Cancelled Qatar Booking

ATZDER

Hey,

I had a flight booking with Qatar and with the current problems going on in the region, I was worried about flying to Doha. Mid June, the government advise was not to travel, however our trip was in October. We received an email from Qatar saying one leg of our trip was going to be delayed by 15 minutes and we had the option to manage booking and cancel or change flights. We decided that as the problems in this region were ongoing, to cancel.
However, the refund that came back was £300 short. The original flight fare was £1540.80, and the refund was £1226.08, a difference of £314.72. They have advised this is down to an admin fee for cancellation. This seems really high to me and unfair. They are hiding behind the fact that the fare rate I had falls under their t&c's and this admin fee is detailed in there and the delay was not more than 60 minutes.
I've contacted them to say that the government rules at the time said don't travel, and that at no point did the cancellation screen say I was to suffer an admin fee.
What are my options here please? Their customer service is dreadful.

MattMattMattUK

The guidance for the FCO was not for October 2026, it was for the current time, as such you have no right to cancel with a full refund. When you were given the option to amend or cancel your flight because of the 15 minute change it would have shown you the cancellation fees and policy as part of that process.

This is on you, you have no options, they have not done anything wrong.

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82048283#Comment_82048283

Agree, unfortunately it's not the airlines fault if you decide the situation now means you don't want to travel in 4 months time. If the fee is documented in their terms, they are within their rights to charge you accordingly.

la531983

Lest we forget, the situation NOW is…

Updated:18 June 2026

Latest update:FCDO no longer advises against all but essential travel to Qatar

And the above has been the case for at least eight days.

Ayr_Rage

Sorry, but all this is on you.

Not knowing the ticket class you purchased and the cancellation fees for that ticket is a big mistake on your part.

The fee may be high but it certainly isn't unfair if it is in line with their Ts and Cs, they are not hiding behind anything.

Also, as above, who knows what the FCDO advice will be in October, it's a bad case of premature cancellation.

Pleading the FCDO rules on the date you cancelled is not relevant at all.

eskbanker

We received an email from Qatar saying one leg of our trip was going to be delayed by 15 minutes and we had the option to manage booking and cancel or change flights.

What was it that led you to believe that cancellation would involve a full refund with no admin fees?

A 15 minute schedule adjustment is completely trivial (unless threatening minimum connecting times or similar) and offering cancellation at all seems unusually generous!

Grumpy_chap

Hey,

I had a flight booking with Qatar and with the current problems going on in the region, I was worried about flying to Doha. Mid June, the government advise was not to travel, however our trip was in October. We received an email from Qatar saying one leg of our trip was going to be delayed by 15 minutes and we had the option to manage booking and cancel or change flights. We decided that as the problems in this region were ongoing, to cancel.
However, the refund that came back was £300 short. The original flight fare was £1540.80, and the refund was £1226.08, a difference of £314.72. They have advised this is down to an admin fee for cancellation. This seems really high to me and unfair. They are hiding behind the fact that the fare rate I had falls under their t&c's and this admin fee is detailed in there and the delay was not more than 60 minutes.
I've contacted them to say that the government rules at the time said don't travel, and that at no point did the cancellation screen say I was to suffer an admin fee.
What are my options here please? Their customer service is dreadful.

The FCDO advice in force in June is a red-herring in terms of travel in October. At the time of you making the decision to cancel the advice the FCDO advice could so easily change between then and October (and, indeed, I believe it has changed).

So, you therefore chose to cancel the flight because of the 15 minutes change in schedule time. That is a nominal impact on a flight of that duration, IMO. So, while Qatar confirmed you could cancel, that cancellation is inline with the terms and conditions of the booking - do those T's&C's allow the £300 admin charge to be applied? If so, there is nothing you can do here and you have no options.

I assume the email saying the time of the flight had been adjusted slightly and giving the option to cancel the flight did not say that the cancellation would be without penalty.

If you do wish to travel, you might be able to get a goodwill gesture to reinstate the flights and not charge any penalty. If you don't wish to travel, then you suffer the £300. As the reason for not travelling is "disinclination", you won't be able to recover anything via travel insurance either.

heatherw_01

A 15 min change in time is nothing really and as people have said, as you are flying in October, and as the change was only 15 mins, you don't get a free refund. You will have had to pay an admin fee for cancellation as you chose to cancel.

TELLIT01

The OP says the cancellation admin fee was in the T&C so I don't see how they think they can do anything about it now.

Westin

I would agree with all the replies already given to the OP.

I have a change on an upcoming QR flight as well. Only minor timing adjustments (35mins vs. OP's 15 mins). I thought it might be worth showing the presented options I received against my booking. I would have thought that the Op would have the same message.

Whilst we have an option to cancel. I am made aware that we could "request a refund for the remaining value of your ticket, subject to fare rules". As we booked an Economy Classic fare in O class I am aware that the cost to cancel (Cancellation fee) would be up to USD$300 per ticket. This being given at time of selecting our flights/fare class. There was a cost to change flights and a cost to cancel.