Flexibility for your next holiday is the promise from Qatar Airways

Right now, is a great time to plan and book your break away holiday as major areas of the world get vaccinated and borders are relaxed. The US for instance will be fully vaccinated by the middle of the year and the United Kingdom – and Europe - not long afterwards. One airline – Qatar Airways - has the world covered with over 130 destinations and for your peace of mind comprehensive flexible booking options that leave you in control. From June 1 Qatar Airways has resumed its four-weekly Atlanta flights and this marks the full return of the airline’s pre-pandemic U.S. network increasing its gateways to 12, two more than it operated before COVID-19. The airline will also be increasing frequencies to Boston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle offering more flexible travel options for its passengers with more than 85 weekly flights across the United States. For passengers in Australia, Qatar Airways offers some of the fastest connections to the US East Coast and Mid-West cities. Even if the flight is a bit longer – say to a West Coast US destination - passengers can enjoy Qatar Airways multi-award-winning service all the way to their US destination and you don’t have to face messy connections. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker, said: “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Qatar Airways has remained committed to its passengers and trade partners in the United States, maintaining continuous services while rebuilding its U.S. network and launching two new destinations - San Francisco and Seattle. “We have also strengthened our presence in the U.S. through strategic partnerships with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue that have enabled us to connect to more points in the United States than any other airline, providing U.S. travellers the most convenient way to travel internationally this summer.” And Europe is opening up as vaccination rates soar. A good example is the key holiday destination of Málaga which returns to Qatar Airways’ route network as Spain begins to ease travel restrictions for tourists. Málaga is a hot favourite with holidaymakers around the world, and fully vaccinated travellers will soon be able to visit once again. Another popular destination is Mykonos in Greece and Qatar Airways resumed regular flights between Doha and Mykonos in May, marking the beginning of a new travel bubble between Qatar and Greece meaning fully-vaccinated holidaymakers will no longer need to quarantine on arrival. Mr Akbar Al Baker, said: “Greece is an important market for us and the Mykonos route was hugely popular following its launch in May 2018. We look forward to a resurgence in that popularity over the coming months.” Mykonos route is serviced by an A320 aircraft with 12 lie-flat seats in business and 120 seats in economy. Qatar Airways growing European network aims to reach 43 destinations by end of July including popular destinations like Vienna, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, and Copenhagen. Mr Akbar Al Baker said: “Our global network continues to rebuild and expand even in these challenging times.  Passengers booking with Qatar Airways can do so with complete confidence that they can make changes to their booking should factors outside their control disrupt their travel plans.” Qatar Airways was the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by the international air transport rating organization, Skytrax. This follows HIA’s recent success as the first and only airport in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. The airline was also awarded the highest seven-star COVID-19 Safety rating by Airlineratings.com which uses a different system to Skytrax. Knowing you’re safe is one thing but flexibility right now is critical. Qatar Airways has extended the validity of its guaranteed flexibility policy, applicable to tickets issued up to August 31, 2021 for travel until May 2022. Passengers can;

• Hold on to their ticket – and use it when ready with the extended ticket validity, now valid for 2 years from the date of ticket issuance for greater flexibility.
• Have unlimited changes – passengers can change travel dates and destinations within the same booking class, as often as they need with no fees.
• Voucher with 10 per cent more value – For bookings made on qatarairways.com or on its app, passengers can also exchange the unutilized value of your ticket for a travel voucher with 10 per cent more value.
• Ticket refunds – Passengers also have the option to refund the unutilized value of the ticket to the original form of payment with no penalties or refund fees.

For more information on Qatar Airways, flexibility policy click here.