Travelling with Qatar vs Emirates

Fare classes

Qatar has these fare classes that is difficult to understand. Also their flight tickets are not very user friendly to read compared with Emirates.

Seating

The seating arrangement on Qatar is 3-3-3, while on Emirates it is 3-4-3. 

Comfort

I felt that there was more legroom on the Qatar planes. The Boeing 787-8 is more smaller in size though.

The Airbus A350-900 has more legroom and is much more colder. 

The Qatar planes that we flew on were new. The seats were a bit hard. The seat recliner part was better than on Emirates. The planes that we flew on Emirates were older.

Food

I ordered the Asian vegetarian meal on my flight to the Philippines, and the food was good. With Emirates you get more variety which includes nuts, biscuits, cheese and chocolates. I wasn't too impressed with Emirates food. But what I liked about Qatar was the food tray did not fit the whole tray table, so there was place to manoeuvre your food portions. 

Entertainment

There is much more variety on Emirates.

Security

Security is stricter on arrival in Dohar, where there is a separate conveyor belt for bags to be screened. On our trip to the Philippines, and on our return journey, we were asked to open our carry on luggage, but because the combination lock could not open, we were given the go ahead to go. 

Hamad International Airport vs Dubai International Airport

The interior of Hamad is darker, which is a bit disconcerting. But it had a lovely garden. 

Gardens at Hamad

Finding the transfer desk was very daunting, as we kept going around in circles. I feel Dubai is more easier to manoeuvre through and is more airier.

Philippines (6th-3th February 2025)

Planning for a holiday can be stressful. You invest so much money into the flights etc, and hope that nothing goes wrong in the days leading up to your travels. There were three things that added to my stress levels: firstly, Qatar was giving us a run around with regards to our 23-hour long layover in Dohar. We were told that because we had chosen the cheap tickets, we had to pay 75 dollars per person for a hotel. If you are an economy seat passenger you are not informed which hotel you will be assigned to. We were lucky in that we were allocated an expensive airport hotel in Dohar, but finding the transfer desk proved to be quite a mission. Secondly, Philippines is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Lastly, I was a member of the Travel to the Philippines Facebook group and they advised me that I should have spent an extra night in Cebu City on the day of my departure, as I was taking a ferry across from Panglao and a taxi to the airport. I was warned that things do not go according to plan in the Philippines. I tried to change the hotel bookings on the booking.com website but could not do so. The original plan was to spend 3 nights in Cebu City and 4 nights in Panglao, Bohol.  But things did go according to plan, as we left Panglao Island at around 7.30am. We bought the 9.30 ferry tickets, when the ferry arrived hubby intercepted a taxi driver who drove us to the airport at maximum speed. We arrived well before our 7.25pm departure time.

The flights were R17 950  per person. With Qatar there are different classes of tickets. The class of the ticket determines whether you get a free paid transit accommodation and  whether you can book your seats well in advance. We bought the tickets from One Stop Travel & Tours. Because we did an electronic transfer for the flights, it took a day or two to reflect in their accounts. Flight prices are valid for the day only, and this caused my stress levels to rise a bit. I think in future I would rather pay by credit card. The ferry tickets were 800 pesos per person. We paid 25 pesos for the terminal fee in Cebu City. From Tagbilaran we had to pay an extra 150 pesos for the baggage as we had 1 piece of main luggage and 1 carry on, and 30 pesos for the terminal fee.

Do not forget 72 hours before you enter the Philippines you have to do your etravel application. Thank you to the Travel to the Philippines Facebook group for this.  

I booked the transfer from the airport to the hotel with HRI Tours. We arrived to a rainy Cebu City. We stayed at the Hop Inn, a very basic and clean hotel. Hop Inn was R2 057 for 3 nights. The rooms did not have a kettle or fridge, but water dispensaries were found on every floor. The hotel was real value for money and was in a perfect location. We spent a day at the Ayala Mall, which is literally a maze, and is very difficult to navigate through, as it had many entrances and the shops were not well marked. We were grateful that there was a mall close by where we could do our shopping. I loved Metro supermarket, the DIY shop, the Daiso and No Brand store. We felt safe walking from the mall to our hotel at around 8pm.

Hop Inn

We visited Tops as it was one of the recommended things to do in Cebu City. We took a taxi to IT Park, that cost 150 pesos and explored the surroundings, thereafter waited for the bus to take us up to Tops which cost 200 pesos for the round trip and which also included the entrance fee to Tops. Apart from the view from the top, there was nothing much to do here. In hindsight the drive up there was the best part of the trip. 

Bus to Tops

In less than an hour we took the bus back to IT Park, and thereafter took the local bus to Ayala Mall.

Ayala Terraces

Soon it was time to pack and head off to Panglao. We took the ferry to Tagbilaran, then a taxi to Hotel Renate where we were to spend 4 nights. Hotel Renate was R3 228 for 4 nights. 

Taking the ferry from Cebu City to Tagbilaran

The initial taxi fare was 800 pesos, we brought it down to 700 pesos. The drive to the hotel took 45 minutes. The driver told us he will drop us off on the highway, much to our surprise, but he later explained that the hotel was only 2 seconds away from the highway. The highway is not what one conjures it up to be. The hotel was close to Alona Beach, and the walk to the beach especially at night proved to be quite hectic. This stretch of road is extremely busy, as it is part of the highway. Walking down this path proved to be very tricky as the pavements were either not smooth, or there was a complete lack of paving.

We took the joiner tour to the countryside, which included the Chocolate Hills, a visit to the Tarsier Sanctuary and the Loboc River cruise, which included a scrumptious lunch. We found this travel agent UGO Travel Services Office by chance and they were very efficient, as they helped us with the countryside tour and the transfer to the port, furthermore they were reasonably priced. 

Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers and the Loboc river cruise

The following day we visited the South Farm, where we had a delicious lunch. we took a tuk-tuk there and we told the tuk-tuk driver to fetch us back at 2pm and he did. 

South Farm

The only problem in Panglao were the money-changers who refused to change an even slightly defaced dollar. As a result, we could not exchange 60 dollars. I was told I could do this at the bank. When I entered the bank, I was asked to produce an ID and passport, luckily, I carried my driver’s license. But then I was told that SA was grey listed.

For our long layover in Dohar, we were lucky to be assigned the Oryx Airport Hotel, which was close to our boarding gate. We paid 75 dollars each for the paid transit accommodation in Dohar.

Oryx Airport Hotel

We spent 5 days of the 11 days travelling to and from our destination, and with the time difference, and the cold planes, this took a toll on me. I developed a cold in the Philippines. When I arrived back home it took me a week to recover. In addition, I developed a terrible back ache. I suppose this comes with age. Also, on the flight to Cebu and on the flight back to Durban there were those annoying children who never stopped crying.

But it was a wonderful experience. Next time I will choose a destination closer to home.

Sri Lanka (4-13 March 2024)

We decided to go to SL again as our previous trip back in 2020 was not completed because of Covid. We got quotes for flights and accommodation. The price of flights had almost doubled since 2020😳. The flights back in 2020 was R11 500 pp. It was now R19 000 pp.There were cheaper flights via Qatar but the waiting period was much too long. We decided to go with Emirates and booked our flights with Save Travel. We booked our accommodation with booking.com and Agoda. Our planned itinerary was 3 nights in Bentota then Galle for 2 nights, then Colombo for 4 nights (we were leaving at 3am therefore had to book a fourth night).  Paying for a holiday always fills me with much trepidation, feeling anxious about things happening before the impending holiday (accident, illness, death). I am so paranoid that I will take out travel insurance immediately after I pay for the flights. I am also anxious about booking for holidays via booking.com and Agoda. I will also constantly contact the home stays or hotel to confirm the bookings.

Turkey (29 May-8 June 2023)

This trip was planned to celebrate a special birthday 🎂. It was going to be a do-it-yourself type of holiday with me booking the hotel through booking.com as well as booking the airport shuttle online. So there was a lot of nervousness before the trip. I was also paranoid about us getting sick, as you feel that if a holiday is booked though an agent there is more assurance or security (I could be wrong), and you can liase with the agent if such an issue occurred. We flew with Emirates and booked our flights with Save Travel. The flights were R9 900 pp. 

Cape Town (16-30 December 2022)

Hubby and I never tire of visiting the beautiful city of Cape Town. We have travelled here many a times either for work or leisure. In April 2018, I travelled with my brother and cousin, and saw and experienced Cape Town through their eyes. This was a memorable trip. We stayed at the newly revamped Protea Hotel by Marriott Cape Town Waterfront Breakwater Lodge.

Then hubby and I decided to do a road trip again in 2022 (our second road trip), but with a friend. We were fortunate in that he was going to drive us all the way there. We were going to do a 1 night stopover in Colesberg, then a 9 night stay in Cape Town, and finally a 2 night stay in Riebeeck Kasteel. The hubby and I always travel together, and there was some apprehensions about travelling with a friend. But as you will read on, the trip proved to be most memorable.

Sri Lanka (9-17 March 2020): travelling in the time of coronavirus

Just when we thought terrorism and natural disasters were the only threats preventing us from travelling abroad, here comes another, in the form of coronavirus. South Africa and Sri Lanka (as of 9th March) are not in the grips of the coronavirus scare, but as we come closer to departing for our trip to Sri Lanka, panic sets in. What if we come into contact with passengers who are infected. How safe can we be on the planes or airports without being infected.  Should we postpone our journey. What if either one of us are infected in Sri Lanka. What if we return to work, and then realise that we are infected. These are the questions that are at the back of our minds. Two days before we leave I am in a deep dilemma. To add to this, the day before we leave, one of the owners in our complex had a break-in, in broad daylight. Is this a bad omen for us? What if our house gets broken into while we are away? We managed to pack our bags, with all these thoughts hanging over our heads. The day finally arrived, We secured our home as best we could, and set on our journey.

We flew with Emirates. We went with Save Travel and the package was R21 500 pp.

South Korea (20 May-2 June 2019)

Friendly people, excellent transport system, lots of things to see and do ... this is how we experienced South Korea.

Turkey (28 May-12 June 2018)

Turkey has always been on our bucket list of places to visit. In retrospect it was the best place I have visited. We flew with Turkish Airlines. We went with Save Travel and the package was R20 800 pp.

Morocco (5-19 May 2017)

What an unforgettable experience. To think that I was so apprehensive before I left.

My first travel experience (1987)

I remember that day so clearly, way back in 1987. My colleagues dropped me off in front of the Imperial Hotel (in Pietermaritzburg) so that I could take the Cheetah Coaches to the Louis Botha Airport in Durban. This was going to be my first ride on a plane and my first trip to Cape Town.

What to pack

It  can be daunting for a first time traveller, not knowing what to pack or what to include in your carry-on and main luggage.