[superchris]

So Ive just returned on a mammoth trip to Asia and wanted to share my thoughts on 4 separate Qatar Airways flights, strangely on what I presume are their 4 different premium class products. It was my first time back on QR after Covid so was interested to see what, if anything, had changed.

First flight, Madrid – Doha. First time on QSuites. Superb. Made a reasonable dent in the extensive and very nice wine list. Food, whilst presented beautifully seemed to lack the wow factor in terms of quality of previous years (maybe other airlines have caught up or Im harder to please?). I don’t normally watch IFE on planes but as this was a longer daytime flight – was actually quite disappointed by the rather limited content available – far less than Emirates in any class. Random episodes of things rather than full boxsets.

Connected onto Dubai, almost missed my flight due to a delayed inbound but boarded (by bus) the rather sad looking A330 for what was positioned as a First class flight of course on an intra-GCC flight. Seats were very old and of the angled lie flat variety. Perfectly okay of course for a 50 minute flight. Menus / wine list all available. How they served food in such time is beyond me, Luggage missed the connection and had to wait around for an hour to get any info (app was not updated with the news it didn’t make the flight!). Oddly Qatar only have 3 flights a day DOH – DXB (2 of them at exactly the same time), so I ended up waiting almost 24 hours to be reunited with my luggage.

Why do some connections make you go through security and some not? Ive never understood this.

Third flight true first class on the now showing its age A380 BKK to Doha. Legrest on 1A didn’t work so had to move seats. Didn’t visit the bar as it was a relatively short flight (6 hours) Food again lacked the wow factor. Service is very good. Boarding was oddly chaotic and the staff seemed super embarrassed when I eventually got to the front of the line and they saw I had a F boarding pass. Lounge at Bangkok was excellent. Staff everywhere, so attentive.
Interestingly when connecting in Doha I attempted (and eventually persuaded them) to let me use the F lounge rather than business given id flown in on an F ticket and F didn’t exist on my connection. Al Safwa lounge is a haven of peace and quiet. Until you attempt to have a shower which they clearly don’t have enough of. I had flashbacks to BAs first class lounge Elemis spa with staff just saying ‘no’ to customer after customer.
Final flight, the 787 back to the UK. Reverse herringbone. It’s a great product, clearly lacks privacy (although still has more privacy than F on the A380). Everything is just there. Charger, table, storage. It just works. Same pajamas and toiletries provided as given on the previous F class leg.
So in conclusion, a lot of inconsistencies of product. The A380 (and true First class) is surely not long for this world and I doubt the A380 will ever see the Qsuites. With Q suites being so good, this creates such a step down to economy – surely premium economy has to be considered? Qatar don’t carry the bling of Emirates, just quiet, understated colour tones and super attentive service. Q suites is stunning. Throw in regional UK connections, and good mileage earning and burning opportunities and they are still the airline to beat for me.

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James, AndrewinHK, Jacob, esselle, sparkyflier, cwoodward, stevescoots, christ

[AMcWhirter]

Thanks for these reports suoerchris. Really interesting.

There’s one premium product you overlooked which is business class on the A320.

Yesterday I was viewing “Matt’s Planet” latest YouTube where he reports on QR’s product taking an A320 business class Prague-Doha.

As for the A380 CEO Al Baker is not a super jumbo fan because of its maintenance costs.

In that YouTube interview with vlogger Sam Chui he said quite firmly “There is no future for the A380.”

That interview was conducted during the pandemic and at that time QR’s fleet of A380 had been withdrawn.

Later however passenger demand obliged QR to reactive those A380s.

So yes they have returned to service but QR says it will not update its A380 cabins (so no Q suite) until they are retired in a couple of years time.

Of course the A380s cannot be retired until QR receives a future order of 777Xs and A350s.

Now should these aircraft suffer delivery delays one could expect QR’s A380s to remain in service for longer than planned.

[FormerBA]

My wife and I had the F cabin on the A380 ex LHR all to ourselves last year, Its tired but it was absolutely outstanding on every level. The toilets are a wonder!

The crew were just wonderful and I commented to the head crew member that I was disappointed I didn’t have another 6-8 still to go. I then had the A330 and the 2×2 seating lie flat for 9 hours to Bali. I slept the entire journey so can’t comment on food or drink

On the return It was Q suites and I am one of the very few who dislike this product. I find it claustrophobic and the return from Bali while overnight was distinctly uncomfortable. Food and wine were excellent. I was admitted to Al Safwa without hesitation and it is the most extraordinary space. Cathedral like proportions and it is effectively a small art gallery in an airport. The direct bearing to a dedicated F bus with just 8 seats is awesome.

The F return to LHR was again spectacularly good however there was 2 very demanding customers and so the rather sucked the enthusiasm out of the crew, and their fellow passengers.

Earlier this year I flew CPH to AUH via DOH and again enjoyed the 787 and what they refer to as the old seats. This is my personal favourite. The crew were less engaged but the food etc was stunning. Al Safwa followed again and I had 4 hours to enjoy it. But, like superchirs I could not get a shower!!

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sparkyflier

[stevescoots]

I often wonder this as well Re security. i have had this in DOH, DXB and HEL, sometimes thru security, sometimes not. DXB i can understand as sometimes in and out are different terminals but DOH and HEL?

[superchris]

Interestingly I observed that the arrival gates at Doha (and presumably others) can be configured to take you straight from plane to the upper floor (which then feeds into the transfer process) or into the ground floor which takes you straight into departures (without the need to pass through security again).

I do wonder what the rationale is. It surely cant just be about how many people would otherwise miss connections, (else the bad goods would simply pick tight connections) but there does seem to be an element of randomness or inconsistency about it.

Of course at airports like heathrow etc, there is no option and if changing flights you are going through the transfer process (hence the rigmarole of them having to check the transfer train between satellites presumably to stop baggage being left from an arriving passenger to be left by a departing one and thus avoiding security.

[Author]

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