Advice for joining Qatar Airways
 

I'm heading out to join Qatar soon from the UK. Does anybody have any practical advice about things to bring or do ?

(standing by for sarcastic advice !) :bored:

this thread covers more general stuff. I mean things you might need on your first couple of days, things which you can't get the uk you wish you had, anything which makes life easier in the first couple of days ?

things which you wish you had brought ??

Qatar Living!
 

For some practical advice and information try Qatar Living | Everything you need to know about living in Qatar .
Ignore the negative comments about the town itself and take the airline as any other one in this part of the world.
In my opinion there are a lot of comments coming from the wrong end of the horse on this forum regarding Doha After almost 20 years here I still enjoy the place.
MB ::)

JusT today, an algerian TRE failed a British 777 Captain with out the option of a reset. Sounds like revenge to me. Maybe its because the Brit 777 Capt is on the recruiting team.

malfbicon
 

Qatar as place is nice .

But malfbicon you must be really wierd person enjoy watching others beeing sucked or terminated over Valentines day or over Evian water .
Unless you are helping people .

hey fuba,

i guess when you can't fly nor teach the only method you have is force! man can these people let everyone do their jobs without hatred? Guess all QAR needs is an GFA072 to make them realize that being a police rarely works! but inshaalah things will get better never!

not quite the answers i was hoping for !!!

your gonna miss your thomas cook/easy jet gig

i dont work for either !


Does anybody have any practical advice out there ???

Jep. Stay home. It´s not too late yet:ok:

Bring some medicines to lower your blood pressure..expecially when you come back home after a long drive in the street of doha..!:ooh:

Come on, guys, don't be so negative, Qatar has its good sides as well! For example.... BIGBAD, in case you have an alcohol-problem, Doha is the place where to get rid of it (at least the symptoms, not necessarily the cause).

just a bit of tips
 

Have your passport copied for your back up, first thing to get after touchdown in DOH : buy the prepaid GSM calling card, that requires your passport copy. Later on, you can convert the prepaid into postpaid.

First day of work : meet HR, joining team and housing department. Your passport will be retained by company for residence permit application. This will take about 10-14 working days. Without passport and your Qatar residence permit, everything will be difficult, you can't buy GSM card, apply internet connection by yourself, apply credit card, etc. . .

On the same day : you will have to open a bank account, when I did mine, the bank people came to us and opened the account for us. You have to be pro active to remind them to activate your bank account. Everything was slow when I did mine.

On the same day as well : you will be offered to subscribe internet in your company accommodation. You can apply through company, provided you will stay in company accommodation at least 12 months. If you stay less than 12 months in company accommodation with internet connection installed, you will have to pay penalty to Qtel (internet and telecommunication company). To speed up the process, look for Mr. Siddique when you apply. Tell him you need internet urgently and he will tell you what to do. Or maybe new company accommodation provided with internet already, check with housing people.

You will need to rent a car for your daily activity, share with your friends is best. Just a little bit careful when driving in DOH. Traffic condition no good, people drive aggressively.

Don't bust speed limit, don't bust traffic light and don't park not in the designated parking space, fine is quite expensive here.

I hope that helps a little bit. Welcome to Doha and all the best for your training.

Just one more tip
 

Save a lot of money. You will need it. As the cost of living here is still rising like a rocket .:eek: :{

Well Blacksteel7 has a valid point. Inflation here is very high. it has calmed down a bit in the past year, but still on the increase and wages are not. Saving money here is not so easy to do. Those of you who see only the dollar signs and do not know the reality of it. The truth is, if your making 12,000 USD per month (average Capt income with housing) you'll probably save 5000 if your single and around 2000 if you have a family. these figures are not conservative values. The unfortunate part of it all is when you actually see what you get for all the money you spend.. :{

In addition to mounster; Keep some spare photo with you at all times, you need them allot here, as well as a copy of your marriage certificate in your car just in case.. I have been questioned in the past. your foreign drivers license will only be (legally) honored for 15 days after arrival in Doha, after which (you should have a Resident Permit) you must get a local drivers license.

Poisoned by Compromise
Krunch

copy of your marriage certificate in your car

Is it like Saudi where it is illegal to have a non-family memeber female in your vehicle??

Thank you both Krunch and Mounster at last some tangible gen. Guys, if I could trouble you further? Which Bank did you chose? And which would those with experience advocate? I will need to transfer monies to Europe from time to time although from Cpt. Krunch's post I can tell there won't be much to move, nevertheless who do most Europeans bank with?

Ah what the hay! in for a penny in for a pound. What about the schools, guys? On another thread the School fees are purported to be going up by 25%, which is an extraordinary rise. The School fees as advertised seem to range around the 26,000QR p/a mark. My question then; how do we get from this figure to internet announcements saying the 50,000QR allowance will only cover approximately 1 child? I don't doubt the veracity of your point but a little in the way of background info would really help.
Thanks again

Any one got info on how the banks work? For example what, if any, are the bank charges and do they pay interest on any savings that you may have?

I'll be taking lots of copies of documents (driving licence, passport, photos etc) and enough domestic supplies (clothes, smalls, bathroom kit etc) to get me through the first week, just like going on a nightstop tour with my current outfit. Oh yes, and my crash helmet and body armour for the driving:ok:

See you out there BIGBAD. I think we're from the same company:{

PL

copy of your marriage certificate in your car

not sure that if you have to keep one, but a lot of my colleagues here have been driving with girls without trouble, without being asked by anyone. here not like saudi which is very strict . . but just don't drive after you drink alcohol, not worth-ed : they can jail you

banking : that day we were opened account by IBQ (International Bank of Qatar). Not sure about the interest, as I never intend to save my money in here. To be compared with others, IBQ is not bad, customer service is ok, you can have internet banking that allows you transfer money worldwide, 12 times a year without any charges, but of course the exchange rate is not as best as if you go exchange in money changer. But the good thing is, you don't have to go to bank to do wire transfer world wide free of charge.

a friend of mine told me never choose QNB, customer service is no good, although the bank is quite big. not sure how accurate that info . . never had QNB before

whatever ATM you use to withdraw money, if they have GCCNET logo, you won't be charged for service charge.

they main thing is, as you have a bank account, sometimes you have to phone them, remind them to activate your account. my colleague waited 1 month + and his account was never activated, so he had to collect cheque from company to cash his salaries.

your very first pay could be with cheque as well, or if you apply for salary advance, QR will give you cheque. To cash it, go to Commercial Bank before 1pm, if you don't have your Residence Permit yet (as most cases, usually), make sure you bring your Passport Copy stamped and signed by HR from QR, and show them your QR staff ID. Some branches they play hard not to pay you the money, because they say you don't have your Qatari ID and original passport -> as you are still applying Residence permit and your passport is being held.

school : sorry guys, my kid is 2 months old, never had an experience for looking for school, but company reimburse for the school fee up to max QR50.000 p/a for maximum 3 kids. If your kids go to school in home town, company still reimburse you, provided original receipt is shown.

alcohol : Qatar ain't dry, you can drink, at the club / restaurant, but everything will be inside hotel and it's hotel price which is expensive. You can apply for liquor license, HR will give you letter and bring it to QDC (the only one company that imports and sells alcohol ). deposit of QR1.000 required, but returnable.

an advice from my friend, but never been through : if you stop by QDC to buy and you have alcohol inside your car and (hope never happen) you happen to have accident on the road, dispose them if you can before the police come. insurance company won't cover your damages if you have alcohol onboard the car.

most important thing : be patient, take it easy !!
non type rated lads, you could experience a long wait during the training. when I did mine, there were multiple long wait during the sim sessions.
ground school : 2-3 class per week, the rest nothin', relax
fix based : 5 sessions, finished in 3 weeks, there was a gap in between
full flight : 3 sessions - wait 3 weeks, 3 sessions again - wait another 2 weeks, then 2 sessions every week until finish.

line training was quite ok, a lot of boeing instructor came and taught us line ops. should be done in 4-6 weeks including 2 line checks. they say requirement is 24 sectors including 4 sectors line checks, but I assume you all experienced lads, should be finished by 12th or 14th sector.

some of the info might not be 100% accurate anymore or maybe some of things have been changed, but I just share you what I know and been through.

all the best !!