DYKWIA

Again... the OP is starting in DUB, so there are no direct BA flights. He's going to have to connect somewhere.

andymcdonnell

I think in an ideal world, price bring the same, I’d choose BA. I’ve flown with them before in CW to JNB and slept fine (this from someone who can’t sleep on an east coast redeye at all). The timings, the time of day of connection etc all make sense. Without ever having flown QR, I know their seat and their food will be better than BA, but is that enough reason for adding 4-5hrs journey time and a midnight stopover? I’m not convinced. If I was heading east anyway then yes, but one of the great advantages of South Africa is no jetlag and the QR option seems to defeat that somewhat

Dave Noble

It seems that the price is significantly cheaper , journey time is 3.5 hours longer and that the journey will be business class all the way rather than economy seating for the 1st 1.5 hours

Doha is also a really nice airport for connecting at imo

It wouldn't be at all a hard choice for me

subject2load

With the SA rand currently offering such fabulous value-for-money in terms of dining out, and all manner of general activity, I know I wouldn’t hesitate for one moment (even regardless of carrier quality comparisons) to choose the far better-priced QR option - and then use the savings to enjoy a jolly time whilst actually in the country. And if there are several tickets to be bought, the benefits are naturally even more considerable .....

Prospero

Think of the money saved, but don't leave it too long as QR deals tend not to stick around for long. If you are going to do an indirect routing, QR is a good airline to go with. Even with the night time connection, the ride to/from DOH will be a comfortable one.

Yanshuf

I haven't experienced any jetlag problems when flying to South Africa from Europe via Doha. It's just a longer journey so you have to make sure that you time your sleeping period correctly.

For these trips, I am more concerned about allowing enough time to go through immigration at JNB, collect luggage, move to Comair check in desks for recheck in of luggage, and then do the somewhat long walk to the Comair lounge.

Exsilver

QR for me every time. I enjoy the break in Doha, even in the middle of the night, as it gives you a chance to freshen up in a way you just can't on an aircraft. The food and service are also better IMHO. This is QR:

wilsnunn

One additional thing is that you can consider the option of doing a longer stopover in Doha and (if they put it back in place), having a nice hotel in Doha for $26 (ish). Whilst it certainly isn’t for everybody, as seen in the current thread asking about airports that people have visited but not the city, I love to explore a new city.

I have done this and as I have friends in Doha it works very well for me. I also think that Doha is a nice place to visit for a day to see the museums and visit the ancient market (Souq Wagif).

nivsy

From my perspective it's clear. Qatar knock the socks of BA. Sure ofcourse you need to change at DOH but that just means double to experience excellent service. I had a full rear business cabin to myself before lockdown and my CC introduced herself as my "personal crew member"....and she was. Just fantastic. Comfort, dine when you want, reasonable entertainment, new Aeroplanes, attentive crew, good drinks, bed down service, the list goes on. Proper business boarding, by bus or at gate and BA lack far behind and I look forward to getting on the wonderful QR soonest.

NWIFlyer

I’m surprised BA isn’t more price competitive on this route, given last time I flew to CPT it was ex-AMS via JNB on the A380 and they were much cheaper than anyone else - plus I wanted to burn a GUF2 before expiry.

In the OP’s circumstances I think going with QR is a no-brainer, particularly if the short layover options are available at the lower price (often they’re not and you’re forced into a 7 hour layover if you don’t want to pay lots more). I’m somewhat in the minority in that I’m not a great fan of the J lounge at Doha, although this may be clouded by either having a very short or very long layover at inconvenient times (just when you want to sleep you find there’s a horrendous wait for the showers), my transfer experiences have generally been a bit meh, and some gates are better than others for J boarding. But that shouldn’t detract from the on-board experience.

So if you’ve never experienced QR J then you definitely must - certainly if there’s an option with the A380 with the rear lounge, where you’ll find the interaction with the crew is much more akin to that which you’ll get with BA. I find QR crew much, much better than the robotic stereotype that seems to get unfairly attached to them, and as others have said the attentiveness is top notch - somewhat OTT at times, though stylishly so. The food is good, although my experience is generally restricted to the Arabic options so I can’t really comment on the more western options. Alcohol I’d put on a par with BA - champagne probably better, wine similar, spirits worse.