Ive seen loads of examples of this. FCO-LHR rebooked FCO-DOH-LHR. No further Re bookings like permitted now. They even booked into revenue buckets so 280 TP and Avios earnt. Not bad for a cheap RFS.

FWIW I travelled Swiss longhaul F to/from HKG in March on a newly refurbed A340-600, just as the Covid shutters were coming down, https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32168464-post471.html, a brief synopsis is below: spoiler alert; a great place to sleep, dining not quite so much, but I am sure it'll be far better than BA F at the moment..

I’m wondering why, in the age of the telephone, anyone would fly to Doha for an “airside business meeting”, or is this one of these modern euphemisms of which I’m unaware?

There is still lot of business that needs to be done face to face. There is a reason I fly to Bogota every month and it ain't to take a swim in the Caribbean

The visor isn't required in J between boarding completion and arrival. If it had been, you're absolutely right, I wouldn't have booked.

That's why it's not uncommon to have business meeting rooms in airline lounges.

When choosing a supplier that your business will have some dependence on, call me old fashioned, but there's nothing like seeing the whites of the eyes, even if pressing the flesh is currently no longer a thing. Let me explain...

IME, you only make the mistake of flying blind on a new supplier once, and for me it was an expensive mistake about ten years ago. It'll come as no surprise that suppliers have quite the propensity to over promise and under deliver, sometimes devastatingly so. For example, non delivery on a six month lead time item isn't going to be cheap to rectify either in financial terms or in terms of reputational damage of non-delivery. You can wrap it up in legal remedies all you like, but that's still no guarantee of a smooth transaction. In manufacturing in my particular line, no contract supplier is going to offer any form of indemnity anyway, they tend to offer relatively meaningless gestures after a screw up that don't come anywhere near to the actual cost.

In short it's about mutual trust, and reducing financial & reputational risk. I find that a lot more clarity comes out in the wash in a face-to-face compared to a phone call, in terms of clarity of detail, expectation management, as well as detecting some of those rather more elusive traits.

Would two one-way tickets work: the first LHR-DOH-IST or wherever would let you in, and a second DOH-LHR? Obviously, you chuck the DOH-IST leg.

Because Qatar allows visa-free/visa on arrival (not sure about the exact arrangement) for UK Passport holders. That's why you have no problem at all.

I simply can't see what your complaint can accomplish. Qatari official information has been very clear on this - citizens and residents only for now. And you are neither.

If I was on the other side of the complaint, I would make sure you be banned for life.

Given that it took 90 minutes to deny the OP boarding, would you also fire the check-in staff, plus the station manager and whoever else was involved in this case for not immediately getting rid of the OP?

It's clear that the OP is not allowed into Qatar, and its also clear that the OP was never seeking to enter Qatar. The OP wasn't going to ask an immigration officer to let him in. So it's easy to see how the OP got himself into this situation, and is now a bit annoyed with bureaucracy.

Sure. It is COVID-19 time anyway. Right or wrong - their jobs are at risk anyway.

Booking a flight to DOH as the final destination is a clear, objective intent that OP seeks to enter Qatar, regardless OP's actual plan. Even assuming OP would be there to transit with proof of connecting flights, OP must still adhere the transit formality.

Now Qatar is a persona non grata country for everyone else except its citizens and residents. You can argue what you want on behalf of OP. But based on OP's own words, everything is pretty much conclusive.

I hope you aren't working in any customer facing role. For physical or verbal abuse I'd agree, but for simply attempting what the OP is attempting? Ridiculous.

This isn't a "tricky" situation. There is no world of "immediate turnarounds" or "staying airside" outside of Flyertalk. You are flying somewhere or you aren't. You have the documents or you don't.

Border police do not care about customer service.

The OP's case might well turn on the specific wording of Qatar's COVID rules. IF the rule was phrased as "no entry for non-Qatari nationals/residents...but this does not affect passengers who remain airside / don't leave the airport" then the OP could have a case. Equally, if the rules were set out as "customers in transit to a third country are allowed airside" then the OP is screwed as there are only 2 countries involved in his trip. Perhaps the OP can contact the Qatari embassy and see if they have a copy of the rules?

You might think the OP has a weak case, but he has acted in good faith and the outcome here could be quite harsh. He deserves some sympathy.

Banned for life for raising a complaint about a decision? That's not going to happen.

I agree the complaint should be dismissed.