Change flight from Qatar to BA??

[binotsen]

A bit of a rant and a bit of advice if possible please.

Last year my family of 2 adults and 2 teens booked 4 x J-class seats on BA from LHR-KUL using 2 x Amex vouchers (1 in my name and 1 in my wife’s name).

For our return journey from DPS-LHR we booked 4 x 1 way J-class Qatar flights. When we booked, the configuration on the flight was 1-2–1. It then got changed to Qsuite (from DPS-DOH) which was super exciting and we chose a quad seat.
I have logged onto Qatar airways today and the configuration has now changed to 2-2-2 which I am pretty gutted about.
In total we paid 512000 avios (4 people) for just this leg of the journey so not cheap.

My questions if anyone can help please:

Is it likely/possible that the configuration could change back to either 1-2-1 or Qsuite?
There are still seats available in J on BA from KUL-LHR so another option (which would save a lot of Avios as using a 2 for 1 Amex voucher) is to fly to KUL and then back to the UK. However in order to do this I would need a refund of the Avios currently sitting with Qatar. Does anyone know how long it takes for Qatar to refund Avios after cancellation?

Thanks in advance

[HampshireHog]

When are the flights? QR often change aircraft there are no guarantees, it could change again. In any case most peeps are of the view that any QR seat is likely going to be a better overall experience than BA

[SamG]

Qatar refund pretty quick – 1-2 days . As you say, you’d save lots of Avios so I’d be tempted. No biggie getting back up to KUL – if you go on Malaysian they’ll check your bags through to BA on seperate tickets

It can easily change again especially on a route like Denpasar, you can’t be sure what seat you’re going to get until you’re sat in it!

[JDB]

@binotsen – there’s nothing wrong with the 2-2-2 layout on QR! Bed is far more comfortable than QSuite, cabin much more open, spacious and light plus much more friendly with travelling companion. Would be less good for a solo passenger.

[binotsen]

Thanks for the responses.
This is a special post-GCSE and end of crazy year holiday for us so we’ve decided to stick to Qatar for the return journey.