Lots of folks have pointed out that airlines don’t usually compensate for weather-related delays and cancellations. Sure, but a few things: 1. We had to fight even to get *rebooked* on a future flight, let alone be compensated for hotels/meals. They seemed happy to do absolutely nothing for us and leave us stranded in Dubai indefinitely. 2. If they hadn’t cancelled our original flights (that first cancellation was not weather-related, but likely due to their own staffing/equipment issues) we would have been on the earlier flight to JFK, which flew out on time and encountered no weather issues. So yes, the final cancellation was weather-related, but that was the final event in a sequence triggered by their non-weather-related cancellation, so really they were still at fault. 3. If you claim to be the world’s best airline, you should strive to do more than the absolute bare minimum required by law. It boggles my mind that Qatar Airways is totally okay with this drastic gap in quality between their in-flight experience vs every other customer touchpoint. I didn’t even get into how awful the call centers are 😅 If you’ve had the misfortune of calling them, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Let me add that: 1. Several airlines have relationships with hotels that will provide weather-related delayed travelers with a discounted hotel voucher. You still have to pay, but at least it may be 20-50% off regular prices. 2. If you purchased travel insurance or your credit card provides travel insurance, one of the first questions the claim asks is, "What did the airline offer you in compensation." Failure to even ask may void or limit the amount you may receive. 3. I'll add to her #3 that airlines who specialize in international flights have more of a duty to ensure the safety and security of their travelers. If not just because of language barriers, health protocols, and unique laws, but about PR reasons. For every 1 person who watched this video and got educated for their trip, there are usually 3 others who just won't go to Qatar or UAE now. 4. It may have been lovely to stay the two extra days, but I might have asked if a flight to Paris or Rome was available and connect to NY there. You would still be delayed, but it at least it would be at a different location and possibly more inexpensive too.
At the end of the day, it is still a weather cancellation. Also, I don't think you should be mad they cancelled your first flight. If they didn't and something happened in the air (God forbid) the plane would fail and you wouldn't make this video. If you could've taken the extra hassle and possibly just booked another airline flight in business, you would be fine. I have once had a cancellation with Qatar and it was weather related. They acknowledged me super nicely they aren't allowed to give me vouchers. They were super nice about it and actually pointed me in the direction of agents if I wanted to get a different flight on another airline.
@@sax_cy i agree with you. Emirates is less apt to drop you and has a more comprehensive customer service approach. QA has a lot to learn from the competition
Thank you Dan! Yes I was fully expecting to make a video where I'd just be gushing for 15 minutes about how amazing Q Suites is. Had no idea we'd have to do this much storytelling LMAO! Hopefully next time we fly Qatar, it'll be a little smoother. But I'm def never flying them to/from Dubai ever again.
My 6 yr old has done over 50 flights and I 100% agree that well traveled kids are far more adaptable than us adults. He's also a better passenger than many adults too!
My two grandchildren have been travelling on overseas flights since the youngest was 4. I took both children plus my daughter from Australia to Heathrow in 2012 the children were 6 & 9. first part of the flight was 14 hours and they never whinged or complained the entire trip. I was so proud of them both. I agree that children who are well travelled are very adaptable.
One of the more professional looking, nicely done travel blogs I've watched---nice VO, script, gfx transitions and best of all, no nauseating, jarring camera footage! 👏👏👏You are one brave family to travel amidst the pandemic. But hats off for being able to country-hop in 2022! Wishing you safe travels and all the best!
I live in Abu Dhabi and frequently fly around the Gulf and on long-haul flights. I've had some disappointments and drama, but wow, this trip really takes the cake. I was even bumped from a Business Class flight because I had the wrong KIND of COVID test; it didn't matter that it was negative. Never got reimbursed. Wow, good on you for keeping up a positive attitude.
Totally relate to your experience. We just flew Emirates last month February from SFO to Dubai. We had to run around SFO trying to redo our COVID test and reprint all of our documents. It was quite stressful, costed us $1000+ extra since there was five of us and we were sure we would not make the flight. Thankfully, at the last 45 mins before the counter closed, we received our result and have to rush check in and rush through security and made it to the gate as the final group was boarding. Once we got on the flight, all was well. We were fortunate enough to fly First Class on Emirates and WOW, was it amazing. One thing that saved us was that we arrived at SFO almost four hours before the flight and had the time to run around.
Omg that sounds so stressful! 🤦🏻♀️ Glad you had Emirates first class waiting for you but still! Can’t wait till this pandemic is over for real. It adds so many layers of stress and complexity to travel.
Great video. We had a similar experience with Qatar flying to Maldives. We were denied boarding in Chicago because our PCR test would have been expired when we arrived in Doha. It was super stressful and costly. We took new PCR tests, rebooked with Emirates and had a wonderful time in Maldives 🇲🇻.
Yes you are right..its is absolutely normal for airlines to extend all those mentioned "freebies" when a flight is cancelled. This in most cases is usually during a technical fault of the aircraft but not when it's weather related.
They may not need to but it surprises me how much things have changed... As a child we experienced some huge technical issues on a long haul connecting emirates flight flying from Australia to the UK, we stopped in Singapore and got stuck on the tarmac for hours and hours. Eventually they transferred the entire plane to a gorgeous hotel for the night, free of cost... Until they could replace the plane and fly us out the next morning... Travelling as a child with a single mum, I cannot imagine them not doing this for passengers... 🤷🏼♀️
I thoroughly enjoyed your video. It's not cool that you went through all you went through AND now have to justify your frustration. I am now better educated though so it was worth watching and your family is SO sweet. I love that you guys are doing this together!
My husband use to fly for business all the time and your experience is why he hated every second of it! I on the other hand loved his frequent flyer miles.
Lovely video explaining all the drama your family had to undergo, especially travelling in the midst of the pandemic. I hope your family had a good insurance to cover all these extra costs.
Oh nooo :/ As a flight attendant I can tell u that we are supposed to do a security check after all passengers leave the plane to make sure no one left anything behind and report immediately every item we find and hand it to lost and found! And airlines just have to hand you a voucher if it’s a mechanic problem ect (airline problem) :/ weather problems are not included unfortunately but I can understand that as a business passenger they could had take more care of you
So sorry to see that you had such bad luck during your travel! I agree that Qatar airways could have contacted you earlier regarding your items you forgot on-board (it happens to most of us!😅). They won't accommodate passengers as the cancelation was due to weather and most commonly known as a act of God. Most airlines will not book accommodation. They will only provide it if let say the aircraft went technical/ delayed inbound flight or something similar. Travel insurance is sometimes overlooked but it is a great thing to have. I wish you and your family happy and safe travels ahead. Love your videos!
OMG. That was a lot! That is why I am so apprehensive about traveling since 2020. I can not handle all of the extra steps, and the possibility of being denied my flight. 😳 But, your girls handle all of it with grace🤗😊. Wow, I couldn't imagine haven't to leave my family member behind so so so far away from home. Omggg. I would have been stressed the entire time. Great content!! 👍 and I learned a lot as well.
Amazing content and story! Thank you for sharing and giving REAL feedback with a positive attitude. My daughter is 9 and is on the autism spectrum and loves to fly. She so enjoys watching your videos! Thank you so much!
I am flying this week to Germany with Qatar airways but I’m not sure if it’s gonna be Qsuit but it’s definitely not economy and this video helped me a lot ❤❤
the ground staff "cleaners" enter the aircraft so fast without leaving chance for crew to retrieve your lost and found especially in hidden areas like under the seats although they try to find the items you left. that's to expedite the boarding on the next flight. it is not the airline's fault nor the staff. it falls under your responsibility to collect all your items because the PA literally says: make sure to collect all your items before disembarkation.
It's not about what they're required to do, it's about what's the right thing to do. If you claim to be the world's best airline, then you should go above and beyond what the bare minimum required by the law.
@@TopFlightFamily I believe it’s something we should demand from our government. Airlines work on razor thin margins and they will not provide stuff for free when they aren’t required by law. In the US consumer rights are limited compared to EU or Asia since we are very complacent.
I think it's so sad that you have to constantly qualify that yes, you are allowed to be upset when things don't work out as planned (and yes, sometimes the airline is at fault for that disappointment). If your husband was the one narrating no one would bat an eye.
Yep! People really think that if you get to fly business class, that means you give up all rights to having an opinion on what the experience was like. Making valid critiques about the service you received does not mean that you feel zero appreciation or gratitude for being able to fly it in the first place. But as you can tell, we've been on the internets long enough to know what feedback to expect LOL. Even with my multiple layers of warnings, some viewers still couldn't hold back in the comments section! The point of a review is to give fellow travelers a realistic picture of what to expect. That means discussing the negative along with the positive.
Y’all are amazing!!! Love your channel! Very sweet the way you gave your sweet girls a shout out! They always make me smile, they’re hilarious!!! Safe travels!!!
As a young woman who travelled the world back and forth with my single mother as a child, the bit about your girls made me tear up 🥲 You are 100% right about the benefits travelling gives your children, I've never been able to express it as accurately as you just did. Mum still relies on me to be her rock in high pressure situations, and that bond stems from all the crazy situations we ended up in during those travelling days. We also travelled to the UAE a lot and it gave me a lifelong affinity for the middle east and the Arabic culture 😊 Your girls are going to be shape into amazing adults 🥰 Thank you for sharing your families journey ❤
Thousands of people are dying every day but watching the first world problems of this family makes me calm... What about just checking the entry requirements a few days before check-in.....
The Covid tests rules are governed by individual countries government and recently there are so many changes in the rules especially we are not familiar during this period and we do get confuse at times. Travelers will always worried about contracting COVID. I also used to travel with Qatar to Europe frequently during pre-Covid days and there are 2 things that surprises me in your video: 1. The airline is not compassionate to Qatar customers in terms of cancellation flights with no hotel/meals provided. This is kinda of weird for today's standard. You will only expect that from budget airlines. 2. Post Covid Travelling Qatar Business airfare does exclude lounge visits. (which I had recently checked too). This is also something very new and different. Previously I was quite pissed with Qatar when they did a changed on aircraft type after I did an intense research on getting Qsuites . This is a good video to show what is our expectation vs reality. Good job!
You got rebooked right away on air Canada because there’s like 10 flights a day from Toronto to New York on AC. There’s only one flight a day from Doha to New York. You’re comparing apples to oranges.
I work in aviation and will mention that, if the cancellation is the result of weather or something else out of the airline’s control, they will not provide accommodations or meal vouchers. If the cancellation is at fault of the company (I.e maintenance), that is when you are entitled to a hotel room.
I had my flight delayed 6 hours due to weather issues they gave me a hotel for the night, food at the hotel and taxi transfers all for free this was all in Dubai and was travelling with emirates
Wow, thank you for your excellent review. Sorry that you all had so many mishaps. Our bucket list is to fly Quatar Airlines on Business Class too; in fact we are saving our credit card points for the free air tickets. After watching this video, our view of the Quatar Airlines has changed.
Airlines only provide accommodations and vouchers if it is due to something within the airlines control, such as a maintenance issue. If it is weather related or air traffic control related, you're usually on your own
Regrettably 50% of the drama was self inflicted. As a family who flys often you should know that differently airlines have different rules and policies. Not knowing that the COVID test in NYC must be within 72 hours of arrival in DOH not departure was your responsibility and that other airlines a different is no excuse. Not knowing if your tickets included lounge access was again your responsibility as you choose that on booking the tickets again that other airlines are different is no excuse. That you were responsible for everything because the flight was cancelled due to weather is your responsibility as it was out of control of the airline. You may get an ex-gracia refund of some money, but it’s not an entitlement again as frequent flyers you should know this. The 1 situation that was not your responsibility was the bad Abu Dhabi rebooking and that is Qatar Airlines bad, yes it should have been better. That your husband had to quarantine was bad luck but travel during a pandemic has a risk of things like this happening
Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving a realistic viewpoint of some of the challenges that are/can be faced when traveling these days! I’m glad Serge did not develop symptoms, but that really would have been nerve wrecking for me! Wow, so many challenges on this trip.
Re Pre-chek .... I had a similar thing happen at Orlando airport in January. My sister-in-laws boarding pass showed her pre-chek. Mine did not. The regular line was Huge (I'd guess over an hour, easily). It was quicker for me to go back to check-in and get my boarding pass properly done. Even the fast lane was slow, so I may have well missed my flight had I not gone back to check in. Lesson learned, I'll check everytime now.
Lovely. Lovely video. Could you just run through which seats to pick when traveling and want to make it a double bed? Seems like you were saying odd but highlighting the even and vice versa.
Ommmggggggg I love your videos!!! You are a really good story teller. And I love that you gave your complete POV of the experience. I Have been so scared to attempt to travel out of country because of all of the new rules due to covid. And as someone who is not rich at all lol I would have just been stuck on a trip if I had these problems. Thank you for this video. You gave me a lot to think about and a lot to make sure I research and plan for in the future.
Man that's crazy... I remember taking a trip down to MCO for a Disney Cruise and our flight leaving our home airport to Newark was delayed due to high winds... by the time we got there, we missed our connecting flight to MCO. Because multiple people missed connections and this was late in the night, no other flights were available that day, but they still booked us on flights first thing the next morning and were willing to comp us a stay at a hotel overnight. (Mom wasn't having it cause she didn't want to miss the shuttle and potentially miss this early morning flight so we slept in the airport... but I did want to at least point out they were willing to help us out. We got meal vouchers instead.) And this was back in the mid-2000's too. Even if weather was "technically" involved, Qatar still could've at least offered SOMETHING. I know restrictions can vary but you're in a foreign country and traveling internationally... that really is a bad stain on the company.
I loved the adaptatively you showed here. Lots of great tips on keeping with the flow an not to panic. We have a long haul tripped booked from US to Croatia on Lufthansa business class coming this summer. I am preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.
I appreciate your "real life" experience of flying. I have been in similar situations because of cyclones, log jam at airports, weather and equipment failure. From my experience, airlines are not required to compensate for weather (and other "acts of nature") related delays that are outside their control. You may have expected Qatar to be generous to a biz class passengers - but those I believe are the regulations.
I'm glad Serge fared well with Covid. It is a risk reward balance with travel today. I've been more risk adverse and refrained from travel and probably suffered more. You've taken more risks and yes have had this setback but in the aggregate probably benefitted more.
Thank you I stumbled upon your video and I loved it one of the best I've ever seen. I agree with you about everything my goodness. I subscribed and can't wait to see the journeys to come thanks again.
Are you sure you talking about the SAME AIR CANADA that took a year and half to refund a flight they cancel....... Unlike Virgin Air return the fund a week later!!!
Ouch - looks like you had a few issues, which are hopefully not the 'norm'. From a 'plus point' perspective, this product looks beautiful. I flew Business with ANA a few weeks ago on 2 x 12-hour flights, and I'd have killed for the privacy of those seats!
Wow, so much respect for your girls 👏🏼 and you weren’t kidding when you said “What a Mess”🤦🏻♂️🤣 Glad you are all ok, especially Serge with the Covid🙏🏻
Have been thinking of Q Suite travel in the near future. Always have heard/read great things about QA service but thinking back, it's all in flight and lounge related. Had a great experience on Emirate Business in the past travelling to Dubai layover then onto New Delhi. Will likely still try Qatar Q Suite as it looks like an awesome flight but will likely think on it a bit longer.
The in-flight experience was impeccable. It really was. But it's such a contrast from all the other touch points. But honestly Emirates can be that way too. The in-flight experience is great, but the call center staff for example, can be terrible to deal with. (Qatar was that way too - but I didn't even have time to get into the call center in this video). I just wish these airlines would pay attention to the 360-degree experience for a passenger.
Qatar Airways in flight is amazing we have always had a fantastic flight with them in the 8 years we have flown with them. Their A380 experience in Business is amazing. We have always loved their on demand dining. We live in a country that was part of the blockade for 3.5 years and Qatar airways maintained our gold status with them. Their online and phone customer service is shocking to say the least but ground experience/lounge/in flight keeps us flying with them way over Emirates
Usually for weather airlines aren’t responsible for getting anything for you. Something similar happened to me in Istanbul last year with a Turkish. I ended up staying in the TK lounge for almost 3 days and was absolutely a mess trying to get rebooked even in LA. Anyways. On a separate flight I had a horrible flight on QR. absolutely horrible service. Then coming back after I had complained the flight was marginally better… their short haul was excellent but long haul left a lot to be desired. Ground experience was incredible though. Oh and losing cameras?!?! I left my iPad on LH business in FRA and pretty much exact same thing. Never seen again, airline was useless
I guess I am a prima donna too because my mouth dropped when you said that they would not help with accomodations or food vouchers.... even if its weather related they could have done something to assist! No bueno!!
I would also recommend doing travel protection if you dont so at least it would have covered all those extra out of pocket expenses or paid you back after :-) happy travelling!!
Major airlines don't book individual rooms for stranded passengers, they book full hotels!!!! Chances are if a flight is cancelled or delayed due to weather or technical issues 300 hotel rooms will be needed. As such the airlines have contracts with the major hotel groups and book out whole hotels 365days a year, a major airline like BA at heathrow inevitably have delays, cancellations and missed connections on a daily basis so they need a plentiful supply of good quality hotel rooms for stranded passengers. It's not as if the hotel will bill the airline for each individual room, the airline will have a global contract with a hotel group of so many $M per year and delayed passengers will just be booked straight into the assigned hotel at the airport on behalf of the airline.
Amazing! No you’re not a pre-madonna! I am very well traveled, and yes, it’s my experience too that with canceled flights the airlines are very accommodating! Nice video despite all the drama! Thank you!!!
My dad was a diplomat so I got to travel a lot and I can say confidently that travel 100% benefits kids. Apart from flexibility and resilience it also gives them experiences that develops abilities that simply can't be taught in a class. It also sensitizes them to diversity For example, it was in one of my dad's posts (Nairobi) that I got to learn Swahili fluently and also Somali (here I'd say I'm a novice bc its such a beautiful language but its hard to even speak or hear lol) just by interacting with locals. I also learned French in just a year purely by interacting with people when he was posted at Brussels. Knowledge in languages came really handy when I was making my application for college. A lot of travel also taught me a thing or two about independence. Once after a Christmas break when we returned States-side to visit family, my parents and my older brother went ahead of me bc I had fallen sick during the break. Believe it or not, my dad left me with cash, a credit card, my passport and a letter of clearance from the embassy and told me to make my way to Nairobi as soon as I was able to (mind you, I was 12 at this point). This scared my mom and my grandma (especially my grandma because she offered to accompany me but I declined despite protest). All this time my dad had confidence that I would be just fine.... Believe it or not, I booked myself a flight with the most amount of stops for the adventure of it (I booked with this site that tried to reduce prices by adding stops for more adventurous passengers so my route looked something like this: Dallas Fort Worth (starting airport)- JFK- London Heathrow- Tokyo Narita- Mumbai- Oliver Tambo Johannesburg- Nairobi JKIA) and I still made it to Nairobi safe and sound (and with mementos from too!). I'd really like to give my kids the same experiences I got (baby number one is just 3 months away 🥳🎉) because in this current world, all that is needed is more understanding and diversity plus one needs to be a global citizen to compete in its current environment. Great stuff! You definitely got a subscribe from me!
Wow sounds like you had a pretty amazing childhood! And that flight with the many stops must have been quite the adventure haha. Thanks for sharing, and appreciate you watching and subscribing!
*must have everyone test for covid, even though all are negative thus far* ........ *goes on to cram everyone together in said covid testing line. Makes complete sense. You guys handled this trip with such grace!
I just want to communicate this; a flight Vlog is a flight Vlog. Perhaps as well, opinions are opinions. But Christ, I stayed and subbed for your hilarious editing.
I've followed you on instagram for a while, but this is one of the first videos I've watched of yours. Your girls seem like sweethearts! As someone who was lucky enough to travel with my mom a ton while I was growing up - I know the outside perspective is that those kids who travel all the time must be spoiled, but you all seem like a great family! :)
I'm confused. Why did you have to quarantine between flights? Surely that is not a thing. We are thinking of flying Qatar Business from MEL to CPH with one stop in Doha.
Oh, wow, you guys definitely had a long journey home. I feel bad for you all. I've had 3 cancelled flights in my lifetime, and I never got vouchers for weather related delays. I did get a hotel and meal vouchers and airline miles for a mechanical delay.
And I’ve used Qatar airline for the longest (business class as well and love the in- flight experience) thank God I never experienced anything out 😣😣🙏🏽🙏🏽
The nightmares around Covid testing are very frustrating. Qatar's original policy seemed very odd. Really very surprised and shocked that your lost items were not found and recovered by the airline - that is really unacceptable.
Booked on Qatar business class and upon landing in Doha were told our connection flight was downgraded to economy class DUE TO THE SYSTEM BEING PERMITTED TO BOOK MORE BUSINESS SEATS THAN EXISTED AND even though we had already checked in and had tickets. They offered little to no assistance and its appalling as we paid for business tickets
It's nice to have a TRUE review ! I have just booked tickets and for the first time I have problems with the Qatar hotline. A friend told me recently that he prefers Emirates over Qatar and honestly I wonder if next time I will choose Emirates over Qatar
Honestly both airlines have really bad call center staff 🤣 I didn’t even have time to get into that aspect of our experience but the people manning the phones are awful. It’s like talking to a very unhelpful zombie lol. That said, when it comes to the in flight experience, Qatar really is impeccable. Emirates is also very good.
@@TopFlightFamilyI'm just watching your video on Emirates. Yes, Qatar on the phone is all or nothing. Sometimes they say they can't do anything and other times they offer solutions you weren't expecting but after talking to 3 different agents. I lost another 30 minutes on the phone yesterday with them. It would be great if someone made a guide to which companies provide the best customer service, especially in the event of a problem.
From a policy perspective, airlines are responsible for technical delays not weather delays. Was your air Canada delay weather or technical? That might be your answer.
Can i ask did your children miss school? Im travelling to Doha, then Phuket for 2 weeks in January with my child. Unfortunately he will miss school and im pretty nervous about the schools response.
Do these Covid requirements apply to people who also have a layover in Qatar or certain city, or people trying to enter the country , curious to know as I’m flying through Doha to Maldives in September ?
Really shows the difference between a good airline with a great product, and a truly great airline that comes with ground service for its passengers. There are far fewer of those around than there should be....
Oof I didn't even get to how awful their call center staff is. The person who helped us rebook the cancelled flights was very competent, but every other person we talked to, including while booking the flight itself, was awful. It was like talking to a series of zombies. It's such a shame because no matter how great the in-flight service is, you can't come away feeling positive about the experience because of how they fell down when it came to all the other touch points.
