Qatar Airways’ Qsuites debuted between Doha and London Heathrow as of June 2017. Since then they’ve also started offering Qsuites to Paris, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Seoul Incheon, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Shanghai.
So far Qsuites are available on select Boeing 777-300ERs, select Airbus A350-900s, and all Airbus A350-1000s. While this new product is exciting, as James has noted, Qatar’s rollout of planes with the new seats has been disappointingly slow.
One of the biggest questions I’ve had is when Qatar Airways will roll out their first Boeing 777-200LR with Qsuites. Qatar Airways has nine of these planes in their fleet, and they operate some of Qatar’s longest routes. For example, Qatar’s flights to Auckland, Houston, Los Angeles, and Sao Paulo (with connecting service to Buenos Aires) are typically operated by 777-200LRs.
It looks like there’s some good news on this front. Qatar Airways seems to be finishing up reconfiguring their first 777-200LR with Qsuites. As noted by @AirlineFlyer, Qatar Airways has scheduled the first 777-200LR with Qsuites to fly between Doha and Houston as of June 2, 2018.
The plane will only fly to Houston every other day, since a single plane can’t operate the 8,000 mile flight in each direction within a single day. The flight will be operated by a 777-300ER with Qatar’s “old” business class seats on alternating days.
As of now the Qsuites seatmap is only loaded through June 30 — it could be extended beyond then, or it could be that they’re just operating it to Houston until they get a second 777-200LR with Qsuites, and then they’ll put it on another route. We’ll have to wait and see.
Qatar’s 777-200LR is maintaining the same 42 business class seats they currently have.
The bad news here is that in the process they’re going from nine seats per row in economy to 10 seats per row in economy. Qatar Airways started the process of densifying their 777s in 2015, though at the time they said they’d only reconfigure the -300 series aircraft, and not the -200 series aircraft. I guess they’ve changed their mind on that.
Bottom line
While I’m excited to see Qsuites expanded to any/all routes, I’m especially excited to see the first 777-200LR get the seats, given that these planes operate Qatar’s longest routes. If you’re flying Qatar between Doha and Houston in June, you may be in for a treat. If you haven’t yet booked, I unfortunately don’t see any award seats in business class on the flight, though Qatar does often have attractive paid business class fares.
What a joy it would be to fly Qsuites on one of Qatar’s ultra longhaul routes, like Doha to Auckland or Los Angeles. Here’s to hoping they have an aggressive retrofit plan for these planes, though based on the pace at which they’ve been going, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Unfortunately these reconfigurations are bad news for those in economy, though, as the plane will go from nine seats per row to 10 seats per row.
@Ben, are you able to tell which of the nine 777-200LR aircraft in Qatar's fleet has Qsuite? Booking a flight soon DTW-DOH & DOH-ORD both of which appear to be operated by 777-200LR. Seat map seems to indicate that both flights will have QSuite but worried about an aircraft swap.
Just booked DOH to IAH on Nov 8 and it shows 777-200LR, however it shows the old seat map, no longer Q suites. UGH!
'yay for LA and Sao Paulo! Cant wait to see that.
@The nice Paul, I think the single Q Suites be the window would be okay. For the reasons stated, I just don't get the quad arrangement in the middle. It does nothing to promote privacy. I agree though anything is better than herringbone seating.
From several experiences with the DL A350, the door adds little to privacy. A door helps the seats on the aisle the most. For seats with a console next to...
@The nice Paul, I think the single Q Suites be the window would be okay. For the reasons stated, I just don't get the quad arrangement in the middle. It does nothing to promote privacy. I agree though anything is better than herringbone seating.
From several experiences with the DL A350, the door adds little to privacy. A door helps the seats on the aisle the most. For seats with a console next to the seat entrance, the door adds pretty much nothing. Just about anyone over the age of 10 can see into the seat.
I don't know how it is on the A35K, but the DL suites feel cramped. There's no place to put the mound of bedding provided and some seats do not have compartments for shoes. The best attributes of the Delta suites are the color and the video screen. It's a shame Delta mated such a high-quality picture with low-quality LSTN headsets.
Privacy is affected by a lot of things including the number of people in and location of the cabin. The DL 747-400 upper deck had amazing privacy because the were only 14 seats arranged 1-1 reverse herringbone. It truly felt like a private jet. Surprisingly perhaps, one of my favorite seats is a rear-facing window Zodiac seat in the aft cabin on American's 788. Those seats have two consoles, one on the aisle and the other by the window, providing extra storage and separation from the aisle. The two-row cabin is very quiet. Plus the window seats have lockers and flat shelves that are ideal for storing stuff like bedding and/or my hat so it doesn't get crushed in the overhead bin.
I think doors can be nice on a large first-class seat. On the First Class Apartment - no problem for example. Putting a door on a business-class seat is not the greatest thing since sliced bread IMO. YMMV.
@ Scanditraveller
I am always curious about these sort of comments. Has anyone done the calculations to work out if United would be "profitable" if it had not gone through Chapter 11 (where it shed debt like an incontinent spaniel), not received government/airport subsidies, fuel tax-breaks, etc?
Branson finally took Virgin Atlantic private after getting fed-up with financiers obsessing about short-term "profitability"; he argued he was interested in building maximum long-term capital value, not short-term...
@ Scanditraveller
I am always curious about these sort of comments. Has anyone done the calculations to work out if United would be "profitable" if it had not gone through Chapter 11 (where it shed debt like an incontinent spaniel), not received government/airport subsidies, fuel tax-breaks, etc?
Branson finally took Virgin Atlantic private after getting fed-up with financiers obsessing about short-term "profitability"; he argued he was interested in building maximum long-term capital value, not short-term profit cash-flow (the latter usually leads to cutting the number of olives in the salad and reduced maintenance, or the sort of cheese-paring that you see at British Airways and that everyone on here seems to hate).
Different approaches.
This is nice for the business class passengers, but sucks pretty royally for the vast majority of people. I say this as my knees are still bruised from a A350 flight from yesterday.
Interesting how they are fitting only 6 rows (24 seats) betweens doors 1 and 2 compared to e.g. United’s 8 rows (32 seats) of Polaris seats in the same space (both have lavatories behind doors 2). Great for customers but just a perfect example of why this airline will never be profitable.
Does anyone know if Qatar discontinued the Qsuite to ICN? I am booked on the 859 in a week and the seating configuration still shows 2-2-2.... :(
I loved the 'old' business class seat on my recent flight to Auckland. Honestly, with the length of the bed, and the fact that your feat are not in a cubby makes a world of difference. I liked it more than the reverse herringbone on the 787 from CPH to DOH.
Hi all,
I recently flew from LHR to DOH and I experienced the QSuite for the first time.
In my view the great plus it provides is the privacy, undoubtedly. As pointed by "The nice Paul" it's something that some will find valuable above all.
I had a single seat next to the window. I mention it because the experience may be different when your seat is next to the aisle.
On the minus side...
Hi all,
I recently flew from LHR to DOH and I experienced the QSuite for the first time.
In my view the great plus it provides is the privacy, undoubtedly. As pointed by "The nice Paul" it's something that some will find valuable above all.
I had a single seat next to the window. I mention it because the experience may be different when your seat is next to the aisle.
On the minus side I found the QSuite extremely congested with little to no space to move around. Access in and out of the cubicle is difficult as the entrance is really narrow (and the poor cabin crew have to bent awkwardly to serve the food as they can't enter the area), there is nowhere to put your shoes so they remained by the entrance, which does not help with the access issue.
The seat felt narrow and once reclined to sleep the unmovable head piece was more an inconvenience than anything else.
No real convenient storage either: the "side seat" part where a water bottle and headphones are located is not a convenient storage compartment at all. The only other option is to rest everything (glasses, books, e-devices, etc) on the table but everything slides off easily and keeps falling (especially during take-off/landing).
A friend of mine had an aisle seat and he was disappointed not to be able to look through the window because of the distance.
I think for me the reverse herringbone seats works better as I am able to get a little more space around the seat with better storage options and access, and I do not feel confined and restricted in every move as with the QSuite.
@ John
I’ve just flown 2x Air New Zealand herringbone flights, followed by 2 Qatar legs: first the A359 with the reverse herringbone, then the A35K with Qsuites. Each flight more private than the last.
I liked ANZ a lot - my first time in them. But the layout felt as if you were on display to everyone else. Being both introverted and neurotic, I had a constant uncomfortable sensation of being stared at by...
@ John
I’ve just flown 2x Air New Zealand herringbone flights, followed by 2 Qatar legs: first the A359 with the reverse herringbone, then the A35K with Qsuites. Each flight more private than the last.
I liked ANZ a lot - my first time in them. But the layout felt as if you were on display to everyone else. Being both introverted and neurotic, I had a constant uncomfortable sensation of being stared at by someone just out of my peripheral vision.
Reverse herringbone after that was much more comfortable. Private and relaxing.
But then the joy of a Qsuite - just a gentle slide of the door and I was in my own private world. I like my world.
I guess each of us is different: some people adore being placed on display, glittering in the attention grabbed from fellow passengers. But some of us are the opposite.
For me, Qsuites are unquestionably the best J class on the market.
Q suites? Big woof! The seat is better than some, sure. The configuration of the "quad" middle seats, which is so prominently displayed in Q Suites ads, is a little strange though. Four seats facing each other. That arrangement only makes sense if you want to talk to or stare at your travelling companions. If not, it adds nothing except putting the middle passengers smack dab against each other. For couples who want to cuddle,...
Q suites? Big woof! The seat is better than some, sure. The configuration of the "quad" middle seats, which is so prominently displayed in Q Suites ads, is a little strange though. Four seats facing each other. That arrangement only makes sense if you want to talk to or stare at your travelling companions. If not, it adds nothing except putting the middle passengers smack dab against each other. For couples who want to cuddle, maybe. Everyone else, what's the point of a door? "Meh" as they say.
I just had a great First Class Flight on ANA and it was 5800 miles. I was Totally ready to get off the plane ! I’ve done SFO-SIN in SQ Business class and it’s great but 8000 plus mile flights are not a joy. Not even in Emirates First. I loved the first 8 hours. From that point forward its get me outta here!! Breaking up long journeys is better.
I have flown DOH-LHR QSuite back in January and enjoyed it. I am flying DOH-PVG again in business class in June, and I have just found out my flight will have QSuite as well. Happy camper.
So thats what Qatar's CEO meant when he said he has something special for Y planned. He meant the 10 accros enhancement!
They frequently change whether a route has Qsuite or not... ICN-DOH got Qsuite in Jan but it seems no longer available now. I'm glad I checked the seat map of ICN-DOH route before making my decision
What the best way to check for Award availability on Qatar? Thanks
@ Sam -- I use the BA website.
Ah i am flying in august from sao paulo they could use this in the gru route
This REALLY is overdue for AKL
Wish they put some on the A380's quicker, or flights to Australia...
@Ben. Do you know when MIA will get Qsuites ?
About time LA got a good QR plane!
Fantastic news. The sooner the whole wide body fleet is equipped with these, the better.