RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 177 – Frankfurt (FRA) to Doha (DOH)

By Nige on July 13, 2026 at 3:03 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: DOH | Doha | FRA | Frankfurt | Hilton | Qatar Airways | QR

I was awoken with a real start at 4am. I was in deep sleep and it was one of those when you wake up and wonder what on earth is going on, where you are, what you need to do next. Wow – not been that asleep for what seems such a long time.

The aim was to grab a Starbucks at the store next to the hotel at 5:30am and take it with me to T3 about a 10 min train ride away. There were no Starbucks’ at T3, which was a shame.

I was waiting outside of Starbucks at just before 5:30am and there was no movement.

The staff turned up a few mins before 5:30am and there were conflicting messages on the store front about whether it opened at 5:30am or 6am.

I gave up and headed to T3.

T3 is certainly a beautiful terminal. It’s open and spacious and it was already busy at 6am. I tried to checking in at a generic check-in kiosk, but it wasn’t entertaining checking me in without a visit to the Qatar check-in desk.

I had a mobile boarding pass, courtesy of Japan Airlines, so I used that to get through security. It worked so I didn’t complain.

Then it came to immigration. It was nice and quiet and a guy helped me. I asked him whether I needed to pre-register AGAIN, on the basis that I had pre-registered on a number of previous visits. He said that I did.

I then got into a conversation with him and his colleague, who I think knew a little more about the status of the Entry/Exit System (EES) and I suggested it was a bit of a mess. She smiled, so I think the staff understood what was really going on behind the scenes.

Anyway, I pre-registered AGAIN, and headed through passport control via the most bored officer I think I have ever encountered. Happy in her job, she was not.

Airside at T3 and I headed to the Priority Lounge, which is the temporary lounge for Qatar passengers, whilst they work on constructing their own lounges.

I had to wait 10 mins for them to open at 6:15am but being one of the first in, I had the pick of the seats.

Not a bad lounge and a half-decent selection of food for breakfast. The facilities were not in quite a decent a shape!

I got locked inside a loo! I locked the door ok; it was a bit stiff, but I didn’t think anything of it. When I tried unlocking it, the locking knob came off in my hand and I was stuck.

I needed to bang on the door to get someone’s attention. Once staff got involved, they managed to unlock the door from the outside and I was released.

That’s a first for me!

My flight to Doha left from Gate J9. I headed down there an hour before departure time in order to get my passport checked.

That gave me my final two boarding cards to finish off this mega RTW TP Run. What an adventure it has been.

We started boarding about 30-40 mins before departure and I was soon on into seat 08A.

The welcome from Qatari cabin crew was great as always. On top of that, the Qatar menus are just up my street.

I started off with a bucks fizz and started watching Apollo 13 (again).

It was going to be just less than 6 hour flight, which I was sure would be a joy the whole way.

We pushed back on time, and there were no delays hitting the runway.

Normal drinks and nuts service, then I was straight into the mezzanine for starter and a butter chicken as a main. Lovely.

The cheesecake for pudding was sublime.

Vick contacted me whilst I was in the air. She had hit her head and needed to go to the hospital. Thankfully, friends helped out whilst I was away.

I worked for most of the flight, so it was much of a blur to be honest. As with all Qatar flights, I was well looked after. The only issue of note was that I wasn’t offered the second meal for some reason. Unusual for Qatar.

Final approach was smooth and we arrived into Gate 314. That’s what it said on the outside, but that equated to Gate C23 (I think) from a departures perspective.

Both air bridges were attached but door 1L opened first. I scooted past the other passengers as I headed down towards the terminal exit, although I wasn’t convinced that I was directed the right way. On the departure gate floor I could see no signs for Immigration.

I had to ask members of staff as to how I could get back into the correct arriving passengers stream. I got there in the end, but it definitely felt like somehow I had managed to get myself into the wrong area of the terminal.

I was eventually directed to take an escalator up to the floor above, then walk through the Transfer Security area, then along to pick up signs to baggage reclaim.

So, the fact that I had ended up the other side of Transfer Security, without actually having gone through Transfer Security was a bit of a worry in itself…

Anyway, I got through into Immigration and there wasn’t much of a queue to show my passport. Through Baggage Reclaim and across to the parking garage where I picked up an Uber to take me to the DoubleTree in the Old Town.

It was just up the road from the Hampton Inn that I stayed at in January.

The hotel was very welcoming and offered me a nice upgrade to a junior suite with a half-decent view.

It was after 5pm and my attention turned to food. Having considered using a delivery service, I realised there were a couple of Cheesecake Factories not that far away.

Should I get an Uber and sit in, or I could use a delivery service to bring some food to me.

The latter sounded more appealing, so I registered for a free trial and placed my order. I tracked the location of my food and within 45 mins I had chicken tacitos and some spicy nachos in my room.

The chicken tacitos were nice and not far off how nice they would be if I visited the restaurant, but the nachos didn’t really travel very well. They were a little soggy and the food was just a bit on the cold side. I was a tad disappointed.

After catching up with the Vickster, it was time for an early night, with a very early start on the cards.