[karach123]

Thanks for looking into my complaint. Basically, I am trying to find out that as an airpassenger, if I am denied a seat in an airplane because of a credit card glitch what are my rights. When I showed up for boarding in Karachi, I showed Qatar Airways boarding staff all the credit cards I had and none matched what they had in their system. My travel agent says he does not have any credit card that matches what was tagged to my ticket by Qatar Airways. I believe the credit card glitch happened because of an error on part of Qatar Airways. As I could not board on the flight, I missed my onward connections and also had to buy a ticket at the spur of the moment at a very high price. I feel that Qatar Airways should compensate for all my losses and not only return me the price of the ticket that I paid to Qatar Airways. This is where the dispute is. I have been very disturbed with this, and would like to know what aviation law says about this. I just do not know. I would appreciate if you could give me some guidance about this. I still would like to resolve this with Qatar Airways, but it has gone nowhere in the last couple of months. Below you will find my narration as well. I have attached some documentation that I have about this, however, I can provide you more if you would need, particularly with Qatar Airways customer relation officer. I appreciate your thoughtful review of my complaint.

Abdul Nadir



"I had bought a ticket to go from Islamabad to London-
Heathrow by Qatar Airways on Sunday March 13th 2011. I used
my American express to pay for this ticket on January 4,
2011. Subsequently, I had my travel agent (Travel
international-New York) reroute this ticket to travel from
Karachi to London-Heathrow on the same date using my Master
Card. I was supposed to fly from London-Heathrow to Phoenix
using British Airways to arrive in Phoenix on the evening
of Sunday March 13th.

When I arrived at Karchi Airport on the morning of March 13th, Qatar's
boarding agent asked me to produce the Master Card used to
purchase this ticket (He specifically asked me to give me the last 4 of the Master Card).
I gave him the only Master Card I had to the agent
and he told me that it does not match the Master
Card they had in the system. I told him that it may be an
error and showed him all the credit cards including my
American express that I had used to purchase this ticket
originally and he told me that nothing matched the card
number in their system. The boarding agent asked me to go
out and resolve the issue with their ticketing agent
outside the airport. The Qatar ticketing agent tried to
resolve this issue, however, he did not succeed in
rectifying the problem. I gave him the option to take my
Master Card or Visa or American express and reissue me
another ticket but he could not and I missed my flight.
I am a physician and had to get back to work on Phoenix on
Monday March 14th. I had to purchase a one-way ticket from
Karachi to Toronto on the spur of the moment that cost me $
2260 and subsequently had to purchase another ticket to go
from Toronto to Phoenix for another $ 400 to finally arrive
late at night on March 13th.

Before I left Karachi, I called and also e-mailed British
Airways that I would not be able to make my London-Heathrow-
Phoenix flight on March 13th. When I reached Phoenix and
called British Airways, they stated that by their policy
they had cancelled my entire return ticket from London
Healthrow to Phoenix on March 13th and Phoenix to London
Heathrow on April 23 rd that originally cost me GBP 928.50.
As a result I had to purchase another one way ticket from
Phoenix to London for April 23 rd that cost me 45,000 miles
and taxes. Moreover, I did not get tier points from British
Airways for the ticket that I originally purchased as well.

I have corresponded with Qatar Airways during last several
weeks and they say that based on the IATA ticketing
regulatioins, aviation business practise and contract of
carriage they could only refund me the unused sectors of
my original ticket which totals USD344.80 and they would
give me a check for USD 250 as a courtesy. My estimated
losses, however, are $4500.
Qatar Airways has given me the following information about
the credit card they have tagged with my ticket
(CCCAXXXXXXXXXX1548/0712/N003998). I have no credit card
that matches these numbers. I have repeatedly asked my
travel agent and he does not have any card that matches
this card either. I have also gotten this explanation from
Qatar Airways about this credit card issue:
From: Odete Maria Costeira <[email protected]>
To: '[email protected]' <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 1:07 pm
Subject: CR Ref 201104-1391
Dear Mr. Nadir,
Thank you for your patience.
We have reviewed your case with the staff in Karachi and
found that your ticket was tagged to present credit card.
This is a result of your ticket having been reissued by our
Contact Center here in the US. This tag is attached to all
tickets issued by our offices in the US. Unfortunately the
only way the staff in Karachi could check you in was to
have a new ticket issued and refund the remaining open
tickets you held since you did not present the original
credit card.
While I can appreciate that this caused disruption to your
travels, we cannot refund the amount you are asking for.
The ticket you held was for the final destination of
London’s Heathrow Airport so that remains the extend of our
Contract of Carriage. This means that we cannot compensate
for other tickets you held with other carriers.
I am waiting for our Ticketing Auditors to reply with the
residual value of the ticket you held and we will assist
you with the processing of that refund.
Again, I am sorry we could not agree to your terms on this
occasion.
With Regards,
Odete Costeira
Customer Relations Officer, USA & Canada
World's 5-star airline. qatarairways.com/us

I would like to know what my rights are. I did present all
my credit cards at the airport but still Qatar Airways did
not allow me a seat on the plane and that caused me
significant monetary loss. I would appreciate if you could
let me know the rules with which the Airline industry
operates so I can look into this further. Thanks for
looking into this matter for me."

Sincerely,
Abdul Nadir