ryan754

Last night my GF and I flew CPT/JNB-DOH. We were connecting to BKK this morning. On the flight she had the fish and got really sick. Vomiting and what not. The crew wouldn't even give her a bottle of water, and it was a miserable flight. Upon arrival in DOH we went to the medical clinic.. You can imagine how it is operated. Take these pills. What are they? Take them.. QR duty managers offer to change flights, and I tell them I will book a hotel so she can get better. TWO hours of "Changing the flight" I am informed if we leave the airport we have to pay a 900 QAR change fee per ticket about $300 (A one way ticket is cheaper)
I Explain to the duty manager that my girlfriend had a miserable flight and needs a bed and shower. A nice rest to get better. Nothing works if we leave here we have to pay. Absolutely nothing is done. We have to wait 13 hours at the airport. Did not sleep at all on the packed flight.. She is not feeling well.. The best part was they called a doctor in the USA to confirm she is fit to fly!!! What can be done. I'm assuming absolutely nothing...

Desert Traveller

First off, I doubt you and your GF were not offered water. That aside, there is a reason travel insurance exists. Do you have any? And lastly, before blaming the fish, how did your GF feel before the flight and what did she have to eat? Did anybody else fall sick on the flight after having the fish?

Okay, that out the way, they tried to look after you...access to a medical clinic (free of charge I assume?) and offering to rebook you onto a later flight to get your GF some rest (free of charge if not turned into a stopover by the sounds of it). How much time would you have originally spent in DOH without the rebooking?

What exactly do you expect the airline to do? They are not running a healthcare/insurance business.

ryan754

They did not offer a large bottle of water which they had plenty of.. just a small cup when convenient for the crew. That's not the issue here.. Sh*t happens.. The problem here is that upon confirmation from the doctor they changed the flight. Free of charge yes. You don't want pax vomiting on the beginning of a 6.5 hour flight... My problem is we can't leave the airport. If we leave just to go to a hotel we have to pay the penalties. I don't expect anything from them in terms of healthcare accommodations, visa fees. Just wanted to get out of this miserable airport to a fresh bed/shower.

lsed

Hey Ryan,
That really sucks. I really hate how the airport staff are like in DOH.

Perhaps you can consider paid entry into the Oryx lounge. They have a few sleeping chairs and depending on the time of day can be easy to get one. And there are shower facilities too.

Not sure why the other poster is so harsh.
I've flown into DOH many many times. And I really dread that airport. I always pray that I wont need to have interaction with the ground staff. It's really a pain to have anything sorted out in that airport, let alone to deal with it when sick.

Desert Traveller

Trust me, I know what it means to fall sick when travelling. Been there more than enough times. It plain sucks. However, I do not expect the airline to sort it out or look after me. Never mind at which airport or on what airline. I'm eiher prepared to fund the expenses I might incur. Or if not, I make sure to have travel insurance.

That might sound harsh, but a ticket is just that. A ticket, not a comprehensive pampering package. I do agree, QR and DOH didn't deliver the best customer service here, they certainly didn't go the extra mile. It'd be great if they did more, but I would never expect it nor complain about it if it didn't happen.

mecabq

I am confused -- you say that they offered to change to a flight such that you would have 13 hours in the airport, and you have to pay the "penalties" if you leave the airport? Why? If you have a 13-hour layover, you can certainly leave the airport without asking permission -- assuming that you are eligible for visa on arrival. The only cost (besides the hotel and transportation of course) is QAR 100 (about USD 28) for each visa.

I have no doubt that the QR staff were inept and unsympathetic in their demeanor. But taking you to the medical clinic free of charge and re-accommodating you on another flight free of charge seems like they took decent care of you, doesn't it?

pcharles

I feel sorry for your GF. I've had food poisoning before a few times, and its a sucky feeling all around. You cant jump to conclusions it was the fish on the flight though. What was had in Joberg could have easily contributed as well.
That is, also, if she is unknowingly, not already allergic to that fish. Good luck and keep her vitamins up.

ryan754

We went to the clinic on our own... No problem paying the VOA and sorting everything out on our own... We were just told that protocol states that if we leave the airport we will have to pay the change fee which equated to around 900 QAR per ticket. The staff were not horrible by any means, just the policy which was stated two hours after the fact sucks... Upon being offloaded I was told that we could leave the airport and it would be a good idea to get a hotel... Later on I'm told that the cost to do that would be around $600. So we chose the lounge which is fine... But a hotel would have been good for both of us.


I expected nothing from QR.. I appreciated the later flight change. Just not this strange policy... We thought to just leave, but didn't want to end up having to cough up 600 when we came back.. Would be an expensive layover.

ok2uselane

In Qatar, this means nothing. They have free healthcare, the government pays for everything.

What is unfortunate for the OP is that they had to interact with the DOH ground staff. DOH is notorious for having an inability to deal with the unexpected or changes to normal routine in a professional, courteous manner.

OP: Sorry for your miserable experience, but at least you were able to get on an onward flight.

mecabq

Agree with the second paragraph. But I don't think that healthcare is free for non-residents -- a visitor/tourist can't just walk into a hospital and get treated for free. I guess they have "emergency rooms," like most jurisdictions, but if someone walked in under his/her own power, I think they'd make the patient pay.

ok2uselane

True it is not free for a non-Qatari... All a visitor has to do is purchase, for QR100 (about USD 27.50), a medical ID card. Then they can "walk into a hospital," and there may be small fees for other special services.

However, my point was really that, unlike in the USA, providing someone with free medical care in Qatar isn't a big deal.

G_G

you were there ?

kataka

In post #3 OP said they were offered water, but in small cups. He wanted a large bottle.