Bottom line

A lot has happened for me since Oct 2020. I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled to cities that I never expected to be in and stayed in incredible hotels at a fraction of the usual rates. Although, I am currently finding myself in one of the worst-hit countries in the world!

Moving forward, the tricky bit for me is that my destination country, New Zealand, is one of the strictest countries in the world, when it comes to COVID-19 border control and lockdown rules.

With the positive vaccine rollout around the world, I am little more optimistic than I was after the last change in Oct 2020.

I hope that this article helped some of you guys who are still holding on to that amazing ticket. Let’s see what the next 10 months bring us. 🤞