Gen Z American's 'flight to nowhere' stranded her in Doha. She was put up in a 5-star hotel, all expenses paid.

• Ria Singh got stranded in Doha after her flight to Dallas turned back due to the Iran war.
• Singh said she's staying in a 5-star hotel for free but is worried about how she'll get home.
• Qatar has said it is covering expenses for stranded travelers.

Ria Singh was asleep on a long-haul flight from Doha, Qatar, to Dallas one week agowhen she awoke to the pilot announcing the plane was turning around due to air restrictions.

The 24-year-old pulled up the flight map and saw that the plane was heading back to Doha. Then she checked her phone: The US and Israel had attacked Iran.

"I was very concerned, very terrified," Singh, who had a layover in Doha while traveling home from a wedding in India, told Business Insider, adding, "I still don't believe it's real."

Singh has been stuck in Doha since then, with no idea when she will be able to leave. Though she's been put up in a luxury hotel, she said it doesn't feel like a vacation because she is constantly updating family and wondering when she'll make it home to Texas.

She's one of many Americans who got stranded in the Middle East following the attacks on Iran and the retaliatory strikes that have hit several countries. Some Americans have said they've struggled to get help from the US, while others have been left with pricey and unforeseen expenses as they scramble to find a way home.

Flight records show Singh's flight, expected to last nearly 17 hours, took off at 8:30 a.m. local time on February 28 and turned around almost an hour and a half later. The plane returned to Doha and then circled several times near the airport before landing, according to flight path data on FlightAware. Other people on "flights to nowhere" last week spent nearly 16 hours in the air before landing back where they started.

After her flight landed back in Doha, Singh spent a chaotic day at the airport, which was filled with other travelers trying to get home, and spent the night at a hotel at the airport, hoping to fly out the next day.

But Sunday's flight was canceled too, and the airport, which had been damaged in an air strike, was evacuated.

A 5-star hotel stay for free

On Sunday, Singh and other passengers were shuttled away from the airport by Qatar Airways staff and eventually to hotels, for which they were given vouchers.

Singh was brought to a 5-star hotel on the Arabian Gulf. Since she is traveling alone, she asked that the hotel not be named for privacy reasons. The hotel stay includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets each day. She's been staying there since and has not personally paid for anything at the hotel.

Qatar Tourism has said it will cover the hotel stays for tourists who are stuck in the country as a result of the airspace closures, Euro News reported. Officials in the UAE have also said they will cover some expenses. However, it's unclear how many tourists have had their expenses covered, as there have been conflicting reports.

Singh said the hotel and food have been great, with the buffets featuring extensive options of Western and Arabic foods and desserts, and even a gelato bar. But it doesn't exactly feel like a luxury vacation.

She said she's "grateful I have a nice hotel" but that she just keeps wondering when she will get home. "Every day I wake up, and I'm hoping for good news."

Singh has mostly been spending her days at the hotel, with some jaunts in Doha. She made a friend, another stranded American, during the ordeal, who had connections to some people in Doha, so they ended up at a local's apartment for dinner one night. She's also gone to the mall and a nail salon.

One day, she and her friend planned to meet in a park, but then they heard some booms and received a government alert on their phones telling them to stay inside. A large part of her time is spent constantly updating her friends and family back home and assuring them that she is safe.

She has, so far, missed a week of work.

She still has no idea when she'll get home

Singh praised Qatar Airways and the Qatari government for the handling of the situation, as well as the hotel, which she said even set up a temporary play space for travelers with kids that has board games, a ping pong table, and a PlayStation.

But she said she's been disappointed by the US response. "It's hard to believe that when they were sitting down to plan these strikes, that there was nothing set in place for evacuating the Americans that would inevitably be stuck in this region," she said.

On Monday, the State Department told Americans in over a dozen Middle Eastern countries to evacuate, though commercial flights were largely unavailable. Several US Embassies in the region also told Americans they were unable to offer help.

The State Department later said it was chartering flights to bring people home, with one taking off from the Middle East on Wednesday. On Friday, the department said "several flights" had returned "hundreds of Americans" home and that more were scheduled for the coming days.

Singh said she has registered with the State Department to get help getting home, but she's also trying to get on any commercial flight she can find that can take off westbound.

"I know that there's people in much worse situations than me in this war zone, and so sometimes I feel guilty feeling bad about my situation," Singh said, adding, "I just hope that all of this ends soon."

The post Gen Z American's 'flight to nowhere' stranded her in Doha. She was put up in a 5-star hotel, all expenses paid. appeared first on Business Insider