For an airline that’s consistently rated the best in the world, Qatar Airways sure does have an outdated business class product on the 777, which is the backbone of their fleet. Don’t get me wrong, the seats are perfectly comfortable, as they’re in a 2-2-2 configuration and convert into fully flat beds. However, nowadays I expect direct aisle access from every seat on top carriers. Qatar also doesn’t have Wi-Fi on their 777s.
Qatar has a significantly better business class product on their A350s, A380s, and 787s, as these feature reverse herringbone seats and Wi-Fi.
The catch is that as of now, Qatar Airways primarily flies the 777 to the US. The only three destinations that are served by the A350 are New York (one of the two daily flights), Philadelphia, and Boston. So if I were flying Qatar Airways between the US and Doha, I’d make an effort to get onto one of those three airports for the superior experience.
It looks like a fourth US airport is getting an A350, though only for a limited time. @Airlineroute reports that Qatar Airways will operate the A350 daily between Miami and Doha between September 1 and September 30, 2017, replacing the 777-300ER that typically operates the route. Qatar is doing a lot of shuffling around in their fleet given the current situation and lack of access to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc., and I suspect this is a part of that.
So if you’re flying Qatar Airways this September, consider routing through Miami, as it will be Qatar’s longest North America route operated by the A350, at ~7,700 miles.
I should mention that eventually Qatar’s 777s will be great, as they install Qsuites on the planes. The New York route was supposed to have Qsuites by September, though it looks like everything is delayed at the moment due to the situation in Qatar. Qatar Airways isn’t reconfiguring any 777s right now as they had expected to, but rather newly delivered 777-300ERs will just arrive with the new product. However, they’re not taking delivery of those at an especially fast pace.
Right now Qsuites fly to London, then Paris is the next destination, and then New York. So I’m not especially confident that New York will have Qsuites by September as expected, or even October or November. I certainly hope I’m wrong, as I have a very expensive ticket booked between Vietnam and New York, and at the price I’m paying I refuse to accept anything other than Qsuites. 😉
@Albino,
Seems like Qatar has extended this limited operation until the 14th of December, and the date keeps moving further and further. The last time I had checked, the A359 operated only till the 7th of December.
Hope to fly the A359 from Miami to Doha on the 17th of December :)
A have a flight MIA-DOH at 03/06/2018 and the site shows an A350.
Ben, just an update on this report, I am traveling MIA/DOH on 11/01/17 and my flight now shows being operated by the A350.
What a shame! I will be missing this by a few days. My travel ends Aug 28th DOH to MIA.
I have said it here before, I actually prefer their 777 biz class over their 787 or A350. I am 6'3" and feel a lot less cramped in their older 777 seats. I don't mind the 2x2x2 seating as long as I can get one of the 2 center seats.
This is great news as I'm MIA based and flying QA in September. I'll write a review of my flight and post it in my travel blog.
And here i was hoping for TXL as was kinda promised through all of 2016 :(
@Cameron;
Totally missed that aspect. Apparently reading comprehension is not a strong suit of mine today. Thanks for the update.
The BOS - DOH flight is also A350...at least it was last week when I took it
@Lucky - The A350 flies out of Boston as well (As the other readers have mentioned)
AdamR, they have had a Miami route for quite a while. As Lucky said, they're just subbing in an A350 for a 77W between September 1st and 30th.
Any indication that this is some sort of middle finger snub to AA since QR is no longer looking at buying a stake? I mean, Miami is AA's hub on the East Coast and it's not beneath QR's illustrious leader to introduce a new route just to have the final word.
Nothing wrong with the 777 business class seat.
I booked a flight in Nov in anticipation of Qsuites launching to JFK. I really hope it does, or I'm gonna have to pray for some sort of schedule or equipment swap from QR that'll let me change my flight. Hopefully get on QR 7 to LHR then on AA metal to JFK.
@Lucky, Since you've tried to both the QSuites and the A350, is the QSuites significantly better?
I've flown the A350 a few times to Singapore and it's just like any other reverse herringbone seat except there's water holder.
A350 are flown at of Boston too
The Boston route is operated by an A350, no?
Boston also gets the A350 daily!