Qatar Airways introduces ‘basic business class’ with NO lounge access

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• r* says:

  10 Nov10 November 10:10

  The ex-eu sales will now no doubt be this con which means no more booking on qatar until they abandon this.

  Its important that people dont support this because if its a success you can be certain that will be the start of the end of lounges as soon all airlines will copy it and then all points redemptions will eventually be seat only!

  • tony says:

    10 Nov10 November 10:42

    Yes and no. I would say that discounted business class airfares have been falling in real terms for the last 20 years. What do we want now? Erosion of some of the soft product for the cheapest fares (so remove lounge access) or erosion of the hard product for all (as BA has done with the densification of Club Europe). I have the option of buying up lounge access either via QR or a third party. I don’t have the option of buying extra legroom on a 5hr BA schlep back from Larnaca.

    What surprises me about the pricing that I’ve seen is the size of the premium being charged. It doesn’t reflect the additional value of the services offered, especially for a single traveller. Maybe it’s QR’s play at moving to premium pricing, which is what EK seemed to do maybe 5 years back. These classic fares then become very rare, but with QR you’re paying a 5* price for a 5* end to end service. If this forces others to up their game, then maybe that’s no bad thing.

• Paul says:

  10 Nov10 November 10:36

  Just been sent a fare deal for AMS to DPS for next year where QR and TK are competing on the route and TK are cheaper by almost 100 Euro per passenger.
  Now I value my One world status but this move is barking mad. You are effectively paying £300 per passenger to access a lounge. If this is the future then One World status becomes truly worthless.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    10 Nov10 November 13:11

    Well, with status you get into a lounge, not the best lounge, but a lounge nonetheless, so doesn’t it make status more valuable?

• AJA says:

  10 Nov10 November 10:52

  It seems Qatar is doing what BA did years ago, only going one step further and removing lounge access from the “cheapest” biz class fares.

  It does srill reward those with status but to me lounge access on the ground is part of the deal with a business class fare. Seems a mistake to me to remove it but the proof will be in how many buy the “cheapest” fare.

  That said the reality is that the airline industry is in the doldrums and losing money hand over fist so are we really surprised that fares are increasing and services and benefits are being “enhanced” away in an effort to recoup the losses.

  I do hope that BA doesn’t follow suit and remove lounge access from its “cheapest” Club fares. I suspect it could be on the cards.

• Smid says:

  10 Nov10 November 11:21

  Well, I knew keeping the voucher for the last cancelled flights was a mistake. Best I might hope for is to book flights which will likely be cancelled. Most of the lower end will now drop the lounge which was half the experience.

  I very much doubt the saver fares at the bottom end will include it now.

• Lady London says:

  10 Nov10 November 11:32

  Some firms wont allow a meal to be claimed for a Business Class ticket saying their employee can eat in the lounge.

  At outstations where lounges are poor but restaurants can serve quality fare such as in France, Scandinavia etc., hopefully if companies force their employees onto Classic tickets this will allow the employee to claim dinner on expenses instead.

• Track says:

  10 Nov10 November 11:48

  Given the vast facilities in Doha airport — and fact that outstation LHR/Paris etc lounges will remain shut in 2021 — the fare is more punitive, than a genuine cost-saver for the airline.

  I would not believe that handling a business class passenger in Doha is any significant cost beyond a coffee and sandwich.

  • Track says:

    10 Nov10 November 12:27

    From all the comments though — appears to be smart move from QR.

    Differentiates a price-sensitive leisure traveller who pays from own pocket, and a business traveller whose fare is paid for.

    Except that these days businesses are adamant that lowest fare to be paid, check and question things.

  • Lady London says:

    10 Nov10 November 13:07

    nice showers, though. And Krug if you ask the right person. But I take your point about the costs of lounges having a large fixed component so not much is saved currently.

• VK says:

  10 Nov10 November 12:27

  There are no two ways about this. Unless some major airlines find a better way, all the legacy airlines worldwide will just drop everything from the lowest business class fares (not dropping the price) and increase prices for ‘normal’ tickets. This is going to be the norm. They need to make money someway or another.

• David Cohen says:

  10 Nov10 November 12:30

  It appears that the classic fares with no lounge access include both ‘R’ *and* ‘I’ class buckets. That means if you want included lounge access, you’ll have to buy all the way up to a ‘D’ fare. If that is confirmed then I do find this a truly bizarre move as they are potentially doubling or even tripling the fare levels.

  • Lady London says:

    10 Nov10 November 19:28

    I think of Qatar fares – as quite a few of the major airlines – as a bit like hotels. There’s rack rate and then there’s what people are really paying.

    • John says:

      12 Nov12 November 01:11

      That’s a MUCH more accurate description of BA than QR.

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