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Qatar flights from Osaka arrive in Doha at 00:05 and the next flight departs at 01:50. This seems to be a worryingly short layover time, if the outbound flight is delayed in any way I’d be concerned how to make the connecting flight and how they can transfer the luggage over so quickly. Is this feasible and what would Qatar do if the initial flight is delayed? These would both be booked in a single booking but with Avios in J. The other option is with Finnair but that’s c. £400 more Avios/surcharges combined per person and the layover is 2 hours 20 mins which isn’t much more generous.
Would either airline let me delay the connecting flight by a day but book with the same amount of Avios, if I stayed in a local hotel overnight? Or are the above transfer times normal, and the flight staff would know so I’d be rushed off the plane to my connecting flight with assistance (particularly the Qatar flight)?
It’s a normal connection time for Doha so I wouldn’t worry. If you’re seriously delayed leaving Japan, Qatar will rebook you while in flight so you have a revised boarding pass awaiting you on arrival in Doha.
Recently I flew to bkk via doh on QR from LGW, connecting time was 1hr 45 , flight typically took off late from Gatwick so arrived in doh late . We had an hour for the connection but found out when disbarking we had already been rebooked whilst in the air , flight 9 hours later , what made matters worse is that with an hour we could of made it . They did give us accom at doh airport and food allowance after speaking to manager
Ticket was booked via agency
45 minutes MCT at Doha.
They will not entertain any suggestions about changing flights for free due to concerns about the connection time.If you haven’t already booked it, and there 8s availability, you could book a 26 hour stopover for very little difference in cost with Avios. If you have already booked then you’d need availability on the flight you want to change to, and to pay the change fee (£35pp if booked with BA, something similar on QR I think).
They won’t change it for free if you’ve already booked – the MCT at both Doha and Helsinki is under an hour, so those are perfectly adequate connections.
Personally I’d not think twice about booking that (other than that it would be a shame to miss out on some lounge time), but if I absolutely had to be at my final destination on time I might think about booking an earlier first flight to allow more room for delay.
and how they can transfer the luggage over so quickly
The other option is with Finnair but that’s c. £400 more Avios/surcharges combined per person and the layover is 2 hours 20 mins which isn’t much more generous.
At efficient airports such as Helsinki, also Zurich, Hong Kong, Singapore etc., 0 hours and 20 minutes is plenty of time to transfer luggage between flights.
Every day around ten thousand or more people connect at Doha in less than 2 hours and basically all of them make it. I think the majority of passengers are connecting, it is the business model of Qatar Airways and they don’t want you to miss your flight any more than you want to. Just don’t dawdle.
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