- Introduction: Birthday Trip To The Maldives
- Booking Emirates Skywards One-Way Awards With Stopovers
- Review: Air France-KLM Lounge Washington Dulles Airport (IAD)
- Review: New Emirates Boeing 777 First Class (IAD-DXB)
- Review: Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre
- Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai Airport (DXB)
- A Lovely Emirates First Class Flight To The Maldives
- Review: Cheval Blanc Maldives Randheli
- Review: Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi
- Review: Four Seasons Maldives Landaa Giraavaru
- Oops: I Missed My Flight, Almost Got Denied Entry To Qatar
- Review: Qatar Airways Boeing 777 First Class (MLE-DOH)
- PSA: Don’t Wait At The Wrong Baggage Claim Belt
- Review: Park Hyatt Doha, Qatar
- Review: Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge Doha (DOH)
- Review: Sleep ‘N Fly Sleep Lounge Doha Airport (DOH)
- Review: Qatar Airways Qsuites Business Class 777 (DOH-DFW)
After flying Qatar Airways’ 777-300ER first class from Male to Doha, and spending a couple of nights at the Park Hyatt Doha, it was time to return to the United States. Specifically, we flew Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-200LR Qsuites business class from Doha (DOH) to Dallas (DFW).
I’ve flown Qatar Airways’ Qsuites before, on both the Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777-300ER, and was looking forward to checking out the 777-200LR, along with seeing how the product is holding up in general.
Qatar Airways continues to excel with its business class product, and this flight was no exception. From amazing seats, to endless amenities, to reasonably priced Wi-Fi, to dine on demand, Qatar Airways really offers an amazing passenger experience.
In this post:
How I booked our Qatar Airways business class tickets
Qatar Airways business class is one of my favorite uses of American AAdvantage miles, so that’s how I ticketed our flights. Specifically, I paid 70,000 AAdvantage miles plus $54.82 per person in taxes & fees to ticket the following flight:
05/04 QR731 Doha to Dallas departing departing 1:40AM arriving 10:05AM
Not bad for 16hr25min in one of the world’s best business class products, eh?
Qatar Airways business class boarding
We spent a significant amount of time in Qatar Airways’ Al Mourjan Business Lounge, which I reviewed in detail in the previous installment. Our flight was departing from gate C2, and was supposed to board at 12:55AM, 45 minutes before the scheduled departure time.
The whole gate situation for US-bound flights is quite chaotic. There are additional security checks for these flights, so first you have to line up so an agent can review your documents and see if you were selected for secondary screening (when you have an “SSSS” on your boarding pass). There are separate queues here for business class passengers.
After that, all passengers have to go through a security checkpoint, where bags are put through an x-ray and passengers have to walk through metal detectors.
After you go through security your boarding pass is scanned, so you’re considered boarded once you’re in the sterile gate area.
As expected, boarding started at exactly 12:55AM, with business class passengers being invited to board first.
Qatar Airways 777 Qsuites business class cabin & seats
Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-200LRs have 42 Qsuites business class seats, distributed over two cabins. Between the first and second set of doors are 24 business class seats, with six rows of seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Then behind the second set of doors are another 18 business class seats, spread across five rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. I generally prefer to sit in the back of business class, so that’s what we selected.
Qatar Airways’ Qsuites business class configuration is staggered, so seats alternative between being forward and rear facing, and alternate between being closer and further from the aisle. If you select a window seat, I’d recommend choosing one of the rear facing seats (these are the “A” and “J” seats), since these are closer to the windows, and therefore the seats are also a bit further from the aisle.
I had initially assigned us seats 8K and 10K, so that we’d both have “true” window seats. Even years after the product has been introduced, Qsuites continues to impress me for how comfortable and gorgeous the suite is. I also have to say that the suite is aging well, and I’m surprised by how few scratches and scuffs there are.
For what it’s worth, the forward facing window seats (the “B” and “J” seats) are a bit closer to the aisle. While they’re still great, the downside is that it’s a bit harder to look out the window, and your head is also closer to the door, so some might find those seats to be a bit more claustrophobic. They’re still great, though.
Qatar Airways’ Qsuites layout is also innovative in the center section. The rear facing seats (“E” and “F”) are closer to one another, so are often referred to as honeymoon seats.
Meanwhile the forward facing seats (“D” and “G”) are closer to the aisle, so would be my least preferred seats. That’s because they’re further from one another but also don’t have windows. One cool thing is that if you’re traveling with a party of four, you can create a seat “quad,” as four sets of center seats will turn into one big suite. Unfortunately this flight was too full to try that.
For this 16+ hour flight we decided it was best to just get two window seats. I’m not a good sleeper on planes, so I prefer to sit separately and not be blamed for waking Ford up when I can’t sleep. 😉
Anyway, Qatar Airways Qsuites really is a spectacularly good product. It’s not just that the seats offer so much privacy thanks to the doors, but also the attention to detail with the entire design. I love the huge personal television at each seat, plus the large counter to the side of the seat, where you can place things during the flight without using your tray table.
Underneath that counter are most of the seat’s features, including the entertainment controller, AC and USB power outlet, all the seat controls, etc. This has to be one of the most well designed and organized airplane seat panels out there.
Then there’s a fairly large storage compartment to the side of the seat, where you can store everything from a laptop to bottled water.
The tray table extends out from in front of the seat (over the footwell), and is large.
As far as the footwell goes, it’s a good size, much bigger than you’ll find in many staggered configurations. The only thing I’d note is that it can be easy to hit your knee on the tray table if you’re not careful, though that’s more of an issue when sitting up than when reclined, in my experience.
Then of course you have the door, which is a key feature of Qsuites. Among airlines that have doors on business class seats, I find Qatar Airways’ to be the easiest to use. The doors easily slide open and closed, unlike some of the doors on other seats.
For those who haven’t flown Qsuites, I should mention that these doors won’t give you full privacy. Anyone could easily look over them if they wanted to. However, the doors do make the seat cozier, in my opinion, and give it a cocoon-like feel.
The last thing to note about the seats is that Qatar Airways has individual air nozzles on the Boeing 777-200LR, which is a feature I appreciate, as it helps with controlling airflow to the seat.
Qatar Airways 777 business class lavatories
Qatar Airways has four lavatories in business class on the Boeing 777-200LR, with two being at the front of the cabin, and two being between the two business class cabins. One very nice thing about this aircraft is that the two lavatories between the cabins are massive. Given how lavatories are getting smaller on many planes nowadays, that’s a nice touch.
There were amenities in the lavatories, ranging from Diptyque toiletries, to dental and shaving kits.
The crew did an amazing job keeping the lavatory spotless during the flight. It’s amazing how even a new cover is put on the toilet seat after almost every use. Qatar Airways crews work harder than just about any other crews out there.
Qatar Airways business class amenities
Qatar Airways has endless amenities in business class, starting with excellent bedding. Waiting at each seat upon boarding were two pillows and a blanket. This is only part of the bedding — when it’s time to sleep there’s also a mattress pad, and the large pillow also gets wrapped in a white cover.
Then there was Qatar Airways’ new Diptyque amenity kit, featuring socks, eyeshades, lip balm, body lotion, face cream, fragrance, and more.
There was also a hygiene kit, with a face mask, gloves, and hand sanitizer.
Shortly after settling in I was offered pajamas from The White Company, along with slippers. There aren’t many airlines offering pajamas in business class, so that sure is a treat.
There were also noise canceling headphones waiting at our seats.
After settling in, one of the flight attendants came by to introduce herself and offer pre-departure beverages, plus the choice of a hot or cold towel. I ordered the signature lemon-mint juice and a cold towel.
By the way, I love Qatar Airways’ boarding music, from a local Qatari composer.
Qatar Airways departure from Doha & seat swap
Boarding wrapped up around 1:25AM, 30 minutes after it started. Economy was almost entirely full, while there were around 10 empty seats in business class. Around this time the captain came on the PA to announce our ridiculously long flight time of 16hr (in reality we ended up being in the air for 16hr18min — yowzers, this was a long one).
We didn’t push back for 15 more minutes, and during this time we both decided to ask to change seats. As mentioned above, Ford and I were in seats 8K and 10K, and the guy seated in 9J didn’t seem like someone we wanted to be stuck next to for the next 17 hours.
For one, I’m pretty sure the guy was drunk. Which, fair enough, as long as he’s not being disruptive. But he was being disruptive. He whistled to Qatar Airways’ boarding music for the entire boarding process, all while watching videos on his phone without headphones.
I’m not a great sleeper on planes, so I didn’t want to end up sitting a foot from this guy and then be woken up hours later by him whistling, or something. Fortunately the crew was accommodating, and they moved us to seats on the other side of the cabin. I ended up in a forward facing window seat that was closer to the aisle, but that was worth it for peace and quiet.
Anyway, we pushed back at around 1:40AM, at which point the safety video was screened. We started our taxi around 10 minutes after that, and were airborne 15 minutes after that, a bit after 2AM. We had a very long takeoff roll and a gradual climb out.
Qatar Airways 777 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi
As we climbed out I browsed the exceptionally good Oryx One entertainment system. No matter how long a Qatar Airways flight is, you should never run out of things to watch.
There were endless movies and TV shows across all kinds of genres.
I’m not usually much of a TV-watcher on planes, but I was excited about the opportunity to watch Season 11 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Somehow I hadn’t seen it yet, and the entire season was available through Oryx One. I oh-so-appreciate how Qatar Airways typically has the whole season of a show, because it’s quite annoying to find a show you want and then see that there’s only one episode available.
Typically my favorite feature of the inflight entertainment is the map feature. And while this plane did have that, Qatar Airways’ 777s don’t have the most modern interface. For one, there’s no ability to customize the map view, but rather it just cycles through a bunch of different views. Furthermore, the map feature overwhelmingly just had ads and other notices, rather than primarily displaying the map.
I think this “issue” is 777-specific, as the A350s have a much better map feature.
Qatar Airways also has “Super Wi-Fi” on its 777s. The airline charges just $10 for Wi-Fi for the entire flight with no data caps, which is unbeatable pricing.
I’ve generally found Qatar Airways’ Wi-Fi speeds to be among the best in the industry, though on this particular flight it wasn’t very high speed. I’m not sure if it was just the routing we took, if there was something wrong with the antenna on this plane, or if the system just needed to be restarted. While the Wi-Fi was usable, I’ve had much faster Wi-Fi on Qatar Airways in the past.
Qatar Airways business class food & drinks
Qatar Airways offers a dine on demand concept in business class, so you can order whatever you’d like whenever you’d like. This is especially useful on a flight like this that departs in the middle of the night, where some people may wish to sleep after takeoff, while others may want to have breakfast, while others may want to have dinner.
If you don’t plan on eating right away, it could make sense to reserve a couple of things for later in the flight so that they don’t run out. While Qatar Airways doesn’t consistently run out of food, a lot of people just eat much of the flight out of boredom, so by the end of the flight your first choice might not be available.
You can find the Qatar Airways business class food menu below.
Then below you can find the beverage options. Qatar Airways’ beverage selection really impresses me, from the number of wine options, to the cappuccinos, to the iced lattes.
By the time we leveled off it was after 2:30AM. My plan was initially to go to sleep right after takeoff, though go figure I then got a second (or third?) wind. So I decided to order a light(ish) dinner. To start I ordered a glass of the Laurent-Perrier champagne, which was served with warm mixed nuts.
I then ordered the Arabic mezze with hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabouleh, served with Arabic bread. It was excellent as always. Interestingly Qatar Airways hasn’t fully restored its pre-pandemic dining experience, which is to say that the meal was still served on a tray, rather than directly on the tray table. Personally I don’t mind this one bit, because Qatar Airways crews stay busy, and this seems the most efficient.
I love Qatar Airways’ presentation, from the water glasses to the fake candles.
For my main course I ordered a vegan dish (the airline consistently has vegan options in business class), and specifically had the teardrop croquettes with vegan barbecue sauce. The dish was tasty, and just the perfect portion.
I took a nap after dinner, and later on the flight, while over Europe, I decided to order a cappuccino, which was served with some cookies.
A couple of hours after that I decided to order breakfast. I ordered the Arabic breakfast with feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, and olives, served with foul medames and Arabic bread. I also ordered the greek yogurt with passionfruit and mango coulis, toasted granola, and nuts. The breakfast was excellent.
I also ordered an iced chai latte — yum!
Then around two hours before landing I ordered a pre-landing meal, from the “light options” menu. Specifically, I had the fish curry with tadka rice and papad, which was probably the best thing I had on this flight.
For dessert I ordered the fresh berries with rose water syrup.
I also ordered one more cappuccino before landing, which was served with a warm towel and a box of chocolates.
You certainly won’t go hungry in Qatar Airways business class!
Qatar Airways Qsuites business class bed
Qatar Airways offers turndown service in business class. When it’s time to sleep there’s a mattress pad that’s placed on your seat. It’s essentially a cover that goes around the seat, so it can stay on regardless of whether or not you want your seat reclined. The crew also places a white sheet on the larger pillow, which is a nice touch.
Personally I find the Qsuites beds to be comfortable for sleeping. It’s super cozy to have a door, and it really makes the seat feel like a cocoon. Even with this incredible amount of comfort, I’m still an awful airplane sleeper, and I think I got maybe two hours of solid sleep. After that, I was up for the rest of the flight, despite several attempts to fall back asleep (admittedly ordering caffeine drinks probably didn’t help with that). 😉
In my experience Qatar Airways consistently keeps cabins dark on long haul flights, given that everyone is on a different schedule and there’s dine on demand. So on this flight the cabin was dark for 16+ hours, even though it was light outside for most of the flight.
Even though I’ve done more than my fair share of flying over the years, taking flights like this and constantly looking at the map never gets old. Aviation is pretty darn amazing!
Also, am I the only person who loves Googling the random things listed on the map feature? How else am I supposed to learn about the Porcupine Bank?!
Qatar Airways business class service
Qatar Airways flight attendants are the hardest working in the industry, in my opinion. The level of service that Qatar Airways provides in business class is simply incomparable, and even on a 16 hour flight, it seems like they’re hustling nonstop.
That’s because passengers are constantly eating (given dine on demand), and Qatar Airways has so many service features other airlines don’t have, from pre-departure drinks of choice, to turndown service, to cappuccinos, to constantly refreshing the lavatories, all of which take time.
The crew working this flight was efficient and friendly. Were they the most personable crew I’ve ever had? No. But I also feel like that’s partly a function of them just being so busy that they don’t really have time to slow down and develop connections with passengers.
I have to give a big shout out to Her (that was his name), the cabin manager, who was extremely professional. He greeted passengers after boarding, came around later in the flight to see how everyone was enjoying the experience, and also handled a difficult situation with ease.
Qatar Airways arrival in Dallas
After being on the plane for what felt like a week, the captain came on the PA at 9:35AM Dallas time to inform us that we’d be descending shortly, and should land in around 40 minutes. It was nice to open the window shades and finally see some daylight!
There was some drama during the descent, as a passenger tried to aggressively self-upgrade (he also did this during boarding, but not as assertively). I wrote about that in a previous post, so won’t write more about it here. Kudos to the crew for how they handled the situation, and for calling the cops on this guy.
We touched down at DFW at 10:20AM, and from there had a roughly 15 minute taxi to our arrival gate.
We pulled in at Terminal D, next to a Korean Air 787, Emirates 777, and Japan Airlines 787. We arrived around 30 minutes late due to the strong headwinds.
We cleared immigration in no time, and then headed back through security to fly back to Florida, rounding out an amazing trip.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways continues to set the standard for business class with Qsuites, both when it comes to the hard and soft product. From the comfortably designed suites with doors, to dine on demand, to endless entertainment and Wi-Fi, to top notch amenities, Qatar Airways has the most well rounded business class product in the world.
This was my first time flying Qsuites since the start of the pandemic, and I’m happy that the product is every bit as good as I remembered.
If you’ve flown Qatar Airways Qsuites, what was your experience like?
Word of Warning if booking Q Suites on AA Award Tickets. Beware QR equipment changes.
Booked MLE-DOH-SEA on Q Suite 777 departing M|LE Mar 30, 2022. Mar 23 QR changed aircraft to non-Q Suite with no row 5 (our honeymoon row). QR sent change seat request to AA for ticketing into row 4. When revised ticket numbers returned to QR they properly updated wife's ticket but forgot to update mine. Then cancelled old tickets.
Word of Warning if booking Q Suites on AA Award Tickets. Beware QR equipment changes.
Booked MLE-DOH-SEA on Q Suite 777 departing M|LE Mar 30, 2022. Mar 23 QR changed aircraft to non-Q Suite with no row 5 (our honeymoon row). QR sent change seat request to AA for ticketing into row 4. When revised ticket numbers returned to QR they properly updated wife's ticket but forgot to update mine. Then cancelled old tickets.
On departure I was refused boarding because my old ticket number was still on QR RNR and had been cancelled. Had to purchase last minute Y ticket at huge price to return with wife. 17 hours in 42A, not 4K that I paid for.
Still fighting with QR customer service for refund (June 23) who claim they "can't change an AA ticket thus not their problem" in spite of QR email informing me of their change days ahead.
At airport refused to help because "AA cancelled ticket". MLE airport so no option for assistance or even internet that evening.
Only fly QR on AA reward if you are flying direct or to major centres with support.
Customer service non-existent.
Jealous that you got to try the 777-200LR. I'm flying Qatar in Business Class on March 15 IAD-DOH. When I booked it and up until recently it was designated Q-Suites, but sadly it has been downgraded to a non Q-Suites airplane. So I'm on the old 6 across configuration. They technically have a rule that allows you to switch 21+- days if there's a switch from Q to non-Q, but since I booked using AA...
Jealous that you got to try the 777-200LR. I'm flying Qatar in Business Class on March 15 IAD-DOH. When I booked it and up until recently it was designated Q-Suites, but sadly it has been downgraded to a non Q-Suites airplane. So I'm on the old 6 across configuration. They technically have a rule that allows you to switch 21+- days if there's a switch from Q to non-Q, but since I booked using AA points they cannot change it and there's no other avaiability so AA cannot change it either. I'm stuck. But I'll live.
About masks: we flew on 18 June Cape Town/Doha/Heathrow and were asked to wear masks at all times other than when we were in our suites. Fair enough I thought. The crew wore their masks at all times, certainly when they were interacting with passengers.
Hello Ben, I just resumed international travel since the pandemic started and my last two Global Entry arrivals have been a disaster. DFW had a really long line to use the kiosks and at JFK they asked for my passport as well as the ticket and asked us a bunch of questions. Both times it took about an hour to clear immigration and customs when it used to be much faster. I was wondering if...
Hello Ben, I just resumed international travel since the pandemic started and my last two Global Entry arrivals have been a disaster. DFW had a really long line to use the kiosks and at JFK they asked for my passport as well as the ticket and asked us a bunch of questions. Both times it took about an hour to clear immigration and customs when it used to be much faster. I was wondering if you could do a post about any differences you've seen or if you think the general GE experience has deteriorated
I'm flying Qsuite for the fist time on Saturday from JNB to LHR with my girlfriend (hopfully to be my fiancée on the way back) and I'm so excited. I was meant to try it out in 2020 but that got cancelled.
Good luck Nathan. We’ve just flown on an A350 from Cape Town and the Q-suites are splendid. No other word for it. If she doesn’t say yes after, or during, the flight then she’s not the right one for you!
As with up your seat change, on one of our suites flights, we realized that doors don’t resolve all problems. In our case, a kid (about 4) jumping on the seat while in bed position and hanging over the divider looking at my husband……while the mom slept……Fortunately there was one empty seat and he could move.
Hi Ben,
Great reviews as always.
Just curious, did you book both these mileage flights via AAdvantage flights well in advance, I ask as even with Qatar Privilege club directly as a Platinum member I always find it difficult to secure 2 seats (unless I take the flex x2 mileage awards).
Thanks
@andrew: I’ve books Qsuites w AA miles for my wife and I several
times. Typically 9-10 months in advance with flexibility in departure point from US has always done the trick for us. Good luck.
Did 3 flights last month on this a/c (4th on a A380) .
I would choose a middle seat next time, as the suites appear a little more spacious. I chose rear-facing window seats for the same reason you did, but I would trade the view of clouds for a more spacious seat.
The amenities packs are a shadow of the pre-pandemic variety, and on 2 flights the scaled-down Diptheque products came in...
Did 3 flights last month on this a/c (4th on a A380) .
I would choose a middle seat next time, as the suites appear a little more spacious. I chose rear-facing window seats for the same reason you did, but I would trade the view of clouds for a more spacious seat.
The amenities packs are a shadow of the pre-pandemic variety, and on 2 flights the scaled-down Diptheque products came in a cardboard box! Toothbrushes are in the lavatory. The toothbrush would be ideal for your camel, in my opinion, but too rough for a normal person!
F&B was as described, although I ate a fraction of what you managed to put away.
On the A380 I asked for a tour of the F cabin, which was empty.
Very impressed, to the point where I have booked 2 F sectors ,(SYD-DOH-LHR) in early October.
Interestingly, I booked online with BA Avios (135,000) on a single PNR, whereas AAdvantage would only allow 2 separate sectors , for 172,000 miles. BA have sharpened up the miles needed to redeem on QR since QR switched to Avios, and BA, IB and QR had the same number of miles to redeem.
Had my first QSuites longhaul flight 2 weeks ago, DOH-ORD (had the exact same menu as on your flight), and I was absolutely amazed. It's like... all the little things that add up to make QR overall better than the "average/as to be expected" business class product. Plus the crew. The woman who worked my aisle and served me, just flawless.
I will say that even though the seats themselves may be holding up structurewise,...
Had my first QSuites longhaul flight 2 weeks ago, DOH-ORD (had the exact same menu as on your flight), and I was absolutely amazed. It's like... all the little things that add up to make QR overall better than the "average/as to be expected" business class product. Plus the crew. The woman who worked my aisle and served me, just flawless.
I will say that even though the seats themselves may be holding up structurewise, I'm not so sure about the electrics. For the seat on my flight, the remote control was stuck in the holder. It, the IFE, USB socket, and power port all failed 5-6 hours into the flight. 2 resets by the crew and it still didn't work. Fine. I switch seats to the empty one across the aisle from me. That seat had sticky and stiff seat control buttons. They still worked but the controls were very stiff, like someone spilled liquid on them.
Just got the email from QR telling me that the equipment has changed to the nonQ seats.
I’m so gutted - I was so looking forward to it, now I have a seat mate
Yes the best business class still, and totally agree the crew work so hard, they aren’t the happiest though because of it but dare not make it public..
Love QR.
this might be an unpopular opinion but I’m actually not a fan of Qsuites. Sure it looks beautiful, the service is great, etc BUT the seat feels like a coffin when laying down…..the cubby hole is tiny and the overhanging table traps the knees in. no chance of sleeping sideways. Purely from a comfort perspective, I prefer the seats on the A380 and A350. I’ll even go as far as saying BA’s old club world is more comfortable by not trapping your legs.
Glad you got a QSuite. Flew DOH-YUL on Thursday and what was booked as QSuite ended up being an old B773 with 2-2-2. (Maybe QR thought being it’s 25th Anniversary it would let me celebrate on a 25-year old plane…with no wifi!) Bad soft product too as no bread/roll on the plate nor offered when asked for some. Had to also request wine twice after having given my choice to the FA when I ordered...
Glad you got a QSuite. Flew DOH-YUL on Thursday and what was booked as QSuite ended up being an old B773 with 2-2-2. (Maybe QR thought being it’s 25th Anniversary it would let me celebrate on a 25-year old plane…with no wifi!) Bad soft product too as no bread/roll on the plate nor offered when asked for some. Had to also request wine twice after having given my choice to the FA when I ordered dinner. Having flown QR more than a dozen times pre-COVID in a variety of its 1-2-1 seats, this was the worst experience all around.
I just flew 3 segments on 350’s and I’m afraid that the advertisements are just as frequent/annoying on that plane too.
Lucky, another great review. Agree, it's hard to beat Qatar in just about any department, except, I wish the seats were a tad wider.
Also agree the lavatory size and ratio on the 777s is much better than on the A350s which IIRC have 3 (for the -1000, which has 46 J seats.
Something doesn't add up:
TK has 49 business class seats in 2 cabin 777 in 2-3-2 layout (7 rows split 4 in front and 3 back cabin)
QR fitting 42 seats in same plane in 1-2-1 layout should give an idea how tight the seat pitch is.
The pitch isn't a problem for me (I'm 6 ft), but I do wish the seats were a bit wider. The problem is that because right next to you is the footwell of the seat behind/in front, you can't really extend your arms beyond the seat dimensions.
From that point of view (only) the non-Q-suite A350s feel more spacious and there is more room to stretch. But (especially for a long flight) nothing beats the exclusive feel and privacy of the Q-suites.
Great review. On a rather unrelated note, I will travel on Avianca in Business Class this fall and wanted to look if you had any Avianca reviews, but couldn't find any. Am I missing something, or did you not review Avianca yet? Thanks
There aren´t because Avianca is going downhill, don't expect anything better than a domestic US first class (good luck with wifi or entertainment on board). Avianca is becoming an ULCC.
I know that Avianca isn't the best airline, but from Europe to South America it's not like there are so many great *A alternatives, even less with award availability. And the airline not being the best didn't stop Ben before (remember TAAG Angola).
I believe AV’s service on their longer haul flights including BOG-JFK/LAX will still offer full service in all cabins. This is something that needs to be looked into as I just don’t see AV offering a incompetive product on these long haul flights to Europe & Deep South America. I believe these markets will remain full service versus a LCC product.
Glad to see it's held up well. I do miss Q suites, its been since 2019 that I've flown on them (also a 77L)
Another Qsuite/Qatar Airways praise review. Getting a bit tired of them now actually. Much as you love QR, I think it would be a bit more interesting if you could review the fallen star, Etihad, on their new A350 and see how much of their pre-pandemic standards they have (or haven’t) been able to maintain. Now that would be a much more insightful review: rather than the two big Gulf airlines which continue to do...
Another Qsuite/Qatar Airways praise review. Getting a bit tired of them now actually. Much as you love QR, I think it would be a bit more interesting if you could review the fallen star, Etihad, on their new A350 and see how much of their pre-pandemic standards they have (or haven’t) been able to maintain. Now that would be a much more insightful review: rather than the two big Gulf airlines which continue to do well, I’d like to see your opinion of the one (not-so-)big Gulf airline that isn’t.
@ VT-CIE -- I totally hear you, and intend to fly the Etihad A350 soon. I wanted to review a more "creative" product than Qsuites, but there were quite literally no other award options for our dates, as we were flying right after Ramadan.
"a lot of people just eat much of the flight out of boredom"
Translation of this statement nowadays is "break from wearing masks still enforced by QR"
@ Luke -- Hah, fair, though it's my understanding that (at least unofficially) Qatar Airways doesn't require masks while seated in Qsuites, since there are doors. I didn't see them say anything to anyone about wearing masks.
QR still requires masks on the 2-2-2 B777s and of course all of Y. Not sure about the other more open 1-2-1 seats.
The cabin crew even told my wife the other week that she doesn't need to wear a mask in business class.
Great review. I am flying Q-Suites next month for the first time since 2020 and it's good to know it's the same great experience I remember.
I seem to recall that on dinner service, items were spread out on the tablecloth but on my recent flights everything was delivered on a single tray (appetizer followed by delivered entree).
Looking forward to my next Qsuite flight coming back from TBS (DOH-PHL) just after Christmas. Great review.