“Qatar Airways Promised Us a Trip and Then Canceled It. Help!”
Qatar Airways generously awarded more than 100,000 free tickets to frontline healthcare workers during the global pandemic. The worldwide lottery for this sweepstakes was a way for the airline to express its deep gratitude to these dedicated professionals.
Gaytri Patel, a resident physician, was thrilled to be selected as one of the recipients of the reward. But with the pandemic dragging on for years, she and her husband found it challenging to redeem their two free airline tickets.
After several unsuccessful attempts to do so, Qatar Airways confirmed the Patels on a trip to Thailand scheduled for December 2022. It looked like the couple would finally be able to enjoy the airline’s thank-you gesture.
Unfortunately, there was another obstacle on the horizon for the Patels. Just weeks before the scheduled trip, Qatar Airways suddenly canceled their tickets and refused to reinstate them.
With thousands of dollars on the line in nonrefundable hotel bookings and time running out, Patel called the airline to discuss the alteration, the agent explained that one leg of their itinerary had been canceled and suddenly placed the couple on a lengthy hold, just to say ‘This promo is over and your flights are canceled‘
Later, with the help of TPG, these deserving frontline healthcare workers took their long-awaited trip to Thailand. The Patels had a wonderful time and thanked Qatar Airways for their generosity and TPG for their assistance.
