Free Stopovers & Transit Visas in Doha, Qatar for Qatar Airways Passengers
Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.
Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.Good news for folks who want to visit Doha, Qatar, and have an upcoming Qatar Airways flight that stops through there!
Via Travel Codex, Qatar’s government and Qatar Airways are now offering free stopovers and free transit visas for folks traveling through Doha on Qatar Airways.
I’ll explain how it works.
Qatar Airways Passengers Save on Visa Fees
Link: Qatar Airways Free Transit Visa Program
To take advantage of the free stopover and free transit visa program, book your flights with Qatar Airways. Then apply for your transit visa through Qatar Airways’ site at least 7 days prior to departure.
To qualify for the offer, you’ll have to enter your Qatar Airways booking reference number and last name. So this should work for both paid and award tickets.
Once approved, your visa is valid for 90 days from the issue date, for a maximum stay of 96 hours.
If you’re traveling through Doha, Qatar but are NOT flying with Qatar Airways, you’ll have to purchase a tourist visa for ~$27. For families, you’ll pay an additional ~$14 per person traveling in the group.
Use Miles and Points to Fly Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld alliance and is based in the Middle East. So you can use American Airlines miles and British Airways Avios points, for example, to book award tickets on Qatar Airways.
And don’t forget, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points you earn from cards like the Citi Prestige Card to Qatar Airways at a 1:1 ratio.
And the Starwood points you earn from cards like the AMEX Starwood personal and small business card transfer to Qatar Airways miles at a 1:1 ratio too. Plus, you’ll get a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 Starwood points you transfer.
Bottom Line
Folks flying with Qatar Airways and traveling through Doha, Qatar, can now get free stopovers and free transit visas, for up to a 96-hour stay in the city.
You can apply through Qatar Airways’ transit visa application site. And once approved, your visa is valid for 90 days from the issue date.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Enjoy benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases, plus more.
Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
With Pay Yourself Back℠, your points are worth 25% more during the current offer when you redeem them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories
Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
Intro APR on purchases
N/A
Regular APR
18.24% – 25.24% Variable
Annual Fee
$95
Balance Transfer Fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Rates & Fees
Other
MORE INFO
Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
Join the Discussion!