Doha “stop” on RTW
 

We are planning a DONE4 RTW something like this: OSL-LHR-xDOH-MEL-BNE-SYD-xDFW-BNA-xPHX-SFO-xDOH-LHR-OSL.

On the way back to Europe we would spend 23 hours in Doha without this counting as a stopover. We will have used up our two “continent of origin” stopovers by staying in London on each end of the trip.

Questions:
1. Does this look valid?
2. Does baggage get checked through SFO-DFO-LHR or do we need to allow time to retrieve it in Doha?
3. Does 23 hours in Doha (in 1740 out 1640) seem feasible? We thought we could do a dinner, stay somewhere nice, go to the Museum of Islamic Art, perhaps wander in the Souk, then back to the airport. Anyone who has done something similar have some experience to share?
4. If this is technically ‘transit” for the airline, are there any issues with immigration/borders (for whom it would be a “stopover”)?

Thanks

23:00 hrs in DOH looks OK to me. But PanadaPerth is the one with the most inexperience/knowledge.
Would need to meet the Qatar rules for entry to the country.

Bit of wasted sectors on the Aussie golden triangle MEL-BNE-SYD.Can be cheap to buy. MEL-SYD is 60/70 minutes wheels up/wheels down. You could easily see more of AU or even NZ. Swap CNS or ZQN for BNE?
QF also fly MEL-DFW. Check the aircraft type A380 vs B787 on flights to DFW. Can vary

Yes ​​​​Mwenenzi, I agree I have a lot of inexperience of RTWs :D

SP0

1. Your itinerary is fine.
2. I cannot remember the QR rule on transit baggage and couldn't find it on the QR website (it is there somewhere!), but IIRC - if your transit is < X hours then you won't get your checked bags in DOH; I just cannot remember what X is!
3. Very feasible, I've done it a few times. The National Museum is very good; I've not made it to the Museum of Islamic Art, but I'm sure it will be wonderful.
4. For the airline, it is a transit; for the Qatar immigration authorities - you are entering and then leaving the country, so you will need to comply with its requirements, including the new health insurance requirement.

Picking up on Mwenenzi's comments, if you do decide on New Zealand then you could fly AKL-JFK on QF's new non-stop service.

Really? When will this route begin? And on what metal?

I can't seem to find it.

See:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qant...d-akl-jfk.html

Oops, I jumped the gun - it starts in June
Our network and partner airlines | Qantas - three flights a week, using a 787-900

Thanks for the link.
This is a real cool flight. 3x weekly. Note that AKL-JFK flight time is 16h15m, with arrival on same date. You lost only 15 minutes! (dep 16:35; arrive 16:50).
Have not been on a B787-900. How is Business Cabin and seat?

Quite feasible (and enjoyable)
 

Reporting back for anyone who consults this thread in the future.

23 hour stopover in Doha (landing from SFO was scheduled for 1740) worked very well. Recommended!

Checkin automatically through-routed our bags; luckily we were prepared and had a change of clothes in our hand baggage. It was nice not to have to wait for bags.
Inbound flight was late, followed by absurdly long walk on and on and on with no travellators to help; then there was a VERY long queue at DOH immigration -- if travelling business class show your boarding pass and there is a whole separate immigration area for you, which was a HUGE timesaver even if the agent was taking 4 minutes for each person in their queue. Without that we might have spent an hour or more in the queue, a bit like JFK on a bad day (but calmer, without JFK's shouting officials).

Quick taxi into town - drop hand baggage at the Al Mirqab hotel (part of the Souq Waqif hotels). You get an hour or more to wander the interesting souq in the slightly cooler evening air, seeing the camels, horses, falcons etc - before going back to the hotel for a massage or hammam at 2100 or out to dinner in the souk.
Next morning, after breakfast, off to the Museum of Islamic Art. This is an architectural masterpiece and a very interesting collection.
We ran out of energy otherwise we might have had a short visit to the National Museum of Qatar. That will wait for a future visit.
Taxi back to the airport is only 15-20 mins.

Definitely recommended.

Thanks for this thread. My next DONEx will be my first time flying QR or visiting Qatar. I'll pass Doha 4 times and was wondering about stopping vs just transits. You've definitely inspired me to take at least 23 hours there ;).

I don't suppose a DONEx meets the criteria for the Discover Qatar discounted hotel bookings if you stay 2 nights?

Can't answer for the hotel deal, but the Al Mirqab was such good value (at least when we booked) anyway. Prices don't seem to be too high in Doha.

If you are going through there four times don't forget that Qatar is "Europe" for the purposes of a DONEx, so stops there count against whatever other limits you have in your routing -- we originated in Europe so were only allowed two stopovers which we had used close to home, hence limiting our stop to 23 hours.

I looked at this for the current RTW we are part way into. As I read it, you’d need a QR flight (need to show BP to hotel) into Qatar, and as we are not I decided to give trying it a miss…not that our hotel in Doha is that expensive anyway, compared say to the way overpriced one I’m currently staying in NYC at!