A dry holiday to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

[Mattg]

I’ve been curious about visiting Saudi Arabia ever since the Middle Eastern nation first introduced tourist visas in 2019. They didn’t have such a visa prior to this, meaning as a non-Muslim without a business purpose for visiting, it basically wasn’t possible to go there.

Saudi Arabia has changed a lot over the past decade. Its reputation in the Western world is not always a positive one, and the country wants to change its image. It realises that it can’t rely on oil money forever, and wants to become a mecca for tourists. And not just religious tourists who are literally travelling to Mecca, but non-Muslim tourists as well.

The country has set ambitious targets to increase tourism as part of its Vision 2030, and it seems pretty well on track to welcoming more than 150 million tourists by that year. To do this, it’s investing heavily in infrastructure, opening new entertainment venues, hosting major sporting events and will host the World Expo in 2030.

It's also in the process of launching Riyadh Air, a new mega-airline based in the Saudi capital that wants to rival Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.

Famously, it’s even building new cities including “The Line”, which will be literally a really long line enclosed in a single building that’s 200m wide, 500m high and 170km long. What a fascinating project. The Line will eventually house 9 million people.

The Line, Saudi Arabia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The country still has a long way to go. Based on the reactions I got from many friends about my trip there, a big part of the challenge will be convincing Western tourists to go there. Nonetheless, at least by Saudi standards, the recent progress has been drastic.

So, onto my recent trip…

I had actually booked a trip Saudi Arabia for May 2020, the year after it launched tourist visas. I had to cancel that trip for obvious reasons. It was finally time for me to try again!

My plan was to fly into Riyadh, spend two nights there, and then fly to Jeddah where I would stay four nights.

I applied for an e-Visa a few weeks before I went. This was a bit expensive at around AUD150, but at least at was approved within a few minutes. The only option was a multiple-entry visa that’s valid for a year, for stays of up to 90 days. The price included mandatory Saudi health insurance.

You can also get a visa on arrival from one of the kiosks in the airport arrivals hall, for the same price.

I went in late January, which is about the best time of the year to travel to the Arabian Peninsula weather-wise. The temperatures were mild and actually quite pleasant, unlike in the summer.

A few weeks before my visit, I spotted this Traveller Letter in the Sydney Morning Herald travel section:

Traveller Letters: We won’t be returning to this stopover destination​

My wife and I recently visited Saudi Arabia independently as a stopover on the way back from Europe. Although the people are mostly friendly, and it’s an interesting country, this is one of the few places we wouldn’t revisit.

We found that many tourist attractions in the capital, Riyadh, were not open during the day, despite information to the contrary. Optus didn’t offer any mobile coverage, even though I provided my pre-trip itinerary to them before changing my phone plan, meaning there was no Google Maps to navigate a homogenous cityscape. No alcohol anywhere, though a quenching beverage would have taken the edge off the day. Our Jeddah hotel would not call us a taxi, insisting on us paying $80 for their hotel car for a 10-minute journey. Hailing taxis on the street is a mug’s game, so our planned dinner reservation was replaced by a local Indian meal after a futile 20 minutes’ trying. Understandably, most places are shut during the day due to the heat, which is fine if you can chill in your hotel bar or by the pool, but do be aware of the “women only” pool times.

Chris Roylance, Paddington, Qld

This letter piqued my interest. Not exactly a glowing review, but I usually take these Traveller Letters with a pinch of salt. Would I have a similar experience, I wondered?

 

[RooFlyer]

I applied for an e-Visa a few weeks before I went. This was a bit expensive at around AUD150, but at least at was approved within a few minutes. The only option was a multiple-entry visa that’s valid for a year, for stays of up to 90 days. The price included mandatory Saudi health insurance.

Strictly, there is also a four day stopover Visa which is included in ridiculously cheap fare packages from Asia stopping off at Jedda and continuing to Europe and VV . Unfortunately, four days is not long enough for a stopover.

 

[Mattg]

I'll start by explaining my itinerary and how I booked this trip.

I'm currently based in Europe, and I started this trip by flying to Dubai and spending a few days there.

Booking 1: DXB-DOH-RUH in Qatar Airways First Class (booked with Alaska miles)

From Dubai, I redeemed Alaska Airlines miles for a First Class ticket to Riyadh on Qatar Airways, with an overnight stop in Doha. On flights within the Middle East, Qatar Airways sells its premium cabin as "first", so in reality I was actually "just" sitting in a Qsuite on both sectors. Still, that's nothing to be sneezed at!!

With a First Class ticket, I was also able to use the Al Safwa first class lounge in Doha. I'd never managed to get in there before, and it was indeed a seriously impressive lounge.

So, why did I book using Alaska Airlines miles? There was availability to book with Velocity points, but Velocity wanted 26,000 points (this was before the recent reward price increase) and well over $700 in taxes & carrier charges. Most of these were Velocity carrier charges, and since these are based on the class of travel and applied per segment, they were really expensive for these two short hops in First.

Instead of booking with Velocity, I simply bought the 15,000 Alaska miles I needed during a promotion. The taxes on this booking were around AUD140. All up, I spent a couple of hundred dollars less than I would have paid just in Velocity's carrier charges!

I had intentionally chosen an itinerary with an overnight stop in Doha so that I could break up the trip and visit a friend there. I was originally supposed to arrive in Doha around 11pm and then depart at 2pm the next day, but QR ended up cancelling my original DOH-RUH flight and I got automatically rebooked on a 7pm flight. That was fine with me - more time in Doha and more time to enjoy the Al Safwa lounge!

Since both my flights to/from Doha were on a single ticket flying QR, I was also able to use the Discover Qatar stopover program to book a fairly cheap hotel for the night. I chose the Hyatt Regency Oryx as it was just a short metro ride from the airport and close to where my friend lives. It was a nice hotel and I was happy with that choice.

Thread 'Discover Qatar Stopover offer'

Jan 1, 2025

Has anyone used the Disocver Qatar stopover package for QR customers with a transit time between 12-96 hours?

I have an award booking coming up on QR (booked with Alaska miles) with an overnight stop in Doha (more than 12 hours) and it seems to be a pretty good deal. You can choose from a selection of 4-star hotels for QAR103 (approx. AU$46) and 5-star hotels for QAR175 (approx. AU$77).

Any catches to be aware of? Or thoughts on which is the best hotel to choose?

• Mattg
• stopovers and transit
• Replies: 12
• Forum: Qatar Airways | Privilege Club

Turns out, when booking with Discover Qatar, you can use the room for a 24-hour block rather than being bound by the usual check-in and check-out times. Since I turned up after 11pm, I was able to check out basically whenever I wanted the following day.

Booking 2: RUH-JED in Saudia Economy Class (cash fare)

The route connecting Saudi Arabia's two largest cities is extremely busy, with regular flights on Saudia, Flynas and Flyadeal basically running 24/7, including during the night. I found a reasonably priced Economy cash ticket with Saudi, the only full-service airline on the route, so just booked that. The ticket cost AUD155, including a checked bag.

When booking this route, there were basically flights every hour. Pretty much every single one of Saudia's aircraft types gets used on this route, so I chose a flight on the biggest one - a Boeing 777-300ER.

Booking 3: JED-IST-FCO in Turkish Airlines Business Class (booked with KrisFlyer miles)

Finally, my flight back to Europe was a KrisFlyer award with Turkish Airlines. This wasn't the first (or even the second) time I've used KrisFlyer miles to fly from the Middle East to Europe - it's a great sweet spot in the KrisFlyer award chart at just 33,500 KrisFlyer miles in J!

There was plenty of availabilty with Turkish, Aegean and EgyptAir from Saudi Arabia to Europe via the airlines' respective hubs. There was also an option on a Lufthansa A340-600, but only out of Riyadh and a few days earlier than I wanted. I ended up booking TK from Jeddah to Rome, via Istanbul and was already looking forward to some great food when my ticket arrived.

The taxes & charges on this booking were a bit high at AUD325. I could have paid less if I'd booked Aegean, but that would have been a 2am departure from Jeddah on an A320 with euro-business seating. Yeah, nah.

 

[Mattg]

So, to Dubai where this journey began...

There was quite a queue to check in when I got to DXB around 3 hours before my QR flight departed. Turns out, QR was running an A350-1000 from DXB to DOH at 22:50 (my flight) and another wide-body on the same route at 23:00. They must get a lot of connecting passengers starting their journeys in Dubai!

With my QR F boarding pass I was able to use the Ahlan First Class Lounge at DXB.



This was actually a really nice lounge, made even better by the fact they had roped off the entire back section of the lounge exclusively for QR passengers ticketed in F.

I was promptly shown to a table and handed a menu. The service staff were attentive and the a la carte lounge menu was excellent!



I very much enjoyed the laksa and satay chicken, with a glass of proper champagne.




On my way to the boarding gate, I briefly popped into the British Airways lounge as well. This was a much smaller space with a simple buffet and drinks selection, but was nice enough. Since the BA flight to LHR was still a few hours away, that lounge was still very quiet when I visited.

 

[Mattg]

The flight to Doha was a short hop on a big plane. It was a real treat getting to sit in a Qsuite on such a short flight, and what can I say - it's a really great product! It's spacious, well designed and very private - especially if you close the sliding door.



The lady sitting across from me - not that I could actually see her at all during the flight - was worried when she got on board that she was in a rear-facing seat. There was no need, she had an aisle seat that faced forwards. My window seat faced backwards but it wasn't really an issue at all for me.

Almost as soon as I sat down, the cheerful QR flight attendant dropped by my seat to introduce herself and hand me a menu. She also offered me a drink before take-off, and it wasn't just a choice of still or sparkling water like you you get on some airlines (*cough*) but literally anything I wanted from the drinks menu. Except, as it happened, the one drink I actually asked for (sparkling rosé) as they had run out. Not to worry, some champagne would do just fine!



We had boarded quite early so I even had time to order a second drink before we took off. I was keen for a glass of QR's delicious signature lemon & mint drink.



We took off on time and had a great view of the Dubai city lights:



The flight time was under an hour, so there was barely enough time for a meal service - but QR still managed to deliver a plate of food and another drink during the flight.



Unfortunately, we somehow managed to park at a stand-off bay on arrival into Doha that was so far away from the terminal, the bus ride in took about 25 minutes. The good news is that QR had sent dedicated "first class" buses for the F pax which were very comfortable.



I cleared immigration through the arrivals lounge for J/F passengers, which had no line, and was quickly in the metro to my hotel for the night, Hyatt Regency Oryx.

 

[Mattg]

I headed back to DOH the following afternoon, arriving a few hours early for my flight in order to spend some time in the Qatar Airways Al Safwa lounge.

Wow, just wow. I'm struggling to think of many better lounges anywhere in the world.



To access this lounge, you have to be flying in F. A regional F ticket on a flight within the Middle East will do, but you can't get in as a Oneworld Emerald or Velocity Platinum member flying Y - you get sent to a separate Platinum Lounge instead. On one hand, that's obviously disappointing if you have status and are flying Y. On the other hand, by keeping the invite list small, the lounge doesn't feel crowded at all and it allows the airline to invest deeply into the quality of the experience.

And what an experience it is. When I walked in, I didn't really know where to start. Luckily, the staff were very attentive and happily gave me an overview of the lounge facilities - and some directions.

It's a physically huge space, with a very high ceiling, that looks like a museum. As it happens, museum exhibits are literally one of the many things you can find in this lounge.



Al Safwa has pretty much everything you would expect from a great airline lounge. There are two dining areas - a main one and a smaller sushi bar - both with a la carte menus and table service. There's also a separate bar.

I started by trying some of the sushi.




Then moved to the other restaurant.

The main dining area had a seriously excellent menu (you can see the menu here) with many delicious options and an extensive drinks list to match. It's like a fine dining restaurant with friendly service and a view with lots of planes. I ordered a few dishes and they brought me an amuse bouche as well, to start.







I was in food heaven by the end of that meal!

The lounge has a business centre, and I'm not just talking about a desk with a power outlet. You can literally get an entire office to yourself.



There's a spa, and although massage treatments cost extra, the Jacuzzi - yes really - is complimentary. Unfortunately, I left it too late to ask about this and there wasn't enough time for the staff to prepare this for me before my flight boarded.

There's also a kids gaming area, parent rooms, prayer rooms, a media room, a smoking area and a duty-free shop.

I could have happily spent a whole day in that lounge. Alas, my flight to Riyadh was ready to board...