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What does it take to become a Skytrax certified five star airlines? Is it service, hard product, or just a bit of luck? Although perceived as merely a marketing tool for airlines, this special recognition is still, as of now, only an exclusive club for a few airlines. I have had the pleasure of flying aboard members of this exclusive bunch, such as Cathay Pacific, Asiana, Singapore Airlines etc. It never crossed my mind, however, that Qatar Airways, the national carrier of a small Middle Eastern nation that most people have probably never heard off, would be a five star airline.

So what made me choose Qatar over the many options to fly back San Francisco? Well, frankly fate. Originally, I was booked on the “boring” route back to San Francisco via Tokyo on ANA. However, fate intervened when United allowed Qatar premium award redemption at Star Alliance Saver Award price, which was 60,000 miles, instead of the original exorbitant price of more than 170,000 miles. What’s more, combining Qatar flights with United or Star Alliance flights was also permitted. The plan is perfect, flying through Doha to one of the furthest U.S. gateways, I am able to maximize the Qatar Airways 5 star experience, while keeping flight time with non-desired airlines at a minimum.

By the time my trip was re-ticketed, what was intended as a short transpacific flight back home turned into an extension, forming my first ever RTW trip(hopeful the first of many to come!). Although the return trip is not as ambitious as my incoming flights to Hong Kong, it is nonetheless a brand new experience.

For those interested, here is the link to my previous trip report:

A crazy routing for a crazy college student:Star Alliance C Award SFO-NRT-ICN-SIN-HKG

Trip Report Index

Hong Kong Airport: Check In, Plaza Premium Lounge

QR 813 Hong Kong to Doha

The Doha Premium Transfer Experience

QR 52 Doha to Washington Dulles

Dulles: The Nightmare of all Airport Transfers

UA 244 Washington Dulles to San Francisco

Conclusion

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Preflight

It was a nice cool Sunday evening. A little drizzle and perhaps some thunderstorm greeted me as I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport. To start off my 33-hour journey, I wanted to preemptively obtain some United Premier Access baggage tags so my bags would come out earlier in San Francisco. Sadly, the counters were closed early, and apparently I made a mistake by assuming that United has its midnight flight to Singapore.



No matter, such minor details failed to dampen my mood. As I proceeded to check in at Aisle E, a Jardine ground staff contracted by Qatar warmly received me and led me to the business class check in counter. This was where things started to get a little messy. The check in agent thought I was taking advantage of the baggage allowance when I tried to check in 2 pieces of luggage and a golf bag. Luckily, I predicted this would happen and showed her a webpage printout of the special baggage allowance. She was hesitant at first, but nonetheless obliged after scrutinizing ever inch of that printout. As she began to tag my bags, I noticed that the final destination was IAD instead of SFO. Good thing I spotted that out, or my bags would have ended in the Dulles maze, so I had to show her my United segment printout as well to reprint the tags. In the end, I think she was just a little overwhelmed by my itinerary, but then again I thought the ANA agent in San Francisco handled my previous flights better than she did, and mind you that was even more complicated.




Security was relatively quick, and given the time of the day I wasn’t expecting long lines. With about an hour to go before boarding, I decided to head to the Traveller’s Lounge near Gate 1, which is used by Qatar’s business class passenger. The good thing about this flagship lounge is that it was opened fairly recently, and therefore the overall decor looked pretty nice and modern. The bad thing, however, is that basically anyone with a credit card is allowed access to the lounge (I could have used my Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card or AMEX Platinum).




I settled into one of the couches and poured myself a glass of orange juice, while checking some last minute emails. Around 15 minutes before scheduled boarding, I chose to leave the lounge early so I could walk to the gate instead of taking the train.





A brisk walk led me to Gate 36, where QR 531 was ready for boarding. Judging from the size of the crowd, I knew that this would be a pretty full flight in the back, but luckily I overheard one of the ground staff stating that there would only be 6 passengers in Business tonight.

I always like travelling on relatively empty flight. It might be bad for the airline, but it means that I get more attention from the crew and most importantly, more space. While waiting for boarding to begin, I spotted an older gentlemen anxiously waiting alone near the First/Business boarding lane, as if there wasn’t enough overhead space for his tiny carryon.




After observing a couple of impatient passengers boarding quickly as well through the priority lane, I joined in. As I surrendered my boarding pass for scanning, I overheard yet another quiet conversation between the gate agents in Cantonese.

Gate Agent #1: Chun bo J pax seung sai gei la (Translation: All J Passengers are onboard)

Gate Agent #2: Gum fai? (Really? That quick?)

Gate Agent #1: Hai ya! Duk luk gor jar gum man. (Yeah! Only six tonight)

Gate Agent #2: Hor lung yau duk jo di jau. (Maybe I can get off early tonight)

Anyways, I left a world of chaos and was about to enter the gate to heaven…… Maybe that’s a bit too dramatic, but it’s pretty close to what I was feeling at that time. With every step I took, I became ever more excited. Boarding through Door 1L, I was warmly received and led to my seat, 3B. This was when the magic began!

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The Flight Begins


Flying me to Doha tonight in approximately 8 hours and 35 minutes was Qatar Airways A330-200. Although I was uncertain whether this was an old plane, the relatively new seats and overhead bins assured me that this would be a comfortable flight. The moment I sat down in my seat, a cheerful Latino flight attendant came by and asked for my choice of pre-departure beverage, to which I requested a glass of champagne. This was followed by an Asian flight attendant, most likely Korean, who approached my seat and distributed a Salvatore Ferragamo branded amenity kit, along with a pair of Qatar branded pyjamas. Without even asking for my size, she was able to find me a perfect fit. Nice observation!




Finally, the leading purser, or whatever they call it, came by to distribute a noise-canceling headset and also the menu for tonight. She took the time to explain how everything was a-la-carte, and should I decide to pursue anything on the menu, I should not hesitate to ask the cabin crew to prepare, just like in first class.

The glass of champagne was poured at my seat, to ensure that no sparkling wine was substituted. At this time, a choice of hot or cold towel was also offered. This really surprised me since I have never been asked such a question, even on Cathay Pacific, Asiana or Emirates. I was really impressed with the service thus far, and it only got better.



Tonight’s passenger was an eclectic mix, with a father and son travelling together, a Chinese men in a tracksuit, an expatriate executive heading home, a European lady dressed like one of those in Emirates First Class Commercial, and of course there was me, a college student who took advantage of the United offer and paid only $36.40 for this and more.

Prior to departure, the leading purser came around again and asked, “Mr. Tang, Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?” I was feeling slightly peckish so I decided to just have the Caesar Salad along with a glass of Shiraz.

Here’s the full dinner menu:

Indulgence

tempting your palate

oriental vegetable spring roll

on request

tofu and bamboo shoot soup

roasted chicken with mango relish in foccacia

and sweet potato chips

chicken salad with fried halloumi cheese

romaine, shaved parmesan, croutons and caesar dressing

sweet finale

selection of seasonal fresh fruits

bakery basket

olive, sour dough, laugen and foccacia roll

relax & unwind

cappuccino, espresso, cafe latte, macchiato, americano, decaffeinated

early grey, english breakfast, green, roasted japanese, moroccan mint, camomile, sencha green, green jasmine



Before I go any further, I must comment a little bit on the seat itself. This is probably Qatar’s best product in the fleet, aside from the almost lie flat and full-flat seats on the 777-300 ER and 777-200LR. However, it only reclines up to 165 degrees in an angled position. Therefore, wearing smooth pants for sleeping is not advisable, as it does make you slide down a little bit. Sleeping on the side is also not that confortable as well. In spite of this, the seat is already a step forward from the first generation angled ones of which pictures can be found on Flyertalk or AirlineNet.



Soon after takeoff, the crew quickly started the dinner service and presented me with a glass of Shiraz and a shrimp springroll amuse-bouche. Although this was not exactly what I ordered, the purser told me that it’s really good and well worth trying. True to her words, it was absolutely delicious.



Then came my actually ordered Caesar Salad. I give top marks for presentation as well as taste. A simple dish prepared simply perfect. Throughout my meal, the crew constantly came along to top up my glass of wine, which of course was much appreciated.



As much as I enjoyed the dinner, I was exhausted. It was almost 2:30 a.m. and thus I decided to use the window seat next to me for sleeping. Occasional turbulence over India certainly helped with the sleep, and I managed almost 5 hours worth. With about 1 hour and 30 minutes to go, one of the flight attendants gently woke me up as per my previous request, and asked for my breakfast order.

Breakfast

to revive

mango smoothie

freshly squeezed orange juice

to commence

toasted museli

selection of seasonal fresh fruits

creme fraiche

smoked salmon and sliced herring

fried potato, caper and sesame dressing

to follow

creamy scrambled eggs with herb paperonata

french slice baguette and sliced asparagus

congee

prawns, black mushroom and fried shitake

whole meal pancake with honey cinnamon

apricot compote, caramel sauce and sour cream

on the side

main dishes are accompanied by your choice of potato and lump rosk, lamb cumin pattie and herb plum tomatoes

bakery basket

almond chocolate muffin, croissant, chocolate danish, white and brown toast

relax and unwind

cappuccino, espresso, cafe latte, macchiato, americano, decaffeinated

early grey, english breakfast, green, roasted japanese, moroccan mint, camomile, sencha green, green jasmine

The breakfast service started with a choice of mango smoothie or orange juice. I asked for both in the end.



I followed that with the seafood cold cut salad. It tasted like a sashimi platter, but it was nice and refreshing. The crew also came around and offered a bowl of assorted morning pastries. I chose to have my usual favorite, croissant first. Just like on Singapore Airlines, it was hot and flaky. This was complemented by a choice of preserves offered right at my seat.



Up next, the lead purser presented me with a plate of scrambled eggs, along with all the trimmings. That also tasted pretty good, but I was unable to finish the entire plate since I wasn’t too hungry at the time.



Around thirty minutes before landing, the captain announced over the P.A. that we were beginning our descent into Doha International Airport. With that in mind, I went into the washroom to change out of my pyjamas. I really appreciate the window in the bathroom, it just gives the small and cramped environment a more spacious feeling. There were also various Molton Brown amenities on offer, as well as nicely laid out toothbrushes and razor kits.



Just as I returned to my seat, the inflight supervisor came around for the last time. She asked if I was satisfied with the flight, and thanked me for flying with Qatar Airways. I replied by saying how much I appreciate her team’s effort in making my flight as enjoyable as possible. I also mentioned how I chose to fly with Qatar instead of a direct, short flight back to San Francisco. She chuckled and thanked me gracefully for allowing Qatar to be my carrier of choice. She was indeed a wonderful lady, but I would later find out that it was not just an anomaly.

Last look at the cabin before landing.



QR 813 touched down at Doha approximately 40 minutes ahead of schedule. A short taxi led us to just one of the many remote gates, where a fleet of buses were waiting to take passengers to their respective onward location. As I exited the cabin and head down the stairs onto the tarmac, I was greeted by Doha’s extremely warm temperature, at 5 a.m. in the morning before the sun even rose. Anyways, stay tune for the next installment of my trip report, as I spend three and a half hours in Qatar’s much advertised Premium Transfer Terminal.

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Let’s face it, no matter how modern or spacious or luxurious an airport is, transferring is still not a fun thing to do when travelling. However, there are some unique waiting areas around the world in which airlines offer to their customers. There’s the Lufthansa First Class Terminal completely seperate for first class passengers only, and Thai First Class Lounge in Bangkok with a spa and a team of entourage to take care of its passengers. And then there is Qatar’s Doha Premium Transfer Terminal. There is no mistake that Qatar Airways is proud of this service, as the name is thrown out often in the air and on the ground, even before arrival at Doha. So what is this hype really all about? I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

The Premium Transfer Terminal is a completely separate complex for Qatar’s First and Business Class passengers. The experience started the moment I stepped off the plane, in which a luxurious bus was waiting at the foot of the stair to take me, along with the five other business class passengers, to our respective drop off points. First stop this morning was the Premium Terminal, with constant announcement on the bus to ensure that no one gets off at the wrong location.



As I entered the building, immediately to my right was a customer service counter to assist passengers. I wanted to see if I could switch seats from 2F to 1F, but unfortunately that was not possible since it was reserved. I found that to be slightly surprising, as I thought the flight would be half empty. I would later find out that in fact the entire business class cabin, all 42 seats were occupied.

After a quick security check, I arrived at the ground level of the complex, in which a large duty free shop as well as bus boarding gates were located. It was a fairly large operation, with all the luxurious goodies prominently on display.



I did not bother checking out the duty free selection, and thus proceeded up a flight of escalator towards the main lounge level. Apart from the separate business and first class lounges, there was also a game room, prayer room, children’s play area and also a coat room, whatever that is used for. Staff members were also present at the top of the flight of escalator to direct passengers to the correct lounge, but other than that there was really no control of who entering which lounge.




First order of business was an invigorating shower. Unfortunately, as I approached the bathroom and asked the staff, I was informed that it would be a 10 minute wait. Apparently there are only 4 shower stalls, for the entire business class lounge! This was just downright embarrassing, because Cathay Pacific has twenty shower stalls in The Wing alone.

While waiting for a shower stall to free up, I took a seat in one of the armchairs near the bathroom. It was only five in the morning, and therefore the lounge was pretty empty with many seats available to choose from. Throughout the lounge, I noticed quite a few small food corners, and one central dining area in the middle of the lounge. Although these “corners” seemed like a self-serve affair, the moment you step near one of them, a friendly staff would dash over, prepare anything for you and deliver it to your seat. Nice!



Luckily, the wait for the shower room was shorter than expected. First impression of it was slightly disappointing. The walls were beginning to show its age, with little cracks and dirt patches evidently seen. However, I won’t fault Qatar for not keeping up with the maintenance since they’ll be having a brand new airport in less than half a year. What I did appreciate were the L’Occitane shower gels on offer, which gave the entire product offering a slightly more luxurious feel as compared to the no name brands offered by Singapore Airlines and ANA.



I felt a little less tired after shower. Good thing it was only 5:20 a.m. which meant I had more than 2 hours left to enjoy this sanctuary, away from the crowds gathering in the main terminal, and the blistering heat, that is, the dominant characteristic of all Middle Eastern countries.

However, stopping in Doha did leave me a little curious as to what this city really looks like in broad daylight. Here are some photos snapped from the Premium Terminal.




I also took the opportunity after shower to take a look at what was on offer at the breakfast spread. There were various types of cold cuts on display, as well as an assortment of morning pastries and juices. They were even offering to make warm sandwiches for all passengers. I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, especially after the rather heavy breakfast inflight, and so I asked for a few pieces of smoked salmon and a glass of apple juice before returning to my seat.

As the lounge began to fill up, I quickly occupied one of the seats near the window. I can tell you right now most of these new joining guests were families. Most of them were in a party of four or five, a husband and wife, along with their two/three kids, all dressed in traditional clothing.



I relaxed a little bit by watching a movie on my laptop. Who knew, an hour went by just like that. I really appreciated the fact that I could constantly look at the departure monitor, to make sure I wouldn’t miss the boarding. Luckily, this constant attention was unwarranted as it turns out, because one of the ground staff later came by my seat, asked if I was on the Washington flight, and asked me to follow her down for boarding. I don’t know how she managed to find me, but I was liking this type of personal attention. Haha

Trekking out of the lounge and back down into the ground floor duty free area, the once quiet public space was now hustling and bustling. To say it was busy is a gross understatement, as it was jam-packed. I think most people were just waiting there, not sure if they should board or head back up to the lounge.



That was the end of my personal escort. The lovely staff wished me a pleasant flight and directed me to join the queue. It was weird to see how there was only one line for all of New York and Washington passengers, but at least the queue moved quickly. All U.S. bound passengers have to go through yet another round of security, so that was a slight hassle before heading out the doors to board the bus.

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As I stepped on board the bus, I was a little overwhelmed by how many people that were sitting or standing around. For a second, I thought I was on boarding a bus for economy class. There was no mistake, all 42 passengers were ready to be bused to the remote gate, where our 777-300 ER would be taking us to Washington Dulles today in just over 13 hours.

With the sun now brightly shining, I could finally take a good look at this soon-to-be replaced airport. It is no wonder why Doha desperately needs a new facility, as the tarmac was absolutely jam packed with wide bodies, Qatar Airway’s fleet alone. I cannot imagine what it would be like if more airlines had joined in. It must have been a madhouse. Ok, enough of that, back to the topic.

After driving past dozens of heavies on the tarmac, our beautiful machine appeared before us. I could now fully appreciate the 777 in its entirety while standing on the tarmac, which always doesn’t seem that way when boarding from a jetway. This was the part where I wasn’t too happy, to carry my bags up the stairs. Oh the evil of travelling in the pointy end, it has turned me into a spoiled brat in a record time of just over eleven hours.

This wasn’t a real issue for some of my fellow Qatari passengers, as their travelling companions turned out to be helpers/maid, who carried everything for their employers and sorted out everything for them. As I reached the top of the stairs, a warm, friendly flight attendant greeted me at the door and personally escorted me to my seat, which of course was again, much appreciated, even though slightly unnecessary.




As I began to drag all my bits and pieces of gadgets out from my carryon, a Korean flight attendant politely waited by the side until I was done, before asking me for drink preference. I wasn’t in the mood for anything hot yet, so requested a glass of orange juice. “Certainly sir” were the last words I heard from her before she dashed into the galley to prepare. Meanwhile, an Eastern European (I think?) looking flight attendant came to my seat with another Ferragamo kit and a pair of pyjamas that were once again the perfect size M. I didn’t want anymore of those for myself. So… I asked if I could switch it into an XL size as a gift to my father, who was still very much hesitant that an airline would provide its business class passengers with an amenity that seems to be a first class thing in the market these days.

Unlike the business class seats on the A330-200, the seats on this aircraft are Qatar’s flagship offering, with near 180 degrees full flat beds and large in seat entertainment screens. I think it has been almost 4 years ever since Qatar first launched this product, but everything seemed to be immaculately maintained. After admiring the cabin for maybe ten seconds, my glass of orange juice appeared with a slice of orange in it, done the same way as Emirates. Alas, it was not long before my fellow seat mate joined our flight, and went through the same “process” as well.




I knew I would have a slightly tight transit time of two and a half hours at Dulles, but was confident given Qatar’s seemingly decent on time rate. However, this was certainly not my day, a couple of late incoming transit passengers and cargo left our flight with almost an hour of delay on the tarmac. Brilliant! Things were beginning to look pretty grim for me. Will I make it to my connection flight in Dulles on time? I guess you will find out shortly.

Anyways, back to the flight. When QR 51 finally took off, the captain informed all passengers that the arrival time was now scheduled to be 4:09 p.m. instead of the original 2:55 p.m. Unfortunately, nothing could be done to catch up the lost time since it was a pretty long flight. Instead of worrying about my connection, I wasn’t about to bother myself with some factor I could not control.

So what’s next? Breakfast again? Sure. I wasn’t feeling too hungry, but then I wanted to eat a little bit before taking a nap. In the end, I chose something healthy, and nothing beats a fruit platter to really make you feel good about yourself.

For those of you who are interested, here is the full breakfast menu:

to revive

raspberry smoothie

freshly squeezed orange juice

laban

to commence

toasted museli

selection of seasonal fresh fruits

cream fraiche

smoked salmon with apricot and celery salad

to follow

blueberry and ricotta pancakes

cream fraiche

cream cheese omelette

sweet corn fritter, wilted spinach and tomato relish

arabic breakfast plate

feta, shanklish cheese, labneh with za’atar served with foul bil tahina, tomato manakish and arabic bread

on the side

main dishes are accompanied by your choice of rosti potato with turnip, lamb and cumin patties, roasted tomato with oregano and condiments

breakfast bakery basket

croissant, cranberry muffin, white and brown toast

relax & unwind

cappuccino, espresso, cafe latte, macchiato, americano, decaffeinated

early grey, english breakfast, green, roasted japanese, moroccan mint, camomile, sencha green, green jasmine



I loved the bread basket once again, but apologies for not taking pictures of my dish. I quickly waffled down the entire portion before realizing my mistake. After my quick third breakfast of the day, I was keen to try out the bed in sleep mode. My request for a mattress was of course obliged, but the flight attendant took the extra mile and said ” No problem, Mr. Tang. May I set up your bed now while you are using the bathroom?” You may!!!! Wow, again this was unprecedented. With an absolutely full cabin, one should not expect such personalized service, but the crew really pulled it off and attended to each and every passenger’s request promptly and gracefully.



By the time I got out of the lavatory and was in my sleep suit, my bed had already been made and reclined to full flat mode. I dove right in like a little child and made myself comfortable. By the time I was conscious again, we were somewhere over Norway. Eating healthy at the beginning of the flight left me slightly hungry, and so I pressed the call button to order some food.

Indulgence

tempting your palate

cepe risotto balls

mascarpone

on request

chicken and sweet corn chowder

parmesan and paprika twists

classic arabic mezze

hummus, tabouleh, moutabel and lahm-ib-ajeen served with arabic bread

lamb kofta and feta cheese salad

sauteed potatoes and bell peppers

arabic spiced lamb and vegetable wrap

za’atar roasted potatoes, cherry tomato and raita

an individual cheese plate of emmental, castello blue and brie

spring onion

selection of seasonal fresh fruits

freshly baked cookies

bakery basket

herb baguette, tomato and basil, multi cereal, granary rolls

relax & unwind

cappuccino, espresso, cafe latte, macchiato, americano, decaffeinated

early grey, english breakfast, green, roasted japanese, moroccan mint, camomile, sencha green, green jasmine




I requested for a bowl of the corn chowder and some chocolate chip cookies, along with a glass of coke.




I was also served yet another plate of fruits. Even though it was unexpected, I could not find an excuse to get myself away from eating something that’s plain healthy.

In the meantime, I also took the opportunity to sample Qatar’s Oryx entertainment system. I knew beforehand that this was not anything as comprehensive or high tech as Emirates ICE or Cathay’s Studio CX. However, I was a little surprised by the selection choice, which included many Hollywood Movies and TV shows that I enjoy watching regularly.



As the flight continued on, I also spent some time working on this trip report, while listening to some of David Guetta’s album hits. From time to time, various crew members came around to see if I needed a drink refill, or a snack. I accepted the drink refill but kindly declined the snack offer. Times flies when you’re working hard. By the time I had finished the first parts of my trip report, there were only five hours of flight time left.

Once again, I was getting a tinsy bit hungry and so I decided to try just a little bit more of the menu offering. Luckily, I didn’t have to use the call button this time as one of the flight attendants saw me looking at the menu. She quickly approached my seat and asked, “Would you like to have anything on the menu? You didn’t seem to have much during breakfast.” Wow! Talk about a good memory, I was quite surprised that she remembered such minor detail. I took her up on that offer and chose to have the arabic mezze and also the lamb salad.



The arabic mezze was served first and my expectations were pretty high. I mean…..can you possibly mess up your country/region’s most renowned dish? It’s like going to a local restaurant in Thailand and expecting them to mess up on Pad Thai. Luckily, my expectations were met, and my one and only complain is that there were not enough bread.

My next course was the lamb kofta salad. Honestly speaking, I did not really know what it was, but tried it anyways because the title said salad, and you can’t really mess up salad. Right?



Well, it looked pretty nice but I didn’t particularly enjoy the exotic flavour of it, hence the picture of my leftover.

After my little snack, I walked backwards to use the bathroom. While waiting for the occupied lavatories, I asked the inflight supervisor for a landing card and I-94. She was a little surprised that I was asking this question at such an early stage, but I had a nice little chat with her on my short connection situation. She was apolegetic at first and frankly told me that lines at Dulles could be brutal at times. However, she believed that it wouldn’t be too much of an issue because of my priority tagged baggages. “Economy, no. But Business, most likely yes”. Ah the joy of travelling upfront!

Later on, I also strolled around the plane a little bit not just to stretch my legs, but also to see what Qatar offered on the other side of the curtain. Economy was pretty full as well, but the seats seemed quite spacious and modern. Unfortunately however, I don’t think I will have the opportunity to fly with Qatar anymore in the near future, partly because I would otherwise have to travel the long way round back to San Francisco, and economy with any airline is just not worth it.

The last three hours of my flight were spent on watching “The Avengers” and “The Office” episodes from my comfortably reclined seat. Around 90 minutes before landing, most of my fellow passengers were beginning to wake up, and the crew were busy serving up last minute meals. I was so full from my previous meals that I declined the offer to dine again.



As we got closer and closer to Washington, I became all the more anxious of our arrival time. Around 20 minutes before landing, the inflight supervisor greeted every passenger in the business class cabin. When she approached me, she did the usual routine of inquiring whether my flight was satisfactory, but also added that she had spoken with the ground staff to advise United of my late arrival. That was a really good gesture, and certainly wowed me once again in terms of customer service.

I began to feel slightly more relaxed, but was still uptight nevertheless. Would my bags come out early? Would immigration lines be long? Luckily, QR 51 touched down at Washington Dulles International Airport one minute ahead of expected arrival time, and a relatively short taxi brought us up to a remote gate. Now this gets really interesting!

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I must first apologize for the lack of photos in this part of my trip report, as I was constantly running around in order to catch my flight.

When I first decided to go back to San Francisco with Qatar Airways, I had to select a U.S. gateway. I knew JFK is often a complete mess, and IAH’s times schedule meant that I wouldn’t be able to fly to SFO on the same day. In the end, IAD was my only choice. I have never flown through Dulles, but online reviews were overwhelmingly negative. In fact, New York Times named IAD the second worst airport in the States for transfer passengers.

I went into this game knowing what I would be facing against, but I wasn’t too concern, given the fact that I had scheduled two and a half hours of transfer time, which in my biased opinion is more than enough. As I had mentioned in the previous post, QR 51 arrived Dulles almost 1 hour 10 minutes late, leaving me with just over an hour of connection time. I was not too optimistic about making my connection, but hey, I still had to try my best.

Even as the plane was still taxing, I had already disobeyed the flight attendants advice to remain in my seat, and opened up the overhead compartment to retrieve my belongings. I have been a good passenger for my entire life, now it was time to be rebellious. Obviously, this set of crew was not as strict as its Singapore Airline counterparts, who would instantly escort the passenger back to his/her seat. Therefore, before our plane even came to a complete stop, I was already at Door 2L, waiting to disembark.

Dulles has a pretty interesting method of receiving incoming international passengers. All non-Star Alliance carriers are directed to outlying apron gates, and mobile lounges, or basically what I call “jetway on wheels” are dispatched to pick up the passengers. I was the first one out of the plane, and strategically positioned myself near the entrance as fellow Flyertalk members had previous advised. This was where Qatar really shined once again. After loading all business class passengers, the inflight supervisor signalled the driver to leave, and made the rest of the economy class passengers to use the buses loading at the back doors instead. Perhaps she wanted me to get out quickly. Thank you!!!

I was religiously checking the time and praying constantly for the driver to drive faster. Luckily, the transfer time was less than 5 minutes. As the doors flew open, I sprinted like a racehorse from an enclosed barrier down the escalators, which in the process frightened a few older ladies. I was lucky in a sense that the immigration lines were short, and I only had two people waiting in front of me. By the time it was my turn, a huge line had already built up in the back. Another good move, Check!

Immigration was very quick, the officer barely asked what were my intentions in the states. I got myself out and into the baggage reclaim area at approximately 4:42 p.m., a staggering 25 minutes after landing. Fortunately, my golf bag came out the oversized carousel first, and my two other luggages came out instantly afterwards. I can now tell you that lugging four pieces of luggages with the assistance of a trollet designed to only fit two is unusually difficult. However, I did manage to stack the two bags and my 22 inch carryon on to the trolley, while dragging my golf bag with one hand. It was hard work, but I managed to arrive at the transfer counter.

When a ground staff saw me huffing and puffing as I approached the transfer counters, he asked if I was travelling with United. I replied yes and the agent, after hearing my flight number, initially refused to allow me to check in and board, with a blatant “Too late”. However, once he saw my itinerary with the words “United First” and “*G”. His attitude immediately changed and smilingly helped with the check in process.

In the meantime, I also handed my bags to the TSA agents for rechecking, who was slightly unhelpful at first. By the time I was done, my boarding pass was already printed out. Whew!

After checking in, I felt slightly more at ease. It was now 4:59 p.m. Even though boarding had begun at 4:40 p.m., I knew that they would not leave without me. Nevertheless, I was not about to slack off. Boarding gate for United 244 tonight was D26, Concourse D meant that I would have to take one of those mobile lounges once again. However, I had to go through security once again. This was where priority security failed miserably. There was a priority security line and a regular line, but there was no regulation on who used which line. In fact, the TSA agent basically just tried to even out the lines. Where’s the priority? Anyways, lines were short, so I did not complain.

After security, I had to board one of those buggies once again. Only then was I able to catch my breath and take some pictures. While waiting for the buggy to depart, I spotted Lufthansa’s new 747-8. It wasn’t as stunning as I had imagined, or as apparently different from the 747-400 as depicted in the photographs.




D26 unfortunately was at the very end of the concourse. By the time I arrived, most of the passengers were already onboard, with the gate agents processing a few last minute standby passengers. I approached the desk to ask if my baggages were onboard, just to make sure. After a few taps away, the friendly agent replied that “it’s on the way honey”. Reassured, I stepped onboard my last flight of this trip, feeling quite fortunate but at the same time grateful.

btang

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..”

22 hours of flying time with Qatar Airways went by like a dream. Now it was time to return to the reality of American domestic travel. The shanty side panels of the aged 767, the dirty and poorly maintained lavatories and of course, flight attendants from my grandmother’s time were warm reminders that I was home, with United. Blatantly ignored at the door was a little expected, but I could care less, exhausted from all the running around in Dulles.

Most of the passengers in the United First cabin were already seated, and I was one of the last to arrive. The amount of hostility around the cabin was not very inviting, and my guess was because of the delay in order to accommodate a young teenager who probably got lost in the terminal.

United First cabin on this domestic 767-300 was arranged in a 2-2-2 seating configuration, whereas economy was only a mere 2-3-2. Difference? 1 seat across. I knew this before hand, and of course wasn’t expecting seat width to be generous. Luckily, the seats were all recovered with leather, a slight improvement over the itchy fabric used before. Seat pitch was pretty poor at 38 inches, the same as premium economy on Cathay Pacific and ANA.




Settling into my surprisingly comfortable “armchair”, I was a little overwhelmed from my adventure around Dulles and so I wanted something to drink and cool down. I attempted flagging down a flight attendant to no avail, and had to walk up towards the galley. One of the flight attendants cheerfully asked “What d’ya want dear”, to which I asked for a glass of water. That “glass of water” was served in a plastic cup with napkin that had a cheesy tagline “You’ll like where we’re going to land”. Good thing I constantly reminded myself that I was not travelling on a Qatar flight anymore, or I would have been sorely disappointed.

The captain announced that our flight would be delayed for another hour pending the arrival of another batch of late international transit passengers, just as it began to rain heavily outside. More and more passengers joined our flight, which gave the opportunity for our leading purser to take dinner orders. She went back and forth to secure the requests of Global Service and 1K members first, before taking orders for the rest of the bunch according to seat number. There were no menus at all, and my choices were limited to chicken rice or beef ravioli. Come on! Even international economy class on United provides two choices, so why can’t United First passengers get three? In the end, I chose to have the chicken rice, which was to be served with a salad and a small appetizer.

I dare to argue that most full service international airlines have a standard signature service, like Cathay’s First Class caviar trolley, or Singapore Airline’s satay sticks, or Lufthansa’s stack of appetizers presented on a afternoon tea like set. On United, this “signature” move unfortunately seemed to be the personalized post-departure beverage service. I know this level of attention might wow some passengers, but I am not one of them. I know! I know! You can’t compare international with domestic flights!

Nevertheless, the flight was fairly enjoyable in terms of customer service. Two flight attendants were working in the First Class cabin, along with the flight purser who occasionally helped out. One was a fifty to sixty year old lady, while the other seemed to be in her thirties. The former was cheerful and chatty, always checking on passengers to see if they needed a refill or anything else. The latter was a little more reserved, and seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the full cabin, but still managed to fulfill the all of passengers’ requests. The pair did not have that “factor” found in flight attendants on Asian carriers. Together, however, they formed a pretty unique service team who treated passengers as if they were their long time old friends.

I fell asleep somewhere between pushback and the taxi on the tarmac. By the time I was conscious once again, a robust smell of nuts signalled the beginning of the dinner service. I asked for a glass/cup of coke, and was finally served with a proper glass along with a bowl of mixed nuts. All this time, the first episode of “The Three Stooges” was playing on the main screen, and so I had a good laugh before dinner.

Dinner on this transcontinental flight was a one tray affair, and one could certainly imagine the portion size. Appetizer was a small piece of salmon bedded on lettuce leaves, while the salad was plain old mixed greens with a honey vinaigrette. The salmon tasted ok, and so did the salad. The piece of chicken and the mexican rice however was absolutely disgusting. The sauce was dreadful and the chicken was very tough. It made me wish I had reversed my decision to eat which dish first. Saving the best for the last.



After the rather disappointing main, dessert fortunately was the saving grace. After the cheerful flight attendant cleared my table, she asked if I wanted dessert, “Would you like everythin on it, Hun? You look like you could have some more for dinner.” It’s true and I took her up on that offer.



After dinner, I reclined my seat to the fullest extent, which was not that much, and decided to take a much needed rest. The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, with the flight attendants taking turns to go around the cabin and refill glasses of water.

San Francisco was only a mere 40 miles away when I was gently reminded by the flight purser to put on my seat belts. The 5 and a half hour trek across the continent went by just like that. In the end, UA 244 landed in SFO almost one and a half hours later than scheduled arrival time.

After a short taxi leaving the runway, I full expected to disembark in Terminal 3. Instead, our plane parked at the International Terminal G side, which caught me off guard a little bit. The entire flight was pretty bearable, with the friendly service making up for the unacceptable dinner offer and the tired looking cabin. I heard United will be replacing these “ghetto birds” pretty shortly and hardware wise, the experience might be better later on in the year. Hopefully, I won’t be travelling on United anytime soon in the near future. I’d rather stick to my Singapore Airlines, and economy is fine with me.

The walk towards the baggage carousel was unusually long, and it was then I realized that I have to walk all the way back to the domestic terminal, where my bags were already waiting on the carousel. Even though they didn’t carry any Premier Access priority tag, I suppose the Qatar Business tag made up for it?

Thanks for reading my trip report! Any comments, questions or concerns are welcomed.

DFWsakp

I am missing something. Where is the return trip report?

nux

This seems to be the return one, his previously linked one is the SFO----HKG outbound.

btang

Correct!

Carfield

Excellent trip report! I am glad that Qatar Airways maintains its high quality service after all these years.

Thanks and look forward to the rest of the report!

Carfield

blr1222

Thanks for the report....good stuff.

"Jardine ground staff contracted by Qatar warmly received me......this was where things started to get a little messy." LOL!!!!!

luv_flying

I got to try QR one day! Thanks for sharing ^

Cohall

Great report. I'm flying QR J class next year, and this has really given me a taste of what to expect.

cockpitvisit

Great TR, thanks!

Is it very hot on the tarmac at DOH?