Doha Airport advice

[Landa]

Hi everyone
Our flights are booked and we are counting the days (actually the months) off to our starting date: 6 June 2025.

Do anybody have experience at Doha airport & Qatar Airways?

Flying from South Africa we have a connecting flight in Doha to Madrid. We will be flying with Qatar Airways and our connection flight will be Iberia.
Does anyone know how far appart the arrival & departure is? (No gate reference on ticket)
We do have 1hr55 to our connection flight.

Qatar airways & Iberia
We intend to take our (hopefully light) backpacks & small hip bag on the plane. I know the allowed measurements & weight.
Is there anyone who have experience taking there backpack on the plane?

 

[Lexicos]

Doha is a big airport but it’s efficient and well set out and Qatar is a good airline; in my experience you will have time to get to your connecting flight, for sure. I’ve done it many times and never had a problem.

If you can take your backpacks on the plane, even better. Just be sure you don’t take any prohibited items.

PS; I’ve always put my backpack through luggage. Unfortunately, it’s a tad too big, even though it’s ok for the weight.

 

[donalomahony]

Did you book your ticket as two separate bookings OR as one through booking?

2 hours in Doha Airport is enough time. Plenty of workers on the ground to ask directions...

Buen Camino!

 

[TravellingMan22]

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Doha is a big airport but it’s efficient and well set out and Qatar is a good airline; in my experience you will have time to get to your connecting flight, for sure. I’ve done it many times and never had a problem.

If you can take your backpacks on the plane, even better. Just be sure you don’t take any prohibited items.

PS; I’ve always put my backpack through luggage. Unfortunately, it’s a tad too big, even though it’s ok for the weight.

Agreed. It’s a good airport and QR are a very good airline.

As their home market is small and it’s still developing as a destination, like all Middle Eastern airlines, they put a lot of focus on connecting traffic and are pretty good at selling and servicing it!

 

[OzAnnie]

Doha is a big airport but it’s efficient and well set out and Qatar is a good airline; in my experience you will have time to get to your connecting flight, for sure. I’ve done it many times and never had a problem.

I agree with Lexico here .. ..
When transiting in Doha on flights from Australia… any checked luggage is transferred to next flight automatically. You only need to collect it at destination in Spain in your case. You will only have to head to your connecting gate area.

It’s a really pretty airport. Indoor park of shrubs palms trees etc. to wander through if you have time with seating spots to rest awhile.

 

[Landa]

Did you book your ticket as two separate bookings OR as one through booking?

2 hours in Doha Airport is enough time. Plenty of workers on the ground to ask directions...

Buen Camino!

Did you book your ticket as two separate bookings OR as one through booking?

2 hours in Doha Airport is enough time. Plenty of workers on the ground to ask directions...

Buen Camino!

As one booking.

 

[Corned Beef]

How does Dubai compare with Doha for those transiting?

 

[LTfit]

I've flown from Amsterdam through Doha with QA on my way to Kathmandu in 2022 and I'll be flying again with them in February on my way to Bali. I had good experience in 2022 so hoping for the same this time around.

 

[donalomahony]

You replied "As one booking" ... That's good as the travel agent / airline which sold you the ticket will have responsibility for the transfer should something go wrong.

These Middle Eastern airports specialise in the transfer business, so I'd say no worries!

 

[Landa]

You replied "As one booking" ... That's good as the travel agent / airline which sold you the ticket will have responsibility for the transfer should something go wrong.

These Middle Eastern airports specialise in the transfer business, so I'd say no worries!

Great! Thank you for helping.

 

[Takahiwai]

How does Dubai compare with Doha for those transiting?

Having used both frequently, my vote goes to Doha by a country mile.

 

[Felice]

I had to chip in, even though I have nothing up to date to add, just to say SNAP!

So glad to hear that Doha has improved significantly since I had occasion to transit there about 15 years ago when it was a nightmare!
First, it was a choice of about 1 or 12 hours between flights so we knew it would be tight before we even started the journey.
Then when we arrived, it took ages for the steps to appear. Once on a bus we seemed to do a total tour of the airport before finally arriving at a building where there was an enormous crowd waiting to go through security. A bit of elbowing was needed to get to the front, then it was a mad sprint through the terminal to get to the gate. I think we got there after the official departure time, and there were a few more arriving after us. All highly stressful. Only did it a couple more times before Emirates started a flight from Birmingham which was much more convenient for us.

I have a lovely memory from one trip, flying Muscat to Amman via Doha, where we had a couple of hours to wait, watching several arabs with hawks on one wrist and a briefcase in the other hand, wander nonchalantly through to their gate.

 

[bestfootforward]

As everyone has said, Doha is an exceptional hub and while the airport's large it's not like Dubai which is now the size of a small city! Staff are helpful and specialise in transiting passengers.

You mention there's no gate listed on your ticket. Gates aren't generally allocated until about 3hrs (or less) before a flight....and they change all the time. You won't know your gate until you land from SA. Check the first monitor you see, ask directions and go from there. And as a 'one ticket' journey, should your incoming flight be delayed and you miss your connecting flight, the airline is responsible for sorting your onward travel. Having carry-on only helps so you're not disadvantaged in the worst case scenario. Just go with the flow. You'll be fine. Buen Camino!

 

[holidayjenny]

I have flown with them a few times now and never had any problems. Taken my 30litre backpack as cabin luggage

 

[OzAnnie]

How does Dubai compare with Doha for those transiting?

Comparable. I’ve no ‘beef’ with either. . If I fly with Emirates, I have Dubai … flying with Qatar I have Doha. Both excellent airlines too.

 

[MichaelB10398]

How does Dubai compare with Doha for those transiting?

Both are excellent airports and both national airlines are superb. I have flown both multiple times and used both airports (plus Abu Dhabi) multiple times and never had a problem. Rest at ease; I don't think you could make a bad choice among them.

 

[hikingmd_05]

As a pilgrim from the Philippines, I flown both on Qatar n Emirates. Good service n got tickets on sale (<$1k round trip).
Sharing to you my experience last March flying from Clark to Madrid via Doha (1 booking) then to SCQ (separate booking) to walk the Ingles from Ferrol during Holy week. Sorry for the long story.

I wasnt able to checked in online for our flights 2 days before departure date (March 21), be it on the airline’s website or thru its App. Only 1 boarding pass was given to the 3 of us at airline checkin counter n the second boarding pass will be available in Doha. I found the scenario weird n the airline staff dont know it either. We were early at the boarding gate in Doha. Even the airline staff at the gate in Doha cant give us our boarding pass. There was a system problem. First flight was operated by Qatar n the 2nd leg by Iberia. Even the airline staff were surprised why our names were not in their system but exhausted all the means to give us our boarding pass. Departure delayed by 15 min but arrived on time in Madrid together with our bags. And got to SdC on time.

Lessons learned: There are things beyond our control. Let those who solve a problem do it their way. God makes a way when there seem to be no way. The camino provided even before we started walking the Ingles.

 

[TravellingMan22]

Hi everyone
Our flights are booked and we are counting the days (actually the months) off to our starting date: 6 June 2025.

Do anybody have experience at Doha airport & Qatar Airways?

Flying from South Africa we have a connecting flight in Doha to Madrid. We will be flying with Qatar Airways and our connection flight will be Iberia.
Does anyone know how far appart the arrival & departure is? (No gate reference on ticket)
We do have 1hr55 to our connection flight.

Qatar airways & Iberia
We intend to take our (hopefully light) backpacks & small hip bag on the plane. I know the allowed measurements & weight.
Is there anyone who have experience taking there backpack on the plane?

From memory there is only one Terminal at Doha airport, and IB are QR are partners so all looks good.

 

[jsalt]

We flew Jhb to Madrid on Qatar in Aug this year with that short layover, no problem.

Coming back we had a 3 hr layover, so even less problem, but . . .

. . . sometime after leaving Madrid there was an announcement asking if a medical doctor was on board to please make themselves known to the crew . . .

. . . we are then told that we will be landing at Medina in Saudi Arabia for a medical emergency . . .

. . . we were on the runway in Medina for 2 hours, but happily the passenger and his family were finally safely taken off to hospital . . .

. . . in Doha our arrival gate was literally at the other end of the airport from our departure gate, so we had to RUN, but we made it, last to board. I wasn't worried as we had through tickets, so the airline would have to put us on the next flight - just didn't want the inconvenience.

We took our backpacks on board into the cabin, as on arrival in Jhb we had 1 hour to get through immigration and customs and RUN to the bus terminal to get the last bus at 6pm for the 4 hour bus journey to Nelspruit. No time to wait for bags off the conveyor belt!