Awkhan, I realize you and your son were greatly inconvenienced but Qatar Airways cannot and will not change IATA rules for boarding priority in case of overbooking. ALL airlines must follow these rules. I am sorry, but award tickets have the lowest boarding priority with the exception of industry non-revenue passengers. Award tickets, which your son had, are boarded after ALL revenue passengers. Any airline in the world will tell you that you can have a confirmed reservation, ticket and seat assignment and still be denied boarding in the case of an oversell or weight restriction situation. I do understand that the agent was rude to you and that you may not have understood the fine print, but this one is not Qatar Airways fault. All airlines are allowed to overbook and must follow IATA priorities in case of an oversell. You can ask for an apology for their rudeness and your inconvenience but you will lose your high moral position if you tell them that they did not follow the rules because in this case they did! And no, I don't work for Qatar Airways, I am retired from the largest airline in the US.
Mandi
Awkhan, I realize you and your son were greatly inconvenienced but Qatar Airways cannot and will not change IATA rules for boarding priority in case of overbooking. ALL airlines must follow these rules. I am sorry, but award tickets have the lowest boarding priority with the exception of industry non-revenue passengers. Award tickets, which your son had, are boarded after ALL revenue passengers. Any airline in the world will tell you that you can have a confirmed reservation, ticket and seat assignment and still be denied boarding in the case of an oversell or weight restriction situation. I do understand that the agent was rude to you and that you may not have understood the fine print, but this one is not Qatar Airways fault. All airlines are allowed to overbook and must follow IATA priorities in case of an oversell. You can ask for an apology for their rudeness and your inconvenience but you will lose your high moral position if you tell them that they did not follow the rules because in this case they did! And no, I don't work for Qatar Airways, I am retired from the largest airline in the US.
Mandi