Since my last post, I have been to Beijing and I am safely back in South Africa. I had the most amazing trip and my flights and traveling ended up being quite amusing to me, even though not all glory!

Flight Centre did not help me out after screwing up my transfer hotel and visa, so I did in fact end up stuck in Doha International for 18 hours and have still not contacted me with an apology. I am very disappointed in their service and would not recommend the company to anybody and suggest that you make your own bookings via CheapTrip.co.za instead!

If ever you are stuck in Doha, I suggest that you head over the Oryx lounge. Its on the first floor on the far right hand side of the building. They charge a small entry fee for access to the VIP lounge of QR140, some credit cards allow you free access as a value added service by your credit card provider, like mine did. The Oryx is a great place to chill for a few hours.

It has great ambient lighting, soothing music and loads of comfy couches to kick back in. They serve light snacks, softdrinks and tea and coffee complimentary all day long. They have TV’s with quiet a few english channels, a meeting room and free wifi. The bathroom facilities are very clean and very well maintained and it was a real pleasure taking a shower as well. I highly recommend the Oryx to stay fresh during a long transit!

Onroute back home, I left Beijing in the wee hours of Saturday morning, to arrive in Doha just after first light. The airport was busy and I had a total 40 minute transit time from one flight landing to the next flight taking off, so I was pretty stressed out about missing it.

I managed to rush through and get on the flight in time, only to have the flight delayed by 2 hours because of a system failure.

Now, dear Captain Johnson of Qatar Airways, in future… please understand that hearing the words “System Failure” is very unnerving as a passenger on a flight. Further, it would be preferable if you avoid supporting terms like “might be able to fix the problem”. Fixing the problem is one thing, but that word “MIGHT” is definitely not the kind of assurance that I want to be hearing while strapping myself into your fueled to the max Boeing just before take-off!

All in all, Qatar Airways is a great airline with great service. The meals were very impressive, the staff were courteous and friendly and even played with the little kids on board the flights.

They are also the cheapest airline to fly to Beijing from South Africa and would recommend that you check out a flight booking on a flight aggregator like CheapTrip.co.za!

The flight cost me R8900 inclusive of all airport taxes and levies!