Going to Qatar 2022: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

To all WC rookies, here’s and advise from a 2-timer
There’s still plenty of time to make accomodations. Wait for the draw, get your tickets and then work on the rest.
Rushing now might be a bad business

 

it says the room is "reserved for members on a sold-out hotel".
I happened to be their diamond member or something. But this only happens to one hotel but not all others under Hilton so I am still suspicious. I guess we will see if it gets cancelled in a couple month.

 

^ Fingers crossed.

 

I just checked the QatarAirways package for 2 people from Rome to Doha for 7 nights including 3 games cat1. For $5497 ea. I think this is a great deal because the accommodations are already included and I get to follow my team (Mexico) I'm coming from L.A so i would need to get a separate ticket to Rome which comes out to $650 USD RT and I would probably stay there for 3 day to tour around.

Has anyone looked at this package?

 

It sounds a good deal. Are Mexico available? I played around with the official Match hospitality site with the $950 tickets and 4 nights hotel allowed per ticket. In all those cases you could not book a team with decent support eg Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, England.

Hotels were ~$350 per night.

Your deal doesn't quite add up. If you arrive the morning of the first group game for your country and left the morning after the 3rd game you'd need 9 nights. Appreciate the groups are not drawn but Groups A & B play on 21/11, 25/11 & 29/11. C & D play 22/11........etc etc

 

That seems like a decent deal. You would get 1 Mexico game guaranteed; the other two games would be random.

 

The Qatar Airways one-week packages only give you one game of the team of your choosing. The other two games are random. (The longer packages give you more of your chosen team.)

 

I only want to be there for 7 nights get home sick after that. Watching one Mexico game would be fine with me and the other random games wouldn't be bad. I will still participate in the lottery.

Now with Covid going on right now whats the best European city to land it that has less restrictions? I was planning on landing on Rome but they are a level 4 right now and the last thing I want to do it quarantine there.

 

Yes, the one Mexico game is guaranteed.

 

Seems hard to know this far in advance. Frankly, if the world is still at the point where simply landing in a country in Europe could trigger a quarantine, I don't know that we would even be allowed to attend the WC. Fingers crossed that it doesn't come to that.

We had a killer trip planned to Tokyo 2020, which of course ended up going forward without spectators. Would be deja vu.

 

This far out it is impossible to tell.

At a guess I'd recommend London. The UK or to be more correct England have been more open than many western European countries.

 

The package is from 7 nights Nov 20 to Nov 27. The Mexico ticket I think would be the first match. The $5

Thanks I will try that one instead I was looking at Munich. But London is the same price so I’ll go that route.

unfortunately, I’m having a problem purchasing the package with one credit card I need to use both to buy the package because my credit limit isn’t big enough. I called my CC company and I got denied for an increase . I’ll let you guys know if I end up getting this package.

 

Thanks for this detailed summary. With 6 days in Doha during the group stage, I will want to cram in as many games as possible. But it sounds like realistically, if relying on public transportation, two games per day is the best we can do.

Maybe more games are doable if there's a private driver waiting to transport us between matches? Wonder what that would cost...

 

I'd definitely avoid Munich. Bavaria appeared to have more restrictions than other German regions.

If you want to be sure of 90 minutes then only 2 per day is realistic.

Leaving a few minutes early will help getting to a game an hour later. The days for Group C&D + G&H are easier as the 4pm,7pm & 10pm games are all on the metro as opposed to needing a shuttle bus.

Getting to/from Al Thumama for a 4pm game definitely needs a driver if doing 1pm or 7pm that day.

No idea what a driver would cost. A 38KM taxi cost ~$25 which I thought was very cheap. However don't forget Doha has horrendous traffic problems Sun-Thur. An uber for approx 7KMs also cost that with surge extra charges and took longer. The difference being was on a weekend and the shorter trip on a working day.

 

I still think you can do more than 2 games if:
1. They improve the shuttle buses drop off areas (and thats expected and can save 10to 15 minutes)
2. If at least one of the 2 stadiums you are traveling from/to is on the metro (all stadiums except janoub, bayt and thumama)
2. If u accept to miss the first 10/15 minutes of the next game.

The pb of taxis / private drivers is you csnnt really expect where is the drop off area which could be far and sometimes there is traffic.

Al bayt is relatively far so even with a car ride, csn be difficult

 

Regarding the Qatar Airways travel packages, please be aware of the cancellation policy. There is no guaranteed refund if border restrictions are applied or the event is made crowd-free (although you will get one if your chosen team doesn't qualify).

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/holidays/fifa/faq.html

 

That is the problem though. A full 90 minutes in each is the challenge.

Al Janoub shuttles are fine but simply the volume of crowds will slow you down. Al Thumama is a lot of walking and I don't know if they will change the dropoff point.

Al Bayt is quite a distance away as you say so very tough to get there from Khalifa in good time. Al Bayt to Al Thumama on day 1 is only possible by car. A car would help for Khalifa to Ahmad Bin Ali as well on day 1 although that should be okay by metro.

Two games a day will probably do me. I might try four on one day.

A lot will also depend on the games in question. Obviously if your own country is involved that will be the priority. I'm going as a neutral but even still there will be some games that mean far more to me than others. Ideally you want your main game to be the first one you attend on that day.

Another thing to bear in mind is how tiring it is to do this. I appreciate most on here are probably younger than me (I'm 55 and will be 56 by the start of the tournament) but I was totally exhausted by the end of game 3 at 9pm during the Arab Cup. One of our group did go to Al Bayt for the 10pm Friday kickoff and he did arrive during the first half. I was back in bed in my hotel room. On the Saturday I had to go to the airport after the 7pm game.

I aso put myself under a lot of stress to see 90 minutes in each of the 6 stadiums. Education City to 974 worked as did Ahmad Bin Ali to Al Janoub. That was with small crowds though and a taxi to al Janoub. When the pressure was off it took a lot longer to reach 974 a 2nd time.

Ultimately I am going to Qatar to enjoy myself.

Tickets may also still be an issue. I've changed my mind on this a few times.

I'm going for the Group stage and Rof16.

At the moment my thinking is

1) 90 minutes in all 8 stadiums - easy.
2) Try to see all 32 teams. - easy enough with 2 games per day albeit with compromises.

However the are teams I have little interest in watching and thers I'd be keen to see everytime they play so depending on the draw might not bother with 2.

 

Going to do a game a day for the whole group stage , getting to old to be charging all over the place

 

Everyone complained about taxis and shuttle bus drop off areas. In one game i was sitting next to 2 guys who were sent by a german consulting company hired by the qatar 2022 legacy just to collect feedback about the arab cup tournament. The company sent 10 pple, with different background (some never been in a football game) just to collect feedback about everything.
They reported (like thousands of fans who attended the games) the issues with shuttle buses drop off areas. I even got a email sruvey (from FAC21) to fill about my experience in the arab cup. I would really be surprised if they don't action some changes following all these feedbacks.

 

https://www.marhaba.qa/the-host-a-fan-initiative/


Here you can apply for a room with local hosts

https://www.qatar2022.qa/en/opportunities/host-a-fan

 

Definitely true for Al Thumama. It was a long walk.

We went by private bus to Al Bayt and were dropped in a large carpark reasonably close to the stadium. I assume the shuttles were also stopping there. There were a lot of buses around.

I got the shuttle away from Al Janoub and it was also reasonably close to the stadium.

For Al Bayt and Al Janoub you could see the stadium. I think that is acceptable.

 

Bit still it took me 25 minutes walking from shuttle bus to my seat in stadiums bayt and Janub and 35 minutes from shuttle bus to my seat thumama.
So count 50 minutes both ways for Janub and Bayt and 70 minutes for thumama, and thats really too much ! In my feedback, i said that the time we save with the amazing metro is lost by a stupid management of shuttle bus system and drop off areas..so whats the point..most of them are small stadiums of 40/45k, there is really no need to place the drop off areas at 2 kms or more of the stadium. It can be like an aeroport with drop off area close enough. When we go to a stadium, u go on different times split on 2 hours so i dont think the 40k will all arrive in buses on the same time.

 

Does anybody have any idea when exactly this month the first ticket sales phase is supposed to open? All I can find is that it is supposed to be in 'January 2022' but I haven't heard of a specific date yet, does anybody have a clue or just a guesstimate?

 

No news yet. I wont be surprised if tomorrow they commumicate the date

 

I have been to the last two World Cups - organising for my football mates from around the world (group of 42 and 23 respectively). I think Qatar is completely different. There is only one place to be (Doha), and likely to be insufficient rooms for everyone. I bought tickets first in Brazil and Russia, and never went near Hospitality tickets. This time my group have bought enough Hospitality tickets to get us the room nights we want for R16 and QF. Fingers crossed we get more tickets in the general allocations.

Tread your own path.