Carfield

I had a return DOH-BKK on April 4, and just got an expertflyer alert that the plane was downgraded from A380 to Boeing 777-300ER with no first class but Q-suites.

I checked and Qatar has apparently removed A380 from Bangkok beginning March 26, 2023.

I have yet to receive an email from Qatar but Qatar's own website has reflected the change.
I don't know what to do, as my travel date is very limited. I may have to accept the downgrade on the DOH-BKK segment. The only Asian route with first class is Hong Kong, but I don't think they will rebook me to Hong Kong, as it is more than 500 miles away from Bangkok.

I sort of wish Qatar will at least place one of these three class ex-CX 77W on the Bangkok route, so it makes the rebooking easier.

I did a bit more research and one A380 will return to market on June 26 with one single flight.
Maybe some of these A380s need to go through checks, and the March to June period is perfect for those checks before the busy summer season.

Carfield

joorinainen

For once im in the better side of the fence and due to fly BKK-DOH in F few days before the cut off time If i were you i would try to call and try to ask them to rebook you HKG-DOH

Carfield

I think I am just push the return back to September, instead of flying to Hong Kong.
I don't know if Qatar will swap out those ex-CX 77Ws again from HKG market, which is highly volatile.
It might be safer to just stick with a market that A380s have a higher chance of returning to.

Carfield

florin

When I read the title I was thinking "oooh, send it back to MEL!"

ft101

Is this QR836/837?

I'm flying to BKK on the 27th and was looking forward to the A380 and bar, but I'll put up with the Q suite replacement if it sticks.

SW7London

Slightly OT but I just flew the 8am departure from DOH in F and was a little underwhelmed

The seat is a nice way to travel during the day, and the service fine but if you can get a QSuite then F isn't worth the additional cost either cash or miles.
The food was average (apologies forgot to take pics!) but no breakfast items other than a crossiant, salmon and caviar was OK as wass the massaman curry. But quality and quantity no real different from J. The Lobster roll sounded nice but was the size of a small mini burger with a dry salad on the side.

And pretty sure the drinks menu was identical to the J one.

Prehaps the F catering to BKK is less budget than those to LHR/CDG?

joorinainen

How was the service?

Traveller999

The drinks menu is different, as you will not get a "Krug Champagne" in Business ;-)

lost_in_translation

I got a notification from QR about a downgrade in April today, so they are sending out emails. It was booked via Amex who offered CX via LHR as an alternative (it’s a booking starting at LHR) but I don’t really fancy the risk of CX or transiting HKG, really.

lost_in_translation

No, it’s all the same items ex-DOH whether LHR, CDG, BKK or MLE, all that changes is courses offered depending on time of departure. Catering is better quality ex-LHR and ex-CDG to me, however, QR’s F catering has always been mostly the same as J. Quality has arguably got even worse recently, I’ve moaned about this here before. Serving a pie and nachos in F is comical.

dvs7310

I was always surprised that BKK was an F destination anyway. Most carriers regard it as a primarily leisure and low yield destination and some even put their second tier business class products on it. QR doubles down on BKK (for the time being) with the A380 and QSuite 777s for whatever reason, I guess it works for them, or at least had worked for them.

florin

It's revenge travel. Destinations like MLE and BKK are in high demand for premium travel at the moment, but it might not last forever. F might not be the deciding factor here; it might be that the loads in Y are also high enough to warrant the A380. You also have to factor in the scheduling - with so few A380s in the fleet, to be able to accommodate all the turnarounds there are constraints on timings. MEL used to be an A380 destination, but it's obviously a much longer turnaround from DOH (with the flight times being 13.5 out and 14.5 hours in).

SW7London

It was fine - same as the J service from London the day before - nice, proactive where necessary.

Good point, I'm pretty confident every other page of the drinks menu is identical though!

brunos

Interesting to see that the CX frames (with F) are scheduled on DOH-HKG from February 2023.
But there could still ne many equipment changes.

lost_in_translation

The A380 is about volume and not having enough Y seats, QR has always used them for volume. There’s this weird perception amongst FTers that QR’s A380 is very premium just because it has F, it’s not - it has 461 economy seats (BA’s ENTIRE A380 across four classes has 469 seats), no premium economy and a J cabin almost the same size as a standard 777 (42 vs. 48 seats).

Historical routes were BKK (needs lots of Y), CAN (needs lots of Y), LHR (slot constrained, need every seat they can), SYD (slot constrained), MEL (slot constrained), etc. It has nothing to do with QR putting it on the most high yield routes, the most high margin routes are those most likely to have Qsuites.