Reader Question: Is Qatar Airways Lounge Access Included On American Airlines Issued Business Award?

A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question regarding Qatar Airways lounge access in Doha on American Airlines issued business class award.

Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.

You can access Qatar Airways here.

Question From The  Reader:

I’m trying to find out if I’m able to access to the business lounge at Dohas airport, for free. I booked an award business class ticket thru AA.

When I called Qatar Airlines to confirm, they were unable to tell me And said only when I get to Doha I’ll find out.

I’ve been reading multiple articles and am seeing conflicting information. Any insight you may have, would be amazing!

Ps I have a 16 hr layover so if I could access the lounge for some hours, that would be amazing.

With most other airlines this question wouldn’t even come up, but unfortunately Qatar Airways has internal issues when it comes to the lounge access that is NOT included on the lowest business class fares.

We have had several readers who have been incorrectly denied lounge access:

Award tickets do include lounge access throughout the journey. We have not heard anyone denied access in Doha, but there have been issues at outstations where Station Managers are misinformed or unable to read, interpret or comprehend (or all three) lounge access rules.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, Qatar Airways struggles with its non-air customer service, like all airlines based in the Gulf.

You get fantastic service once onboard, but god help if you need to deal with customer service or run issues with their ground services. Common sense is missing most of the time.

Lounge access is included on all business class awards issued on Qatar Airways using partner programs. It is not, however, included on cheapest business class fares.