RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 178 – Doha (DOH) to Oslo (OSL)

By Nige on July 14, 2026 at 2:28 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: DOH | Doha | Hilton | OSL | Oslo | Qatar Airways | QR

I woke again with a start. Another much needed good night’s sleep in my plush suite, enjoyed without my partner-in-love. She would have loved it.

I was up at 3:30am and was in an Uber shortly before 4am. The ride took about 15 mins and cost me about £7.

Once I was throught security I went straight to the Starbucks located near to the B gates and my normal drink also cost me not far off £7. Interesting comparison of the price of goods and services!

I walked down to the north of the terminal, avoiding using the train. The steps would do me some good and it would give me some time to drink my coffee before getting into the lounge.

After a warm welcome from the lounge staff, I found my favourite seat and settled in to do some work. I had about 3 hours to kill.

I had considered going for another Starbucks, but unbelievably, I just didn’t fancy it. Odd that.

My flight to Oslo was due to depart from Gate C23 and I headed down there with about 50 mins to go. It was nice and quiet, but it didn’t feel like the normal set up.

There was a priority boarding queue, but no one was in it. Some passengers had been advised to walk to the other side of a pillar, but I couldn’t really see what was on the other side, so I just stayed and patiently waited for boarding to be announced.

Once boarding started, I approached the guy standing at the start of the priority boarding queue, assuming he would be checking that passengers had the right to priority boarding. He directed me into another much shorter priority boarding section but didn’t open the barrier to allow me to board.

There I waited. And waited…

He subsequently helped economy passengers to board. About 5 mins later, I asked that same guy whether I was in the correct place to board.

Apparently I was, but business passengers were not invited to board just yet. Economy passengers were simply going through to wait.

I wasn’t entirely sure what they might be waiting for, but I could tell this guy didn’t really know what he was talking about.

Another 5 mins later and he got the nod that business class passengers were now allowed to board. By the time I got on board, every man and his dog was in their seats.

Weird one, but I’ll put it down to experience. Unfortunately, the rest of the flight didn’t go much better.

Into seat 08A and I didn’t get the normal warm welcome, probably because everyone else was getting the cabin crew’s attention having got on earlier than me!

I did eventually get a bucks fizz as a pre-flight drink, but that was about it.

We pushed back early, but taxiing seemed to take forever. The captain eventually explained that due to circumstances, additional space needed to be left between aircraft taking off.

Fair enough, but he could have told us that earlier. I was definitely heading towards being in a bad mood at this point.

Then I found out that this aircraft had not been fitted with Mr Musk’s StarLink system, so we were using the old satelite system, which passengers had to pay for.

Bit of a cheek that, especially considering passengers do not choose which aircraft to travel on. I think I might try to get my $10 back.

I started watching Contact, but didn’t get that far with it. I think I was still annoyed at all the things that hadn’t gone the way they should have.

The next thing to piss me off was related to the 787’s window blinds. On a 787, window blinds are electronic, so the glass dims so it’s very dark. It’s a bit of a gimmick, which I don’t think any other aircraft uses.

Unfortunately, my second window was providing a bright halo effect to my tv screen, but the blind seemed to be connected to the window of the seat in front.

So, if I closed the blind, the blind of the window next to the seat in front of mine would also close. If she then opened her window blind, so would mine.

That was the nail in the coffin. I had to complain to the cabin crew. Firstly, wifi wasn’t free and secondly, I couldn’t reliably keep my blind closed.

The cabin crew apologised and overrode the blind settings through the system. But that was only temporary.

Breakfast arrived, which comprised a nice smoothie, followed by yoghurt with red berries, followed by French toast and a cappuccino.

It was food well appreciated, although I wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind to enjoy it as much as I might if things hadn’t started to piss me off.

I tried to do some work, but my abilities were limited due to a lack of internet access. I ended up having to pay $10 for access.

Using my Monzo failed to work, but it was happy enough to accept my Amex card. Just another thing to complain about…

The satellite was up and down like you know what, so I threw in the towel and decided to get some rest. Qatar provide a very substantial blanket, which is much bigger than most.

It easily covered me and allowed me to wrap the blanket around my feet. It’s my feet that need it most since they always get cold down in the footwell.

I ordered the short ribs with rice, which was gorgeous. I added the spicy sauce to make it more interesting.

On final approach it was nice to see some greenery.

We arrived into Gate 56. The landing was the best landing of all flights of this part of my RTW trip.

The cabin crew fell over themselves thanking me for my custom and to apologise for the mess ups.

I was first off through door 2L and I suggested to the cabin crew that passengers could pay for the privilege of opening the door. She explained that the ground crew open the doors now due to too many expensive incidents.

That’s when the fun started.