justatourist

Still hoping to see a trip report from someone doing the Sake Fare, but most of us will be going the the 2nd half of 2017...

Safe travels!

WorldLux

@justatourist: There are trip reports of DOH-BRU/AMS-DOH and DOH-HND/NRT-DOH on flight report. You might have to select the French version of the site, but even so the pictures should speak for themselves.

cgtechuk

I might do a trip report, If folks think it will be beneficial

KARFA

Hilton flash sale for Japan just started this morning if anyone has not booked a hotel yet

http://hiltonhotels.jp/sale-en?WT.mc...254168_1121915

Vesseli

I just did it (BRU-DOH-NRT) with Mrs. Vesseli and can share few points:

- The BA lounge in BRU is nothing special, I´d save my appetit and thirst for the plane
- JAL Sakura Lounge in NRT though is a nice one. Take advantage of the free 10min massage or/and the massage chair plus the shower afterwards. We were given a family shower room with Mrs...
- Boarding for QR flights are 1h before take-off, not 45min as said in the boarding card.
- In DOH the boarding was a mess both ways. They didn´t have the "business bus" ready either time resulting in the whole economy boarding before business and making business wait at the gate for a good 20-30min and boarding the plane just 20min before take-off.
- Service was better on 787 than 777 (benefits of small business class maybe? 787 22pax vs. 777 42pax)
- Ice cream still hard enough to kill some one.
- Bubbly didn´t ran out even though we tried our best with Mrs.
- Prefer seats on the portside (left side) of the plane as purser works there (at least on all of our flights she/he did) to get even better service
- Immigration both in NRT and BRU were super fast. BRU using the automatic gates we basicly walked through and got our bags in 15min. NRT giving finger prints and getting stamped took maybe 5min and then another 10-15min for the luggage.
- NEX train to Tokyo works like a charm, comfortable, fast and easy. We took it all the way to Shinjuku without changing, price as said many time 4000yen roundtrip.

If there are some questions ask now as most of the trip is still freshly in memory.

WorldLux

How long did it take to get airside after check-in in BRU? Were there any particular security measures still in place (e.g. car checks at the motorway exit)?

I don't fly very frequently out of BRU and I'm only wondering if the security measures put in place last year were still being enforced.

KARFA

I was at BRU last month - albeit I arrived on a flight, went landside, and then back airside so I can't comment on any security on approach to the airport.

There is obviously a very visible armed presence at the airport now, but I was through security in 5 minutes or so and I didn't notice any additional security measures to go airside. I don't think my timings on going from landside to the lounge airside were much different from when I was last there about 2 years ago.

lost_in_translation

I agree that, IMO, 787s have the best QR service due to the smaller cabin size (it's not *that* many more passengers than most BA F cabins when you think about it), as well as typically being quiet as a result. I also think the further forward you sit the better service is, but normally avoid row 1 unless I definitely don't want to sleep on the flight due to the proximity of the galley (there are some benefits to the slightly larger but shallower foot well in row 1, however).

In terms of seating preference on the HND 787 route (soon to be an A350, however!) I like 2K best, because 2F seems to typically be used as the crew rest seat meaning you get an empty seat for some of the flight and very quiet occupants that just want to sleep for most of the rest of the flight.

NRT JL F lounge is also highly recommended for the i) made to order sushi bar and ii) current Barons de Rothschild champagne offering.

Ice cream is almost always frozen solid on QR, even when they say 'sorry, we'll bring it when it's defrosted as it's currently too hard' it still comes out frozen like a rock 20 minutes later . On the plus side, they have ice cream in J on almost every flight which is exactly what I crave after a long and slightly dehydrating flight.

lost_in_translation

Current menu for QR813 (HND-DOH) from yesterday for reference. The Kaiseki is the *only* acceptable choice out of HND!

lost_in_translation

Also i) kaiseki dinner and ii) waffles for breakfast photos for reference (this is absolutely the best catering in the QR network):

sexten

Just a comment regarding bus-gate boarding in DOH.
For some (unexplainable) reason, QR choose to board biz last. This happens every time when you have a bus gate, so they didn't "make a mess" per se

toz100

Very true indeed. Therefore I regularly decide to downgrade myself to the Y-bus and "surprise" the C-cabin crew by showing up earlier than expected.

polochick

Thank you for this, just booked. If we ever meet I owe you a drink!

benjai

OMG the Kaiseki looks amazing. Can't believe I missed out on this because I was too tired to book that night!!!

phoneticduck

So you were aware of the fare at the time, and prepared to go to Tokyo, but didn't book because you were too tired?