Originally Posted by
IAN-UK
If your underlying business-class fare bucket were other than P, the regional first sector would do its magic and open the gates of Safwa.
Sadly, the P fare strips the whole itinerary of lounge access, so you'll be down to the backing of your OneWorld status. The Gold lounge is absolutely fine.
That said, Qatar runs a strangely nuanced ship: there's a body of underlying and unpublished rules which can shift without notice. So if you are OK running the (almost certain) risk of rejection, there's no harm in presenting your first-class boarding card with a confident smile at the staircase to Safwa. If you get through, the next hurdle will be the gatekeepers at the top of the escalator. If you do try your luck, please report back.
Thanks for this. In the end, didn't even get to try. The BXH-DOH flight was 30 mins later, long walk to transfer security, and the departing DOH-MCT was from the far-off gate 30A with a bus to the aircraft and already boarding.