I just published a review of Qatar Airways’ Boeing 737 MAX “first class.” The way that Qatar Airways markets the forward cabin on short haul flights tends to confuse people, so I wanted to talk about that in a bit more detail in this post.
In this post:
Qatar Airways’ first class on short haul flights
To start, it’s worth understanding that Qatar Airways offers first class on very few long haul flights, instead focusing on offering an excellent business class product. On long haul flights, the airline offers first class exclusively on all Airbus A380s and on select Boeing 777s (specifically, the half dozen former Cathay Pacific 777s that the airline flies). Qatar Airways has plans to eliminate long haul first class in the future.
On short haul flights it’s a different story. On many regional flights, Qatar Airways markets its forward cabin as first class rather than business class. Yes, the same seat that would be marketed as business class on another route could be marketed as first class on a regional route.
You can expect that Qatar Airways markets the forward cabin as first class rather than business class on many flights within the Middle East, as well as select flights to Northern Africa. However, that’s not consistently the case. To give a couple of examples:
- For service to Oman, flights to Muscat (MCT) have first class, while flights to Salalah (SLL) have business class
- For service to Egypt, flights to Cairo (CAI) have first class, while flights to Alexandria (HBE) have business class
Best I can tell, it seems like routes that are considered “premium” (in terms of demand, business, etc.) have first class, while other routes have business class.
What are the implications of this first class branding?
Often the distinction between first class and business class is silly. For example, in the United States, the forward cabin on domestic flights is generally marketed as first class, even though it’s worse quality than business class on international flights.
In the case of Qatar Airways, what are the implications of being on a regional flight in first class? As mentioned above, there’s no difference in terms of the seat, since you’ll be on a plane that has seats that could otherwise be marketed as business class on another route.
Nonetheless, there are some advantages to being in first class:
- First class passengers (including on regional flights) get access to Qatar Airways’ Al Safwa First Class Lounge in Doha, which is the carrier’s best lounge; so the lounge access implications of being in first class are awesome
- First class features somewhat elevated service compared to business class; for example, Qatar Airways offers pre-departure Arabic coffee and dates when a flight is marketed as first class, but not when it’s marketed as business class
- Nowadays there’s no difference in terms of catering otherwise, though I’d note that back in the day, Qatar Airways served Krug champagne in regional first class, which sure was a treat
Does Qatar Airways charge more when a regional flight has the cabin marketed as first class rather than business class? It depends.
If you’re paying cash for a ticket:
- If you have a multi-segment itinerary in business class, the short haul segment will automatically book into first class (pending availability), so you’re not paying a premium for first class
- When you’re flying point-to-point on a regional flight, pricing for first class isn’t noticeably higher than pricing for business class; for example, I’m seeing higher fares in Qatar Airways business class from Doha to Salalah than in Qatar Airways first class from Doha to Muscat
If you’re redeeming points for a ticket:
- Through the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program you’d generally pay the higher first class cost for the short segment in first class
- Through some partner programs, like American AAdvantage, you can include a regional first class connection as part of a larger business class award at the business class award cost
So for many customers, being on a flight where the forward cabin is marketed as first class should work in your favor, as it probably won’t cost you extra, but you’ll get more included.
Why does Qatar Airways market these cabins as first class?
Why does Qatar Airways sell the forward cabin on so many regional flights as first class rather than business class? As you can see, this isn’t exclusively about marketing, but is also about offering a better experience to short haul passengers. Here’s what I suspect the logic is:
- Qatar Airways is a state-owned airline, and Qatari nationals are more likely to fly regionally, so the idea is to offer a better experience for those local passengers
- The Gulf carriers compete fiercely with one another, so this is a way that Qatar Airways can make it more attractive to choose it over a competitor, by offering better lounge access to passengers in Doha
This is also why when you’re in the Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Class Lounge, you’ll notice a much higher concentration of people from the region than in the Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge. After all, some of these regional flights have 40+ first class seats, so that’s also why the Al Safwa Lounge can get pretty crowded during peak hours, prior to short haul departures.
Bottom line
While Qatar Airways will eventually eliminate first class on long haul flights, the airline offers a huge network of first class flights regionally. In reality, certain routes just have business class seats instead marketed as first class. This also means that there’s slightly elevated inflight service, and most importantly, access is granted to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge in Doha.
Hopefully the above clears up any confusion about why Qatar Airways markets the forward cabin on some short haul flights as first class, and what it means for passengers.
What do you make of Qatar Airways’ regional first class concept?
I noticed a subtle difference in the catering a few months ago: the Port wine on regional "First Class" was a nice 30 year Dow's Tawny Port vs. 20 year Taylor on Business Class.
And you state the exact problem. The business class lounge will soon be seen as more premium because of being less crowded. The differences between first and business on regional routes are not much different but the seats could be very different. I would rather be in a slightly not as nice lounge that is not packed with people.
Pre pandemic We few First class from Sydney to Doha on an A380 we had a 4 hour connection and we wanted to use the sleeping area in the El Safewa lounge.
We found the Al Safewa lounge rest areas full with children running from one part to the other. In the main lounge several babies screaming echoed all over the very large open area of the lounge. Perhaps a result of the regional...
Pre pandemic We few First class from Sydney to Doha on an A380 we had a 4 hour connection and we wanted to use the sleeping area in the El Safewa lounge.
We found the Al Safewa lounge rest areas full with children running from one part to the other. In the main lounge several babies screaming echoed all over the very large open area of the lounge. Perhaps a result of the regional first class classification of service. Not a major deal for us , but it certainly diluted the "first Class Experience" and made me question paying more to fly Qatar on the SYD-DOH-LHR routing. Like you said it is the Qatari's airline and they own it.
I've only ever flown Qatar post pandemic, and I've found Al Safwa to be largely deserted every time.
That said, I've never been able to get one of the bedrooms. Even when I had a 9 hour layover they were "fully booked"
What’s even more confusing is a select few DOH-KWI flights get BOTH business and first, presumably due to having 3 class configurations from Cathay’s leased 777 aircraft.
"pricing for first class isn’t noticeably higher than pricing for business class; for example, I’m seeing lower fares in Qatar Airways business class from Doha to Salalah than in Qatar Airways first class from Doha to Muscat"
Don't you mean "seeing HIGHER fares"? Otherwise this sentence doesn't make much sense.
"Through the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program you’d generally pay the higher first class cost for the short segment in first class"
Pretty sure this is incorrect. QR doesn't charge extra when the shorter leg on a mileage ticket is in F and the longer segment is in business. This even applies to long F segments as long as they are shorter than the main flight (e.g. GRU-DOH-BKK w/ doh-bkk in F is priced the same as J).
I think he means if you bought a single segment one way short haul domestic flight award ticket, F would be more than J simply based on the marketing of the cabin... Great tip about the mid-haul F with long-haul J combo!
If only QR had First Class award availability to/from BKK :(
I've been trying to snag one for the first week of August
Hi Ben - there is one other advantage to flying regional first with Qatar, at least when crediting to British Airways Executive Club. The fare bucket will be F or A (as opposed to J, C, D or similar in business class), so you get more tier points and avios. As a BA Gold card holder and using DOH > RUH as an example, I get 60 tier points each way (as opposed to 40...
Hi Ben - there is one other advantage to flying regional first with Qatar, at least when crediting to British Airways Executive Club. The fare bucket will be F or A (as opposed to J, C, D or similar in business class), so you get more tier points and avios. As a BA Gold card holder and using DOH > RUH as an example, I get 60 tier points each way (as opposed to 40 each way if it were business class) and 459 avios (as opposed to 230 if it were business).
The extra avois aren’t that exciting, but every extra tier point helps when trying to retain status!
It's unbelievable,I love to be in such cabin hope one day I will have to board it to Doha.
Flew QR First Class from Doha to Dubai—but was rejected in QR Doha First Class Lounge, as it was part of a Business ticket Frankfurt-Doha-Dubai. Agent explicitly said that‘s the policy—so don’t bank on First Class lounge for these
That's odd. It suggests that if you hadn't shown the other tickets on your itinerary and just shown your first-class flight ticket you would have been granted access.
Very odd experience. That’s not the rule. You should have without question been admitted. I’ve never had an issue.
I flew Manchester - Doha - Riyadh last week. Business Class from Manchester, then First from Doha. I had no issues getting in to the Al Safwa lounge.
I flew Manchester-Doha-Riyadh recently. It was business call from Manchester and First from Doha.
I had no issues getting into the Al Safwa lounge.
I flew Doha to Cairo last fall, A350-900 with older but very comfortable 1-2-1 flatbed config. Excellent in-flight service, and first check in at Doha is a dream. One caveat, if you pay to upgrade to first from a previously purchased economy ticket, you will not be allowed access to Al Safwa First Class Lounge.
I can see the logic, it cost me half the price to upgrade to first later on rather than...
I flew Doha to Cairo last fall, A350-900 with older but very comfortable 1-2-1 flatbed config. Excellent in-flight service, and first check in at Doha is a dream. One caveat, if you pay to upgrade to first from a previously purchased economy ticket, you will not be allowed access to Al Safwa First Class Lounge.
I can see the logic, it cost me half the price to upgrade to first later on rather than buying it outright when booking. For a party of 4, it was well worth going that way, but if the Al Safwa lounge is on your mind, buy or redeem in 1st from the start.
I think that first class allows the airline to charge more for the seat and perceived experience. Otherwise, FC makes some people feel important and wealthy. Just human nature I suppose.
Also FYI, if your long haul is in business but on a “P”/Business Lite fare - you do not have access to Al Safwa or even Al Mourjan.
I can only speak for the DOH-AMM route that I’ve been trying to book as part of a longer itinerary from Asia.
In previous weeks AA had been showing business (or first) as not available on the short leg when booked with the Asian segment. It automatically goes to economy. But when you try to book that short segment alone it shows first available.
Now all qatar flights AMM show no premium award availability unless it’s double qatar avios.
I've been trying to do the same type of ticket and I'm getting the same problem. Though I will occasionally find a flight where the last flight is in Business Class. You just have to look. You can also call Aadvantage and they may be able to book it for you.
I'm trying to fly from Tokyo to the Middle East (Cairo or Amman preferably) in the first week of August. Anyone have any...
I've been trying to do the same type of ticket and I'm getting the same problem. Though I will occasionally find a flight where the last flight is in Business Class. You just have to look. You can also call Aadvantage and they may be able to book it for you.
I'm trying to fly from Tokyo to the Middle East (Cairo or Amman preferably) in the first week of August. Anyone have any luck with any QR Business Class availability through AA in recent days for tickets from Tokyo/S.E. Asia to Doha?