Originally Posted by
abaheti
Landing midnight at AMM on TK from IST. Turns out a good friend will be in Doha, so would like to go meet up for a day, then come back to AMM to start our trip through Jordan and Israel. These would be TWO separate tickets.
Questions:
(1) I see a 1:50am flight from AMM-DOH. Landing at midnight, maybe slight delay given it is TK, would that be enough time to transit, or should I book the 8am AMM-DOH flight?
(2) If staying until 8am, probably makes sense to get a room. The airport hotel seems to have a meet/greet+breakfast rate and it looks cheap and clean/safe. Anyone think otherwise?
(3) Visa... Should we do a transit visa, then after we spend a day/night in DOH and come back to AMM get a normal tourist visa? Or can we do some kind of multi-entry tourist visa? I understand there may be a difference between what is allowed and what will be straight forward when dealing with immigration. I'm wondering if having the meet/greet from the hotel might help me get things explained/sorted with immigration? I have plenty of time so could get a visa through the embassy in the USA if that helps.
So, to sum up:
- Land midnight AMM on TK
- Depart for DOH at 1:50am or 8am on RJ
- Spend the day and overnight in DOH
- Fly back to AMM noon on RJ and then dive into tourist time
- Advice welcomed/needed
Thanks. Rami Tamimi, any chance you're seeing this? You seem like the expert on all things AMM.
Originally Posted by
abaheti
Landing midnight at AMM on TK from IST. Turns out a good friend will be in Doha, so would like to go meet up for a day, then come back to AMM to start our trip through Jordan and Israel. These would be TWO separate tickets.
Questions:
(1) I see a 1:50am flight from AMM-DOH. Landing at midnight, maybe slight delay given it is TK, would that be enough time to transit, or should I book the 8am AMM-DOH flight?
(2) If staying until 8am, probably makes sense to get a room. The airport hotel seems to have a meet/greet+breakfast rate and it looks cheap and clean/safe. Anyone think otherwise?
(3) Visa... Should we do a transit visa, then after we spend a day/night in DOH and come back to AMM get a normal tourist visa? Or can we do some kind of multi-entry tourist visa? I understand there may be a difference between what is allowed and what will be straight forward when dealing with immigration. I'm wondering if having the meet/greet from the hotel might help me get things explained/sorted with immigration? I have plenty of time so could get a visa through the embassy in the USA if that helps.
So, to sum up:
- Land midnight AMM on TK
- Depart for DOH at 1:50am or 8am on RJ
- Spend the day and overnight in DOH
- Fly back to AMM noon on RJ and then dive into tourist time
- Advice welcomed/needed
Thanks. Rami Tamimi, any chance you're seeing this? You seem like the expert on all things AMM.
1)Airport wise 1:50 is plenty of time. RJ closes the gate at T-15 min, so you have 1:30 to get to your gate if everything is on time. You will probably be at the gate 15 minutes after stepping off your TK flight.
-It helps that you are departing on RJ, because there is transit desk there and if you were slightly delayed they can fast track you thru security to make sure you get on.
-What does not help is that midnight is a very busy time in AMM because you have RJ111 arriving from LHR, which means that there is a possibility that you will be behind 150-200 pax transferring to BKK and Gulf flights. That said, the RJ transit desk rep can help you and inform the gate reps that you are coming and fast track you (it's normal in AMM).
AMM is really small and compact, I actually always manage to get out landside, meet a friend, go back in and chill in the lounge on those 2 hours connection....but the difference is that I am always on a single ticket issued by RJ, whereas in your case you 've got 2 tickets on two different airlines, so they don't have to offer you any protection if your TK flight is late (say by 1 hour).
What I would do in your situation is to get the ticket for the 1:50 am departure and if you find that your IST flight is delayed by over an hour to call RJ and to cancel the reservation (not the ticket itself). This way you would avoid paying the no show fee and would pay the penalty (should be around 40EUR even on the lowest fares, but check the conditions before purchasing+ potential fare difference). You may even get lucky and get the penalty and/or fare difference waived if you get a sympathetic agent....they absolutely don't have to do that, but they may. It helps if you are an OW elite of course.
2) Have not checked their rates recently, what are they quoting? It's not a great hotel, just your average 4 star airport hotel. I would not pay over 100$ for it (150$ maximum, if meet and greet and breakfast are included).
3)Get the transit visa on your first arrival and a single visa on the second one. It only makes sense to get the visa in the embassy if you want to save some time in the airport on arrival. If you decide to do that ,then perhaps it's better to get the double visa for 98$ (single is 68$) just to get out of the airport faster.
To sum up, it really depends on your personality. Are you willing to take a small risk,or do you prefer to play it safe? Are you willing to pay 30$ to avoid quing up for visa on arrival (you'd have to que up for a visa first and then another time for immigration clearance).
That's all I can think of for now,but feel free to ask any other questions.