Hello,
-Siblings/close friends travel; having a twin sister, I cannot imagine her only coming to Doha once or twice (using my current understanding of the family travel benefits) on an ID90/50. Is there a way that I can purchase cheap(er) tickets for her? Only direct family members get any discount.... and only after 3 or 6 months its done through a qr website.... dont stress. Or other close friends who may wish to visit? No way for you to do this for friends.
-International mobile data use; This will be my first airline job. I quite fancy being able to send a whatsapp/iMessage saying I've arrived safely wherever / if I have a day off not in Doha, be able to Skype, etc. I have had a look on the Qtel and Vodaphone websites, but can't see anything about international data rates. What do most people do? Your thinking about it all wrong. Q-tel HALA (prepaid) sim available and top ups are easy. You then buy a 'addon' data pack for data usage.... easy. Like anything, international mobile data rapes your wallet. Their are other business/plans for that, but dont forget alot of places have wifi in the hotels. Dont stress about it. Hala call rates are cheap from Doha and average prices from roaming.
-How much money would people recommend taking out there originally? To me it seems like there are a lot of things to organise/pay for. I can see that it's possible to have an advance on your salary, but is it really feasible to live on the reduced salary for the couple of months following that (transport I think is my biggest concern as the SO transport allowance doesn't seem to cover Oasis' cheapest deal)? Yes you can live on the money. But start saving! initially best to have a handy 5000EUR or US minimum. better if you have 10k. YOU WONT NEED IT ALL, but i say that as some peoples tastes are different and the place can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.
-Is the transport allowance in with our salaries? That way the money could be used on taxis? Are the taxis reliable enough? Yes 1000 Riyals, it in your contract! taxis are fine, you will get used to it in about a month, but expect to be taken for a ride price wise in the mean time :-)
-After the first three days, what do we DO whilst we wait on our RP's?
You will be doing courses! but some pep.ople are really busy some have alot of time inbetween, its variable. So be flexible. THERE IS HEAPS OF REDTAPE AND ORGANISING FOR YOU TO DO IN THE MEAN TIME SO YOU WILL NEED ALL THE TIME YOU CAN GET FOR RUNNING AROUND AND WORKING OUT HOW THE PLACE FUNCTIONS! Conscious that it will be boiling hot and I'll most probably be skint! Yes, its the desert
Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer.
Hope this helps; These questions have been answered alot in other threads and the search function should help you out. take some time to dig for the knowledge as it is here already!.