Qatar Airlines To Uk

[nonthaburial]

Like most non business flyers, I check the prices for the best financial deals. Last November I booked a flight to London with Qatar Air. So on the 2nd Feb, I presented myself at Don Muang at 6am, the required two hours before departure, checked in and given 2 boarding cards, Bangkok- Doha and Doha - London, was then informed that due to late arrival of aircraft, flight was delayed by 2 hours!

When questioning Qatar Air ground staff about the consequences of the 2 hour delay regarding the connecting flight from Doha to London, I was informed that there would be no problem and all would be plain sailing, so to speak.

The flight to Doha was quite pleasant, the aircraft was good the cabin crew(mainly Filipinas) very helpful and inflight service etc no problem.

Although over 2 hours late,on landing at Doha, we were informed that the airport was very busy and that we had to hold in a parking area what seemed to be miles from the terminal. thirty minutes later we were allocated a parking space.

Now, what became a bad start to this trip started to get worse,a lot worse. Doha Airport is nothing more than a dismal hovel still under construction and makes Phuket Airport look like world class.There are no jetways and every aircraft has to park on the apron and all passengers bussed in to the terminal which was chaotic with hundreds of people taking up nearly all the floor space sleeping.

With my Doha-London borading pass I joined the long line at the London bound gate only to hear my name, along with six others being called out to go to the transit desk. Finding this desk and actually getting there without falling over the strewn sleeping bodies was an exercise in patience itself. The transit desk was literally under seige by angry passengers and the two

Qatar airline staff manning the desk were totally overwhelmed by what appeared to be at least four full blown rugby scrums! It didnt make things any better hearing the tannoy blaring out for all remaining London bound passengers to board immediately as the gates were now closing.

With the tact of an enraged buffalo, I managed to grab a Qatar Airline staff who told me I and the others were too late for the London flight and that our suitcases had already been taken off and were now sitting comfortably in the belly of an aircraft waiting to head for Manchester.The fact that there were other passengers behind me in the London check in gate had no effect on this guy and he even hinted that it was my fault the Bankok flight had arrived late which had caused this disruption to normal service. I was finally given a new boarding card for Manchester and told that at Manchester we would be met and guided through to our final destination, London Heathrow.

Ok we have all had a bad hair day but this was really stretching my usual peaceful demeanour and it was made worse when on the Manchester bound flight I was told by yet another Filipina member of the cabin crew, that the London flight was in fact heavily over booked, hinting that I and the six others had been bumped from that flight. Sorry but I was not a happy chappie !!!!

We landed at Manchester over 3 hours later than our scheduled arrival time at London only to be kept in a darkened aircraft at the jetway as some dipstick had failed to locate a ground generator in operational condition !! Upon being released from our flying prison, we were met at the gate by a guy of obvious Middle Eastern heritage who sported a wonderful Manchester accent, thrown on a bus and taken to the domestic terminal and by running through back corridors we eventually reached a back room immigration office and went through the usual and then to a British Midland desk where we were given boarding cards for London Heathrow. Just to enforce the bad hair day, I must point out that as the British Midland printer was down, all boarding cards had to be hand written.What the heck after nearly 18 hours of pain and suffering, whats another 30 minutes of hanging around !!

After another hour we finally landed at Heathrow, but hold on this was Terminal 1 not Terminal 3 and it was 10.30 at night not the 5.30pm we should have landed. Suitcases were on the carousal ( see not all things went wrong) and we were freed out of the airport into fresh but freezing air.

One of the other "detainees" from Bangkok called his family at Terminal 3 who were waiting for him to find that they were in a state of panic as they had not been informed by anyone that their Son was going to be 5 hours late and would be at Terminal 1 and not Terminal 3.

As for me, no problem, all I had to contend with was that both my hire car and my hotel reservations had been cancelled due to my "No show" and that my 80 year old parents sitting comfortably at home in Lincolnshire were on their 5th heart attack of the night!

Qatar, you can take your airline and your crappy little airport and shove it, you will not be seeing me again, unless of course you compensate me with a free return trip to London in first class and the use of the first class lounges at all airports encountered on route. But I wont hold my breath.

[briley]

Have to agree it was a bad hair day.

we got bounced by Qatar, got a lovely hotel in London, day and Hotel in Qatar (what a boring town) and a free Lon-bkk return ticket only - the tax to pay.

But when things go wrong boy can they become shambolic.

[jackr]

What a pisser...best to spend the extra pennies and go direct I reckon.

[Khutan]

Have you taken this up with the airline ?

[Krub]

Like most non business flyers, I check the prices for the best financial deals. Last November I booked a flight to London with Qatar Air. So on the 2nd Feb, I presented myself at Don Muang at 6am, the required two hours before departure, checked in and given 2 boarding cards, Bangkok- Doha and Doha - London, was then informed that due to late arrival of aircraft, flight was delayed by 2 hours!

When questioning Qatar Air ground staff about the consequences of the 2 hour delay regarding the connecting flight from Doha to London, I was informed that there would be no problem and all would be plain sailing, so to speak.

The flight to Doha was quite pleasant, the aircraft was good the cabin crew(mainly Filipinas) very helpful and inflight service etc no problem.

Although over 2 hours late,on landing at Doha, we were informed that the airport was very busy and that we had to hold in a parking area what seemed to be miles from the terminal. thirty minutes later we were allocated a parking space.

Now, what became a bad start to this trip started to get worse,a lot worse. Doha Airport is nothing more than a dismal hovel still under construction and makes Phuket Airport look like world class.There are no jetways and every aircraft has to park on the apron and all passengers bussed in to the terminal which was chaotic with hundreds of people taking up nearly all the floor space sleeping.

With my Doha-London borading pass I joined the long line at the London bound gate only to hear my name, along with six others being called out to go to the transit desk. Finding this desk and actually getting there without falling over the strewn sleeping bodies was an exercise in patience itself. The transit desk was literally under seige by angry passengers and the two

Qatar airline staff manning the desk were totally overwhelmed by what appeared to be at least four full blown rugby scrums! It didnt make things any better hearing the tannoy blaring out for all remaining London bound passengers to board immediately as the gates were now closing.

With the tact of an enraged buffalo, I managed to grab a Qatar Airline staff who told me I and the others were too late for the London flight and that our suitcases had already been taken off and were now sitting comfortably in the belly of an aircraft waiting to head for Manchester.The fact that there were other passengers behind me in the London check in gate had no effect on this guy and he even hinted that it was my fault the Bankok flight had arrived late which had caused this disruption to normal service. I was finally given a new boarding card for Manchester and told that at Manchester we would be met and guided through to our final destination, London Heathrow.

Ok we have all had a bad hair day but this was really stretching my usual peaceful demeanour and it was made worse when on the Manchester bound flight I was told by yet another Filipina member of the cabin crew, that the London flight was in fact heavily over booked, hinting that I and the six others had been bumped from that flight. Sorry but I was not a happy chappie !!!!

We landed at Manchester over 3 hours later than our scheduled arrival time at London only to be kept in a darkened aircraft at the jetway as some dipstick had failed to locate a ground generator in operational condition !! Upon being released from our flying prison, we were met at the gate by a guy of obvious Middle Eastern heritage who sported a wonderful Manchester accent, thrown on a bus and taken to the domestic terminal and by running through back corridors we eventually reached a back room immigration office and went through the usual and then to a British Midland desk where we were given boarding cards for London Heathrow. Just to enforce the bad hair day, I must point out that as the British Midland printer was down, all boarding cards had to be hand written.What the heck after nearly 18 hours of pain and suffering, whats another 30 minutes of hanging around !!

After another hour we finally landed at Heathrow, but hold on this was Terminal 1 not Terminal 3 and it was 10.30 at night not the 5.30pm we should have landed. Suitcases were on the carousal ( see not all things went wrong) and we were freed out of the airport into fresh but freezing air.

One of the other "detainees" from Bangkok called his family at Terminal 3 who were waiting for him to find that they were in a state of panic as they had not been informed by anyone that their Son was going to be 5 hours late and would be at Terminal 1 and not Terminal 3.

As for me, no problem, all I had to contend with was that both my hire car and my hotel reservations had been cancelled due to my "No show" and that my 80 year old parents sitting comfortably at home in Lincolnshire were on their 5th heart attack of the night!

Qatar, you can take your airline and your crappy little airport and shove it, you will not be seeing me again, unless of course you compensate me with a free return trip to London in first class and the use of the first class lounges at all airports encountered on route. But I wont hold my breath.

This can happen with any airline and you increase your chance of problems by choosing a conecting itinerary as opposed to a direct flight.

It is also not up to the airline to look after informing your rent a car and hotel of your late arrival. You might have had time to do that while waiting for British Midland's boarding passes....

At least they got you there within 5 jours of the scheduled arrival time which is not all that bad for a connecting flight that went bad.

They could have offerred you a forced 24 hours stopover in Doha instead....

I hope your parents are doing fine

[nonthaburial]

Krub, you are having a larf surely, please re read my post and note where I said that we literally RAN through the back corridors of Machester domestic terminal. Stopping to make a call or two was a luxury I could not afford.

[Krub]

Krub, you are having a larf surely, please re read my post and note where I said that we literally RAN through the back corridors of Machester domestic terminal. Stopping to make a call or two was a luxury I could not afford.

Hi I read that you was hanging around for 30 minutes.....

I am really sorry of your ordeal and I would have been as mad as you but I suppose that they did not let you down and brought you safely to your destination.

if you have a return ticket with them I hope it goes smoothly

[Pattaya_Fox]

I have to agree with the OP, I crossed Qatar off my list last year.

Tiny Doha airport has become so busy that you are lucky if you can get a seat. As Qatar try to take over as the leading Middle Eastern airline and ship people to this tiny hub from all over the world they forgot one thing.......the facilities for the passengers.

There is a small restaurant upstairs where all the seats are hugged by weary travellers....the holding gate areas are so small that the last time I was there I was standing for an hour waiting to board.

I found the airport staff to be rude and inefficient....and I had the same problem waiting on the tarmac for 40 minutes before disembarking and being bus driven to the airport.

Nope they aint getting any more of my cash!

[ThaiPauly]

I used them once.... never again, my experiece was nothing like as bad as yours but it was bad enough.

Gulf Air are not much better.

Ethitad are my favorite middle eastern airline

[AsiaWolfie]

actually we should be thankful to nonthaburial for taking his time and writing such a comprehensive travel report..... I really like to read such posts which include FACTS and are helpful to others....

in general, I find all of the middle-east-airlines very much overrated, even EMIRATES. the problem is, they dont fly NONSTOP to Europe, and in case there are some schedule-poblems, NO airline there will be helpful. I know horror-stories even from Emirates, after flights were late and the connecting flight left already.....

and I am quite surprised about Thai-Pauli's comment on Etihad, as they got a lot of bad reviews lately (even here in THAIVISA), but well, everybody makes different experiences.

For me, the only reason to fly a middle-East airline is the competitive fare they mostly offer, and the 30 KG-luggage allowance, which many middle-East-airlines give, some to all passengers, such as Turkish - ok not middleEast really - and some their frequent flyer, GOLF 30 Kg and Qatar even 35 KG even u r a standard member only.

as for QATAR AIR, I think its a little bit unfair to hold them responsible for the size of the DOHA airport. they would probably do a better job if their working conditions were better. But the new huge DOHA airport will change the situation certainly.....

but if it wouldnt matter to me to pay 30.000 or 47.000 for a return ticket to Europe, I would fly Star Alliance or Skyteam anyway....but still money matters

[briley]

Sorry aisawolfie but I just don't agree with you. Which is fortunate for the airlines or some would get no trade.

I like the break in the Gulf as it gives me a chance to stretch my legs, provided the stop is not much over 2 hours.

So now I rate the airlines based on how good the airline is as well as the airport, and if some people find Doha small spend some time in Abu Dhabi.

To get from BKK to Manchester UK:

I like Qatar airways as they have a good set of conections and a nice break in Doha

Emirates gets the thumbs down as they fly 777's with a 3-4-3 seating, so the two of us can't have a window-isle seat as on the airbus's

Gulf Air went off over the last few years and their price has not been as competative as it could be.

Etihad have their stop in tiny Abu Dhabi and it is in the middle of my bodies night, not so nice. Add in a rather high airfares compared to Qatar and Emirates and again no thanks.

Turkish was interesting but somehow they just managed to be below average on seating, meals, timings etc and somehow we were disgruntalled at the end of the flights.

Just my thoughts - now how about air bangladesh?

[nrp1000]

Sounds bad news, but if you are going via Middle East try Etihad. The Abu Dhabi airport isn't great - a vase in the desert is my description but the connections are only 1 -1.5 hours for LHR. I've used them 4 times now and they have been on time, comfortable, good crews and new planes.

Costs are reasonable as well

Neil

[lazeeboy]

Sounds bad news, but if you are going via Middle East try Etihad. The Abu Dhabi airport isn't great - a vase in the desert is my description but the connections are only 1 -1.5 hours for LHR. I've used them 4 times now and they have been on time, comfortable, good crews and new planes.

Costs are reasonable as well

Neil

i had to pay for my son to come to thailand and qatar was the cheapest so thats how he came ,ask him how it was and the reply was ...how should i know i was .. asleep

[Eff1n2ret]

So is there an update on the service of Qatar Airways or Doha Airport? The OP's sad tale was 18 months ago.

I'm thinking of trying them for cost reasons, and also using Gatwick instead of terrible Heathrow

[lazeeboy]

So is there an update on the service of Qatar Airways or Doha Airport? The OP's sad tale was 18 months ago.

I'm thinking of trying them for cost reasons, and also using Gatwick instead of terrible Heathrow

apart from the 7 hour stopover going to bkk this is an ok flight ,one of the cheapest........

[Farma]

I haven’t flown with them but I’m hearing good reports from people working in the Middle East that have flown with them recently.

Only a week ago a guy involved in organizing travel for a major Middle East oil company mentioned Qatar was offering the best travel deals from the Middle East at the moment.

[Zeid]

middle east and then to europe your best choice is RJ ROYAL JORDANIAN i never had a probem with them they are a bit more expensive, but i get as much food as i need, they have thai flight attendants and arabs.

queen alia international airport is not busy, but you might have problem is connecting flights but there is ahotel next to the airport that the airline offers rooms, i guess for free, you can always take those extra hours and tour Amman.

but airport crew not friendly and you will be frustrated at the immigration, but they have been getting much better, and my last trip iut went fast.

so RJ is your next best choice. and they are a memebr of oneworld alliance.

[game4shame]

Ok we have all had a bad hair day but this was really stretching my usual peaceful demeanour and it was made worse when on the Manchester bound flight I was told by yet another Filipina member of the cabin crew, that the London flight was in fact heavily over booked, hinting that I and the six others had been bumped from that flight. Sorry but I was not a happy chappie !!!!

flew qatar last month and had an over-booking near miss.

boarded the plane for the DOH-BKK leg only to find someone in my seat. I assumed the guy had made a mistake and showed him my boarding pass. his pass showed the same seat allocation.

I got one of the cabin crew across and they went to check the passenger list. after a few minutes we were told my name was in the seat on the passenger list. the other guy was told to wait but the crew mentioned the flight was full!

after 10 mins or so the flight attendant said 4 passengers had missed the flight and their bags were being off-loaded so the guy had a seat.

other than that - and the tight connection times - I couldn't fault qatar. decent airline IMO.

[Governor]

That flight seems to have pretty awful, but things can and do go wrong.

I have flown Qatar a number of times and have nothing but praise for them. I used to use them regularly to the Maldives and often remarked how good the service was, though that was in busines class. On one occassion I realised that I had left my reading glasses in the lounge in Doha, I realsised once I was in the air mentioned to the cabin crew, the glasses were located and delivered to me in London the next day, only a small thing I admit but it proved to me that the staff were prepared to listen and help.

I recently flew with them to Bangkok, this time up the back and I have to admit I was a little aprehensive but it was a cost thing. I was pleasantly suprised, the flight was full but the service and comfort was excellent.

You still have to bus to the terminal, but I thought the terminal was very good.

I would certainly use them again, but perhaps I was lucky.

[Flow]

I agree with Op. Qatar airlines NEVERR AGAIN.

they still use the old fashioned "reconfirm your booking" policy in most African countries. Calling to reconfirm is virtually impossible, and when you eventually get thruohg you get the most rude and arrogant reservation officer tell you that you have to hold and then... you get off. This happenen many times over 4 hour long hours!!!

Substandard reservation and boooking service!

Qatar Airlines: You suck!!!!!!!

Emirates is so much better!