Qatar Airways’ Free Transit & Stopover Hotel Program

Qatar Airways’ Free Transit & Stopover Hotel Program

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The major Gulf carriers have among the highest percentage of international transit passengers of any airlines in the world. After all, their business models revolve around using their central locations to connect some of the most densely populated parts of the world.

These government owned airlines are also about putting their respective countries on the map, so ideally they want you to actually visit as well. One has to wonder where Doha would be without Qatar Airways, or where Dubai would be without Emirates.

With that in mind, Qatar Airways has a couple of programs in place to offer people accommodation in Doha, whether they just have an extended transit of 8-24 hours, or whether they want to have a longer stopover there. Let’s go over the basics of both of those programs (in separate posts I covered Emirates’ similar program in Dubai and Turkish’s similar program in Istanbul).

Qatar Airways’ free transit hotel program

If you have an extended connection in Doha on Qatar Airways, you may be entitled to a free hotel room, transfers to and from your hotel, a free entry visa to Qatar, and meal vouchers:

  • This is known as the Stopover for the Purpose of Connection program, or STPC
  • This is available to passengers with a transit time of 8-24 hours, but only if you take the next available flight; in other words, you can’t intentionally book a later connection to get a free hotel
  • If you’re booking more than 72 hours in advance, you can request this in advance online, while if you’re booking within 72 hours of departure, you’ll have to request this at the transfer desk at Doha Hamad Airport upon arrival
  • This program is available to passengers in all classes of travel, though there are fare class restrictions, which I’ll talk more about below
  • First class passengers receive a five star hotel, business class passengers receive a four or five star hotel (an effort will be made to find a five star hotel, but if not available, a four star hotel will be offered), and economy class passengers receive a three star hotel
  • Premium passengers will be informed the name of their hotel in advance, while economy passengers won’t
  • Meal vouchers are available if transiting a minimum of 11 hours — if your layover is 11-19 hours, you get a QAR100 voucher in economy or a QAR175 meal voucher in a premium cabin, while if your layover is 19-24 hours, you get a QAR175 meal voucher in economy, or a QAR250 meal voucher in a premium cabin
Qatar Airways’ transit hotel program

So, which fares qualify for Qatar Airways’ Doha free transit hotel program? You can find the full rules here, but to summarize:

  • Saver award tickets in all classes of service don’t qualify for the free stopover program (this includes “Z” fares in first class, “U” fares in business class, and “X” fares in economy class)
  • In first class, “R” and “A” fares qualify, as long as the one-way fare is at least $400, including carrier imposed surcharges
  • In business class, “J,” “C,” “D,” “I,” and “R” fares qualify, as long as the one-way fare is at least $400, including carrier imposed surcharges
  • In economy class, “N” fares and above qualify, as long as the one-way fare is at least $400, including carrier imposed surcharges
The Westin Doha, a potential transit hotel option

Qatar Airways’ discounted stopover hotel program

Separate from the free transit hotel program, Qatar Airways also has a stopover program, where you can receive a discounted hotel room if you want to stay in Doha for one to four nights enroute to your final destination.

The cost varies based on how many nights you stay, and what kind of a hotel you want to stay at. The prices are per person, based on double occupancy:

  • One night costs $14 in a standard hotel, $20 in a premium hotel, or $77 in a luxury hotel
  • Two nights cost $22 in a standard hotel, $35 in a premium hotel, or $148 in a luxury hotel
  • Three nights cost $48 in a standard hotel, $67 in a premium hotel, or $236 in a luxury hotel
  • Four nights cost $73 in a standard hotel, $99 in a premium hotel, or $325 in a luxury hotel
Qatar Airways’ stopover hotel program

In order to take advantage of this, you need to book directly with Qatar Airways. During the booking process, choose “Qatar Stopover” in the flight search panel, and enter your origin and destination. You’ll then be able to choose how long of a stopover you want in Doha.

For flights departing from the following countries, you can choose your hotel at the time of booking, as you can select your flight and hotel package immediately:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. 

For flights departing from all other countries, you’ll want to book your flight first, and then visit Discover Qatar to book your hotel.

The Park Hyatt Doha, a potential stopover hotel option

Are the Doha transit & stopover hotel programs worth it?

Most of the Gulf carriers have some sort of a transit or hotel stopover program, and taking advantage of these could definitely be worth it. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that hotels in Doha are generally quite reasonably priced, so many people may almost prefer just to book hotels on their own.

If you have hotel elite status, keep in mind that elite perks don’t typically apply if you’re booking in this way, and you won’t earn points or elite nights. For example, the Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha is the closest Hyatt to the airport, and it’s only a Category 1 World of Hyatt property, so it’s pretty inexpensive to book with points.

Also keep in mind that if you’re staying for one night, there could be value in booking through a hotel like Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts or Virtuoso. You might be able to book a hotel that costs $200, and receive free breakfast, a $100 property credit, and more.

My point is simply that it could be worth taking advantage of these offers if included, but I wouldn’t book a more expensive fare just to be able to use this program.

The St. Regis Doha is often reasonably priced

Bottom line

Qatar Airways has both a transit and stopover hotel programs, for those with extended layovers in Doha. If you have a connection of 8-24 hours, you may be entitled to a complimentary hotel room, assuming you’re booking a qualifying fare. Meanwhile if you want to stay in Doha for up to four nights, you can take advantage of a discounted hotel option.

If you have an eligible ticket then these programs are worth keeping in mind, though otherwise hotels in Doha generally aren’t too expensive either.

Have you ever taken advantage of the Qatar Airways transit or stopover hotel program?

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  1. Asif Guest

    Please do keep in mind, they won't provide accomodation package to economy classic, no matter if it is x or q.
    It is deceiving, and I had to cancel my flight, gladly figured it out within 24 hrs

  2. Alyce Guest

    The “free” transit accommodation with Qatar airlines isn’t free for me …. Maybe it’s different for others in other classes. I am in economy class Q and my layover in Doha is 19 hours

    They are charging a service fee of $125 per person …. The “free” accommodation includes hotel (name not provided), transportation to hotel, and temporary visa.

  3. KS Guest

    My layover is 7 hours. I read you can take advantage of the city tour offered by Quatar but everything here says minimum 8 hour layover. Also do you have to do anything extra to get a transit visa as an American or is it automatic as long as you have a stopover and board another flight same or next day. I am booking via British Airways not Quatar direct. Therefore is all of this null?
    Anyone do this recently?

  4. K.Raghuraman Guest

    On my way to Sanfrancisco, can I break my journey for two days and stay with my relative without additional cost. Like Singapore Airlines, does Qatar gives free hotel accommodation for a day or two.

    K.Raghuraman
    kraghuraman99@gmail com

  5. Kramer Jelena Guest

    Wenn ich eine pauschal Reise habe kann ich dies Programm benutzen?

  6. shirley Guest

    Is the stop over programme possible for a multicity flight please?

  7. Sudhakar Guest

    Travelling from Thiruvandhapuram to Pittsburgh, PA. Has a layover of 19 hours in Doha. How can I avail the Transit hotel facility. I am unable to create the account to make a reservation. Any guidance is helpful, Thank you

    1. Ekene Guest

      Is your problem solved? I have similar issue

    2. arjun barakoti Guest

      i mistakely booked 22 hour layover flight from kathmandu to washington dc , so should i get hotel free and if yes where should i contcat?

    3. Chi Guest

      Please how did you resolve this? I'm having similar issues.

  8. Ranga Guest

    Is Business Lite qualifies for the transit complementary hotel? I will have have 19 hours connecting time if I buy this ticket IAD to BLR.

  9. John Guest

    Hi Lucky,

    I have to use an American airline due to Fly America Act. I can book a Qatar Airways as a codeshare from AA, from JFK to Entebbe. If I buy a business class ticket via AA, will this get me hotel access and lounge access, or does this not apply to codeshare flights?

  10. Wayne Guest

    Obvious. Question. Does the layover program apply to a non revenue ticket already booked?

  11. Dolphin Guest

    So to make sure I read this right, award tickets booked through AA don't qualify for any kind of hotel/transportation offers, right? Even discounts?

    1. DLPTATL Guest

      Based on my research you CAN get discounted rooms. Ultimately I decided to use an annual free night certificate instead as the pricing wasn't amazing relative to the published rack rates.

    2. [email protected] Guest

      Just been denied my booking for a stopover with a BA redemption ticket so assume same rules apply to AA.

    3. Fred Guest

      Hey just checking were you denied at the Stop over website itself? I am considering making a booking via BA avios but I can also just transfer to Qatar Priv Club itself to get a QR eticket number if that is all that is needed

    4. Will Avery Guest

      I just got rejected for a BA.com booking on a QR flight so I am guessing no for AA.

  12. Eli Guest

    Any idea what hotel they put economy passengers at, or which few they tend to? We have this in two days. I called and went through a whole rigamorale to get this approved (they rejected me over the phone only to tell me over email that I qualified?)

  13. Woody Guest

    We have a 9 hour layover in Doha on Qatar Airlines Business class made with QFF points. QR720 from Vancouver arrives at 1545 then QR948 to Singapore which leaves at 0240 the next day.

    They were the only available award flights when I booked but I am unsure whether we will qualify as there is an earlier QR942 flight at 2000. This was not available as a rewards booking when we booked.

    I...

    We have a 9 hour layover in Doha on Qatar Airlines Business class made with QFF points. QR720 from Vancouver arrives at 1545 then QR948 to Singapore which leaves at 0240 the next day.

    They were the only available award flights when I booked but I am unsure whether we will qualify as there is an earlier QR942 flight at 2000. This was not available as a rewards booking when we booked.

    I also cannot find anywhere on the website or APP to request a hotel.

    Any advice on how to go about requesting a hotel or whether we qualify?

    1. DLPTATL Guest

      This is the site Qatar directed me to - https://www.discoverqatar.qa/stopover-booking

  14. NYGuy24 Diamond

    So I have to do three nights in Doha. Flying in to Doha on QR and I am departing on QR. If I use the website to stay at the park hyatt on the discounted rate will those nights count towards my Bilt challenge? I'm guessing they won't but using this offer it would be like half the price of a room. Could book the grand hyatt which would give me a third night free and I definitely will get credit for those nights but that place has mixed reviews.

  15. DLPTATL Guest

    On a related note, the Qatar website is fairly useless in determining how to get a transit visa. It keeps taking me to dead webpages. From what I have gathered a 24 hour transit visa can be obtained upon arrival with proof of accommodations and a ticket to leave the next day. Can anyone confirm this and that there's no option to do this ahead of time?

    We looked at the stopover program and ultimately...

    On a related note, the Qatar website is fairly useless in determining how to get a transit visa. It keeps taking me to dead webpages. From what I have gathered a 24 hour transit visa can be obtained upon arrival with proof of accommodations and a ticket to leave the next day. Can anyone confirm this and that there's no option to do this ahead of time?

    We looked at the stopover program and ultimately decided it was a better deal to just cash in an AmEx Hilton CC free night certificate.

  16. 0504Traveller Guest

    This posts helps -- there are a lot of airlines with the 'stopover' program and their rules and regulations vary. Some include hotels and some just include tours (I have done the tour option in both Germany and Singapore). I just tried to do the stopover program with Turkish Airlines for Istanbul - their program only includes 2 hotels which are right next to the airport and does not include transportation to/from either the airport...

    This posts helps -- there are a lot of airlines with the 'stopover' program and their rules and regulations vary. Some include hotels and some just include tours (I have done the tour option in both Germany and Singapore). I just tried to do the stopover program with Turkish Airlines for Istanbul - their program only includes 2 hotels which are right next to the airport and does not include transportation to/from either the airport or the city; those expenses have to be self-incurred. And this was in business class - but as your post detailed, the hotel rates in the cities are sometimes not expensive so I booked my own hotel in the center of Istanbul and recommend not to take the 'stopover program' with Turkish

  17. Rick Guest

    Hi Ben,

    We have ~18 hour in Doha in June, and I just reached out to them about this program after seeing your tweet this morning. I'm still confused, may just call in, but this is what they gave me-

    Agent: Welcome to Qatar Airways. How can I help you?
    Rickie : Customer has joined the chat
    Agent: Hello Rickie, my name is Navaneeth. How can I assist you today?
    Rickie :...

    Hi Ben,

    We have ~18 hour in Doha in June, and I just reached out to them about this program after seeing your tweet this morning. I'm still confused, may just call in, but this is what they gave me-

    Agent: Welcome to Qatar Airways. How can I help you?
    Rickie : Customer has joined the chat
    Agent: Hello Rickie, my name is Navaneeth. How can I assist you today?
    Rickie : Good morning. I noticed that the layover program was reactivated, and the website says to contact Qatar Airways for details on the hotel transit to and from the airport.
    Rickie : I have a non-refundable hotel booked so don't need anything there, but transit would be great
    Agent: Could you please provide me with the booking reference number ?
    Rickie : (provided)
    Agent: Are you looking for the complementary layover accommodation?
    Rickie : Not the accommodation, just the taxi/car from the airport and back. We already have a non-refundable accommodation. Can I do only the car?
    Agent: I’m very sorry, but fulfilling that request isn’t possible at this time.
    Rickie : Should I check back or is not part of the program?
    Rickie : Can it be done on Avios tickets or does it have to be cash?
    Agent: The ancillary services are refundable and as of now we are not providing the car hire service.
    Rickie : oh ok
    Agent: Is there anything else I can assist you with?
    Rickie : So if you say its refundable- does that mean I can submit my hotel booking for a refund between what I paid and what I would be entitled through the program?
    Agent: As of now the ancillary services are non refundable. as an example if it eligible for the refund you will back your amount. if it is non refundable nothing can be done.

    So I don't know if its because I didn't add during the booking process, but the more I read it, the agent seems to think I was asking about having the cost of the program refunded- I don't know.

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Rick -- I wouldn't expect them to cover just the car, since I believe they sometimes offer shared transportation shuttles to & from the airports. Also, if it's a saver Avios ticket, it wouldn't qualify anyway. Admittedly QR customer support sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, to put it mildly...

    2. Rick Guest

      That explains it all, thanks so much for clarifying

  18. Khatl Diamond

    Is this actually brought back now? Asking, as when I booked recently, I was told even though it still had it on the website, they "weren't currently offering the hotel stopover"

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Khatl -- It's my understanding that this was been reinstated in the past couple of weeks.

  19. AaronP Guest

    I had this booked MIA -DOH-BOM- DIH-MIA. My departure date was 3.21.20. Glad to see they brought it back...

  20. Sean M. Diamond

    Keep in mind that while in theory this is available to everyone, anecdotally most African country nationals are denied this even though they otherwise qualify.

    1. Eve Guest

      Really?
      This is terrible!
      I am Nigerian and was just about to book a flight for my family of 4. I was really looking forward to availing the complementary transit accommodation specifically because of my kids.
      I think I will just chat them up to find out the reason why most African nationals seem to be stylishly exempted from this.

  21. Ken Guest

    How about qr code share flight coming into doha? For example flying ba or mh I to doha but booked with qr flight number? I think the terms and conditions said only qr operated and sold flights and the hotels do check the boarding pass? Is that so?

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Ken -- That would be eligible. Per the terms, STPC "is permitted if one of the flights connecting at Doha is marketed and operated by Qatar Airways and the other flight is marketed by Qatar Airways but operated by another airline."

    2. Homa Guest

      Qatar Airways has rejected me from the free transit hotel program because our tickets are not controlled by them. But our flights are operated by Qatar AIrways. Any idea what we can do to get in the program?

  22. JB Guest

    Can you also write about Emirates' free stopover program, including their extended transit layover hotel options. I think there are more passengers eligible for this on EK than QR, since QR has more frequencies to many destinations compared to EK (since they fly smaller planes), it is able to bank almost all destinations in a way where long layovers without an earlier option are very hard to come by.

    It also seems Emirates has...

    Can you also write about Emirates' free stopover program, including their extended transit layover hotel options. I think there are more passengers eligible for this on EK than QR, since QR has more frequencies to many destinations compared to EK (since they fly smaller planes), it is able to bank almost all destinations in a way where long layovers without an earlier option are very hard to come by.

    It also seems Emirates has scaled back its operation to some of its most popular destinations and hasn't fully recovered 100% to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, QR has grown bigger than ever before.

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ JB -- Happy to write about that as well, stay tuned! :-)

  23. Omar Guest

    What about flexi award tickets that book in A or I?

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Omar -- That's a great question. On the surface those fare classes would qualify, though the direction value needs to be $400 or more, which would exclude award tickets (unless the YQ is really high).

    2. William Avery Guest

      Does that redemption rule apply to the discounted stopover hotel rates or is it more flexible? And can I qualify if I am booking the Doha fare via Qatar and the departure via BA.com. Issue is there’s no availability on QR for the onward connection.

  24. Charles Guest

    With the way QR schedules their flights, along with their route network.. the amount people who will qualify for their “next available flight” being so much longer as to actually enjoying their time in the city in this way.. will be MINIMAL (especially if it’s through the night)

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Charles -- True, but keep in mind you can be strategy here with the connection you book. The restriction is that you need to take the next available flight. Many long haul services are once daily, so there's nothing preventing you from intentionally taking an earlier flight to DOH.

      For example, say you were flying from Jeddah to Miami via Doha. Doha to Miami departs at 8AM, and there's also a 4:30AM flight...

      @ Charles -- True, but keep in mind you can be strategy here with the connection you book. The restriction is that you need to take the next available flight. Many long haul services are once daily, so there's nothing preventing you from intentionally taking an earlier flight to DOH.

      For example, say you were flying from Jeddah to Miami via Doha. Doha to Miami departs at 8AM, and there's also a 4:30AM flight from Jeddah to Doha that gets in at 7AM, for a quick connection. But if you instead booked the 11:15AM Jeddah to Doha flight the day before (getting in at 1:50PM), the next connection would be the following morning.

      So you have to take the next available connection, but there's nothing preventing you from intentionally booking flights in such a way that you have a long connection.

    2. JB Guest

      I've taken that routing before and the 4:30am flight from Jeddah to Doha. Had an hour layover at DOH before my flight to MIA, and we landed at a remote gate. I quickly raced to the bus, and had to re-learn security and then U.S. bound security at the gate. Barely made it onto the flight.

      On a slightly separate note, the Minimum Connection Time at DOH used to be 1:30/1:40min. Just before the...

      I've taken that routing before and the 4:30am flight from Jeddah to Doha. Had an hour layover at DOH before my flight to MIA, and we landed at a remote gate. I quickly raced to the bus, and had to re-learn security and then U.S. bound security at the gate. Barely made it onto the flight.

      On a slightly separate note, the Minimum Connection Time at DOH used to be 1:30/1:40min. Just before the World Cup, they decreased it to 45min. At a major international airport. DOH is quite efficient, but that is still really tight.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

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Sean M. Diamond

Keep in mind that while in theory this is available to everyone, anecdotally most African country nationals are denied this even though they otherwise qualify.

2
Ben Schlappig OMAAT

@ Ken -- That would be eligible. Per the terms, STPC "is permitted if one of the flights connecting at Doha is marketed and operated by Qatar Airways and the other flight is marketed by Qatar Airways but operated by another airline."

2
0504Traveller Guest

This posts helps -- there are a lot of airlines with the 'stopover' program and their rules and regulations vary. Some include hotels and some just include tours (I have done the tour option in both Germany and Singapore). I just tried to do the stopover program with Turkish Airlines for Istanbul - their program only includes 2 hotels which are right next to the airport and does not include transportation to/from either the airport or the city; those expenses have to be self-incurred. And this was in business class - but as your post detailed, the hotel rates in the cities are sometimes not expensive so I booked my own hotel in the center of Istanbul and recommend not to take the 'stopover program' with Turkish

1
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