italdesign

I flew Qsuite twice this year. It was amazing, but the door seemed more hassle than help.

First, the good window-facing seats are reverse-facing, and the door would NOT close for the first 2-3 hours after take off. It also would open itself periodically throughout the flight, whenever the plane tilted slightly upward I guess.

Second, inflight service is great, which means someone came by often to check on you during food service and even after. Closing the door is counter-productive during these hours (aka most of the time when I'm awake).

Third, the door is short so that even when closed, anyone walking by can still see you.

What's the point of the door?

vsadda

Doors are all the rage now. Looks like many new designs for J seats (including AF) are embracing the doors. Having said that, why ask for opinions of others? You know the saying about opinions, right? Opinions, as they say, are like armpits (I am going the milder analogy here ); everybody has a couple and they all stink.

HAF

I loved the door during my flights - it provided privacy and some sort of shielding from what is happening around. I was able to sleep longer and feel more refreshed and relaxed than any other business class product I have ever flown. Indeed on the DOH-SFO flight the door would not close while the aircraft was gaining altitude 1-2 hrs out of the 16 hr flight - however on the way out SFO-DOH the door closed and stay closed throughout the flight. I was sitting at 3A on both flights - but i guess the mechanism that keeps the door closed might not be always be working consistently. The flight attendants would close the door after each time of interacting with me.

florin

I view the door as a psychological thing... it can give you the feeling of [additional] privacy. In reality, you are never in a fully enclosed pod, so you never get full privacy. That said, with the door closed, someone just walking by would have to either be very tall or make an effort to look up over the door. It also tells the FA that you want to be left alone, especially if you use the DND feature. Another advantage is that you can leave the door open to signal that you do want some attention. E.g. I may want a drink but not necessarily this instant, so instead of using the call button I leave the door open and usually if the FA walks by they will peek in and it's my opportunity to ask for one. Maybe it's a matter of setting expectations for what the door can achieve and what the limitations are. Some do stay closed while taking off.

I agree with the comment about opinions. ^

Reason077

Sounds like your door was a bit faulty - they certainly don't normally do that! But in general, I agree with you about the door. I don't think it adds all that much to the Q-suite experience.

IAN-UK

I guess there's comfort for some in the illusion of privacy. On public transport I'm happy to confine my activities to ones that don't require privacy.

SeeBuyFly

There is real privacy (not just the illusion of it) from the gaze of people across the aisle who are in their seats.

Privacy isn't all-or-nothing. There are probably people and agencies who can find out the real identity associated with your FT username; but the small chance is not worth worrying about. Similarly, people could get up from their seats and peer over my door, but it's not worth worrying about. I have never felt the urge to peer over the doors of other seats, and I assume this is true of most people. So it is pretty good privacy (PGP).

The door makes me feel secluded (which I am, partially) and this helps me sleep. Indeed I once slept so long that the FAs started peering over the door to make sure I was still alive.

If you think it is useless, just don't use it, it's that simple.

DeepUnderground

I have done a lot of legs in Q suites, and my go-to is the backwards facing seats. I have also encountered doors such as those mentioned in the OP, but that is not the normal. Usually they will stay closed just fine.

SilverChris

Flying in a long-haul premium cabin isn't quite the same as being in a crowded bus or subway. I don't undertake particularly secretive activities either way, but it's still nice to not have your neighbour peer into your personal space. If you're paying thousands for your ticket, I think that's a reasonable preference.

MsEllie

So far this year I've been in 4 QSuites and 2 had broken doors- same problem as OP. The sliding open and closed for hours drove me crazy. The FA tried to wedge it shut with a coaster but it didn't stay. Six of us are flying next month so I'll recalculate the broken percentage rate. Maybe I was just unlucky, but it does feel like the seats are showing age.

I hate broken things on planes, and it's probably psychological- if this is broken, what else is broken? And is everything required to keep us airborne working properly?

Saltire74

Three QSuites for me in the past month and doors worked all of the time. I felt a definite sense of privacy particularly out of LHR when the seatbelt sign was on for a prolonged period of time. Closed door and use of blanket allowed me to get changed into shorts and t-shirt and I was curled up with the seat in bed mode, dropping off to sleep not long after hitting continental European airspace 😬

pushka

The crew closed the door last week every time it was open when they walked past. Thought that might be a Covid thing.

italdesign

Good to know that's not normal. But I got that on both the outbound and inbound (one 777 and one A350). I must have been unlucky.

KingCanute

Is this a demonstration of Newton's Law for rear facing doors, gravity wins out in the end?

I don't have a particular need for a door, although I have appreciated it obscuring the distraction of the local youngsters running up and down the aisles on a few flights.

brunos

The door on Qsuite makes a HUGE (positive) difference for me and wifey.