Aurora Hunting: Cheap Qatar Airways flight from Kuala Lumpur to Oslo in Y
Nov 3, 2011, 2:20 pm
#16
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Great report! It's funny though, had you been in the Southern US you would have been treated to the Aurora Borealis back on October 24th.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/vid...rn-us-14808921
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/vid...rn-us-14808921
Nov 3, 2011, 3:37 pm
#17
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Sounds like you had an interesting trip - sorry you didn't get a chance to see the Northern Lights - when did you go exactly? I'm thinking of going in October 2012 - towards the end of the month, to Tromso.
Nov 4, 2011, 9:06 pm
#18
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Oslo to Tromso on SAS
Our flight to Oslo was scheduled to depart at 8.30am. We had pre-booked a taxi for a pick up at 6am with to help of hotel front desk since we weren't sure if catching a taxi that early in the morning would be easy. The airport was still deserted when we got there with no one manning the check-in counters yet. In hindsight, we should just have slept in slightly longer.
Read more...
Our flight to Oslo was scheduled to depart at 8.30am. We had pre-booked a taxi for a pick up at 6am with to help of hotel front desk since we weren't sure if catching a taxi that early in the morning would be easy. The airport was still deserted when we got there with no one manning the check-in counters yet. In hindsight, we should just have slept in slightly longer.
Read more...
Nov 7, 2011, 6:56 am
#19
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Oslo to Doha
We decided to wait it out in the airport even though we had about 6 hours to Doha since it costs about ~$60 USD for a round trip on the train to the city. There were no lines when we checked in so we were done with the formalities in less than 5 minutes. We did ask about paid upgrade to business class but was told that there was only one seat available. Obviously I didn't leave the wife back in economy. There are only 2 lounges in Oslo airport one for Star Alliance airlines and one for the rest. Both of the them were not associated with Priority Pass so we had to slum it out with the rest of the folks. We had one of the most expensive lunch at the Kontiki restaurant (was more like a cafeteria where you pick up your own food) - ~$45 USD for a beer and chicken curry rice.
The boarding gate was pretty packed when we got there. The ground staff was paging for connecting passengers who flew in on SAS flights to approach the counter to get a Qatar boarding pass. There seemed to be a few that flew in and if that's any indication, looks like the route is doing pretty well for Qatar.
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We decided to wait it out in the airport even though we had about 6 hours to Doha since it costs about ~$60 USD for a round trip on the train to the city. There were no lines when we checked in so we were done with the formalities in less than 5 minutes. We did ask about paid upgrade to business class but was told that there was only one seat available. Obviously I didn't leave the wife back in economy. There are only 2 lounges in Oslo airport one for Star Alliance airlines and one for the rest. Both of the them were not associated with Priority Pass so we had to slum it out with the rest of the folks. We had one of the most expensive lunch at the Kontiki restaurant (was more like a cafeteria where you pick up your own food) - ~$45 USD for a beer and chicken curry rice.
The boarding gate was pretty packed when we got there. The ground staff was paging for connecting passengers who flew in on SAS flights to approach the counter to get a Qatar boarding pass. There seemed to be a few that flew in and if that's any indication, looks like the route is doing pretty well for Qatar.
Read more »
Nov 9, 2011, 11:08 am
#20
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Exploring Doha
We arrived in Doha around midnight with our flights to Kuala Lumpur only departing the next day at 8 pm. We purposely planned in this long layover to allow us to see Doha since we've never visited before. Immigration formalities through Doha was relatively quick with visa on arrival available for Malaysians albeit at a cost of ~$30 USD per person that was settled through credit card.
There were no Hiltons or Accor hotels that we usually stay in available in Doha so we had to look at other options. The prices of hotels like the Sheraton and W which were in the newer parts of Doha were beyond our budget so we settled for the Ramada Encore instead. As usual with our non Hilton and Accor hotel bookings, we booked through hotels.com giving us another one night credit so towards a free night.
Read more.....
We arrived in Doha around midnight with our flights to Kuala Lumpur only departing the next day at 8 pm. We purposely planned in this long layover to allow us to see Doha since we've never visited before. Immigration formalities through Doha was relatively quick with visa on arrival available for Malaysians albeit at a cost of ~$30 USD per person that was settled through credit card.
There were no Hiltons or Accor hotels that we usually stay in available in Doha so we had to look at other options. The prices of hotels like the Sheraton and W which were in the newer parts of Doha were beyond our budget so we settled for the Ramada Encore instead. As usual with our non Hilton and Accor hotel bookings, we booked through hotels.com giving us another one night credit so towards a free night.
Read more.....
Nov 10, 2011, 5:45 am
#22
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I did this same OSL on QR last month ex SIN
It was actually cheaper: S$436 from ex- SIN (I paid S$450 due to fuel surcharge increasing)
Ended up doing SIN - DOH - OSL - LRH - Paris BVA - BTS - Prague - Vienna - Berlin SXF - OSL - DOH - SIN.
The first 8 hour transit in DOH was awful though! But was really lucky to have had all 4 segments on QR with at least 1 row to myself.
Didn't get to see the AB as well but I only spent 4 nights in OSL, and based on the chart (of solar activity) I knew I had 0 chances of seeing it when I was there.
Edit:
Just saw your post about your stint in Doha City. I wasn't so lucky as my transit time was 8 hours midnight to 8 am, and I wasn't allowed to do a stopover with the fare.
In any case I thought I didn't need a visa, so when I tried to exit just to get a stamp on my passport the woman tried to charge me $28USD.
And I was like NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO PAY FOR THAT.
It worked out well because I still had a stamp albeit with a cross over it as I didn't pay for it. But the stamp has to be the ugliest in my passport!
And I really hate DOH airport. Previously they would confiscate your alcohol upon arrival, and recently they implemented duties for tobacco on arrival as well (according to the staff at DFS at SIN who advised me not to purchase cigarettes). The really odd thing is that they still sell alcohol at the DOH transit terminal, so why do they have to confiscate it? And what's the deal about the tobacco duty!?
Anyways I'm really ambivalent about QR and very adversed towards DOH. I'm just waiting for the new terminal to open!!
It was actually cheaper: S$436 from ex- SIN (I paid S$450 due to fuel surcharge increasing)
Ended up doing SIN - DOH - OSL - LRH - Paris BVA - BTS - Prague - Vienna - Berlin SXF - OSL - DOH - SIN.
The first 8 hour transit in DOH was awful though! But was really lucky to have had all 4 segments on QR with at least 1 row to myself.
Didn't get to see the AB as well but I only spent 4 nights in OSL, and based on the chart (of solar activity) I knew I had 0 chances of seeing it when I was there.
Edit:
Just saw your post about your stint in Doha City. I wasn't so lucky as my transit time was 8 hours midnight to 8 am, and I wasn't allowed to do a stopover with the fare.
In any case I thought I didn't need a visa, so when I tried to exit just to get a stamp on my passport the woman tried to charge me $28USD.
And I was like NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO PAY FOR THAT.
It worked out well because I still had a stamp albeit with a cross over it as I didn't pay for it. But the stamp has to be the ugliest in my passport!
And I really hate DOH airport. Previously they would confiscate your alcohol upon arrival, and recently they implemented duties for tobacco on arrival as well (according to the staff at DFS at SIN who advised me not to purchase cigarettes). The really odd thing is that they still sell alcohol at the DOH transit terminal, so why do they have to confiscate it? And what's the deal about the tobacco duty!?
Anyways I'm really ambivalent about QR and very adversed towards DOH. I'm just waiting for the new terminal to open!!
Last edited by lsed; Nov 10, 2011 at 8:34 am
Nov 11, 2011, 12:48 pm
#23
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: England
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+1
Great TR - thanks for sharing, calvinoeh!
Did you have any issues with the sudden change of climate zones? Personally I love doing that too (just did Latvia and a couple of GCC states in one weekend), though I guess some people may not be able to handle it so easily.
Great TR - thanks for sharing, calvinoeh!
Did you have any issues with the sudden change of climate zones? Personally I love doing that too (just did Latvia and a couple of GCC states in one weekend), though I guess some people may not be able to handle it so easily.
Nov 11, 2011, 3:28 pm
#24
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+1
Great TR - thanks for sharing, calvinoeh!
Did you have any issues with the sudden change of climate zones? Personally I love doing that too (just did Latvia and a couple of GCC states in one weekend), though I guess some people may not be able to handle it so easily.
Great TR - thanks for sharing, calvinoeh!
Did you have any issues with the sudden change of climate zones? Personally I love doing that too (just did Latvia and a couple of GCC states in one weekend), though I guess some people may not be able to handle it so easily.
Nov 12, 2011, 2:57 am
#25
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Doha to Kuala Lumpur with a visit to the Oryx Lounge
Since we were already bored and running out of things to do in Doha, we headed to the airport about 4 hours before departure. Since we had already checked-in online, we were able to use the internet check-in lines which had no queues. We had our boarding passes with bags checked in to Kuala Lumpur and passed through security and immigration formalities an efficient 10 minutes later. Almost felt like traveling with status or in premium cabins.
We spent the rest of the time in Doha in the Oryx lounge thanks to Calvin's Priority Pass membership. The lounge is used by all other airlines except Qatar and does accept pay-in passengers although I'm not sure what it costs though. The lounge was busy when we got in with passengers from an Emirates flight to Dubai mostly in the lounge. After that flight left, the lounge was definitely less busy.
Read more...
Since we were already bored and running out of things to do in Doha, we headed to the airport about 4 hours before departure. Since we had already checked-in online, we were able to use the internet check-in lines which had no queues. We had our boarding passes with bags checked in to Kuala Lumpur and passed through security and immigration formalities an efficient 10 minutes later. Almost felt like traveling with status or in premium cabins.
We spent the rest of the time in Doha in the Oryx lounge thanks to Calvin's Priority Pass membership. The lounge is used by all other airlines except Qatar and does accept pay-in passengers although I'm not sure what it costs though. The lounge was busy when we got in with passengers from an Emirates flight to Dubai mostly in the lounge. After that flight left, the lounge was definitely less busy.
Read more...
Nov 12, 2011, 2:58 am
#26
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Conclusion
This trip was definitely a memorable one and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even though there were no premium cabin experiences.
Norway and Oslo in particular is now one of favorite cities we've visited even though it's one of the most expensive. Oslo is clean, beautiful and with lots to do. We would recommend getting the Oslo Pass for those visiting for a couple of days. Sure helps save some of the $$. We were and are still disappointed that we did not get to see the Aurora but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe it's an excuse to come back to Norway or visit Finland or Alaska in the future.
Qatar Airways was a good surprise after the initial fear of flying this in economy. It does have a good economy class product with good food and service and great seat pitch. We would definitely not mind flying them in the future especially with fares like the ones we purchased. Here's too hoping for a mistake business class fare though.
This trip was definitely a memorable one and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even though there were no premium cabin experiences.
Norway and Oslo in particular is now one of favorite cities we've visited even though it's one of the most expensive. Oslo is clean, beautiful and with lots to do. We would recommend getting the Oslo Pass for those visiting for a couple of days. Sure helps save some of the $$. We were and are still disappointed that we did not get to see the Aurora but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe it's an excuse to come back to Norway or visit Finland or Alaska in the future.
Qatar Airways was a good surprise after the initial fear of flying this in economy. It does have a good economy class product with good food and service and great seat pitch. We would definitely not mind flying them in the future especially with fares like the ones we purchased. Here's too hoping for a mistake business class fare though.