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The Priority Pass Challenge: 3 Countries, 3 Days, ONLY AIRPORT LOUNGES (No Hotels or Restaurants)

Some people book a nice hotel when they visit Dubai and Doha. Sensible people. I decided to sleep in airports for three days instead. Again.

The idea was simple: travel through three countries – Thailand, the UAE and Qatar – in roughly 72 hours. No hotels. No proper restaurant meals. All my food, booze, showers and sleep would come from airport lounges using my unlimited Priority Pass membership. Stupid? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely.

WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THIS?

Because one of my best mates, Selim Bayraktar, lives in Turkey. I live in Thailand, and we hadn’t seen each other for six months. Dubai and Doha are roughly halfway between us, so they were perfect for a reunion.

We’d already done the original Priority Pass Challenge together in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Three countries, three days, no hotels, loads of lounges, free-flow booze and very little proper sleep. It was a huge success. Or at least our version of success. (You can read about that Priority Pass Challenge, and see the video, HERE!) So naturally, I decided we should do the whole stupid thing again, this time in the Middle East. Selim also filmed the adventure for me, so you can watch the chaos below.

THE RULES

The rules were pretty simple:

• Three countries in three days
• No hotels
• No restaurants for our main meals
• All proper food, drinks, showers and sleep from airport lounges
• Sightsee all day
• Return to the airport each night
• Try not to completely fall apart

The three countries were Thailand, the UAE and Qatar. Let’s goooooo……

THE ROUTE

My itinerary looked like this:

• Day 1: Bangkok → Dubai redye (7pm to 3am ish)
• Day 2: Land in the wee hours of the morning. Lounges for sleeppods and brekkie. Sightseeing all day in Dubai. Lounges for dinner, drinks, showers, and sleep pods.
• Day 3: Dubai → Doha, then sightseeing all day in Qatar. Airport for dinner, drinks, showers at the lounge.
• End of Day 3: Doha → Bangkok on a 3am red-eye

I booked the Bangkok-to-Dubai economy journey for 37,500 Avios, plus taxes. So pretty much free.

For the journey home, Dubai to Doha and then Doha to Bangkok, I used approximately 99,000 Avios. And both those flights were in First Class. BOOM! Economy on the way out. First Class on the way home. That’s how you finish a stupid airport challenge properly.

DAY 1: BANGKOK TO DUBAI

The challenge started on the evening of 1 July at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. First stop: the Miracle First Class Lounge (PRIORITY PASS LOUNGE COUNT: 1).

Airport time isn’t real time, so we kicked things off with breakfast-style food and champagne in the evening. You can’t begin a three-day airport-lounge challenge with a sensible cup of tea. That would be pathetic. Champagne it was.

From Bangkok, I took the red-eye to Dubai via Doha. The full journey ran from approximately 7:30pm until 3:30am. The flights were booked with airmiles from my Amex, so apart from the taxes, the actual flight cost was covered by miles. Landing in Dubai at 3:30am sounds horrible. And normally, it would be.

But I had a plan.

DAY 2: SIX HOURS’ SLEEP—WITHOUT A HOTEL

I only had carry-on luggage, and I already had the boarding pass for my flight the following day. That meant I didn’t need to clear immigration immediately. I could remain airside and head straight for the lounges. My first stop was the Sleepover lounge inside Dubai Airport (PRIORITY PASS LOUNGE COUNT: 2 + 3 – I had to access it ‘twice’ to double my sleep!)

With my Priority Pass access, I could book either two or four hours depending on the time and availability. Because I had unlimited visits, I was able to check in again and piece together a beautiful six hours of sleep. Six hours! In an airport. For no additional charge beyond my Priority Pass membership. That’s better than I sleep in half the hotels I pay for.

Once I woke up, I headed to the Marhaba Lounge for breakfast (LOUNGE VISIT COUNT: 4), coffee and the chance to make myself look vaguely human again. Then it was time to leave the airport and explore Dubai.

SIGHTSEEING IN DUBAI

Most people think Dubai is all skyscrapers, shopping malls and supercars. And yes, there’s a shed-load of all three. But I wanted to see both sides of the city.

I started around Old Dubai, where you can cross the creek on a traditional wooden dhow for just 1 AED. It’s one of the cheapest things you can do in Dubai and also one of the coolest. From there, I wandered around the old souq and experienced the historic side of the city before diving back into futuristic Dubai.

I stopped by the Museum of the Future, which might be one of the most beautiful modern buildings anywhere in the world.

I also met my brother-in-law Jez for lunch and coffee around Dubai Marina. Yes, that’s technically the Airport Lounge Challenge police knocking at my door. But I wasn’t going to visit Dubai and refuse to see family because of some stupid rule I invented for the internet. From the Marina, it was on to the huge modern Dubai experience: Dubai Mall, shopping for my wife, the Burj Khalifa and the fountain show at sunset.

The Burj Khalifa fountains are touristy as hell, of course, but they’re famous for a reason. Watching the show with the world’s tallest building behind it is properly spectacular. Before returning to the airport, I squeezed in a quick swim near the Burj Al Arab and used the free public showers by the beach. Hotel room: still unnecessary.

BACK TO DUBAI AIRPORT

After an entire day walking around Dubai, I was absolutely knackered. Thankfully, the airport was waiting for me with food, champagne and another bed. First, I visited the Ahlan Business Class Lounge. (LOUNGE VISIT COUNT: 5)

The vegetarian food was banging, the champagne was flowing and I could sit down for the first time in what felt like several weeks. Food sorted. Drinks sorted. Then it was back to the Sleepover lounge, where I managed to get another six hours of sleep. (L0UNGE VISIT COUNT 6 & 7)

That meant I had now spent two nights in Dubai without paying for a hoteL, and had slept for roughly 12 hours inside the airport. Mental.

DAY 3: DUBAI TO DOHA—IN FIRST CLASS

After waking up, I returned to the Marhaba Lounge for breakfast (LOUNGE VISIT COUNT: 8)

Then things got considerably less budget. I boarded my First Class flight from Dubai to Doha. This formed part of the approximately 99,000-Avios booking that would eventually take me all the way back to Bangkok. By deliberately building a 23-hour stopover into Doha, I got another full city break before flying home.

A First Class flight, a full day in Qatar and then another First Class flight back to Thailand. I absolutely nailed that redemption.

When I landed in Doha, I used the Qatar Airways arrivals lounge available through my First Class ticket. This particular lounge wasn’t accessed through Priority Pass, but it still fitted the challenge (LOUNGE COUNT: 9): airport lounges remained our bathroom, restaurant, office and temporary home. Once we were showered, caffeinated and vaguely presentable, Selim and I headed into Doha.

SIGHTSEEING IN DOHA

I know Doha from previous visits . It’s clean, modern, beautifully designed and very easy to explore during a long layover (if a little boring).

Our sightseeing included:

• The Museum of Islamic Art
• The Mina District
• The National Museum of Qatar
• Doha Corniche
• The sail-shaped building
• Qatar’s fish market
• The Crystal Walk promenade on Gewan Island

Now, I have a confession. I generally hate museums. I love museum buildings, though.

So I admired both the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar from outside. All the architecture, none of the slowly walking around reading tiny signs. Perfect. The Mina District was gorgeous, with pastel-coloured buildings beside the water. We walked along the Corniche, checked out the fish market and continued through the modern parts of Doha.

Later, we made it out to The Crystal Walk on Gewan Island. It’s a beautiful pedestrian promenade with air-conditioned outdoor walkways—because Qatar has apparently decided it can air-condition the fucking street.

We also grabbed some vegetarian food nearby. Another minor challenge technicality. Arrest me. The point wasn’t to starve ourselves. It was to show how airport lounges could cover nearly all the expensive and annoying parts of a rapid city break: accommodation, proper meals, alcohol, showers, rest and somewhere comfortable to plan each day. And they did exactly that.

ONE FINAL LOUNGE

After a full day exploring Doha, we returned to Hamad International Airport, probably the second best airport in the world after Singapore’s Changi, and checked into the Al Maha Lounge South. (LOUNGE COUNT: 10).

We used the lounge for a shower, dinner and some downtime before the ridiculous 3am red-eye back to Bangkok. By that stage, the challenge had given us three countries, two full sightseeing days, multiple lounges, two nights of airport sleep and enough champagne to make the sleep schedule even more confusing.

Then back to a different Sleeping Pod lounge, but the same brand as the one in Doha, for 3 hours sleep before my flight. LOUNGE COUNT: 11. Selim had a later flight, so got anohter 6hours of sleep in!

FIRST CLASS BACK TO BANGKOK

At 3am, I boarded the First Class flight from Doha to Bangkok. It was a pretty spectacular way to finish a challenge built around avoiding hotels and using airport lounges as our temporary home. After economy on the way out, two days of relentless sightseeing and two nights sleeping inside Dubai Airport, I was more than ready for some First Class comfort.

I landed in Bangkok exhausted, slightly broken and very happy. A sensible person would have gone home and slept for two days, but I went directly to Hua Hin for a family rest-and-relaxation trip with Jaa and Aidan. No rest for the wicked.

HOW MUCH DID IT COST?

The hotels cost exactly $0, while the airport sleeping pods, lounge meals, showers and drinks were included through my Priority Pass membership. The outbound flight cost 37,500 Avios plus taxes, while the Dubai–Doha–Bangkok First Class journey cost approximately 99,000 Avios plus taxes.

Our remaining spending was mainly taxis, a 1 AED dhow crossing, shopping and a couple of meals or coffees outside the challenge. Excluding shopping and flight taxes, the total cash spending was roughly $100. Considering Dubai and Doha are two expensive destinations, that was pretty bloody good for a three-day reunion.

WAS IT WORTH IT?

Absolutely. Sleeping in an airport wasn’t as luxurious as staying in a five-star Dubai hotel, but the Sleepover pods were genuinely comfortable and gave me around 12 hours of proper sleep. The lounges covered almost all our food, drinks and showers, while the flights booked with Avios kept the rest of the trip affordable.

More importantly, I got to spend three ridiculous days exploring two cities with one of my best mates. We saw Old Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina, Doha’s Corniche, the Mina District and Gewan Island, then finished the whole thing in First Class. We’ll remember this stupid adventure for years, which is exactly why I keep doing this shit.

Round 2 of the Priority Pass Challenge was officially complete. Now we just need to work out where the hell to do Round 3. Cocktail crawl of Lounges? Best Priority Pass Lounges in the world?! A week of only airport lounges? Let me get thinking!

What is Priority Pass?

If you don’t know what all this is about, Priority Pass is the ONE THING I’d never travel without. It’s a membership that gives you access to more than 1,900 airport lounges and travel experiences around the world, regardless of which airline you’re flying or whether you’re stuck in economy. Depending on the airport, that can mean free food, booze, Wi-Fi, comfortable seats, charging points and showers, plus occasional gems like gyms and sleeping pods.

It basically transforms an airport from an overpriced, miserable waiting room into somewhere I can eat, work, shower, drink and sometimes even sleep. There are different membership levels—some include a limited number of visits and others include unlimited access—and some premium credit cards provide membership too. I travel constantly, so I use the unlimited version, which is what made this ridiculous challenge possible. Lounge facilities and entry rules vary, so always check the Priority Pass app before travelling.

I also blogged about it HERE.