Review: Qatar Airways Boeing 777 First Class (MLE-DOH)

Thanks for the great review. I have an upcoming trip in Qatar First from Bangkok that I'm really looking forward to. Took advantage of the Amex -> Avios bonus promotion to get the seat. If someone flies inbound in First but connects onward in Business would they have access to the Al Sofwa lounge?

Yes, they do. You can access the AlSafwa Lounge.

Ed - yes. Access to the lounge.

If arriving in F from BKK, then yes. I believe the rule is the scheduled flight time for the inbound flight in F must be >5 hours.

Great looking flight, not usual for Qatar. The meal looked delicious.

Gladly confirm that the safety kit in steerage is the same as in F

Ben, great trip report as always. How do you like the newly branded amenity kits? QR isn’t skimpy with their amenities.I’m hoping to find one online to buy. QR truly does many thoughtful things.

It seems QR still has many remote hardstand gates. I’d think with DOH’s expansion remote gates would only be used when flights are delayed.

Not a huge sports fan either, but not surprised that Qatar Airways is featuring soccer content given they are hosting the World Cup this year.

Great review! I'm flying fc male to doha then continuing on biz class to lax. Any idea if I can access fc lounge in doha during my 10 hour layover or just if I pay to upgrade lounges?

A very interesting fact: A7-BOC actually has the old (pre-2006) Qatar Airways logo and titles. It would have been an anachronism for sure if Lucky were to get that plane!

I'm kinda surprised the cabin was fully catered with all the drinks, amenities etc if the flight was booked F0/6 when the aircraft left Qatar, I'd have thought at least some items were return catered out of Doha. Very impressive considering BA can occasionally fail to provide a Club Europe meal to someone booking within 24hrs of a flight!

Great review as usual, Ben. But what's the bright green stuff that came with dessert?

@ JasonB -- Excellent question. It was mold. Just kidding, of course. It was some sort of very light sponge cake that was colored green. It didn't taste like a whole lot, but visually was pretty cool.

@ Sam G -- It's a great point. For what it's worth, there did seem to be one person booked, but they must have canceled last minute or no showed, as it was "F5" until like 90 minutes before departure. Also, when they offered to move us to the next flight, we overheard them calling catering to tell them to move over meals as well. So I'm not sure how the logistics of that worked, but I appreciate the effort.

@ Anne -- Unfortunately you'd have to buy access. If you were flying BKK-DOH-LAX you'd get Al Safwa access, but you don't get Al Safwa access on arrival with a business class connection if the first class sector is less than five hours (or so).

It never hurts to try... I was admitted to Al Safwa on a connection CAI-DOH-MIA. I told them I'd come in in F from CAI with a connection in J to MIA and that I wasn't sure whether I was allowed access. The scanned my inbound boarding pass and let me in no problem. That really made the overnight connection a lot nicer!

Just trying to understand: come come 40.000 miles that costed 0,42 cents/per mile = $168? Am I missing some zeros in the equation?

Did this change recently? In Nov 2021 I was flying CAI-DOH-SEA (first segment in F, second segment in J) and had Al Safwa access. This was not an outlier, as the thread on flyertalk indicated at the time.

Apparently.

40000 * .0042 = 168

The math is correct. 40.000 miles at 0.42 cents equals 16.800 cents equals 168 dollars.

Former PA F/A here. I hated the Safety video too, Ben.

I count like 40-50 chairs in that arrival lounge. When would that many people ever want to just sit in a large empty room on arrival rather than going to their final destination? Arrivals lounges with showers, food, etc are one thing... but a big empty room with chairs facing each other? Weird.

*football 😉

I was offered Arabic coffee and dates on my DXB-DOH segment but not on my DOH-ORD segment less than a week ago. Both segments were with QR on a Q-Suites 77W.

I also don’t watch a lot of “football”; but I loved the Qatar safety video on my DOH -SEA business flight. It had a humorous Ted Lasso feel.

Looks like pandan cake.

@Lucky, did you knw that once you exit that arrivals lounge and exit through customs, they have ANOTHER arrivals lounge that offers a la carte food, showers and relaxation areas too!

@lucky,
From one gay man to another, when do you choose to leave out certain carriers and countries that are extremely anti gay?
I’m sure you saw the news on World Cup hotel discrimination issues, which is just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t help but feel that domestic homosexual policies should play a role in the places you spend your money at,…. Even as a reviewer.

Very nice that QR is back to first class and amazing and very detailed review! Thank you

Ah thanks I read one mile = to 42 cents

Great review, Ben! I especially liked & laughed outloud at this comment - shows the level of detail of the OMAAT flight reviews and the depth of your knowledge of various airline products: "Those who have flown Cathay Pacific’s 777 first class will no doubt remember the unique sink feature here, as Cathay Pacific has significantly better first class sink water pressure than virtually any other airline."

Hi bc...I just went through this lounge today and I was stunned! I just dont understand why Ben didnt make more fuss of this. Most carriers (attempt to) give you white glove service in First but then drop you like a stone when you deplane. Qatar takes this experience all the way through to baggage claim. You pass through the lounge...get a drink and a snack if you want one but then go through your own provate immigration line. You exit into baggage claim. How insanely good! I dont know any other carrier in the world that offers this. I was blown away