Denied boarding on medical grounds - Qatar Airways

Booboolola

We were about to board a Qatar Airways flight from Perth to Doha but were denied boarding due to my 2 year old son being sick in the queue. We were told that the rule is that if you are sick within 2 hours of boarding you will be refused. We were then taken through the airport and left outside with 2 young children at 11pm at night. I asked for help with where we could go and was told there were no hotels near the airport and they would not offer any further help. We then had to rebook our flight for the next day costing us AUD $2,642.00 and book into a city hotel costing a further $500.00 for the room, food and taxis involved.
I have spoken to Qatar since we have been home and they have confirmed that we have been charged a no show penalty when rebooking the flight which I don’t believe is correct as we were about to board so clearly weren’t a ‘no show’.
Does anyone have any experience of this or advice? Should we have had to pay extra for the flight the next day? Any help would be appreciated!

jpsartre

Have you checked if your travel insurance will cover? It sounds a bit harsh that they would charge to rebook you but I guess they're within their rights to deny boarding on medical grounds.

mgdavid

Booboolola wrote: »

........ and was told there were no hotels near the airport and they would not offer any further help........

Very odd, because there are around a dozen within 1 mile of the airport perimeter. Did you ask the taxi driver if he knew any?

Did you have your son seen by a doctor or pharmacist before you flew out the next day? You might need to produce some form of medical evidence to make an insurance claim, depending on the Ts & Cs of the policy.

EveryWhere

I can confirm that Qatar Airways are probably the worst full service airline for this kind of thing.
As long as they are covered legally, their "customer service" will do nothing to help if they don't have to do so.
They simply do not understand the meaning of goodwill.
I confirmed the wrong date on their website and called them within minutes to correct it. They insisted on charging a change fee or a cancellation fee. Disgusting.

Pollycat

Booboolola wrote: »

We were about to board a Qatar Airways flight from Perth to Doha but were denied boarding due to my 2 year old son being sick in the queue. We were told that the rule is that if you are sick within 2 hours of boarding you will be refused. We were then taken through the airport and left outside with 2 young children at 11pm at night. I asked for help with where we could go and was told there were no hotels near the airport and they would not offer any further help. We then had to rebook our flight for the next day costing us AUD $2,642.00 and book into a city hotel costing a further $500.00 for the room, food and taxis involved.
I have spoken to Qatar since we have been home and they have confirmed that we have been charged a no show penalty when rebooking the flight which I don’t believe is correct as we were about to board so clearly weren’t a ‘no show’.
Does anyone have any experience of this or advice? Should we have had to pay extra for the flight the next day? Any help would be appreciated!

As this is a UK website, and the flight wasn't from or to an EU country, the OP might be better asking the question on the Air Travel board of Tripadvisor.
Some very savvy travellers post on there.

Booboolola

We have a letter from the airline stating what happened for the insurance but haven!!!8217;t heard anything yet. Insurance company had never heard of this happening before for such a small thing.

We took their word that there were no hotels and ended up back in the city on Adelaide terrace.

Really would like to know what our legal rights are regarding rebooking the flight as currently we are being treated as a no show.

Booboolola

The flight was from Perth to London but we changed planes in Doha.

PeacefulWaters

Insurance company had never heard of this happening before

Or a telephone agent with six months service had never heard of it.

DCFC79

Booboolola wrote: »

We took their word that there were no hotels and ended up back in the city on Adelaide terrace.

That was where you went wrong, could have used your smartphone to check hotels near to the airport, its what I would have done.

jpsartre

Booboolola wrote: »

Really would like to know what our legal rights are regarding rebooking the flight as currently we are being treated as a no show.

Probably none, beyond what is in the T&C of the airline. Airlines are allowed to deny boarding for safety reasons. Looking at it from their perspective (and from the perspective of other passengers), I can understand why they wouldn't want a sick child on board.

Pollycat

Booboolola wrote: »

The flight was from Perth to London but we changed planes in Doha.

But your flight (Perth to Doha) didn't originate or land in any EU country.

Have you thought about this suggestion?

Pollycat wrote: »

As this is a UK website, and the flight wasn't from or to an EU country, the OP might be better asking the question on the Air Travel board of Tripadvisor.
Some very savvy travellers post on there.