Qatar is a small Gulf country known for its desert climate and golden sand. It is situated in the Arabian Peninsula, the southwest of Asia, overlooking the Arabian (Persian) Gulf. Qatar is common for its high personal income and sophisticated living standards as it is a touristic destination favored by many people.
In this blog, we’ll get to know together about my travel to Qatar and all the needed equipment and requirements to organize the trip including the visa, plane tickets, accommodation, in addition to the places you need to visit in case you wanted to attend the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in November 2022.
As we all know, Qatar is about to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is why it hosted FIFA Arab Cup last November as an attempt to experience a mini version of the future organization for the World Cup. Luckily, I was among the attendants to this Arabic event or this small World Cup version where I supported my national Algerian football team, who were crowned champions and won the Arab Cup.
How do I Get My Visa for Qatar?
I used Qatar Airways application to check the travel and entry requirements before getting there. The application also gives you all the needed information about the availability of flights between Qatar and your country of residence as it can provide you with the necessary details about any country you want to visit.
You can check the visa requirement of other countries by entering your country passport on Passport Index website. The site will give you details about the rank of your passport and whether the destined place requires you to enter with a visa, an e-VISA, a Visa on Arrival (VOA) or it could even be Visa-free country (VF).
The best thing about the FIFA Arab Cup is that when you purchase the game tickets, you will get a Hay’ya Card or Fan ID. As a result, a free-visa entrance to Qatar will be granted and valid from the beginning of the tournament till the following week of its ending.
How to obtain a Fan ID ?
Since the Arab Cup is a small version of the upcoming World Cup, the same system will be applied during the latter event, and all what you need to do is the following:
- Buy the tickets from the official FIFA website.
- Download the application.
- Extract your own Fan ID.
Like that, you can use the Fan ID instead of a visa to enter Qatar and attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup from November, the 18th till December, the 25th.
If you are interested just in traveling and tourism in Qatar, then usually it would only require an e-visa. However, you can go to the closest travel agency, and it will provide you with all the needed information.
Booking Plane Tickets
Concerning tickets to Qatar, I flew from Turkey and booked my tickets on Sky Scanner website, which provides you with the cheapest tickets offers.
There is also Pegasus website that contains tickets with affordable prices.
Or you can simply visit Kiwi.com and it will show you where you can find and book cheap tickets.
Arriving to Doha Airport
After all my entry requirements were met, I arrived to Qatar at Doha international airport, which is famous for its many international prizes and its numerous flights connecting all over the world.
before arriving to Doha airport, you have to go through some steps:
- Check whether a COVID 19 test is mandatory.
- Download Ehtiraz application and check its website. It is designed to follow up those who got infected with the Corona Virus as it contains the Covid vaccination certificate record, so you must visit the website and check the required procedures before traveling to Qatar.
For example, I checked the website and downloaded the application because they will ask for it the moment you set your foot in the airport.
The Customs procedures were so organized and I faced no problems because I prepared for all the requirements before traveling
Buying a SIM card
While waiting for my luggage, the first thing I did was buying an Ooredoo SIM card in the airport, and it costed me 25 Qatari Rials (QR) the equivalent to 9,61 $.
It is better to recharge it for a week with the unlimited internet offer that costs 124 QR (equivalent to 34,33 $) instead of buying a SIM card with 1 GB internet which will run out fast.
We should bare in mind that Qatar is one of the most expensive countries to offer Internet services knowing that 10$=36,42 QR
Transport
The moment I got out of the airport, I requested an Uber through the app, which can take you whenever you want and the payment will be in cash.
There are many other means of transport such as the subway, which will take you from the airport to the city center and vice versa for only 2 QR.
Currency Exchange
When it comes to getting currency exchange from euro or dollar in Qatar, you can easily head to the reception office in the airport and they will direct you to the exchange office there.
Or you can go to the exchange office located in a mall called City Center, which provides really good rates for the exchange.
