[skywards]

Qatar have an unbeatable price from AMS at the minute… £1,129 to BKK in business class. I believe the sale ends in a couple of days.

[Schaible]

I will give it a try next month (PEK-DOH-FRA). Good news that QR is on the way up and they have a “healthy” growth where service standards and airline employees can keep pace, unlike Emirates.

Emirates show everybody how NOT to do it. Obviously Akbar Al Baker is more visionary and less greedy than Tim Clark!

[esselle]

Who is Ali Al Baker?

[slotski]

Skywards- thanks for the tip. Just booked AMS to BKK for November in J – a mix of 787, A380 and 777-300ER for an unbelievably brilliant €1441. I am very happy.

[Danpat_50]

By far the best business class in flight service to date is on the 787.
22 business class seats ,4 cabin crew.reasonable size galley for this number.
The 777 has the best galley space for working crew,and the aircraft with 2 business cabins there are 2 crew preparing your meals with 4 crew out in the cabins for 42 passengers max.
There is a problem on their 380 in business.With a posable load of 48 passengers,a small galley with one crew prepping the meals ,and 4 crew in the cabin.
If it is a day flight ,I would go to the lounge after take off ,and come back to my seat fryer an hour or more and dine then.
But on a night flight,where you just want to be served and sleep it would be advisable to choose a seat as far forward in the cabin as possible.
It can take a long time for service to reach the back of the cabin.
Also if you intend eating later ,choose your meal in advance ,they sometimes run out of choices.
The Airbus 600 is an aircraft I would never choose to fly ,again the cabin with a full passenger load is too much for the crew to deal with Effeciently.
Of course the style of service Qatar offers its business class passengers,good as it is ,does add to the length of the meal service.

[slotski]

Danpat_50: I’ve yet to fly QR so your points are interesting. I am doing a couple of business class trips LHR-DOH-DAC with QR in the next few weeks, quite a mix of A319, A330-200, A330-300 and A340-600! On one leg I only have 80 minutes transit at Doha, does anyone think that’s enough time to grab a shower in the All Mourjar lounge?

[Jackanory]

Last month they were doing ARN/CPH-BKK for less than £1000 in J. I think the lowest I saw was £917 from CPH for Feb/Mar. Ended up paying a little extra to fly into HKT but still amazing value.

[TiredOldHack]

Slotski – given the hassle I had transiting Doha last year (huge crowds), probably not.

[rodders]

agree with the comments on the new HIA, on the Krug question in the business lounge I suspect this will disappear when the new First lounge opens…..
Also agree with the value for money offered by Qatar, but as someone who has used them almost weekly, like anything familiarity can expose the shortcomings, like a rather mechanical approach to service and a desperate attempt not to deviate from what they have been told, a little bit more of the “personality” of the airline should now be allowed to show thru, and show some Arabian Warmth!
I do agree that the B787 J cabin is great, as is the 3A80, perhaps a tad too big as a single cabin.
Look forward to hearing Rferguson’s comments on the A350.

[MrDarwin]

Slotski – I had a 2 hour and 5 minute transit in Doha last year and that was just enough time to have a shower and sit down for about 15 minutes, so I think on a 1 hour 20 minute stop you definitely won’t have enough time.

In case you magically arrive early or have more time, and the showers are full – they do have additional showers in the “VIP area” which is located off the cafe type restaurant at one end of the lounge.

[ChrisJR]

Since QR joined OneWorld I have used them more and more. They have very good prices in comparison to BA and most other carriers, and a very good product. There are some anomalies, like the A330, A340 and older A320 business class which I hope they phase out / replace soon, and also the LHR lounge can get very crowded early afternoon when there is an A380 (I presume) and a B773 due. And the stop / change in Doha on night flights is a bit of a pain. But other than that It’s very good. The lounge at the new airport is very good, but must admit I did prefer the old Premium Terminal – not so far to walk and nice views out over the airport. But I like that you don’t appear to get re-scanned at Doha in the new terminal when transiting (unless it was so seamless I didn’t notice…?)

[rferguson]

I agree with Chris. Generally they have a great product but still somewhat inconsistent in terms of seating/hard product.

Take LHR – DOH for example. You would think it would be one of the most prestigious routes for the airline. Yet they offer four different J products on the route – with the difference between the best and worst being quite significant.

1 x daily A380 – fully flat and direct aisle access 1-2-1
1 x daily 777-300 – fully flat 2-2-2
1 x daily 319 – all J class 2-2 fully flat
1 x daily 330-300 – angle flat seating.
2 x daily 340-300 – angle flat seating.

I’m sure it won’t be long before they are rid of the old A340/330’s but until then anyone that does not do their homework could be in for a bit of a shock in terms of seating.

[norvagabond]

Had great flight in J from Bangkok on the A380. No one in F, strange sais one of the CC. She said its always some Saudi-VIP`s there. She also servded my brother and me 4 bottles of Krug in the lounge onboard. Great crew and fantastic airplane. The lounge was almost empty all the time when the business cabin 80% full on this flight. Many was sleeping. We did not as we had a flight to Oslo later. I must say that i think Qatar is going the right way here. Very often very good and almost always cheapest. That has to be a winning combo. Flight to Oslo also very good. 🙂

[Tirana1]

Indeed, I have not experienced a better lounge than the Heathrow offering for Qatar (better than CX in HK and JFK Concord Room, my otherwise top picks) and the 787/A380 business seat is the best I have experienced. I find the range of food and wifi speeds in the Doha lounge disappointing but as a package it is very hard to beat Qatar. A somehwat grudging criticism would be somewhat formulaic and robotic service at times but that is somewhat cultural and a function of individual preferences. In particular, I would love for BA to take lessons as to quality of in-flight catering – it knocks BA out of the park (save where a good cup of tea is involved !) They are a particularly good choice for African and Asian flights from London given BA’s retreat from eg Dar.

[Thocha7]

It’s true and I agree. I’ve been flying with QR since 2005.
First time i flew on B Class i got addicted with the excellent service on board. I have flown other N.American and European air lines. In my experience QR B class still @ the top.

[Author]

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