Omar84

The business class transit I had this year, which was around 19 hours, they put me up in the Oryx Rotana near the airport.

The usual fee for a Visa on Arrival is around 100 QR, which is roughly 33 US Dollars. I think the QR staff should take care of the whole process and you should not require a stamp on your passport. Last time I was their they just stamped my hotel voucher and said not too lose that.

flyerhormones

The surprise hotel turned out to be Mercure Grand. A small shuttle bus was organized for about 5 of us after our arrival. The hotel was quite nice and getting back to the airport the next day was no problem at all.

lsed

I think the reason you have to go down to the local office is so they can swipe your card.
Back in May I made a change to my booking and had to pay $50. I was in BCN and they told me they don't have facilities to accept payment over the phone.

The local office in Sin really needs to improve their facilities.

I haven't waited more than 30 seconds to connect to an EK operator the last 10 times I've called. Whereas once I called QR Sin 15 mins before the office closed, waited for 20 mins and then the call just dropped. It's like the operators just decided to knock off work even when a customer was still waiting. Really infuriated me!


But I digress

How about engaging Al Maha to do this? It's free for golds.

So if they stamp your hotel voucher you don't have to pay the VOA?
$33 is money afterall.
Though stamping your voucher and not your passport seems like an unusual practice for customs

Omar84

As a business class passenger during my 18 hour layover I did not pay for the VOA. The stamping of the voucher was also strange to me, I did check my passport I definately had no stamp in it. The stamp was just for the one day.

manhattan92

I was recently denied a complimentary hotel stay in Doha despite flying in C Class with a 9 hour layover in Doha. The Doha airport staff were incredibly misinformed and kept telling me about having to pay extra in advance to have a hotel stopover. I guess this webpage is useless: http://support.qatarairways.com/entr...-hours-in-doha

The supervisor in the Premium Lounge suggested that I spend the night on "one of their nice reclining chairs" which is exactly what I was forced to do.

I was consistently disappointed by the ground staff personnel as much as I was impressed by the flight crews. A very strange airline--5 stars in the air, 2 stars on the ground.

Any suggestions as to my recourse here would be appreciated.

CAlex

The package is not offered on all routes, which is strange. I have a 16hrs layover next month and I was told that it depends on the route you fly. All I know for now is that OTP-MNL-OTP and IST-MNL-IST does NOT qualify for the free package, even if you are flying in C.

manhattan92

This is now even more confusing. Nowhere on their website are route distinctions made. It seems that QR airline staff make up information on their own--an indication of poor training in addition to their often poor English language skills.

svs-dhm

Sorry can't help with any suggestions, but agree 100% with your assessment of the airline. Good in the air, hopeless on the ground. We recently flew AUH-DOH-SIN in economy, and the in-flight experience was good, but the whole transfer process at Doha airport was a huge pain!

moeser

A fellow FFer had the exactly same problem,wrote QRs CS and got an e-mail explaining that the Base Fare ( restricted J ) was not eligible.

It gets more and more confusing.

I think it is high time that QR states the precise rules on their website so one can print them out and show them to the badly trained Ground Staff.

manhattan92

Here is an update to my situation:

I received the following prompt and laboriously worded response from QR to my complaint:

-----Original Message-----
From: Qatar Airways Customer Relations Department <[email protected]>
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Sun, Feb 26, 2012 7:28 am
Subject: XXXXXXXXXXXX
26 February 2012

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your email concerning your disappointment regarding the facility
of a Transit Hotel Accommodation for your layover in Doha on your recent flights
from Manila to Istanbul.

May we firstly share that this facility is applicable only on certain
itineraries and routes. For itineraries or routings that are not eligible and no
immediate (less than 8 hours) connection is available, then passengers may opt
for the transit hotel accommodation at additional charges. Additionally, the
type and level of airfare for your flights will also govern whether you receive
this service free of charge, or if a fee will be charged, and this information
is available at the time of booking.

Should you wish to find out if your airfare for your subsequent travels entitles
you to this service, whether paid or complimentary, may we please refer you to
contact your nearest Qatar Airways office for further clarification.

Thank you for this opportunity to correspond with you and to explain the matter.

Yours sincerely,


Syahirah Beck
Officer - Customer Care (Asia Pacific)
Qatar Airways
---------------------------------------------------------------
The response does not make me feel too much better about the whole incident and I found the ground staff, including the supervisor to be shockingly ill-informed about their own procedures; I received 3 different versions of their policies from 3 people. I note that QR has apparently now altered their website to reflect the conditions and exceptions that applied to me: http://support.qatarairways.com/entr...-hours-in-doha

All in all, not a true 5-star airline. High standards need to apply throughout the organization and not just with flight attendants as employees.

zat_dude

does the 8-hour minimum requirement refer to your itinerary or the next possible flight to same destination as with EK?

manhattan92

I am not sure I fully understand your question. The next possible flight I could connect to my destination was on QR, about 9 hours later.

zat_dude

Sorry, the question was more of a general one, e.g. I have once been denied STPC by EK as I could have taken an earlier connection to the same destination within the 8-hour window.

cheers,

moeser

QR will not pay if there is an earlier connection available.

ans27

Hi there,
I have a stopover in Doha for 14hrs35mins travelling from QR 643 and onwards flight number QR 730

My ticket is fare type ECOSEMIFLE.

Will they give me complimentary hotel in Doha? And if so where to get voucher?

Thanks