QR Accommodation
 

Hi there Mates!

Im joining QR next March with 3 kids family.

researching on the internet I see that rents are very high and I think the best option is company Accommodation to save money. As captain, is there any option to be assigned a 4 bedroom Villa????

If not, what are my best options with 12000 housing allowance to get a nice family Villa??

Best Regards

What are the options to find a Nice 4 bedroom family villa for 12000 in Doha:
Very limited I'm afraid.
Let's be honest, in a your case,you won't save anything on the housing allowance.Most probably expect to put a little bit more extra from your pocket..:hmm:
And the chance to get a 4 bedroom villa from QR is probably nil.

If you look around Wakra, you will found 4 BD Villas for 10000 qr semi furnished

And how good/bad is wakra neighborhood??? It's a family fríendly place? What schools are around Wakra???

Doing some research on the web, looks like 12000 housing allowance is very tight to give a good quality of life to your family.

Base on you QR experience, is there any option to get a rise in house allowance in short term???

When was the lást rise in house allowance? How much?

QR should research about DOH Market and offer a better option, more money or company Accommodation, but 12K looks to tight.

What kind of accommodation a single FO should expect?

Mr White, can I suggest perhaps you should have done some research before you accepted the job. In this part of the world, you accept what you are given, there is no room argue.

Depends on availability but I would say the chance of receiving permanent housing from QR is 50/50.if they don't have anything available you are given several weeks in hotel and allowance to find your own place. If you do get housing it may not be a villa. I was given a 3 bedroom apartment although captains are supposed to get villa. After several months I was offered a 4 or 5 bedroom villa, but didn't want to leave where we are.
You may ask the recruiter, QR has villas at Ain Khalid Gate and Pink Villas, as well as other places but they seem to be more of a waiting list for better locations. Holiday Villa is only apartments but location is little better.
Most companies in Qr pay much more for housing allowance so prices are increasing. I am guessing 14000 is required for descent place.
Rumors have been floating around of an increase for captains up to 14000, but time will tell.
I haven't been to Al Wakra area south of the new airport but have heard it may be descent option, especially as new airport opens up.

There are apparently around 160 people waiting for a villa at AKG! :sad::ugh:

Mr White no schools around wakra, you or your wife will have to drive to Doha (20 Minutes from Wakra to start of the corniche) mostly locals live in Wakra, it is a quiet place, not far from sea line

With a budget of 14K any advice about a family friendly neighborhood ( schools, malls, sports) to have a start point to look for a 3/4 villa or apartment

On the other hand, a 5 member family with a good quality of life, no car debt, no credit cards debt and no country of origin debt, how much can I expect to save base on a 777 Capt salary?? 6k?

Best Regards

Mr. White...

For a smooth transition to the middle east, a few suggestions...

1. Training is stressful and rigorous, but manageable! If you don't want to compound more stress on an already stressful transition, leave your family home until you finish training. Short family visits will help smooth the family transition.

2. If you have not applied to a school, you are already behind the eight ball. All the quality schools have limited space with long waiting list. Call the schools to inform them about your start date so you can start the enrollment process and get on their waiting list. Apply to as many schools of your choice.

3. After you arrive in Doha, you will have days off while waiting for the next phase of your training. My advice, use this time wisely to search for suitable accommodations. The link below is a good start to find something that may appeal to you and your family. Once you arrive, take the time to visit your selections. One caveat, it would be wise to choose a compound that is close to the school your children will be attending. Traffic during school opening/closing times are horrendous.

Qatar Properties to Rent | Rent Property in Doha & all over Qatar - propertyfinder.qa

3. As you already discovered, housing is not cheap! One word of advice, don't make the mistake going cheap! While you are traveling around the globe, your family will suffer in misery. Average quality villas will cost 15K an up. It is possible to find suitable accommodation for 14K, but keep your expectation in check! Balance your family needs vs their wants. Since you have kids who will be attending school, Al Wakra is not an option with Doha traffic.

4. Saving is relative to what you wan to save. But keep in mind, you will need to have a leisure activity budget for your family to keep them sane! Doha does not really offer much in regards to family entertainment.

After you arrive, their will be others with similar situation as yours. Get to know your group and collaborate on ideas that will help each other. Knowledge is power!

Good Luck!:ok:

Do you also know any good website for buying a used car in Doha ?

There is one that I found very useful, Google.
As for accommodation Mr White, so far it is not an option. You would be place somewhere for 6 weeks, after that you would be offer a place or the the housing allowance. It is not up to you, you can of course says your preference but the decision is theirs.

If you are offered the housing allowance, to complete av8tordude comments, I would chose a place close to your kid school if you don't want to spend 3 hrs a day in traffic.

Help in Qatar
 

This web site is one of the most useful for advice and info....
Qatar Living

Sign up to the forums and ask away - you will usually get some sensible answers in among the dross.

Wakra would not be my first choice for family accomodation - bit out of town and not exactly up-market. Might be a bit too close to the new port site for comfort ?? Construction traffic ?? Mind you you can get construction traffic hassles pretty well anywhere in Doha these days.

Hey Mates!

Thank you very much for all the feed backs on the company accommodation and rent a villa, that point is clear!

On the other hand, I would appreciate suggest about DOH areas are the most familiar (parks, sports, malls, etc.) maybe Aspire zone? to start looking for a house and 3 schools are the closest to that designated area that you think is familiar one.

Best Regards

Try qatarsale.com for cars
and eqarsale.com for accommodation

I like these websites because they put pictures up of everything. Qatar Living has a lot of choice but no pics. After you've visited the 10th piece of junk villa/apartment, you tend not to even consider phoning unless there is a pic.

Great sites... Thanks Airmann

Even shows you the place on the map

Mr. White

Google is really user friendly if you give it try. That being said, this is what I managed to find using Google...

List of schools in Qatar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Schools locations can been seen via Google Maps...Just type "Doha Schools". It will pin-mark a list of schools in the view window. If the school of your choice is not initially displayed, zoom in closer and it will display more schools.

That being said, a word of warning and friendly advice, Qatar Airways is not a company that will spoon feed you the information to assist you in a smoother transition. They will only give enough information to point you in the right direction. From there, they expect you to use your intellect and common sense to conjure a solution to your problems. Once you've exhausted all available avenues to resolve your problems, only then will they provide assistance.

MrWhite the last rise in housing allowance was April 2007!( they increased by 5000...QR).