A Short Doha Transit
Summer Premium Adventures
In this Summer Premium Adventure (Warning: Long!)
- In the Summertime when the weather is hot…
- Off to Heathrow, British Airways Galleries North Lounge
- BA762 London Heathrow to Oslo – A321neo (EuroTraveller)
- Oslo Airport, OSL Lounge
- AY914 Oslo to Helsinki, Business Class
- Helsinki Airport lounging
- QR302 Helsinki to Doha (Business Class)
- Doha Lounge Stop Part 1
- QR946 Doha to Singapore (QSuites)
- Hotel Indigo, Katong, Singapore
- Exploring Hawker Markets
- Intercontinental, Bugis, Singapore
- Orchids Everywhere – The National Orchid Garden
- Off to Changi featuring the Singapore Pokemon Centre
- Scoot TR604 Singapore to Bangkok
- Dream Hotel, Bangkok
- Exploring the Wats
- Food Mistakes in Bangkok (Or Regrets. I have a more than a few)
- Back to Suvarnabhumi, Qatar Airways Lounge, Bangkok Airport
- QR833 Bangkok to Doha (QSuites)
- Another long Doha Layover
- QR175 Doha to Oslo
- Back at Oslo Airport
- BA767 Oslo to London Heathrow (EuroTraveller)
- Homeward bound
- Always Curious
Something I learned on my last trip through Doha is to manage the transit times. Anything less than 2 hours can be risky if you’re stuck in security for a while, and anything more than six hours can cut into the trip. Part of the reason I did a Helsinki dog-leg was so I could get a specific flight to Singapore that would get me there in the afternoon – as opposed late night, whilst not bankrupting me.
So with a 2 hour 50 connection on the clock, I felt happy (even though I can an have done this in 1 hour 30…).
With me on a premium bus, all seven business class passengers were taken around the airport until we arrived at the drop off point. It’s a short walk to the terminal… and the aircon.
Remember to park your baby stroller you borrowed.
Nothing like 35c of heat… in the middle of the night.
Of course, the middle of the night is one of the peak waves at Hamad International Airport for transit passengers. Thankfully. there is priority security at this terminal now – making the process of clearing security a quick one (as opposed to some of the queues.
With that formality complete, it was time to descend into the shopping hell of Hamad International Airport – an airport that has built is the name on Duty-Free Art, and a big BearLamp.
Yes, Bearlamp. I know.
The main concourse.
I crossed the concourse and made a bee-line for the lounge. Not to stuff myself, but more to relax and charge up a few things.
Lounge stop – Al Mourjan Lounge
Going up
The airline here manages its guests at the bottom of the escalators – even if it seemed there were more than a few customers being turned away (the lounge situation atHamad International can be confusing for … well… anyone if you’re not paying attention or not a Qatar Airways premium passenger on Fare alone).
The main reception area
I found my way up the escalator, past the art and past the water pool to my usual section in the lounge – the blue chairs with tablets on them.
The pool
The show-off chandelier
Departures board.
The lounge itself hasn’t changed a lot since I was here last – meaning its still a calm point in a busy airport. However, that also means some things have been left to age – like the tablets by the seats. I noticed a lot of them were offline. Those that worked… had seen a lot better days in terms of use and performance
Those tablets are offline…
Charge all things.
That being said, the staff were friendly enough – with one noticing I had no drink. I politely asked for some bubbly – which was brought over quickly by the staff.
Well, it beats a coffee in the middle of the night, doesn’t it.
It was also a chance to refill the water bottles that were emptied at security. Yes, I travel with at least two water bottles. No, I don’t want to use larger ones.
And don’t fill your water bottle up from this (although i would prefer Qatar Airways to install filtered taps, rather than glass bottled water)
It was a chance to reflect and recover on the ground – which is welcome. Sadly, I didn’t feel the urge to eat – knowing there would be food onboard the flight.
There are some snacks and drinks stations dotted around the lounge (as well as a panini lounge).
Coffee
Or tea?
And some sweet things maybe?
Sadly, I didn’t stop here on the way back – that’s another story.
However, this is was a short visit as I had spent 20 minutes dealing with arrivals, 10 minutes fighting through the shopping maze and 50 minutes trying to charge batteries. My flight was being called – and this time, I would be going from the A piers.
Down we go…
C, D or E?
And this time – it would not be a bus gate. Trust me – that was welcome at this point of the game.
A.
Heading to the gate, I noticed a Qatar Airways shop. There are duty-free outlets with some QR branded items. This store had everything in it that has a Qatar Airways logo slapped on it.
Model Planes. At reassuringly expensive prices
Planes, mugs and snowglobes.
Metal planes
Bearsr. Not bear lamps.
And I mean *everything*
Even a mockup of their first-class product. Shame QSuites has surpassed that in some respects.
Now supplanted by QSuites…
I was stung for another Qatar Airways Mug…. another £12 down the pan to the airline. With that done, I headed down the gate and cleared the boarding pass check.
Off to the A Gates
Straight on…
With the gate busy, this was going to be a fun flight to Singapore.
There’s an A350-1000 out there.
Boarding sequence.
There was a short wait when I got to the gate, allowing me time to try to connect to the main airport Wi-Fi. By the time I had connected to the Wi-Fi, priority boarding was ready to begin.
With the nod given and staff checking boarding passes – I was allowed through.
It was time to try a new experience – QSuites
Next: Qatar Airways QR946 Doha to Singapore (QSuites)
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