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Australia isn’t exactly a destination that’s welcoming visitors right now and Melbourne isn’t exactly a destination that a lot of us would consider traveling to at this moment in time (even if we could) but with great availability into June 2021, this amazing Business Class fare may still be very tempting to some.
Headline Fare Rules
- Outbound travel permitted Sunday through Thursday
- Inbound travel permitted Tuesday through Friday
- Reservations needed a minimum of 120 days before travel
- Minimum stay is 4 nights
- Maximum stay is 1 month
The fare rules do not specify and end date for this fare so it could be pulled at any time.
Fare Availability
The €1,995/$2,360 fare first becomes available for travel in November and, as you’ll see from the screenshots below, continues to be available into June 2021.
Keen-eyed readers will note that this fare is available to be booked during the northern hemisphere spring vacations.
Routing & Aircraft
As with almost all Qatar Airways flights, this trip requires routing through Doha on the way to Melbourne…
…but there are a lot of options that offer just a modest layover in Doha so there shouldn’t be any need for an excessively long stop in either direction.
Qatar Airways operates its new Airbus A350-1000 between Doha and Melbourne which means that on these sectors of the journey flyers are guaranteed to be offered one of the world’s best Business Class products – the Qatar Airways Qsuite (link to Qsuite review).
Between Milan and Doha, the airline operates a mix of A350-900 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft which, at the time of writing, all appear to offer the fantastic Qsuite cabin. Unfortunately, this is the type of route on which Qatar Airways can (and does) change aircraft on a frequent basis so the Qsuite cannot be guaranteed.
Note: It’s possible to book this fare and fly only on A350-900/-1000 aircraft…
…and that will ensure that even if you get an aircraft that hasn’t been upgraded to the Qsuites cabin, you’ll still end up with an excellent Business Class product (Qatar Airways A350 non-Qsuites reviewed)
Searching & Booking
These fares are incredibly easy to find on the Qatar Airways website so as long as you stick to the rules outlined at the beginning of this post you shouldn’t have any trouble finding dates that work well for you.
If you’re unsure of what dates you’d like to travel and would simply like to see all the options open to you, Google Flights will probably be the best tool to use.
Where To Credit The Flights
Most of you probably know this already but I’ll repeat it briefly for anyone new to this hobby – Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld alliance so these fares can be credited to any oneworld loyalty program.
Most readers will probably be crediting these flights to the British Airways Executive Club where they’ll earn 600 Tier points from just one trip (that’s enough Tier Points needed for Silver Status*) or to the American Airlines AAdvantage program where they’ll earn Elite Qualifying Miles & Dollars, as well as Redeemable Miles based on the distance, traveled.
Readers crediting these flights to American’s AAdvantage program can expect to earn approximately 30,530 Elite Qualifying Miles and approximately 4,071 Elite Qualifying Dollars. The number of redeemable miles earned will vary depending on the elite status held.
If you’re not sure where to credit your flights you should probably check out the wheretocredit website which will give you all the information you need.
*To earn British Airways Silver Status a traveler will also have to book 4 segments of any length through British Airways.
Bottom Line
Clearly this is fare is a niche play right now as no one can be sure what travel to/from Australia is going to look like in 2021…but that’s almost certainly why this amazing fare has been made available. Anyone considering booking this fare should make sure they read the latest Qatar Airways refund policy (here) before they hand over their credit card details as this routing comes with the inherent risk that travel to/from Australia may not open up before the dates of your trip come around.
Is anyone tempted to book this or are the risks still too high?
[HT: PremiumFlights]
