Qatar Airways Canceled My $673 Business-Class Ticket to New York

Last night, we shared an outrageous business-class fare on flights operated by Qatar Airways, with travel originating in Vietnam priced from just $555 round-trip. Flights to the US came in around $700, which is a fantastic fare as well. In fact, to give you an idea of just how good a deal this was, some of the same itineraries are now pricing at more than $4,700 round-trip.

Like many TPG readers, I was thrilled — I'm a big fan of Qatar's business-class product, and I figured this itinerary would give me an opportunity to fly the airline's new Qsuite business class to New York once that launches "in September."

Sadly, this trip wasn't meant to be. I was waiting to confirm that I didn't have any conflicts, so I put my flight on a free 48-hour hold. Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, the itinerary had been canceled.

I gave the airline's US number a ring at (877) 777-2827, but the agent stated that nothing could be done — the segments had been removed from my itinerary entirely. I was told:

"This ticket that was placed on hold is an invalid type of fare and has been canceled."

He presented one option: Book a new ticket at the current price. Yeah, no thanks.

Unfortunately it sounds like some TPG readers are in the same boat, though flights that have been purchased still appear to be active. Again, be sure to avoid booking onward flights or making any other nonrefundable plans at this time, since it's entirely possible that Qatar Airways could opt to cancel ticketed flights as well — though the airline would likely end up being on the hook for expenses incurred related to the canceled itinerary, if flights were booked to the US.

So what can we do? Not a whole lot, unfortunately. My ticket hold email confirmation clearly states:

Note: The price quoted is only guaranteed once payment has been made and ticket has been issued. If payment has not been made within the allocated time, your booking will be cancelled. Prices quoted when selecting 'Pay later' are only guaranteed for offline payment when purchased at a Qatar Airways office in the country of first departure and when paid in the currency quoted on the booking confirmation. Qatar Airways reserves the right to apply a surcharge or re-price the booking if payment is being made in any other country.

So, since my ticket hasn't been issued, I'm out of luck here, it seems — my $0 base fare really was too good to be true:

While these flights had been labeled as a "Golden Ticket," and the airline teased "a small surprise," giving customers an opportunity to "experience the World’s Best Business Class," it seems that this wasn't the deal in question. Sadly, I won't be trying out Qatar's double bed in the sky (pictured above) anytime soon — at least not for $700 round-trip.

Has Qatar canceled your business-class booking?