Qatar Airways Privilege Club - QR impressions in business class

After moving down under a while ago, I have flown 12 segments in QR business class during the past six months. Mostly Stockholm/Oslo - Doha - Melbourne.

Here are some impressions:

* The fresh orange juice they serve both in air and in the premium terminal is fantastic. :)

* The champagne served on-board tends to be from an old, already opened bottle during the start of the flight. It tastes pretty horrible. Why even bother to serve this sour crap? Solution: Start with OJ until a new bottle has been opened.

* The past 4-5 flights I have had to go through 3-4 pairs of headsets to find a fully working pair. Annoying. Often either the noise cancelling is not working, or there is just sound in one of the ears.

* The seats in the 777s are lovely.

* Food quality is somewhat random.

* Service in cabin is good to great.

* Booking web site suffers random severe bugs when using Safari on Mac. Amateurish.

* Why can you only change seats online when booking and when checking in?

* Happy with flight punctuality.

Welcome nexus770. Its always with trepidation I read a post when I see the number 1 next to the post count. More often than not such initial posts are along the lines of QR massacred my family and deep-fried my cat only to have the poster disappear never to be seen again when it transpires that the airline scuffed his/her Walmart suitcase.
Balanced useful reporting of information such as your post is always welcome, especially of lesser known (to FT) but rapidly expanding airlines!
Come back often

QR massacred my family and deep-fried my cat

I should really stop reading comments that are highlighted....

Hi guys,

Just flew 2 segments with QR and about to flight 2 others in 10 days (FRA-DOH-BKK and back) in Business class.

Overall, my impression is very good but it did not start well.

I know they write everywhere that you need the credit card used for payment upon check-in but I had booked my ticket 10 months ago and my credit card had been stolen in July. It was the exact same name (mine) on the credit card and on the flight reservation but they did not care one bit. I think it has more to do with a system blocking setting than stubborn behavior but still, it's annoying.

Very fortunately for me, I know all my current and past credit cards' number by heart so in the end, everything went fine but I tried to push to see how much they would insist on not giving me my boarding pass without it and there seemed to be NO WAY to get it.

Apart from that, the travel was great. Lounge in FRA is the LH Business class lounge which is crap as everyone knows but as soon as I boarded the plane, I enjoyed every bit. I was in the first row behind 1st class and after us was the gallery. Very quiet since 1st was empty and the gallery was surprisingly quiet.
I've enjoyed some reading, acceptable food and watched 2 movies before landing in DOH.

Then transfer to Doha premium terminal by bus in 15 minutes. Nothing to see there for shopping but a very good breakfast was served (I had arrived in the morning and had 1h30 left before my next flight). Then transfer in a very cute little van with comfy seats to the plane with this time full-flat bed seats.
I was on 10F and slept for 5 hours without being disturbed at all. Was offered to catch up lunch after I woke up though they had finished serving everyone else.
The staff is very kind but the food is truly average to say the truth.

Left the plane with my fast track pass that I saved since I had booked arrival service with BFS for 1300 THB to get me to the diplomatic lane with a buggy and assist with my pieces of luggage.

All in all, very satisfied by the experience.

Interesting reports, thank you very much. I'm planning a trip in Business in a few months, so it's nice to get some idea of what's happening at the moment!
^

Actually I think it depends on the airport that you depart from -regarding the credit card verification. I remember my card being checked at BCN previously

Not sure about the other airports I flew QR from.
Sin doesn't seem to though

In the event that passenger change the credit card, he is recommended to contact the reservation office to override the credit card verification upon check in. The cc verification should be done at least 24hours prior to the departure.

Hi guys,

I know they write everywhere that you need the credit card used for payment upon check-in but I had booked my ticket 10 months ago and my credit card had been stolen in July. It was the exact same name (mine) on the credit card and on the flight reservation but they did not care one bit. I think it has more to do with a system blocking setting than stubborn behavior but still, it's annoying.

Very fortunately for me, I know all my current and past credit cards' number by heart so in the end, everything went fine but I tried to push to see how much they would insist on not giving me my boarding pass without it and there seemed to be NO WAY to get it.

Interestingly off to BKK tomorrow from Heathrow. Just checked in online and received this E-Mail.

Thank you for choosing to book on www.qatarairways.com

Qatar Airways would like to inform all passengers holding E-tickets which have been booked online,

that as mentioned on the website the original credit/debit card used would need to be shown and

presented at the time of check-in, photocopy of the card used is not sufficient.

We understand that cards can sometimes get replaced / lost / stolen and in these situations a paper copy

of the bank statement/online Statement showing Qatar Airways with the debited amount next to it, would need to be

shown at check-in.

Maybe the guys at Qatar have been reading your E-Mail. you never know.

Interestingly off to BKK tomorrow from Heathrow. Just checked in online and received this E-Mail.


Maybe the guys at Qatar have been reading your E-Mail. you never know.

Lol, nah, I just think its probably been a problem for so many people. I think I got that email for my last flight in September too...

BTW, please let us know if the new lounge is open!

Regarding service on the flight...a recent LHR-DOH in Business FA was an American chap. Best CC I have ever experienced. Well done Qatar! ^

It is only a requirement if you book on-line. I don't know how the fares are out of some your markets, but ex YUL, it would make little sense to buy from a website....the fares my TA gets me via a consolidator are as good as, or better than, the web...no crapola about c/c shown at the airport...and if there is a problem (and there have been none yet), my TA has Akbar's email, and some key managers both in IAD and DOH, in his LinkedIn network, so wouldn't have to try aimlessly with a CSR. I pay for professional consulting, accounting, an attorney...so why not corporate travel management as well?

* The fresh orange juice they serve both in air and in the premium terminal is fantastic. :)

* The past 4-5 flights I have had to go through 3-4 pairs of headsets to find a fully working pair. Annoying. Often either the noise cancelling is not working, or there is just sound in one of the ears.

* The seats in the 777s are lovely.

* Food quality is somewhat random.

* Service in cabin is good to great.

* Why can you only change seats online when booking and when checking in?

* Happy with flight punctuality.
I noticed that the OJ on the very long hauls (e.g. DOH-IAH) was fresh squeezed, but on the shorter hauls (e.g. DOH-BLR) it was not.

I always bring my own Bose headphones so did not use QR's. But I found the IFE interface to be less than intuitive, the hand controller didn't work very well, and I had the best luck (when lying down) using my toe on the touch screen. The system had to be reset for me at least once. The selection was great, though.

If you want to change seats before your flight, it's best to use ExpertFlyer to check the seat map, then call and request a specific seat.

The seats are great but I wished for bigger pillows. This is the one thing that DL does better than any other carrier I have flown.

Cabin service was generally very good but you do run into an occasional inexperienced FA. I really enjoyed the crew's diverse nationalities.

I was on a DOH-IAH flight that arrived well over an hour late, with no acknowledgement or explanation by the pilots. FAs could only guess. All my other QR flights landed early.

The food and beverage selection and service in the Premium terminal in DOH is awesome. They could use a larger men's room, more showers, and better ventilation in the showers.

Interestingly off to BKK tomorrow from Heathrow. Just checked in online and received this E-Mail.

Thank you for choosing to book on www.qatarairways.com

Qatar Airways would like to inform all passengers holding E-tickets which have been booked online,

that as mentioned on the website the original credit/debit card used would need to be shown and

presented at the time of check-in, photocopy of the card used is not sufficient.

We understand that cards can sometimes get replaced / lost / stolen and in these situations a paper copy

of the bank statement/online Statement showing Qatar Airways with the debited amount next to it, would need to be

shown at check-in.

Maybe the guys at Qatar have been reading your E-Mail. you never know.

What rubbish. Also QR overcharged my card (booking did by phone). The fare was ex-DXB, and I asked the agent to quote my price in USD.

The amount that hit my card, was $80 more. What "bullocks".

Actually I think it depends on the airport that you depart from -regarding the credit card verification. I remember my card being checked at BCN previously

Not sure about the other airports I flew QR from.
Sin doesn't seem to though

So if my partner's travel group books this....is there a problem? I clearly wouldn't have a company card, or access to anything monetary related.

Just bring a print-out from your itinerary and you'll be fine. With that, there's no way there can be any identity misunderstanding.

I flew QR in J in the autumn after a break of a couple of years.

Overall, I thought the quality had gone down a bit:

OSL-DOH: awful food (I guess because OSL does not cater to many longhaul flights), and the kind of nose-in-the-air flight attendant ("I shouldn't really be doing this job") who was brusque with passengers, but when I complained about the food, became all simpering and gooey. Toe curling. :td:

DOH: awful long bus transfer both ways. Great (extended) Premium Terminal, but it was packed, and service suffered.

DOH-BKK-DOH: the 777 seat is excellent. But loads of upgrades in J - so I can see why they're reconfiguring 777s on this route.

The Coral Lounge used in Phuket is good service wise, as staff meet you at checkin and escort you through immigration and security to the lounge. Food is OK, only beer, free wifi.
Flight departed on time, boarding was not good, as they let all the economy board first which I am sure was full. So much for priority boarding!

Descent was aborted as there was a huge electric storm over KUL and the captain diverted to Jodphur near Singapore, guess not enough fuel to circle as they refueled there and then the 30 minute flight back to KUL, arrival was about 3 hours late. Crew were most kind and helpful and the purser came to all in J personally.

No fast track arrival at KUL and due to delay only just got the KLIA Express into the city.

F&B was the usual standard.

From March 25th the A330 is replaced by 777 on this route according to website and my HKT-DOH booking for mid May.