I bought an Economy LGW-BKK return from Qatar as they offered one free change of date or destination for a slight premium, and which I thought I might need. They were offering ‘multiple free changes’ at a higher price.

A few weeks before departure I needed to change my return flight.

As the online facility to amend a booking didn’t work I called them to ask the cost of changing flights, and found it would cost more to change the date than to buy a new ticket from their website (and throw the old one away) although my flight is selling for almost three times the price of the tickets I wanted to switch to.

A refund would be a slight improvement – I’d get US$48 back due to their $350/£283 fee. Both options are non-starters.

I checked the ticket conditions which don’t mention the ‘one free change’ they advertise on their website. The ‘fare rules’ which came with my ticket say they’ll charge up to £283 fee plus fare difference.

When I previously changed dates with BA and Emirates, the process was easier and the results correlated closely with the price of the tickets so I was expecting better from Qatar.