For those that were curious, the early check in was due to an oversold flight and limited check in lanes open. We checked in online but wanted to connect a separate Oneworld booking to this one so we still had to go through the line. Even the business class line (where we were) took over two hours to get through at 3 hours before departure with only two agents. One guy apparently was having issues because he was with one of the BC agents for at least an hour of the time we were in line.

The lady behind us in line was flying Qatar Airways for the first time (and was excited about the Q Suites). She was getting understandably testy & I had to explain that Qatar has a reputation for being terrible on the ground but amazing in the air. But it WAS an embarrassment that they couldn't staff properly to get through check in more timely for their guests.

Unsurprisingly we departed late... when we went through security around 40 minutes before the scheduled departure there were still at least 25-30 people waiting to check in.

Flight itself was (of course) a delight from start to finish.