Requesting information on traveling through Doha, Qatar

[Goose Cracker]

I can answer nº5, no problems as long as it is unopened, in the closed plastic bag you get at the duty free.

Exactly my experience a couple weeks ago. No problem with bottle I purchased at DFW duty free.

 

[Goose Cracker]

You really don’t have to do anything in Doha. When we flew thru in 2019 your luggage is checked all the way thru to destination. I would suggest you download the Qatar app so you can follow ur luggage online. I asked the agent at the gate to make sure my guns made the plane. They are very diligent about making sure your firearms are on the plane

Also exactly my experience from a couple weeks ago. No problems in Doha at all. Would definitely do Qatar and Doha again.

 

[Tracey Colson]

Can someone who has flown through DOHA to JNB recently on QATAR tell me what steps I will have to go through after landing in DOHA with firearms (hunting rifles)? I want to make certain I have enough time to catch my flight to JNB.

I will agree with the above reply on firearms. Make sure they are checked through to JNB when you check them in. Only other advice I have is to make sure you plan plenty of time at your original check in point. While they were very polite and there was no issue with my check in, it is a time consuming process. Be there when they open for check in for your flight.

I also agree with getting the app and adding your trips. I got alerts when my bags were loaded onto the next plane. It was a piece if mind knowing they had made the connection.

Enjoy your trip. The flights are long, but nice airplanes and good service.

 

[Buck51]

Thanks for all the info! I just cancelled my Delta flight and am booking QATAR. I have a 2 hour layover in DOHA before my JNB flight and was concerned I might not have enough time. Thanks

 

[Tracey Colson]

Thanks for all the info! I just cancelled my Delta flight and am booking QATAR. I have a 2 hour layover in DOHA before my JNB flight and was concerned I might not have enough time. Thanks

It will be a tight connection but you should be fine. It took my wife and I 42 minutes Gate to gate. We were supposed to have a 1hr 45min layover but incoming flight was a little late. They dud announce on that flight that they were waiting a few minutes for people to board from a connecting flight as well

 

[Areaonereal]

My experience in Doha....your firearm is not loaded on your flight to JNB until you check in and available to board....your firearm does not go unless you go.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Update:
Qatar flight DC to Doga to Johannesburg was no problem. I had a 3 hrs 40 min layover in Doha even with all the covid BS I had enough time to get from one end of the airport to the other with time to wait for the departure gate to start admitting passengers.

For those who have had delayed, lost firearms and/or luggage and/or ammo:

Please Check Your baggage and check SAPS to ensure your firearm and ammunition even though the airlines says these items are checked through to your destination are not on the carousel and at the SAPS office waiting for you or that you picked up the wrong luggage.

1. My firearms and ammo and checked baggage were not checked through to Harare. Luckily I had plenty of time between flights to process my firearms and ammo through SAPS with the help of Marius and Anna of Henry Rifle Premits.

2. Upon my return to Johannesburg from hunting in Zimbabwe I spent nearly 3 hours with the aid of Airlink staff, Marius and Anna trying to find my missing checked baggage. Someone had picked up my luggage thinking it was theirs.

I'm asking everyone no matter what kind of hurry to get out of the various airports we are all in. Causing someone this kind of delay is unnecessary.

Luckily I was overnighting in Jo'berg otherwise who knows when or if I would have received my baggage.

FYI: Barnes TSX hollow point bullets are illegal ammunition in Zimbabwe. I found this out during my departure from Zimbabwe when the custom agent went to count my ammunition. Because I was exiting Zimbabwe I just got a dirty look and an okay to continue on my way to Johannesburg rather than it being confiscated and advised as a future reference not to bring hollow point bullets into Zimbabwe on future trips.

For those who are not familiar with transiting through Johannesburg to other countries: you will need to get a weapons permit.

Once again, luckily I used Henry Rifle Premits and Marius and Anna were able to clarify, rectify, and get my weapons permit dates corrected and made it easier for clearing SAPS on the second leg of my hunt in South Africa.

 

[NTH]

We flew Qatar through Doha and will never again fly that route again. The flight over to Doha was nice and relaxing, the plane was clean and the crew was friendly. We landed around 6pm and had a 10 hour layover. The airport itself is beautiful with tons of shops, no bars and the restaurants were closing so food was limited.
The trip home was totally different. We left JNB and once we made our connection in Doha the plane was packed with locals that trashed that plane. Urine was all over the bathroom floor, blood and feces were smeared on the bathroom walls and people were walking barefoot in this waste. We watched people pick their noses and wipe snot in their seats, drop food and smash it into the carpets. It was like flying 12 hours in a dumpster. We will never fly through Doha again.

 

[sestoppelman]

Sounds just awful! Cant say I miss flying.
Reminds me of years ago on my first trip to Africa. We went thru Amsterdam on KLM. We had some time to kill so took a canal tour on a boat.
At the aft end of the cabin was a head with a door. Some fool, I will just say not white Anglo Saxon, went back to use it and proceeded to empty his bladder without closing the door in full view of all the other passengers and was watching us while he did so, almost daring anyone to say anything.
Thankfully I guess he was largely ignored but I thought gee, what a jerk!

 

[sestoppelman]

Update:
Qatar flight DC to Doga to Johannesburg was no problem. I had a 3 hrs 40 min layover in Doha even with all the covid BS I had enough time to get from one end of the airport to the other with time to wait for the departure gate to start admitting passengers.

For those who have had delayed, lost firearms and/or luggage and/or ammo:

Please Check Your baggage and check SAPS to ensure your firearm and ammunition even though the airlines says these items are checked through to your destination are not on the carousel and at the SAPS office waiting for you or that you picked up the wrong luggage.

1. My firearms and ammo and checked baggage were not checked through to Harare. Luckily I had plenty of time between flights to process my firearms and ammo through SAPS with the help of Marius and Anna of Henry Rifle Premits.

2. Upon my return to Johannesburg from hunting in Zimbabwe I spent nearly 3 hours with the aid of Airlink staff, Marius and Anna trying to find my missing checked baggage. Someone had picked up my luggage thinking it was theirs.

I'm asking everyone no matter what kind of hurry to get out of the various airports we are all in. Causing someone this kind of delay is unnecessary.

Luckily I was overnighting in Jo'berg otherwise who knows when or if I would have received my baggage.

FYI: Barnes TSX hollow point bullets are illegal ammunition in Zimbabwe. I found this out during my departure from Zimbabwe when the custom agent went to count my ammunition. Because I was exiting Zimbabwe I just got a dirty look and an okay to continue on my way to Johannesburg rather than it being confiscated and advised as a future reference not to bring hollow point bullets into Zimbabwe on future trips.

For those who are not familiar with transiting through Johannesburg to other countries: you will need to get a weapons permit.

Once again, luckily I used Henry Rifle Premits and Marius and Anna were able to clarify, rectify, and get my weapons permit dates corrected and made it easier for clearing SAPS on the second leg of my hunt in South Africa.

Weapons permit? What exactly is that? Must be new.

 

[Red Leg]

We flew Qatar through Doha and will never again fly that route again. The flight over to Doha was nice and relaxing, the plane was clean and the crew was friendly. We landed around 6pm and had a 10 hour layover. The airport itself is beautiful with tons of shops, no bars and the restaurants were closing so food was limited.
The trip home was totally different. We left JNB and once we made our connection in Doha the plane was packed with locals that trashed that plane. Urine was all over the bathroom floor, blood and feces were smeared on the bathroom walls and people were walking barefoot in this waste. We watched people pick their noses and wipe snot in their seats, drop food and smash it into the carpets. It was like flying 12 hours in a dumpster. We will never fly through Doha again.

Wow. Never had that experience. I admit I flew business class in August on Qatar to Zambia, but the planes were immaculate going and coming. I think they cleaned the bathroom after every passenger use. Baggage thru check in Johannesburg went fine with no need to visit SAPS.

When was this? If recent, I wonder if the flight was filled out with Afghan refugees? Qatari's are as civilized as anyone and with a very high standard of living. In other words, they weren't "locals." However, Doha is the primary staging area for those Afghan refugees being sent on to the US. They definitely would be third world.

 

[NTH]

Wow. Never had that experience. I admit I flew business last in August on Qatar to Zambia, but the planes were immaculate going and coming. I think they cleaned the bathroom after every passenger use. Baggage thru check in Johannesburg went fine with no need to visit SAPS.

When was this? If recent, I wonder if the flight was filled out with Afghan refugees? Qatari's are as civilized as anyone and with a very high standard of living. They weren't "locals." However, Doha is the primary staging area for those refugees being sent on to the US. They definitely would be lower tier third world.

It was in April / May, but it might as well been filled with refugees.

 

[Red Leg]

Update:
Qatar flight DC to Doga to Johannesburg was no problem. I had a 3 hrs 40 min layover in Doha even with all the covid BS I had enough time to get from one end of the airport to the other with time to wait for the departure gate to start admitting passengers.

For those who have had delayed, lost firearms and/or luggage and/or ammo:

Please Check Your baggage and check SAPS to ensure your firearm and ammunition even though the airlines says these items are checked through to your destination are not on the carousel and at the SAPS office waiting for you or that you picked up the wrong luggage.

1. My firearms and ammo and checked baggage were not checked through to Harare. Luckily I had plenty of time between flights to process my firearms and ammo through SAPS with the help of Marius and Anna of Henry Rifle Premits.

2. Upon my return to Johannesburg from hunting in Zimbabwe I spent nearly 3 hours with the aid of Airlink staff, Marius and Anna trying to find my missing checked baggage. Someone had picked up my luggage thinking it was theirs.

I'm asking everyone no matter what kind of hurry to get out of the various airports we are all in. Causing someone this kind of delay is unnecessary.

Luckily I was overnighting in Jo'berg otherwise who knows when or if I would have received my baggage.

FYI: Barnes TSX hollow point bullets are illegal ammunition in Zimbabwe. I found this out during my departure from Zimbabwe when the custom agent went to count my ammunition. Because I was exiting Zimbabwe I just got a dirty look and an okay to continue on my way to Johannesburg rather than it being confiscated and advised as a future reference not to bring hollow point bullets into Zimbabwe on future trips.

For those who are not familiar with transiting through Johannesburg to other countries: you will need to get a weapons permit.

Once again, luckily I used Henry Rifle Premits and Marius and Anna were able to clarify, rectify, and get my weapons permit dates corrected and made it easier for clearing SAPS on the second leg of my hunt in South Africa.

Weapons permit? What exactly is that? Must be new.

Beat me to it.

 

[Tgood1]

I've done the doha layover to sa a few times. No issues except the last leg in August 2021, the was a person or persons whose body odor literally was so horrific I had difficulty eating on the flight. The attendendent said they should have not been allowed to board

 

[sestoppelman]

That happened to me once but only briefly thank goodness. During a stopover at Dakar on the way home, a man of the cloth embarked and sat down next to me with really bad BO. Thankfully the plane had extra seats so he soon moved away and saved the day.

 

[Doug3006]

I’ve flown on Qatar and Emirates and have never experienced anything but clean planes, friendly people and super nice airport facilities. It takes some doing to outgross the facilities at O’Hare or Hartsfield. I’d feel the same as you if I went through what you experienced.