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
Sep 24, 2018, 6:52 am
#1501
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 72
Sep 29, 2018, 6:43 am
#1503
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 938
Is it all their Middle East destinations? If so, it would be this:
https://www.qatarairways.com/en-fi/d...ddle-east.html
https://www.qatarairways.com/en-fi/d...ddle-east.html
Oct 1, 2018, 1:03 am
#1504
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Doha, Qatar
Programs: BAEC GGL
Posts: 36
Although Oman has two F routes (MCT and OHS), their route to SLL is in business class.
The rest of the flights in the Middle East are in business class
Oct 3, 2018, 6:11 am
#1506
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,252
Actually, it's not. There is a shower for each gender in the main lounge in the family area bathrooms.
Oct 3, 2018, 2:02 pm
#1507
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Programs: Mucci, BA, AF
Posts: 10,129
Oct 12, 2018, 4:44 am
#1508
Moderator: Qatar Airways
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LHR/NCE/MIA
Programs: BAEC GfL & GGL, SQ Gold, Amex Centurion, Mucci des Chevaliers des Bons Mots et Qui Savent Moucher
Posts: 8,948
My little falcon at QR, has told me that there are access changes coming on 1st January.
I will share these when I am permitted to do so.
M
I will share these when I am permitted to do so.
M
Oct 12, 2018, 5:03 am
#1509
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,753
So.... If we assume that the QR gods have noticed that 1) AS is underutilized, and 2) AM is often quite crowded, it's probably a safe assumption that access to AS is going to increase in January, not become more restricted. I'll take a wild guess and suggest that access will now be granted to QR PLTs and possibly OW EMDs, or some variation on that theme, like also holding a boarding pass for a QR flight in a premium cabin.
N.B.: This is only my personal speculation. I have no information on this beyond what msm2000uk has written.
One downside if I'm even close is that getting one of the sleeping rooms is going to become even more challenging.
Oct 12, 2018, 5:18 am
#1511
Moderator: Qatar Airways
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LHR/NCE/MIA
Programs: BAEC GfL & GGL, SQ Gold, Amex Centurion, Mucci des Chevaliers des Bons Mots et Qui Savent Moucher
Posts: 8,948
I've no issue with speculative discussion etc, but those who've been around this Forum for a little, will know I won't reveal anything until I'm told I can.
M
M
Oct 12, 2018, 5:49 am
#1512
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Cardiff
Programs: qatar airways platinum
Posts: 732
OTOH, nothing wrong with a little groundless speculation, is there? After all, it's an FT tradition!
So.... If we assume that the QR gods have noticed that 1) AS is underutilized, and 2) AM is often quite crowded, it's probably a safe assumption that access to AS is going to increase in January, not become more restricted. I'll take a wild guess and suggest that access will now be granted to QR PLTs and possibly OW EMDs, or some variation on that theme, like also holding a boarding pass for a QR flight in a premium cabin.
N.B.: This is only my personal speculation. I have no information on this beyond what msm2000uk has written.
One downside if I'm even close is that getting one of the sleeping rooms is going to become even more challenging.
So.... If we assume that the QR gods have noticed that 1) AS is underutilized, and 2) AM is often quite crowded, it's probably a safe assumption that access to AS is going to increase in January, not become more restricted. I'll take a wild guess and suggest that access will now be granted to QR PLTs and possibly OW EMDs, or some variation on that theme, like also holding a boarding pass for a QR flight in a premium cabin.
N.B.: This is only my personal speculation. I have no information on this beyond what msm2000uk has written.
One downside if I'm even close is that getting one of the sleeping rooms is going to become even more challenging.
Oct 12, 2018, 6:21 am
#1513
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 776
Ok so here's my shot. Given QR's history, the only reasonable thing to expect are further downgrades 
The sadist in me wishes for one (or several) of these options:
What I don't think will happen is that they bring their access rule in line with the Oneworld policy where all OWE (plus one guest) get access to F lounges. This would basically mean that they could close down (or re-purpose) the so called F-lounge. Having that whole crowd moved to AS would likely be too much.
I hope it's going to be some mild easement, like
The sadist in me wishes for one (or several) of these options:
- No more access for F award tickets, or perhaps even anything below F booking class
- No more access for incoming F and outgoing Y/J
- Limiting access to real F flights (aka A380)
- Additionally requiring some QRPC status
What I don't think will happen is that they bring their access rule in line with the Oneworld policy where all OWE (plus one guest) get access to F lounges. This would basically mean that they could close down (or re-purpose) the so called F-lounge. Having that whole crowd moved to AS would likely be too much.
I hope it's going to be some mild easement, like
- Access for QRPC Platinum (or even OWE) flying J
- Access for flex J tickets (booking class C/J)
- Revoking the removal of access rights for F award upgrades
Oct 30, 2018, 2:44 pm
#1514
Moderator: Qatar Airways
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LHR/NCE/MIA
Programs: BAEC GfL & GGL, SQ Gold, Amex Centurion, Mucci des Chevaliers des Bons Mots et Qui Savent Moucher
Posts: 8,948
I went and had a chat with one of the Al Safwa managers this evening about the Op-Ups to F scenario.
He told me that staff have recently been re-trained to view the ticket bracket opposed to solely checking the boarding pass.
This was interesting, and I went and tried it myself.
I was, correctly, turned away, but the desk agent did call the Ticketing department for confirmation that he was doing the right thing. I didn't argue, but was actually impressed at the process (albeit ultimately slightly annoyed he wouldn't let me in!).
M
He told me that staff have recently been re-trained to view the ticket bracket opposed to solely checking the boarding pass.
This was interesting, and I went and tried it myself.
I was, correctly, turned away, but the desk agent did call the Ticketing department for confirmation that he was doing the right thing. I didn't argue, but was actually impressed at the process (albeit ultimately slightly annoyed he wouldn't let me in!).
M
Oct 30, 2018, 10:05 pm
#1515
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: QR Platinum, Star Alliance Gold (LH Sen)
Posts: 764
I all the time ask in my flights how many Platinum members are on board - I never got an number higher than 4 till now (eco and business together). On my last flights last week from MUC to DOH there were 2 and from DOH to BKK 4 (again, eco and business together)...