[KSHaggag]

Fifth freedom traffic ( carriage via an airline s own hub ) always offers a chance for an airline to undercut the fares from its HOME COUNTRY.The airlines are doing so as they lack market identity on such routes .
Long ago ,swiss nationals living near the Italo-swiss border used to cross the border to Milan and fly Swissair from Milan to let s say New York via Zurich at a fraction of the fare Zurich-New York.
The same goes for BA pax flying out of Milan ,Rome ,Venice at a much cheaper fare than the direct London-New York and still on BA .Italy was traditionally a COC ( Coutry of Commencement of travel ) in Europe offering much lower intercontinental fares especially in Biz class than its counterparts ( UK,France ,Germany ,Switzerland ) .
Today QR is doing the same naturally but they have been precisely wise in restricting stopovers in Doha in order to discourage ppl from using this practice .Fly from London to Perth VIA Doha at an attractive fare ;if you intend to stop in Doha ( more than 24 hours ) ,you will end up paying a muchhh higher fare since Doha is their own traffic ;they know you will book QR if you are flying there most probably but on a London-Perth ,you are much less likely to book QR ( via Doha ) .
By the way ,the inter GCC flights e.g. DXB/DOH ,BAH/DXB ,etc are among the most expensive in the world based on a cost per mile ,especially in Premium classes.If you break your journey at your gateway of entry into GCC and buy a separate tkt inter GCC ,it will cost you an arm and a leg .

[MrDarwin]

Personally I really like the Al Mourjan lounge. I’ve always found it a relaxing place to spend a few hours on a layover. Plenty of staff wandering around to cater to your needs and a nice proper restaurant upstairs with an a la carte menu or buffet. Sitting downstairs reading a book and listening to the soothing splashes from the water feature whilst sipping a glass of Krug is a great way to unwind between flights (although I’m guessing that the Krug will disappear once the F lounge opens!).

It does get very busy during the peak transfer times. QR have provided a separate OW lounge for status card holders travelling economy because the Al Mourjan is already bursting at the busier times, and it’ll only get busier as the fleet and routes expand. Hopefully this means less waiting time for the showers, of which there clearly aren’t enough. I wonder if as HIA grows, would QR consider the CX model of a main lounge and smaller lounges located in the outer echelons of the airport?

I haven’t been to the OW lounge in Doha, however there are plenty of ‘terrible’ lounges around the world, many of them branded as the host airline’s own.

[FirstClassWannabe]

Rumour has it that the Al Safwa First lounge opened on 24/10. I am flying there next week so hope this is true.

[first_class_please]

I travelled through September 30 and asked as always when it would open, response was “soon, maybe next month”.

As the usual response is “soon” I didn’t provide any update here.

Surprising no press release though if it has opened, or update on their website.

[Wolfman]

Will be the usual Qatar ‘soft opening’ then it will shut as it doesn’t have approval then they will start repainting it and in a years time it will open – in fact very similar to the history of HIA. Never mind all WILL be ready for Q2022…………………………………………..

[FirstClassWannabe]

I am in doubt also as there has been little fanfare but I have read a couple of reports that seem genuine.

[esselle]

I don’t think the first class lounge is open yet.I flew QR first a few weeks ago and it wasn’t available at that point.

[KSHaggag]

Gentlemen ,

No deadline or announced date of opening was ever ever met there .

When CX decided recently to pull out of Doha given the miserable results achieved on the route ( I am a bit astonished CX embarked on such an uncalculated risk of flying daily to such a limited market ;very atypical of CX really ..) ,QR kept twisting and twisting the information with some camoufflage inn order to avoid saying that CX is pulling out ;what s wrong with that ???!!..as if it was a shame that CX is axing an unprofitable route that has been bleeding since the first day of operation ..The First class lounge topic is no different…

[NTarrant]

Lounge opened yesterday (25). There is a good review with pictures at

http://chrisguillebeau.com/al-safwa-lounge

[KSHaggag]

Thank you NTarrant .

Well,I liked Chris s report ;it sounded genuine .

I just wanted to add that I was sure that new Al Safwa ( in Arabic that means the Elite ) will come nowhere close to the former facility ( the First Class zone ) in the former ,old Doha Airport Premium Terminal.That one was head and shoulders above any similar facility in the Middle East ..it s gone for good !..

[IanFromHKG]

Am I right in thinking that if I travel in MH business class ex-LHR, that I can use the QR lounge by virtue of class of travel? The oneworld lounge doesn’t seem to exclude the possibility. The note against the QR lounge states “This lounge is only available to oneworld [note – it says oneworld, not QR] customers traveling in First and Business Class cabins”

Anyone tried?

[Wolfman]

Good luck – the answer is or should be ‘yes’ but they change their rules by the hour at HIA

[HappytobeSilver]

I used the al safwa lounge yesterday evening travelling from DOH to DXB in QR F and I have to say was mightly impressed. Lounge is very spacious and tastefully furnished. My only disappointed was that unlike the BA F lounge there was no JW blue label, only black………..(small gripe I know). Tomorrow am travelling DOH to MAN in J so will try to access the al safwa lounge with my BA gold card, but suspect will be re-directed to the al mourjan one instead.

[esselle]

However it may appear to conflict with the OW blurb, you will only get in to the Al Safwa lounge if you are travelling F with QR.

[nevereconomy]

So in some respects flying world class QR is not as world class as they would have you believe – correct ?

[Author]

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