Originally Posted by
sharp5flat9
If you're flying Qatar to Dubai, look at DWC or SHJ airports instead and avoid DXB 'zoo'.
If you have a long layover in DOH, the airport offers free city tours, but it depends on your timings, etc. Look at the airport's website:
http://dohahamadairport.com/shop/qta-tours or in the QR forum here.
Does the DWC also would grant the no fee Visa on Arrival like at DXB?
The layover at DOH is worthless as it would be an overnight - arriving at 17:35 and then leave the next morning with the only option is the transit hotel in the airport. Not going to work. (flying on award tickets with AA miles therefore NO transit hotel provided by QR - similar situation as in 2015 - a BRUTAL 12+ hrs layover for the DOH-JNB flight the next morning with the QR lounge worthless as it does not have any comfort place for napping.)
Therefore definitely would fly out but not sure if DWC working as there are far fewer flights to DWC while a ton to DXB. Hotels also another consideration. At the prelim research now. I need to book the flight HKG-US first before I would book the MIA-DOH outbound as the HKG-US award flights are much harder to find.
Originally Posted by
westmideast
Unless something has changed in the last year, there are visa fees for various nationalities, and as indicated above, the procedure is to go and pay the fees at the window and return to the passport line with the visa stamp in your passport.
There is also available an evisa portal at
https://www.gdrfa.ae/GCCIND/createVi...ccompany=false
Fwiw, friends holding US passports had their trips this past Dec. Went straight thru immigration. No need to go to any window. With either US or HKSAR passparts we should enter with free Visa on Arrival as a stamp on the passport. Prefer to use HKSAR so to conserve the remaining 2 to 3 pages on the US ones until renewal time in 2018/19 time.