exmike

Anyone with experience with these three or combination thereof? The new singapore J is fantastic, and qatar looks pretty good. If you had to choose on straight up, which would it be?

lazard

I'd have to give SQ a slight edge over CX.

QRC3288

flown all longhaul. with the two caveats I give below, I give my vote to CX. I care more about hard product...CX J loses to the other two in catering, but has the best hard product IMO. I find SQ's product annoying because you have fewer "ranges" to sit in, lounge, kinda when you're tired and laying back to watch a movie but not in sleep mode. Have to flip the seat over to sleep. And I think the leather is flashy but less comfortable. AVOD systems are similar SQ and CX (I prefer CX, but may be biased because I fly CX for 75% of my travel) and I think both are superior to Qatar's. I think CX's new longhaul J overall is unparalleled and it doesn't surprise me this is the product many airlines are choosing for longhaul J. Admittedly CX didnt' invent it but it's the best iteration I've tried so far AA has it, I see AF rolling it out, etc. I really dislike Qatar's slanted beds and while the "premium terminal" thing makes for good advertising, I don't like transiting in the middle of wherever I'm going and think it's overrated. try it once great. do it multiple times and it gets old fast.

Fyi, Qatar is usually the cheapest ex-HKG so my observations don't assume price matters.

Caveat 1: Qatar I have only flown the slanty beds they fly to HKG as well as their older regional J to Africa and ME. apparently this isn't always representative and I've heard a new product is or will be on the HKG route? perhaps ask on the Qatar board I'm not as familiar

Caveat 2: I am talking about new CX J, not the old "coffin" CX J which I don't like as much. Coffin J still flies some Europe routes? and 1/2 SFO flights have the old J. If the CX option is old J class then I choose SQ.

kaka

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For cx vs qr, i agree- except the slant beds are also w tge old cabin - which is old n dated. The new J is good. As a hker, id still give CX an edge cuz i dont want 6-7 hr flights.

sorry i just found out I've contradicted myself!!!!!

jdtravels

Qatar > CX > Singapore.

All are excellent products I think, but I think QR gives the best mix. And I don't mind the DOH stopover, because the connections are quite well timed, the premium terminal is reasonably comfortable, and it offers a good opportunity to just stretch a bit (which is always necessary, even in J). Unless I'm in a hurry, otherwise I'd choose it over CX for HKG-Europe flights. More destinations too.

QR: great service (do the flight attendants have hidden CCTVs to keep an eye on who's asleep and who just woke up? I see them appearing nearly immediately when someone wakes up... creepy - probably only downside), seat is actually ok (even at an angle, sleep was satisfactory).

CX: great service again, great bed, but food leaves something to be desired for

SQ: excellent service, but the seat is quite stuffy. Gets really hot (maybe because of the leather?). But has the best Asian food of all. Connection in SIN is always efficient, lounges are nice. But then, why would I pay more than CX/QR only for a longer flight?

dylanks

There are a few things I don't like about the CX seat:

1. The upright position (during takeoff and landing) is somewhat uncomfortable. I prefer BA Club World as it offers a slight slant back that I find to be better. The seat belt which contains an air bag is also a bit cumbersome.
2. The cushions are fairly hard. Maybe they need to be worn in a bit more, or maybe some more padding, I don't know, but I felt the same with US when I flew them a few years ago also. I think I prefer the SQ or BA CW seat (and I think the leather on SQ is a bit cooler temperature wise)
3. There's no place to put your laptop during takeoff and landing near your seat.

That said, the personal space and layout are very good, and the seat is better than most, though I would still probably prefer SQ or BA over CX's J seat, though I know I'm somewhat in the minority on this point of view. I would be happy to fly CX J again in the future, just expressing what I don't like about the seat.

avm2806

My vote would be CX>SQ>QR.

Any seat in J that isn't fully flat in todays day and age is a no no for me hence QR last.
SQ's food may be better but CX's is pretty good and their snack service on longhauls is great (noodle soup and hagen dazs is hard to beat IMHO).
AVOD I prefer CX and I also find their service a bit or real / genuine vs SQ's over perfected service that can feel robotic. Also, CX really wins on the lounge front as well.

pogonation

All 3 are great but for me CX=QR(flat bed) > SQ. The reason SQ is lower for me is because it has less lounging positions and I can't put it into a really angled chill set up. Also I hate having to stand up and flip my seat into a bed.

Having said that, they are all great and I would choose them depending on the route. If flying from europe to asia I would choose CX for all of asia except for SIN/KUL (for which I would choose SQ) and wouldn't think about QR because it disturbs sleep so much when you have to stop in the middle and really takes away from the premium experience.

Given that the OP lives in SFO, CX would most likely offer the best option as most destinations in Asia/Indian sub-continent can be reached non-stop/one-stop. If flying SFO-HKG non-stop then I would still choose CX over SQ ^

exmike

very very interesting and helpful responses. thanks everyone! It does seem that even though QR is 6 across, the overall area per passenger is probably the same as the 4 abreast layouts for CX and SQ right? I am from SFO but thinking about visiting someone in houston on the way to SE asia via QR. Thats a loooooong trip.

QRC3288

just fyi, QR ex-HKG currently flies slanted beds, not true flat beds like CX or SQ. While this may change in the future - I am no QR expert, I only use them ex-HKG to destinations CX doesn't fly to - every time I have flown QR ex-HKG it is the slanted bed things. If price is not a consideration I cannot see how one would recommend QR to HKG over CX or SQ given this dynamic. The only way I could see it is if price matters you're based in an ill-served European or African destination (if price is irrelevant look at EK in this situation, at least one of their flights to HKG has truly flat J). Both CX and SQ offer real flat beds. QR offers a business class hard product to HKG that is effectively CX's J hard product from 7 years ago. Two iterations ago.

I understand QR has real beds on other metal? Or maybe it's coming to HKG soon (or already is?)? I don't know. But I have never enjoyed it and if you're going to HKG, which is a 7.5 hour sector from Doha, you'll be in those slanted beds for that part of the trip. Just fyi. The hard products are not comparable IMO. SQ and CX hard products could be a debate, and I think QR catering is better than CX. But for hard product QR, on what I've flown to/from HKG, doesn't really enter the equation except if you're looking to save money.

AA_EXP09

SQ price on revenue tickets is generally less competitive unless starting in HK.
SQ FFP is only good for those who fly lots of premium fares and has a worse award chart than CX.
SQ also has a zero success rate of opup (unlike CX where you can get above 1/10 easily.)
Other than those things I would say SQ is better for an inflight service and for hard product.
For those reasons I fly CX more.
QR I cannot comment though they seem to be more price competitive and you get to use the premium terminal in DOH.

LAX888

I still think SQ is slightly better than CX but only by a small margin (mainly food, service and IFE). The seats are a personal preference and I find both of them very good. However QR on the other hand cannot really compete with CX and SQ. Whilst the fleet is new and modern the seats are not that great and you do not get as much personal space and privacy as on CX and SQ. This only changed when QR introduced the 787 but this also means that QR has 4 different C class seats! (A320, A346/A332/A333, B777 and B787). They are upgrading the A332 to fully flat which is about time but this just shows how inconsistent the product is.
Also flying only 6-7h and then having to transit is not good for sleep and I actually feel more tired after going through Doha. Also the Premium Terminal is as mentioned nice if you go for the first time but after that it is just like any other big lounge and being bussed to the airplane is just inconvenient in the desert heat. This however will be gone soon when the new aiport opens.

1010101

.....

1010101

If you get on a QR 787 in J it really is very close to F on many airlines. It is brilliant and I would choose it over any other J class I've ever flown.

If it was between a QR 777 and a CX 777 it is much closer. I would maybe choose CX to get 1-2-1 over 2-2-2, although service and food will be slightly better on QR. All assuming equal price and similar flight times.

QR still has a few slopey seated A330's around which are not welcome in any discussion of best business class seats, but thankfully they are being replaced and are already off the HKG route. The new flat bed A330s are apparently (not flown one yet) a slight notch below the 777s, much like the CX A330s are.

AA_EXP09

and above UA domestic F (whether PS F or regular domestic F.)