The major Gulf carriers have among the highest percentage of international transit passengers of any airlines in the world. After all, their business models revolve around using their central locations to connect some of the most densely populated parts of the world.
Continue reading: Qatar Airways’ Free Transit & Stopover Hotel Program
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
With the way QR schedules their flights, along with their route network.. the amount people who will qualify for their “next available flight” being so much longer as to actually enjoying their time in the city in this way.. will be MINIMAL (especially if it’s through the night)
Can you also write about Emirates' free stopover program, including their extended transit layover hotel options. I think there are more passengers eligible for this on EK than QR, since QR has more frequencies to many destinations compared to EK (since they fly smaller planes), it is able to bank almost all destinations in a way where long layovers without an earlier option are very hard to come by.
It also seems Emirates has scaled back its operation to some of its most popular destinations and hasn't fully recovered 100% to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, QR has grown bigger than ever before.
How about qr code share flight coming into doha? For example flying ba or mh I to doha but booked with qr flight number? I think the terms and conditions said only qr operated and sold flights and the hotels do check the boarding pass? Is that so?
@ Ken -- That would be eligible. Per the terms, STPC "is permitted if one of the flights connecting at Doha is marketed and operated by Qatar Airways and the other flight is marketed by Qatar Airways but operated by another airline."
@ Omar -- That's a great question. On the surface those fare classes would qualify, though the direction value needs to be $400 or more, which would exclude award tickets (unless the YQ is really high).
@ Charles -- True, but keep in mind you can be strategy here with the connection you book. The restriction is that you need to take the next available flight. Many long haul services are once daily, so there's nothing preventing you from intentionally taking an earlier flight to DOH.
For example, say you were flying from Jeddah to Miami via Doha. Doha to Miami departs at 8AM, and there's also a 4:30AM flight from Jeddah to Doha that gets in at 7AM, for a quick connection. But if you instead booked the 11:15AM Jeddah to Doha flight the day before (getting in at 1:50PM), the next connection would be the following morning.
So you have to take the next available connection, but there's nothing preventing you from intentionally booking flights in such a way that you have a long connection.
Keep in mind that while in theory this is available to everyone, anecdotally most African country nationals are denied this even though they otherwise qualify.
I had this booked MIA -DOH-BOM- DIH-MIA. My departure date was 3.21.20. Glad to see they brought it back...
I've taken that routing before and the 4:30am flight from Jeddah to Doha. Had an hour layover at DOH before my flight to MIA, and we landed at a remote gate. I quickly raced to the bus, and had to re-learn security and then U.S. bound security at the gate. Barely made it onto the flight.
On a slightly separate note, the Minimum Connection Time at DOH used to be 1:30/1:40min. Just before the World Cup, they decreased it to 45min. At a major international airport. DOH is quite efficient, but that is still really tight.
Is this actually brought back now? Asking, as when I booked recently, I was told even though it still had it on the website, they "weren't currently offering the hotel stopover"
@ Khatl -- It's my understanding that this was been reinstated in the past couple of weeks.
Hi Ben,
We have ~18 hour in Doha in June, and I just reached out to them about this program after seeing your tweet this morning. I'm still confused, may just call in, but this is what they gave me-
Agent: Welcome to Qatar Airways. How can I help you?
Rickie : Customer has joined the chat
Agent: Hello Rickie, my name is Navaneeth. How can I assist you today?
Rickie : Good morning. I noticed that the layover program was reactivated, and the website says to contact Qatar Airways for details on the hotel transit to and from the airport.
Rickie : I have a non-refundable hotel booked so don't need anything there, but transit would be great
Agent: Could you please provide me with the booking reference number ?
Rickie : (provided)
Agent: Are you looking for the complementary layover accommodation?
Rickie : Not the accommodation, just the taxi/car from the airport and back. We already have a non-refundable accommodation. Can I do only the car?
Agent: I’m very sorry, but fulfilling that request isn’t possible at this time.
Rickie : Should I check back or is not part of the program?
Rickie : Can it be done on Avios tickets or does it have to be cash?
Agent: The ancillary services are refundable and as of now we are not providing the car hire service.
Rickie : oh ok
Agent: Is there anything else I can assist you with?
Rickie : So if you say its refundable- does that mean I can submit my hotel booking for a refund between what I paid and what I would be entitled through the program?
Agent: As of now the ancillary services are non refundable. as an example if it eligible for the refund you will back your amount. if it is non refundable nothing can be done.
So I don't know if its because I didn't add during the booking process, but the more I read it, the agent seems to think I was asking about having the cost of the program refunded- I don't know.
@ Rick -- I wouldn't expect them to cover just the car, since I believe they sometimes offer shared transportation shuttles to & from the airports. Also, if it's a saver Avios ticket, it wouldn't qualify anyway. Admittedly QR customer support sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, to put it mildly...
This posts helps -- there are a lot of airlines with the 'stopover' program and their rules and regulations vary. Some include hotels and some just include tours (I have done the tour option in both Germany and Singapore). I just tried to do the stopover program with Turkish Airlines for Istanbul - their program only includes 2 hotels which are right next to the airport and does not include transportation to/from either the airport or the city; those expenses have to be self-incurred. And this was in business class - but as your post detailed, the hotel rates in the cities are sometimes not expensive so I booked my own hotel in the center of Istanbul and recommend not to take the 'stopover program' with Turkish
On a related note, the Qatar website is fairly useless in determining how to get a transit visa. It keeps taking me to dead webpages. From what I have gathered a 24 hour transit visa can be obtained upon arrival with proof of accommodations and a ticket to leave the next day. Can anyone confirm this and that there's no option to do this ahead of time?
We looked at the stopover program and ultimately decided it was a better deal to just cash in an AmEx Hilton CC free night certificate.
So I have to do three nights in Doha. Flying in to Doha on QR and I am departing on QR. If I use the website to stay at the park hyatt on the discounted rate will those nights count towards my Bilt challenge? I'm guessing they won't but using this offer it would be like half the price of a room. Could book the grand hyatt which would give me a third night free and I definitely will get credit for those nights but that place has mixed reviews.
We have a 9 hour layover in Doha on Qatar Airlines Business class made with QFF points. QR720 from Vancouver arrives at 1545 then QR948 to Singapore which leaves at 0240 the next day.
They were the only available award flights when I booked but I am unsure whether we will qualify as there is an earlier QR942 flight at 2000. This was not available as a rewards booking when we booked.
I also cannot find anywhere on the website or APP to request a hotel.
Any advice on how to go about requesting a hotel or whether we qualify?
Any idea what hotel they put economy passengers at, or which few they tend to? We have this in two days. I called and went through a whole rigamorale to get this approved (they rejected me over the phone only to tell me over email that I qualified?)
So to make sure I read this right, award tickets booked through AA don't qualify for any kind of hotel/transportation offers, right? Even discounts?
Based on my research you CAN get discounted rooms. Ultimately I decided to use an annual free night certificate instead as the pricing wasn't amazing relative to the published rack rates.
This is the site Qatar directed me to - https://www.discoverqatar.qa/stopover-booking
Obvious. Question. Does the layover program apply to a non revenue ticket already booked?
Hi Lucky,
I have to use an American airline due to Fly America Act. I can book a Qatar Airways as a codeshare from AA, from JFK to Entebbe. If I buy a business class ticket via AA, will this get me hotel access and lounge access, or does this not apply to codeshare flights?
Qatar Airways has rejected me from the free transit hotel program because our tickets are not controlled by them. But our flights are operated by Qatar AIrways. Any idea what we can do to get in the program?
Is Business Lite qualifies for the transit complementary hotel? I will have have 19 hours connecting time if I buy this ticket IAD to BLR.
Just been denied my booking for a stopover with a BA redemption ticket so assume same rules apply to AA.
Does that redemption rule apply to the discounted stopover hotel rates or is it more flexible? And can I qualify if I am booking the Doha fare via Qatar and the departure via BA.com. Issue is there’s no availability on QR for the onward connection.
I just got rejected for a BA.com booking on a QR flight so I am guessing no for AA.
Travelling from Thiruvandhapuram to Pittsburgh, PA. Has a layover of 19 hours in Doha. How can I avail the Transit hotel facility. I am unable to create the account to make a reservation. Any guidance is helpful, Thank you
Hey just checking were you denied at the Stop over website itself? I am considering making a booking via BA avios but I can also just transfer to Qatar Priv Club itself to get a QR eticket number if that is all that is needed
Really?
This is terrible!
I am Nigerian and was just about to book a flight for my family of 4. I was really looking forward to availing the complementary transit accommodation specifically because of my kids.
I think I will just chat them up to find out the reason why most African nationals seem to be stylishly exempted from this.
i mistakely booked 22 hour layover flight from kathmandu to washington dc , so should i get hotel free and if yes where should i contcat?
On my way to Sanfrancisco, can I break my journey for two days and stay with my relative without additional cost. Like Singapore Airlines, does Qatar gives free hotel accommodation for a day or two.
K.Raghuraman
kraghuraman99@gmail com
My layover is 7 hours. I read you can take advantage of the city tour offered by Quatar but everything here says minimum 8 hour layover. Also do you have to do anything extra to get a transit visa as an American or is it automatic as long as you have a stopover and board another flight same or next day. I am booking via British Airways not Quatar direct. Therefore is all of this null?
Anyone do this recently?
The “free” transit accommodation with Qatar airlines isn’t free for me …. Maybe it’s different for others in other classes. I am in economy class Q and my layover in Doha is 19 hours
They are charging a service fee of $125 per person …. The “free” accommodation includes hotel (name not provided), transportation to hotel, and temporary visa.
Please do keep in mind, they won't provide accomodation package to economy classic, no matter if it is x or q.
It is deceiving, and I had to cancel my flight, gladly figured it out within 24 hrs
Mo free transit accommodation with Qatar airlines for me. I’m in economy class T and my layover in Doha is 19 hours
They are charging a service fee of $125 per person. The “free” accommodation includes hotel (name not provided), transportation to hotel, and temporary visa (free for Dutch people).
Very disappointing this!
I am not entirely sure where you source your information but to suggest ...." otherwise hotels in Doha generally aren’t too expensive either" is factually incorrect. Five star hotels in Doha are VERY expensive compared to Europe and Australia.
Hi, I'd like to share my experience as someone might find it helpful. I did quite a research online and was pretty sure to be granted a complimentary transit accommodation but was rejected instead.
I booked GDN-CPH-DOH-HKG 2024/07/14 on Qatar Airways app:
GDN 6:10am - CPH 7:10am, SAS
CPH 9:20am - DOH 4:20pm, QR
DOH 1:45am - HKG 3:05pm, QR
with 9h25min layover in Doha.
There are ony two flights DOH-HKG daily: 1:45am and 8:40am, so mine was the first one available.
However, the response to my complimentary transit hotel request was "we regret to inform you that your booking is not entitled for the complimentary transit accommodation in Doha as there is an immediate connection available".
An agent on live chat explained the situation providing a whole new itinerary:
GDN 6:10am - CPH 7:10am, SAS
CPH 4:05pm - DOH 11:20pm, QR operated by Finnair
DOH 1:45am - HKG 3:05pm, QR
with 2h25min laover in DOH but 8h55min layover in CPH.
The argument of avoiding Finnair as the quality differs from that of Qatar Airways was not accepted.
So what matters is the whole itinerary from the starting point and not only the fact that when in Doha you take the first flight possible.
We’re stopping over in Doha on Christmas Day for 20 hours. We’ve been assigned the Oryx Airport Hotel. I think maybe we’d prefer to go downtown to spend a couple of hours sightseeing. So I have two questions: Can we ask to change hotels to a downtown option, and SHOULD we ask to change hotels ie are we better off just taking what we’ve been assigned as it’s a better option to heading downtown?
The costs for the 5 star hotels in QR stop over program is much higher than announced. Minimum hotel room price is 175 QAR = 48 USD. Far away from the 20 USD
Qatar airways customer service is shockingly rubbish. Airline is on a decline, and their Indian contact centres are doing irrepairable damage. They don't provide correct information and make false promises. Extremely frustrating.
wE DO NOT LIKE TO FLY WITH q AIRLINE ANY MORE. AVOID ALL OF THEM LIKE tURKISHAIRLINE AS WELL.