[Anonymous]

[business traveller]

Reservation/background
My partner had been in Cairo on business for three months and we decided to have a quick visit to Thailand and Qatar provided the best Oneworld option from Cairo.

We booked directly with Qatar online. The site is pretty straight forward to navigate and we were able to select our seats at the time of booking. Online check in opened 36 hours before departure and we were able to check in and print our boarding passes without a hitch.

For reasons unknown Qatar designates its Business Class cabins when operating short flights within the gulf/region as 'First Class'. Same seat, same aircraft operating beyond the gulf and it is designated 'Business Class'. A little like the situation with American Airlines – sit in 2A for three hours on a 757 from Puerto Rico to Miami and you are in Business Class. Sit in 2A for a 40 minute hop on the same plane from Miami to Orland and it becomes 'First Class'. The upside is that the First Class designation with Qatar earns First equivalent tier points as well as giving access to the First Class lounge within the premium terminal.

At the airport
Cairo has extremely unpredictable traffic so we booked a car for 10:30 from downtown Cairo arriving at the airport just before midday for our 13:55 departure. Qatar departs from terminal one which is where most airlines except EgyptAir departs. As is common with many airports in Africa and the mid east your baggage is first x-rayed at the entrance door to the terminal. We then proceeded to the check-in desk and there was no one in front of us at the First Class counter. The check in agent was very friendly and efficient and tagged our bags through to Bangkok and wrote out our lounge invitation. From there it was through passport control which was swift and onto the lounge. All the lounges at Cairo Airport are operated by the Airport Authority and are 'themed' – American, Italian and British lounges. The lounges were actually more comfortable than expected (which was not a lot) and they offered fairly basic refreshments and snacks, free wifi and a full stocked bar. There were no showers and also very few charging points for laptops. Boarding was called 45 minutes before departure and was via a bus direct to the aircraft after passing through another security check at the gate. There was a seperate bus for First Class passengers whom were called last.

Boarding/first impressions
Business Class was boarded by the forward stairs and Economy by the rear stairs. As we entered the aircraft we were greeted and shown to our seats – 1A and 1C. The A321 has three rows of standard recliners configured AC EF and are upholstered in cloth using Qatar's signature red/burgundy. For a short haul product the seats looked really comfortable and spacious. Already at our seats were a leather bound menu and wine list, also a simple washbag containing eye shades, socks, earplugs and oddly a hairbrush (not expected on such a short flight) as well as noise cancelling headphones. The Purser advised us that there were only three passengers in Business Class and with all of us onboard we were free to move as we wished. Hoping to get a glimpse of the Pyramids after take off I moved into 2A (my partner and I have a long term agreement that he always gets the window seat). We were offered a pre departure drink of whatever we wanted (the Purser suggested a lime and mint mocktail) and hot towels were given out. Arabic coffee and dates followed. The stewardess working alongside the Purser in Business came to introduce herself and the Purser and told us they would be looking after us for the flight. Oddly, yet fairly consistent with QR, this ideal opportunity of her introducing herself to use our names was missed or ignored. Meal and drink orders were taken on the ground also. And soon the door was closed, the welcome PA's given by the pilots and cabin crew in english and arabic and we pushed back exactly on schedule.

The seat:
The A321 generally operates short to medium sectors and the seat is superb for such a journey. They are typical recliners, wide, plenty of cushioning and decent legroom. All the controls are electric and you can adjust the recline and leg extention individually. The storage space is pretty standard for such a seat – basically in the overhead locker or under the seat in front of you. Tables are large and sturdy and fold out from the armrest and there is a small cocktail table that pops out from the centre console. The only issue I did have with the seat is that the recline is (in my opinion) TOO great. Once the meal service had finished my partner whom was sat in front of me reclined his seat to the maximum and it was almost in my lap. This would be awful if you had the last row (row 3) as the recline there is definitely lesser (given all the spare seats I gave them a try). For this reason I would say row 1 is probably the best choice to go for when choosing a seat, although the downside is you cannot have your belongings on the floow for take off and landing. The first row also seems to be blocked off for Qatar's elite card holders also. We were only able to choose those seats when checking on online. When booking and managing our booking online the whole of row one showed as 'occupied'.

In-flight service:
After take off the Purser came and opened our table and laid it with the table cloth and our wine glass then presented the amuse bouche which was a delicious vegetable and haloumi wrap (warmed). He then tended to us seperately with our wines in both cases bringing the open bottle from the galley, showing us the label, offering us a taste first, then pouring. The meal tray was then presented which was complete with the starter (we both had mezze), small side salad, cutlery and side plate. We were offered (no less than three times throughout the meal) a large selection of breads from the basket. The starter plate was cleared and we were then served our mains – I had the chicken. It was fine. Nothing to rave about taste wise but presentation was good. We were offered top ups of wine and water before our trays were cleared and we were offered cheese or desssert. I opted for neither. My partner had the dessert which he said was pretty 'dry and boring'. The lights were dimmed and I nodded off for around an hour. There was a movie playing on the overhead screens – it was an egyptian movie in arabic with english subtitles. Qatar are obviously very attuned to their local markets. The inflight service was superb in terms of the options available to eat and drink. Imagine electronically reclining your seat while choosing your choice of starter and deciding which of the four mains you would like on a 2hr45min flight within europe?
Menu:
Tempting your pallete: Vegetable and haloumi wrap with tomato tartare
To commence: lamb and barley broth
season salad
classic arab mezze
To follow: Chicken and okra stew with broad beans rice
Braised fillet of beef with tomato jus and diced potatoes
Dukkah crusted perch with dill rice and vegetables
Mushroom Raviloi in tomato and cheese sauce
Sweet finale Cheese plate of cheddar, cammembert and emmental
chocolate marquise
selection of fresh fruits
Relax and unwind cappuccino, espresso, cafe late, macchiato, range of teas

Wine list:
Champage: Krug Grand Cuvee
Henriot Rose, 2003
White: Domain Marc Morey et fils Burgundy 2008
Craggy Range, Malborough, NZ 2012
Mantlerhof, Austria, 2011
Red: Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Bordeaux, 2008
Heartland Directors Cut Shiraz, Sth Australia, 2010
Tommasi, Venetto Italy 2009

Crew service:
Service was very good and the two crew serving us in Business Class were very nice and polite. As with most crews I have experienced with Qatar the crew on this flight were mainly of indian or south east asia decent. I'm not going to call the service 'robotic' but they make very little effort to engage other to serve food and drink. Everything is done politely and it can all feel a little scripted. As with nearly all our Qatar flights our names were not used once. I know it can be a bit of a task trying to remember the names of thirty passengers by memory but when you only have three? Even if just once I think names should be used. Especially for a 'five star' airline anyway.

End of flight:
We landed in Doha a few minutes ahead of schedule. We pulled onto a remote stand (no jettys in Doha) and a small 'VIP' bus was waiting for the three of us sat in Business Class. As is usual for Qatar the curtains between economy and business/first are closed until all business class passengers have disembarked. We boarded the bus which took at least twenty minutes to reach the 'premium transfer terminal' as it goes via the main arrivals terminal to drop those terminating off. Once we arrived at the premium terminal it's through security again then up the escalator to the lounge.

Verdict:
An excellent flight. The seats are great for a short flight, the dining options huge and the service was friendly and polite.

Review courtesy of Seatplans.com. Original review by user 59114 can be found here

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