Smithinthesky

My family and I (me, my wife and two children aged 12 and 9) recently returned from a Spring Break vacation to Thailand, flying out of Riyadh (where I work) to Bangkok via Doha. Our flight was delayed out of Riyadh due to the late arrival of the inbound flight from Doha, which was confirmed by the crew as being due to a last minute change of aircraft in Doha. As a result, we missed our connecting flight in Doha (where we were not even given lounge access so the kids could rest up for the duration of our delay), and arrived in Bangkok 5 hours later than scheduled. So we missed all our onward connections (road and sea) and had to book into the airport hotel overnight and continue our journey the next day.

When I raised our complaint with Qatar Airways, I was told I would not get compensation for the lost day of our vacation, but that if I provided them with receipts they would consider reimbursing the expenses we incurred. I have since provided those receipts (which were in no way excessive) together with a detailed explanation of why each expense item was incurred, but they have been flatly rejected. I have asked for written reasons why, but I have been brushed off twice now (latterly by Lisette Smith, their Senior Customer Care Officer) with 'we have considered your claim but will not be reimbursing your expenses'.

I feel I am entitled to written reasons why expenses incurred due to delays caused by the airline are not being reimbursed, but I wanted to check if anyone else has had a similar experience, and if so what you did about it.

In a spirit of full disclosure, they have offered us 3,000 QMiles each, but bearing in mind none of us wishes to fly with Qatar again that is really no compensation at all.

My advice to you would be simple: go with Emirates or Etihad instead. But I would value input, advice etc from any of you who have encountered similar problems with Qatar.

Thanks

Odin

Isn't that what travel insurance is for, to claim reimbursement of expenses incurred due to delays, curtailment of vacation etc?

QR were obliged to get you to BKK which they did, albeit 5 hours later than originally planned. I don't think EY or EK would have acted any differently in this situation.

I had a similar situation years ago, when my flight from DFW to ORD was cancelled due to very bad weather, meaning that I missed my connection ORDLHR. AA did not reimburse my expenses which was a night in a hotel at DFW. They did give me a voucher towards another flight which I never used.

stokeygirl

"Isn't that what travel insurance is for, to claim reimbursement of expenses incurred due to delays, curtailment of vacation etc? "

My thought exactly. As far as I know, no airlines would reimburse those sort of expenses. If you miss a connection that is part of your ticketed route and have to overnight (eg in Doha), then they are obliged to provide a hotel, but not compensation for your own arranged onward connections.

I've only flown with Qatar once, I had no problems and would fly with them again. All airlines have delays occasionally, it's a fact of life. Buy travel insurance if you want compensation.

jacketwatch

Tough luck but I agree wit the above two posters. Delays happen and 5 hrs. really isn't all that bad so you would not be getting a hotel. They did give you miles but not they are not responsible for your lost expenses. I too say next time get travel insurance. Qatar is a skytrax rated 5* carrier.