Nov 5, 2015, 11:11 am
Last edit by: CPH-Flyer
READ BEFORE COMMENTING IF YOU ARE NEW,
Hamad International Airport (HIA) offers passengers a number of different lounges.
This thread, is specifically for the Al Safwa First Class Lounge. Information on the other Lounge options at HIA, can be found here.
Does Al Safwa have a web page?
Yes: http://www.qatarairways.com/global/e...-al-safwa.page
Dining Menu
https://www.qatarairways.com/content...-dining-en.pdf
Where can I find Al Safwa Lounge?
The Lounge is located on Level 3 of the airport.
Can I use the Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge?
Access is based on your underlying fare bucket. This means that upgraded tickets, maybe except upgrades with QPoints (see post 2735), are not granted access.
Access is thus restricted to Qatar Airways First Class, and OneWorld First Class passengers :
- either holding a First Class boarding pass* for their next flight
- or holding a First Class boarding pass from their previous flight.
Additionally, Privilege Club platinum club travelling on any business-class fare are welcomed into the lounge. This is a facility introduced recently and one that could just as easily disappear.
- Guests are not permitted.
* Operational Upgrades to First do not give access. Upgrades with Qpoints may do give acces (see post 2735 - Sept 2022)
Arrival access on mid and long haul? (eg. coming from LHR in F)
YES
Ex. CAI-DOH-HEL
Arrival access regional F? (eg. coming from CAI in F)
Yes.
Caveat, if your underlying J fare is P, then the no lounge access for business light kicks in. And there is no access.
Privilege Club Platinum members are currently allowed in the lounge when travelling on any QR business-class fare: that could change. Other Oneworld Emerald members are directed to the Platinum lounge(s) when travelling in any class, and the Al Mourjan lounge when travelling on relevant business-class fares. Yup, it gets complicated.
What does the lounge look like?
Reports on the Lounge, can be found here and here. Photographs of the lounge, can be found here.
Is there a Spa?
Yes, there is a full Spa, but you will have to pay for treatments. A full list of treatments available can be found here
What about the sleeping rooms?
Stargold in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28199729-post1177.html suggests that access to sleeping rooms is as follows:
'* No reservations allowed - always first-come first-served
* Only available if the remaining time until the flight departure is more than 4 hours
* Passengers are allowed maximum six hours' usage - for any further usage, a fee of QAR 450 is payable for a second block of six hours.
* No F&B of any kind except bottled water in the sleeping rooms.'
What changes can I expect during Ramadan?
Ramadan affects QR and you in many ways so please look at ramadan to see how you are affected.
Updated: 19/11/2023
Hamad International Airport (HIA) offers passengers a number of different lounges.
This thread, is specifically for the Al Safwa First Class Lounge. Information on the other Lounge options at HIA, can be found here.
Does Al Safwa have a web page?
Yes: http://www.qatarairways.com/global/e...-al-safwa.page
Dining Menu
https://www.qatarairways.com/content...-dining-en.pdf
Where can I find Al Safwa Lounge?
The Lounge is located on Level 3 of the airport.
Can I use the Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge?
Access is based on your underlying fare bucket. This means that upgraded tickets, maybe except upgrades with QPoints (see post 2735), are not granted access.
Access is thus restricted to Qatar Airways First Class, and OneWorld First Class passengers :
- either holding a First Class boarding pass* for their next flight
- or holding a First Class boarding pass from their previous flight.
Additionally, Privilege Club platinum club travelling on any business-class fare are welcomed into the lounge. This is a facility introduced recently and one that could just as easily disappear.
- Guests are not permitted.
* Operational Upgrades to First do not give access. Upgrades with Qpoints may do give acces (see post 2735 - Sept 2022)
Arrival access on mid and long haul? (eg. coming from LHR in F)
YES
Ex. CAI-DOH-HEL
Arrival access regional F? (eg. coming from CAI in F)
Yes.
Caveat, if your underlying J fare is P, then the no lounge access for business light kicks in. And there is no access.
Privilege Club Platinum members are currently allowed in the lounge when travelling on any QR business-class fare: that could change. Other Oneworld Emerald members are directed to the Platinum lounge(s) when travelling in any class, and the Al Mourjan lounge when travelling on relevant business-class fares. Yup, it gets complicated.
What does the lounge look like?
Reports on the Lounge, can be found here and here. Photographs of the lounge, can be found here.
Is there a Spa?
Yes, there is a full Spa, but you will have to pay for treatments. A full list of treatments available can be found here
What about the sleeping rooms?
Stargold in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28199729-post1177.html suggests that access to sleeping rooms is as follows:
'* No reservations allowed - always first-come first-served
* Only available if the remaining time until the flight departure is more than 4 hours
* Passengers are allowed maximum six hours' usage - for any further usage, a fee of QAR 450 is payable for a second block of six hours.
* No F&B of any kind except bottled water in the sleeping rooms.'
What changes can I expect during Ramadan?
Ramadan affects QR and you in many ways so please look at ramadan to see how you are affected.
Updated: 19/11/2023
QR Al Safwa First Class Lounge
Nov 6, 2017, 1:07 am
#1291
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 3,944
miamiflyer8 access under the 8 hour rule is governed by the scheduled transit time not actual time. So no you will not have access as a right. But as Dschaimz says "be nice if you have more the 8h!"
It may also help if you avoid the gate dragons by taking the lift up to the reception desk and trying there.
It may also help if you avoid the gate dragons by taking the lift up to the reception desk and trying there.
Nov 6, 2017, 9:27 am
#1292
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold (OW Emerald) & Jet Airways - Thank goodness i never got started.......most awful FF program
Posts: 2,385
What’s the score if I do the following:
arrive on F from CDG on X day at 23:30 hrs and onwards flight is in J the following day at 22:30hrs. All can be booked under 1 PNR. It is less than maximum transit time of 23:59 hrs.
I do not want to spend all those hours at the airport but simply arrive in F, check-in at a hotel, sleep, visit the Museum of Islamic Art and then back to the airport around 17:00 hrs and into the Al-Safwa as I was an arriving pax in F.
Is this doable?
arrive on F from CDG on X day at 23:30 hrs and onwards flight is in J the following day at 22:30hrs. All can be booked under 1 PNR. It is less than maximum transit time of 23:59 hrs.
I do not want to spend all those hours at the airport but simply arrive in F, check-in at a hotel, sleep, visit the Museum of Islamic Art and then back to the airport around 17:00 hrs and into the Al-Safwa as I was an arriving pax in F.
Is this doable?
Nov 6, 2017, 9:53 am
#1293
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 3,944
d3vski short answer: Probably not possible!
Earlier this year QR introduced a new rule regarding Al Safwa access for passengers arriving in F and departing DOH in J or Y. The rule is simple: If your scheduled transit time is over eight hours then you do not qualify for Al Safwa access. This rule was relaxed a few months ago and access was granted for more than eight hours. This last week or so it has again been enforced but with provision for a supervisor to grant access at their discretion.
That is what the previous few posts on this thread are about.
You should assume that you should use Al Mourjan.
Earlier this year QR introduced a new rule regarding Al Safwa access for passengers arriving in F and departing DOH in J or Y. The rule is simple: If your scheduled transit time is over eight hours then you do not qualify for Al Safwa access. This rule was relaxed a few months ago and access was granted for more than eight hours. This last week or so it has again been enforced but with provision for a supervisor to grant access at their discretion.
That is what the previous few posts on this thread are about.
You should assume that you should use Al Mourjan.
Nov 6, 2017, 3:39 pm
#1294
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold (OW Emerald) & Jet Airways - Thank goodness i never got started.......most awful FF program
Posts: 2,385
d3vski short answer: Probably not possible!
Earlier this year QR introduced a new rule regarding Al Safwa access for passengers arriving in F and departing DOH in J or Y. The rule is simple: If your scheduled transit time is over eight hours then you do not qualify for Al Safwa access. This rule was relaxed a few months ago and access was granted for more than eight hours. This last week or so it has again been enforced but with provision for a supervisor to grant access at their discretion.
That is what the previous few posts on this thread are about.
You should assume that you should use Al Mourjan.
Earlier this year QR introduced a new rule regarding Al Safwa access for passengers arriving in F and departing DOH in J or Y. The rule is simple: If your scheduled transit time is over eight hours then you do not qualify for Al Safwa access. This rule was relaxed a few months ago and access was granted for more than eight hours. This last week or so it has again been enforced but with provision for a supervisor to grant access at their discretion.
That is what the previous few posts on this thread are about.
You should assume that you should use Al Mourjan.
Nov 14, 2017, 11:41 pm
#1295
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 2
Nap Room Availability
First post on this board.
My wife and I are travelling through DOH in February with onwards F to AMM. Arriving 0055, leaving 0810. The nap rooms seem like a viable, maybe better, alternative to a hotel room.
Any views on this? How good does availability tend to be? Thanks!
My wife and I are travelling through DOH in February with onwards F to AMM. Arriving 0055, leaving 0810. The nap rooms seem like a viable, maybe better, alternative to a hotel room.
Any views on this? How good does availability tend to be? Thanks!
Nov 26, 2017, 12:59 pm
#1297
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 3,944
Althalus you are arriving at a peak time for the lounge so you may have to wait for a nap room. Probably about 1 hour. You are also departing at a peak time for the lounge. There are a large number of departures 24.00-02.30 and again 08.30-08.30.
Nov 27, 2017, 1:15 am
#1298
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,757
Data point: I arrived DOH on QR 40 over Memorial Day weekend 2017. Got to Al Safwa around 0010, I think. There were several rooms available at the time. Note, please, that I'm providing this as a single data point only. I am not in Al Safwa frequently enough to make any generalizations.
Nov 27, 2017, 4:45 pm
#1299
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
viable, yes, and certainly cheaper! But I don't see it as being better than a room in the airport hotel, and a hotel reservation would provide a measure of certainty about the availability of accommodation.
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Nov 27, 2017, 6:34 pm
#1300
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,757
If you look strictly at it as a room and compare to a hotel room, without regard to anything else, I agree that a room in the airport hotel is much more desirable. However, if you factor in price, location, etc., and ignore availability, it is more desirable than the airport hotel, IMO.
Nov 28, 2017, 2:41 am
#1301
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
If you look strictly at it as a room and compare to a hotel room, without regard to anything else, I agree that a room in the airport hotel is much more desirable. However, if you factor in price, location, etc., and ignore availability, it is more desirable than the airport hotel, IMO.
Ignoring availability is a very big ignore, as that is what appears to concern the OP. Price was left coyly outside the room
Indeed, price usually is the elephant in the room of these discussions. But the hotel rates are often quite beyond what I'd call reasonable, so I'd be happy to accept uncertainty about availability and time-constraints on lounge bedroom occupancy: after all there's always some corner to curl up in
BTW a room in somewhere like the airport Holiday Inn costs a fraction of the airport hotel for an overnight. And without the costs and faff of visas, and uber/(free)hotel shuttle, this seems the way to go when connection times stretch over 10 hours. Where cheaper fares carry longer transfers , this can be a sensible strategy if time is not a constraint.
Nov 30, 2017, 5:01 am
#1303
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 3,944
Free As A Bird access to Al Safwa is for first class ticket holders only!
If you look at QR Lounges at HIA you will find the access conditions for lounges in DOH.
If you look at https://www.oneworld.com/ffp/lounge-access you will see that OW status holders are specifically excluded.
If you look at QR Lounges at HIA you will find the access conditions for lounges in DOH.
If you look at https://www.oneworld.com/ffp/lounge-access you will see that OW status holders are specifically excluded.
Dec 3, 2017, 2:10 pm
#1305
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC Gold, QRPC Silver, Hilton Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 265
Data point today - Got off CDG-DOH with a connection time of more than 8 hours. At first staff wanted to enforce 8 hour rule, but after a bit of cajoling and after she talked to a supervisor, was let into al-Safwa Thanks to Dschaimz for the tip! ^
Thanks to Dschaimz for the tip! ^