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Qatar Airways joins oneworld; double miles all around (and a...

Qatar Airways joins oneworld; double miles all around (and a reader giveaway!)

With the departure of flight QR633 from Dhaka to Doha this morning Qatar Airways began operations as a full member of the oneworld alliance. The carrier is the first of the “big 3” Gulf airlines to join an alliance and represents a significant amount of traffic within the Middle East and South Asia which will now be carried by an alliance member. That’s good news for a lot of passengers.

Swords on the tarmac - just part of the traditional drums/music accompanying the new oneworld livery unveiling in Doha
Swords on the tarmac – just part of the traditional drums/music accompanying the new oneworld livery unveiling in Doha

As part of the events surrounding the new member joining the alliance all the airlines in the group have launched a promotion for the next three months offering double miles. For members of Qatar’s Privilege Club program that means double miles for all bookings on other partner carriers. For members of those other programs it means double miles for flights on Qatar Airways. The promotion is valid from 15 November 2013 through 31 January 2014 and excludes travel from 20 December – 5 January.

Also as part of the news this week a new fare product has been launched by oneworld. The Visit Middle East fare covers 30 destinations in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Yemen served by Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian plus intra-region flights operated by British Airways and Cathay Pacific. It requires a minimum of three segments and pricing is calculated in a tiered manner based on miles flown per sector; fares start at $75/sector plus taxes and fees. One of the very nice features of the fare is that only the first segment must be finalized at the time of booking. Other destinations must be specified but the dates for that travel can be left open. I’m not sure which fare class it books in to so there may be some risk in hoping the inventory is available but the concept certainly is a nice one.

A reflection of the new Qatar Airways oneworld livery in the facade of the terminal building
A reflection of the new Qatar Airways oneworld livery in the facade of the terminal building

And, finally, the giveaway. I’ve been working in Doha the past couple days as a guest of Qatar Airways and oneworld for the ceremonies surrounding this event and there have been a few souvenirs given out. I’m keeping the airplane model for myself but I’ve got an extra Mont Blanc passport holder that I’m giving away to a reader. It is this one which apparently has an MSRP of $200 (Amazon has it for $180). There’s also a lanyard and a USB thumb drive which looks like the Qatar Airways tailfin which I’ll throw in with the passport case. Just leave a comment below about what Qatar Airways route you most want to fly and I’ll pick a winner on Sunday November 3, 2013.

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Seth Miller

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I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

100 Comments

  1. JFK-DOH-PER East coast of the USA to the West coast of OZ with an overnight stop in DOH to check out the Narwhal and the new IM Pei museum.

  19. I’m really looking forward to the new Miami route to start. Between ORD and MIA, QR will have the states covered via AA connections.

  49. ORD-DOH-KUL, visiting old friends in DOH too, and cool to be back home in KUL for Xmas

  75. As a gay man I won’t fly any middle eastern airlines (except Turkish and El Al) here’s why:

    Qatar – punishment for being Gay: Penalty: fines, prison sentence up to 5 years.
    Oh but lesbians are hot so no fine or sentence for women.

    Saudi Arabia Penalty for being gay: death or life imprisonment

    United Arab Emirates Penalty: deportation, fines or prison time.

    Oh but they are happy to have your money if you want to fly their airline.

    Yemen Illegal penalty: death

    and now the Kuwait Government along with the 6 GCC:”Speaking to a local newspaper, an official of the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said his government was developing a form of preventative “gaydar” – a “medical” test to detect gays and lesbians in order to prevent them from entering Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC)

    Oh right it’s “perceived” so actually you could be picked up in transit if you “looked” gay it’s not just about being gay…but that’s OK cuz well they have a shower in first class… your actions have ramifications

  76. IAH-DOH-SGN
    See two countries I have not been too while adding a new aircraft type for me (777-200LR)

  78. Depends which route they first throw an A380 at! LHR-DOH or CDG-DOH seem to be the current likely winners…

  86. If I have to choose a “route” rather than a full blown itinerary, I’d picks the routes which include two interesting cities. I’ll be happy with any of these:

    Chicago-Doha-Singapore-Bali
    Chicago-Doha-Kuala Lumpur-Phuket
    Chicago-Doha-Bangkok-Hanoi
    Chicago-Doha-Dar Es Salam-Kilimanjaro

    Of course, I could gladly combine them in one itinerary!

  87. OK, so an example of combined route, this would leave me ecstatic:

    Bali – Singapore – Doha – Dar Es Salam – Kilimanjaro

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