Last year Qatar Airways introduced their new Qsuites product, which is their revolutionary new business class with doors at every seat. I just had the chance to fly this for the first time between New York and Doha, and sat in a different type of seat in each direction. In this post I wanted to share my thoughts on the best Qsuites seats there are.
General 777 Qsuites cabin layout
Qatar Airways’ 777s with Qsuites feature a total of 42 business class seats. Seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration, with each seat featuring direct aisle access.
The forward cabin — between the first and second set of doors — has a total of 24 seats, as it consists of a full six rows (rows 1-6).
Meanwhile the rear cabin — behind the second set of doors — has a total of 18 seats, as it consists of 4.5 rows (rows 7-11).
Forward vs. rear Qsuites cabin
I don’t think there’s a strong advantage to being in the forward cabin vs. the rear cabin. The way I see it, the main advantage of being in the forward cabin is that you have less foot traffic during boarding, since most economy passengers board through the second set of doors.
The main advantage of being in the rear cabin is that there’s less foot traffic during the flight. That’s because there’s a galley and bathrooms at the very front of the plane, then another galley and more bathrooms inbetween the two cabins. That means if you’re in rows 10-11, for example, you have virtually no foot traffic the entire flight.
Personally my preference is to sit towards the very back of the rear cabin, but that’s a general preference I have for my flights. The only potential downside is that sometimes babies in bassinets are in the first row of economy, though that’s not something I usually have an issue with.
Best Qsuites seat for solo travelers
If you’re traveling alone then you absolutely want one of the single seats by the window. These are the seats with the letters A, B, J, or K.
Seats with the letters A & K are the true window seats, as these seats are right by the windows. Then closer to the aisle is the console and storage area, and then the door is past that. If possible you definitely want one of these seats, since they feel the most private, and also the least claustrophobic due to their distance from the door. Furthermore, you can easily look out the window. Do note that all of these seats are rear facing — that’s something I like, though if you suffer from motion sickness, maybe these seats aren’t right for you.
Seats with the letters B & J are still good, though will feel a bit more claustrophobic. For these seats the console and storage are closer to the window, while the seats are closer to the aisle. These are still great seats, though they may feel slightly claustrophobic, since you’re seated right by the door. These are forward facing seats.
Of the window seats, which do I most recommend?
- First choice: 3A, 3K, 5A, 5K, 10A, 10K (these are true window seats, and are the furthest from the galleys and bathrooms)
- Second choice: 1A, 1K, 8A, 8K (these are true window seats, though are closer to the galleys and bathrooms)
- Third choice: 2B, 2J, 4B, 4J, 9B, 9J, 11B, 11J (these are window seats closer to the aisle, and are the furthest from the galleys and bathrooms)
- Fourth choice: 6B, 6J (these are window seats closer to the aisle, and are closer to the galleys and bathrooms)
All of those are fantastic seats, but I’m just trying to provide as detailed of a ranking as possible.
Best Qsuites seats for couples
If you’re traveling with someone then you may appreciate the varied Qsuites seating configuration, as you can create a double bed, or potentially even a “suite” with four seats.
Seats with the letters E & F are the double beds, as they’re right next to one another in the center of the plane.
Don’t worry, if you’re traveling with a stranger you won’t be forced to cuddle with them, as there’s a wall that can be raised. However, if you are traveling with someone these are great since you can have your beds right next to one another.
Don’t get too excited, though. This isn’t a continuous sleeping surface, so while you’ll be close together, you’ll struggle to spoon comfortably. The pairs of E & F seats are all rear facing.
Then seats with letters D & G are in the center section but are further from one another. They’re forward facing, and in general these aren’t ideal if you’re traveling with someone.
However, the cool thing is that you can potentially create a four person suite, as all four of the center suites open up to one another. This works with the following sets of seats:
- 1E, 1F, 2D, 2G
- 3E, 3F, 4D, 4G
- 5E, 5F, 6D, 6G
- 7E, 7F, 8D, 8G
- 9E, 9F, 10D, 10G
Don’t worry, if you end up in those sets of seats and aren’t traveling with people can keep all partitions up for full privacy.
So, what are the best seats for couples traveling with one another who want to sit together?
- First choice: 3E & 3F, 5E & 5F, 9E & 9F, 11E & 11F (these are the “double beds” furthest from the galley and bathrooms)
- Second choice: 1E & 1F, 7E & 7F (these are the “double beds” furthest from the galley and bathrooms)
This advice might surprise some people, but I’m not sure I’d love these seats if traveling with someone. I can’t say for sure since I’ve only flown in the cabin alone, but I feel like if I were traveling with someone I’d still get both of us “true” window seats, as they’re more spacious and have great views. Also, when I travel with Ford we’re often not on the same schedule anyway, and sometimes I want to be up while he sleeps, or vice versa.
However, I know lots of people want to be with their travel companion all the time, in which case the center suites are a great concept.
If you’re traveling with someone and can’t snag the true center seats (E & F), then there’s not much advantage to getting the other center seats (D & G) since you’re on opposite sides of the aisle. At that point you’re better off just getting window seats, in my opinion.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways’ new Qsuites concept is spectacular. I think this is the world’s best business class, and you’ll be happy no matter where you sit. To maximize your enjoyment I’d do everything I could to snag a true window seat, which would be seats A or K in any row.
Personally my happy place is 10A or 10K — they have limited foot traffic, an amazing view of the engine (since the seats are rear facing), and are far from the galleys and lavatories.
If you’ve flown Qsuites, what seat do you like the most?
Super helpful perspectives! Highly appreciated. I’m heading to Hanoi from DFW soon and I’m 7a for my first leg to Doha and 6j for the next flight to Hanoi. Both are Qsuites but the DFW route is the Airbus 350 configuration. I’d been trying to get opinions about flying “backwards” or being up against bulkheads, but I’m not gonna sweat it. I’ll sit rear-facing first and forward to Vietnam. Thanks for the valuable input!
3a for me, husband had 4b and found it a bit claustrophobic with the closed door right next to him. Fantastic business class suites though
77W Qsuites forward or rear cabin?
My wife and I are flying on the Qsuites 77W ATL-DOH and DOH-ATL. We actually both prefer window seats; on ATL-DOH we're in 5K/6J. On DOH-ATL, we're currently in 8K/9J. However, 3A/4B and 5A/6B are also avaialble. Do we stick with the rear cabin, or move to fwd cabin? And if fwd cabin is better, do we go with 3/4 or 5/6? THANK YOU!
Flown many times in Business Class with Qatar Airways- but never again. Why? I paid for a Q Suite to fly QR920 (777LR) from Doha to Auckland NZ in October 2019, and the seat electrics failed just after takeoff. The only way my seat could be reclined was by the cabin staff
decoupling the electrics meaning the seat was free to travel up or down. Problem was it could not be secured- the only...
Flown many times in Business Class with Qatar Airways- but never again. Why? I paid for a Q Suite to fly QR920 (777LR) from Doha to Auckland NZ in October 2019, and the seat electrics failed just after takeoff. The only way my seat could be reclined was by the cabin staff
decoupling the electrics meaning the seat was free to travel up or down. Problem was it could not be secured- the only way I could keep it upright was by bracing my feet against the bulkhead in front!! The guy across the aisle had exactly the same problem! So we flew 17 hours in unsecured seats- imagine if there'd been turbulence- we could have broken our necks!
You can imagine how we were stressing out when it came time to land! Clear breach of aviation safety rules requiring all passengers to be secured esp on takeoff and landing.
The cabin crew told us there had been ongoing issues with the new seats in Q Suites but that management was refusing to recognise the problem.
The worst part was afterwards when Qatar simply refused to give me a refund -WTF??
When people pay for a premium service they are entitled to expect they will be fully looked after if the supplier is unable to deliver that service. That’s how a truly world class airline acts.
Who would pay top dollar for a Q Suite if there's a chance it could fail with no compensation?
Plenty of other cases on like mine on the net: SeatGuru, TripAdvisor etc. There's a good international news story in this!
Fantastic details... Thanks a lot.
I flew 2J, the other half did 3K. We compared each other’s seats and we both preferred 2J - it’s more spacious. The “table / seat / cupboard” thing is much bigger (better for ladies with all our stuff!) Both are awesome, but our preference is 2J
All the 'couples' seats were taken on our flight and we had to book a rear and forward facing (3A, 4B) Do the TV's slide like in the quads so we can see each other for this very long flight?
Hkg to doh both 3A and 3K were taken. Should I then go for 10A/K or 5A/K? From seatguru seems like 10 is a better option as its basically a separated cabin without toilets and galleys, and that 5 is just a row away from the galley? Thoughts?
I was told that the D & G seats were very acceptable for couples. Although further apart than E/G, you could still talk to your partner if needed. It also looks like the forward facing D/G seats have more room in the pod, did you find that to be true? The table looks bigger while the table in E/G are small slide outs. When you say “not much advantage to getting the other center seats...
I was told that the D & G seats were very acceptable for couples. Although further apart than E/G, you could still talk to your partner if needed. It also looks like the forward facing D/G seats have more room in the pod, did you find that to be true? The table looks bigger while the table in E/G are small slide outs. When you say “not much advantage to getting the other center seats (D & G) since you’re on opposite sides of the aisle” how much space is actually between the two seats, in your estimation?
Great review, thanks very much - I've travelled on a QSuite-fitted B777-300ER out of LHR - DOH and have to say it's a great product, both hard and soft. I was with my girlfriend and the new 'double-bed' in the middle is an incredible experience for couples travelling together. We were seated in the front J cabin, which was noticeably quieter than the smaller rear J cabin; I was surprised at the difference in background...
Great review, thanks very much - I've travelled on a QSuite-fitted B777-300ER out of LHR - DOH and have to say it's a great product, both hard and soft. I was with my girlfriend and the new 'double-bed' in the middle is an incredible experience for couples travelling together. We were seated in the front J cabin, which was noticeably quieter than the smaller rear J cabin; I was surprised at the difference in background noise levels at cruise. I'm booked solo on the new A350-1000 DOH-LHR in a few weeks and excited to try out the solo-seats. Currently J Class is showing completely full but I've been lucky enough to have been allocated Seat 1K, which thanks to your review I'm looking forward to even more!
does anyone know is Qatar plans to fly this plane on their second JFK-DOH route (the morning flight) any time soon?
@ T. -- They haven't announced any plans to do so. I think it's unlikely for the time being. Up until now they've only replaced existing 777 routes with Qsuites planes, and not A3530s.
thanks so much! this has made my seat selection for my upcoming IAD-DOH flight perfect! will report back after flying in March.
Would one of you know a seat map that includes the full plane and the correct position of the wing on it? SeatGuru does not yet seem to have QSuite config loaded on their site.
thanks to all for their comments!
The only caveat I will make regarding the A and K seats is that there is no armrest on the side of the seat against the wall of the aircraft. However, since they give you a rectangular shaped pillow, you can easily use that as an armrest if you are missing it. Also, note the 6A and K are missing a window. You can still look out, but it is not as nice as a seat with the full three windows.
Great post Lucky!
"not much advantage to getting the other center seats (D & G) since you’re on opposite sides of the aisle"
Huh??? How can you be on opposite sides of the aisle in center seats?
I was in 3A on my QSuites flight and thought it was excellent.
Lucky did you say people using the quads together? Could they actually see/talk to the person opposite them? The press/promo photos have people on the 'aisle' seats of the quads perched right on the corner of their seats to be able to see around the TV screens - is it actually possible to use the quads sitting normally?
Flew in 3A recently. It's close to the front so one of the first to disembark, a true window seat and far enough from the galley to not hear service preparations. Best of all, it seems QR's service protocol is for the cabin supervisor to serve the front left section, so I was served by the cabin supervisor (meaning that there was great service)
So the first and second choice "double seats / beds" are all the furthest from the galley / bathrooms. Is there a typo there, or am I not getting it?
“Don’t worry, if you end up in those sets of seats and aren’t traveling with people can keep all partitions up for full privacy.”
I think “you” is missing
—
“First choice: 3E & 3F, 5E & 5F, 9E & 9F, 11E & 11F (these are the “double beds” furthest from the galley and bathrooms)
Second choice: 1E & 1F, 7E & 7F (these are the “double beds” furthest from the galley and bathrooms)”
“Nearest” in the second paragraph I suppose...
Hi Lucky, i can confirm what A says, the double seat actually convert into a continuous double bed (except for the foot cubby part) as the crew can lower completely the partition wall and put a narrow piecw of cushion to fill the gap.
Thanks for the great review.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbM1aKwl5PX/
Here
@FLL
Had the A350 on one of my Qatar flights in November, wasn't overly impressed with it either and despite it being almost a new plane, a number of the windows wouldn't close properly, the internal blind would come down but the outer one wouldn't. The flight attendants were using menus to try and block out the sunlight!
Lucky,
The double bed seats actually converts into a continuous sleeping surface, but you need to ask the flight attendant to make it up for you.
I'm also prone to motion sickness and was hesitant to try the rear facing double bed seats but they were perfectly fine after take off. Actually I did not there is any difference once the plane is in crusing mode. The second time I tried the Q suite I choose seat 10K and I absolutely loved the AMAZING wing view!!!
@Lumma
I am with you on that - the old 777 seats while are 2-2-2, it is amazing how spacious (and comfortable) they are. We prefer those than the reversed herringbone on 787 any day though I suspect on the 380 and 350 the same reversed herringbone would feel a bit more space due to the 787 is much narrower.
You know what business class seats aren't "claustrophobic"? Qatar airways' old 777 seats.
What are the odds of booking this flight for a family of four on award tickets AND being able to snag one of the quad suites?
It’s all a bit like trying to work out whether a Mercedes limo is better than a Bentley limo. They’re both pretty fantastically luxurious ways to be driven.
As a solo traveller I’d go for any A or K Qsuite. Really, any of them is better than the *best* business class seat on any other airline.
I'm really curious as to how the Qsuites stack up against Qatar's first class. If one has a choice, is QR First worth the premium in cost over a flight with the QSuites?
The one with the real bed, oh wait ...
seriously, its 2018, a seat worth ooing and ahing over MUST have a real bed with real mattress.
I recently flew QSuites in seat 3A between DOH-LHR and can highly recommend it for all the reasons mentioned here already.
Although next time I might try 5A as, for my avgeek needs, it likely has a better view of the wing/engine.
Also, I would always pick A rather than K. Given I’m left handed, it makes it a little easier to lift the champagne glass from the side table ;)
Great breakdown and detailed explanations. So much better than TPG. Thanks lucky!
Booked into 11E/F for an upcoming flight. I've heard that 11B/J are reserved if they have babies. That your understanding?
I know this is years old but how was the experience in 11E/F? I am worried that the last row could potentially have noise issues with the economy row starting right behind you. Also did you find any issues with the boarding when 200 people are walking past you during boarding? THX! I have the option at this point of a 1E/F or the 11/EF middle seats.
LooLoo, 11e/f is still a ridiculously good experience compared to any other business product out there. I've mainly taken the e/f seats when traveling with my wife, and the vast majority have been red-eyes, so between headphones and most people sleeping, noise has not been particularly bothersome. We mainly prefer the middle quad E/F seats in either section of business class (if available). Boarding is really a non-issue as every flight that I've been on,...
LooLoo, 11e/f is still a ridiculously good experience compared to any other business product out there. I've mainly taken the e/f seats when traveling with my wife, and the vast majority have been red-eyes, so between headphones and most people sleeping, noise has not been particularly bothersome. We mainly prefer the middle quad E/F seats in either section of business class (if available). Boarding is really a non-issue as every flight that I've been on, we boarded in the middle of the plane, so there's really very few people walking past you when boarding.