Visa for Pakistan

mrk · 7 Sep 2011 at 15:38

Asian mark-ups usually are

shine · 7 Sep 2011 at 15:40

xibinim said:
yeah I saw that but a 100% increase in one go still seems ridiculous!

In April we doubled some of the Visa's for non EU nationals so it may have been in response (read: make more money) to that.

Chronictank · 7 Sep 2011 at 16:28

mrk said:
I went in November last year, VISA cost £50 or something like that. Visited the embassy in London directly and applied and got it via there.

Only issue was you apply one day then return a week later to see if you were accepted and then pick up the stamped passport etc which I thought was a right faff.

That and the cramped queues waiting in line for 2~ hours at a time (wondering when you will get served because your car parking ticked was only set for an hour so you might need to nip out again and pay another £3.80 odd...) with noisy brown people ¬_¬

try southall travel, they sometimes block book tickets so might have them on the old price

B&W · 7 Sep 2011 at 16:32

You read this OP?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14825761

IceBus · 7 Sep 2011 at 17:35

You want to be on Qatar Airways out of that list, best airline by far. I was very disappointed in Emirates, and the food was pretty bland.

Bear in mind the USA don't take kindly to Pakistani visas if you ever want to go there. I wouldn't go there without a valid work reason these days tbh.

Pate · 7 Sep 2011 at 17:37

Why on Earth would you want to go to Pakistan? :/

Cleeecooo · 7 Sep 2011 at 17:40

xibinim said:
£104.00 + my passport needs renewing, this is going to be an expensive ticket.

EDIT - On a separate note. Is there much difference between Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad from OcUK'ers personal experience. They all seem to fair quite well.

Emirates is the best from what i've heard from friends

IceBus · 7 Sep 2011 at 17:43

Cleeecooo said:
Emirates is the best from what i've heard from friends

But not according to Skytrax (or me) - http://www.airlinequality.com/

Sho · 7 Sep 2011 at 17:43

mrk said:
Also avoid the people working in the airport if they offer to carry your bags. Avoid like the plague. Also don't pay any of the walkabout waiters there who want to serve you drinks, if you don't pay exact change you will never see them again!

This. Don't Trust anyone!

Cosimo · 7 Sep 2011 at 17:48

kenmare said:
Why on Earth would you want to go to Pakistan? :/

It's an exciting, safe holiday destination.

HamZilla · 7 Sep 2011 at 18:10

Don't want to worry you but today two PIA flights have been diverted due to bomb threats.

doodah · 7 Sep 2011 at 18:39

kenmare said:
Why on Earth would you want to go to Pakistan? :/

My friends wedding

Firestar_3x · 7 Sep 2011 at 18:42

kenmare said:
Why on Earth would you want to go to Pakistan? :/

Work, well that's my reason anyways.

A company called benmar sort out all my visas, emirates offer a good service.

asim18 · 7 Sep 2011 at 18:57

xibinim said:
EDIT - On a separate note. Is there much difference between Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad from OcUK'ers personal experience. They all seem to fair quite well.

I've been to Pakistan on Qatar and Emirates. Emirates had better food and sexier hostesses IMO so I'd pick them out of the two. Also, Dubai airport (Emirates) is better than Doha, so consider that if it's not a direct flight.

Soul.Survivor · 7 Sep 2011 at 19:21

I went back in November aswell and the Visa cost me roughly £27ish but that's because I have dual Nationality because of my parents, without that, it was roughly £55ish. Pakistani Embassy in Manchester. I do believe the prices are still the same.

shine · 7 Sep 2011 at 19:23

IceBus said:
You want to be on Qatar Airways out of that list, best airline by far. I was very disappointed in Emirates, and the food was pretty bland.

Bear in mind the USA don't take kindly to Pakistani visas if you ever want to go there. I wouldn't go there without a valid work reason these days tbh.

I've never had an issue travelling to the US with a Pakistani Visa in my passport... but they don't like me wearing Nike trainers!

mrk · 7 Sep 2011 at 19:24

Soul.Survivor said:
I went back in November aswell and the Visa cost me roughly £27ish but that's because I have dual Nationality because of my parents, without that, it was roughly £55ish. Pakistani Embassy in Manchester. I do believe the prices are still the same.

So that's who you are!

Soul.Survivor · 7 Sep 2011 at 19:39

mrk said:
So that's who you are!

Morgoth · 7 Sep 2011 at 19:40

Does it smell of crap in the same way India does?

Bes · 7 Sep 2011 at 19:41

xibinim said:
£104.00 + my passport needs renewing, this is going to be an expensive ticket.

EDIT - On a separate note. Is there much difference between Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad from OcUK'ers personal experience. They all seem to fair quite well.

Ignore the other people's comments on airlines in here. I have used all three many times.

If you are flying Economy (Not flown Business (J) in all three so cannot comment on each one), Etihad is the best definitely, but all Economy products are more-or-less the same. None is hugely better than the other (I wouldn't lose sleep over it in other words), but Etihad is better than the other two. If you are flying J or F, the Etihad lounge at LHR is amazing too.

Qatar is second, but they give you plastic cutlery, have a worse (slower) entertainment system, and are more stingy with the booze in my experience. Also Doha airport seriously sucks. Don't try and overnight there. No air bridges, and pretty dated inside. At LHR, in J/ F, you use the Virign lounge which is decent, but not as good as Etihad's. Also be aware Qatar use A320's on some of the shorter routes (Like DOH- MLE (Maldives)), and they are not as nice as the widebodies. No idea what they use to Pakistan though.

Emirates- 777 - 10 across = fail. Not bad though. New airport is quite spiffy too. Food wasn't great from the times I have used them either.