QATAR AIRWAYS A350-900 ECONOMY Q-SUITES, ARN-DOH
The first leg of the trip got off to a rocky start.
Arriving at Arlanda 3 hours before scheduled take-off, I checked-in and made my way to the sub-par Menzies Executive Lounge.
“I’m a moron for arriving this early” were my thoughts.
A boring hour later, I found out my flight was delayed...for 2 hours. This actually got me quite excited. My connection in Doha was only 1hr and 20min, so a sweet 600EUR in EC261 compensation would be coming my way. No other flight would get me into Da Nang anywhere close to my scheduled arrival. I got in touch with QR’s customer service team via Facebook, and was well taken care of. They re-booked me onto an evening flight to Hanoi from Doha, giving me a day in the city – which was something I’d been looking forward to doing for a while. Additionally, I was given a free hotel room, some lunch money & transport to and from the airport. Sounds perfect to me!
Around 2 hours before our flight was expected to take off, QR’s Stockholm airport manager came into the lounge and explained that weather had caused the inbound flight to diver, hence the delay. He also happened to be looking for a “Mr. AJ747M”.
I thought, for sure they have kicked me off the Hanoi flight and delayed my arrival into Da Nang for even longer.
Instead, he slipped me a new boarding pass with the handsome seat number of 4J.
Hell. Yeah.
I played it cool - tried to hide my excitement. Made my way over to the gate an hour or so later, and started to wonder why SeatGuru didn’t show Qatar’s A350-900 as having any “J” seats. 10min later, it clicked in my brain.
Q-Suites.
Sure enough, I boarded the aircraft and was graced with the presence of sliding doors surrounding my throne.
Suite 4J - home for just over 6 hours
Cabin mood lighting - a little intense
Great privacy even with door open
Heaven.
I settled into my surroundings, vastly content with the fact that my next 6 hours would be spent in luxury. The seat was plenty wide – something I wasn’t sure of from photos – and I found the overall design extremely sleek. The IFE screen was huge; filled with plenty of content I wouldn’t have time to watch. Seat controls were easily accessible and highly adjustable, and there was plenty of storage space to boot.
A few too many minutes after sitting down in the suite, a flight attendant introduced herself and asked if I’d like a drink to begin with. Obviously, there was only one answer.
Which of course was responded to with, “Sorry but I have to ask...”
I didn’t let her finish the sentence. “20”.
The champagne was delivered. And tasted a lot better than the crud in the lounge, although not as good as how it would have tasted had my ego not been bruised by the fact that someone could still think I’m under 18. Sigh.
The ground service continued with a delivery of pyjamas and slippers, which I promptly changed into in the fantastic smelling bathrooms at the front of the plane. Seriously, I was impressed that the bathrooms smelt that good. Not something I’ve experienced on a plane before. The PJs were light and comfy, and probably the second-best pair of airline PJs I’ve had the good fortune to be handed.
Soon after take-off I reclined my seat, chucked on
Bad times at the El Royale, and ordered some dinner. My appetizer consisted of bread with a completely dry salad, for which they had run my preferred dressings for. Not very appetizing. I had a few small bites.
I can’t exactly remember what I had for mains, but by memory it was good. Dessert was my all-time favorite – chocolate molten cake – which was better than the main course.
Given the late hour and short flight time, I dozed off soon after eating. The bed was comfortable, although the large protruding headrest forced me to shuffle lower down on the seat. This meant my feet were touching the wall when lying flat, which was something I didn’t expect to happen on the world’s best business class. Nonetheless, I slept well for 3 hours.
I woke up shortly before landing, and was treated to awesome views of Doha and the A350s ever aesthetic wing.
And of course, my own little private sanctuary for a few minutes.
Upon landing, I was greeted by an agent who walked me to the transfer desk to organize my hotel for the day. This took all of five minutes, and I was then directed to immigration. Soon after, I was on a minibus to the Oryx Rotana Hotel.
This first segment of the trip was beyond great. Between the excitement of being upgraded; having my first Qatar J experience; and being in Q-Suites as the cherry on top – this probably ended up being the best flight of the trip.