Warning! Avoid at all cost! Coercion and risk of exit ban in Doha
During a stopover of around 20 hours in Doha (departure from the EU), my pregnant wife was very ill. After consulting our gynaecologist at home, we decided that it would not be responsible to continue our journey directly. I therefore called the Qatar Airways hotline the morning before our onward flight and asked how we should behave in this situation. We were told that rebooking was not possible (so we would have to buy a new ticket for the onward flight), but that our luggage would be sent to the final destination. When we wanted to collect our luggage at our destination, Qatar Airways suddenly demanded EUR 2.000 to release the luggage (almost three times the original ticket price and without explaining how this amount was made up). We were also told that we should be happy that we were able to leave the country at all, as they would normally detain passengers in such situations in Doha until the amount was paid. It is hard to imagine if they had held my pregnant wife and me in Doha against our will. We see it as a clear case of coercion, withholding our property for the purpose of enforcing unjustified fees and at the same time even threatening us with not leaving Qatar.
This seems to be common practice, as Qatar Airways itself said. This is deeply troubling and has destroyed our whole vacation. Even more we have still not received our property back and are ignored by Qatar Airways.
Avoid at all costs!
4 November 2024
Unprompted review