Qatar airlines - anyone feedback?
 

I am considering a flight from London to the Maldives (via Doha)with Qatar Airways in either business or first class. I cannot find any reference to the airline anywhere in the site - has anyone flown with Qatar, and if so, can you tell me anything about the service they offer in these 2 classes, and whether first class is worth the extra cost?
Also their mileage scheme seems pretty uninspired and inflexible - I'm unlikley to fly Qatar again so would appreciate any views on how to tranfer points earned on this flight/use the flights to collect points for another scheme if posisble.

Haven't flown in first, but flew business to DOH and back in november for the WTO conference. The service was fairly good (a lot better than BA Club World), I didn't eat on the flight as I was sleeping for a lot of it, but the colleague flying with me had no complaints.

The only annoying thing that I found was that the seat cushions were too thick. i.e. When the leg rest was down my legs were swinging freely as my feet wouldn't touch the ground (I'm only 5'6") http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Given the choice between QR or BA in business, I would definitely go for QR.

Steve

p.s. Wasn't bothered about the miles as it was only one round trip, so can't offer any input on this.

[This message has been edited by steveda (edited 04-10-2002).]

why don't you fly Emirates? Heard their C product is very good.

I recently acquired a First Class menu from Qatar. It looked fantastic!

Emirates would normally be a great option but for my travel dates Qatar is offering significantly better fares and much better flight times (Emirates flight to Maldives involves a stopover of several hours in Dubai at 2am - potentially not much fun!)

The big question is whether I'm better off travelling in business class, which from Steveda's response sounds as though it's reasonable, or pay the extra to go first.

I'd like to get some sleep so the quality of the seats is important, plus a good meal is always welcome so Seat 2a's posting about the first class menu is encouraging, but any more views gratefully received to help me make my mind up!

Not that it has the best reputation, but I remember seeing a Qatar Air first class trip report on airliners.net a few months ago.

I don't think that Emirates's business product is that good. I would not take them as a 1st choice. Their 1st class has good service and meals but they still don't have beds in 1st yet, so have stopped using them to Oz.

Dave

Emirates' current business class is below the industry standard. Pitch is less than 50 inches and service is very inconsistent IMO. I do have a few business class/first class menus that I could post if you want.

Qatar Airways has improved their premium cabins A LOT since the change of management back in'97 (if I'm not mistaken!)

By the way Dubai airport is beautiful and the LHR flight arrives at 2355 so you would only spend about two hours transit. It's very live at that time, contrary to what most people would think.

Regards

You can collect miles under the LH Miles&More scheme.
Their biz/first products seem fairly good on the A330 flying from London (sleeper seats in C, like SQ-CX). Limo transfer from aircraft to terminal and back in Doha is very interesting. Considering it to Maldives as well.

On airlinemeals.net someone posted nice looking Qatar Air meals. They are Y but he rated them very highly.

I'd fly them just for their stylish logo-- a picture of a beautiful goat on the tail.

I flew Qatar Airlines Y class a few weeks ago from CGK to KUL - about a 2 hour flight on a A300-600 (A7-AFC).

There were only 2 westerners on the plane, and they sat us both together. A few comments re the flight:

* Flight attendants were extremely friendly and very attractive. 10 out of 10 right there.
* Inflight entertainment was excellent with non-stop Tom & Jerry http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. Seriously.
* Ground staff were excellent in CGK.
* Food - lots of it, and rather tasty.
* Actual aircraft was clean and extremely modern.
* Seat pitch was better than average.
* Hot towels, candies before landing, and other such frills were provided throughout the flight.

As a matter of fact, I was so impressed with Qatar Airlines, that I will be sure to fly them again if possible. I have now racked up 1/4 million flying miles and that Qatar flight was one of the best in Y class.

Was quite an interesting little trip that one. I flew KUL-CGK on Yemenia Yemen Airlines and then CGK-KUL on Qatar Airlines. I might even draft up a little trip report in the next couple of days.

[This message has been edited by MilesDependent (edited 12-21-2002).]

It will be more than welcome, at least to me ! Did you take a look at their C and F on the A300-600 ??

QR aims at catching up with Emirates. So it could be a very wise choice, especially when one is a member of LH M&M.

I've flown Qatar Air a few times - MUC-DOH (and back), DOH-DXB (and back).. both times in Y. Clean, good food, good service.. and usually quite a diverse array of FAs.

Can only imagine their C/F class products.. if the Y was that nice !

You can accrue Lufthansa miles while flying Qatar Airways. They also are a partner with Virgin but I couldn't find any info on Virgins website if they allow mileage accrual.
For more info see http://www.qatarairways.com/home.html

Hi,

At LHR T3 I have seen a Qatar sign at the entrance to the Virgin Atlantic clubhouse so I assume that it is for Business/First passengers.

If so you will have a great time in the lounge.

Regards
TBS

On www.airlinequality.com , Qatar Airways was ranked 2nd place, after Emirates, for "Best Airline-Middle East".

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9V-SMU
The 1000th 747
Currently operated by Singapore Airlines

I flew with Qatar four times this year (DXB-DOH-CAI; BOM-DOH-DXB) in F and C and can highly recomend the airline.

If you travel from London you will experience the new A330 with flat beds in F and seats comparable to SQ`s SkyBed in C. Inflight is very solid, I flew them from DOH to CAI in First and on a three hour flight they offered a tremendous five course lunch. Lounges in DOH are superb as well. Not as large as u might be used to from EK IN DXB, but great attentive service, nice shower afcilities and the best: As a First passenger you will leave the aircraft first because the curtains to other classes are guarded and you be picked up by a 7 Series BMW and they drive you directly to Customs. If you board the aircraft the same vice versa. You will be picked up in the lounge and without waiting a single second your BMW drives you to your plane. This is real F Class Service.

Miles and more form LH gives you triple Miles in F and double miles in C.

The A320 have a layout of 2-2, very similar to US domestic coach product. But with the same high standard in inflight service. The same class layout is sometimes declared as First and sometimes as Business on the A320 depending on the route (Expl: oN DXB the A320 has F and Y on the DOG-BOM they offer Y and C). But still fine enough for a three hour flight.

The A300-600 is available in two versions either 3 Class or two Class product (F and Y). The three class version is great in F, but the C is outdated. And they will not update soon because the fleet is restructured to A330. So if your flight is for example from Fra where they use the AB6 I would def. not go C but F if you can effort it.

IFE: The have DVD Players on all aircrafts with a wide selcetion of movies.

I def. find QR a great way to fly!!

No opinion on the airline, but I'm a big fan of the goat on their tail. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Is this a general goat thing or is Qatar's special?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Greg

Miles dependent, sounds amazing! Qatar fly from BKK - KUL, which is about 2/3 the price of TG or MH on this route, so next time I need to do this route, i'll definitely be using Qatar. It is only 6,000 THB in Y roundtrip.

One remark I have is their f/flyer program, it allows you to pool other family members earning into your a/c, which could be a big plus for some.

Flown QR first many times DOH-LHR and shorter legs like DBX-DOH. One of the better choices in F (and I do BA/AA/UA/LH first several times a year). (I posted a trip report here a couple of months back - search for QR or Qatar and it will come up.) The LHR flights have the new A330s which as several folks have noted are great, one of the best flat beds I've been in as it faces staright forward with a very large TV screen ahead and loads of storage and flat space around. Service is outstanding (friendly, efficient) with great food and wine. Overall much better than Emirates (where seats in F don't recline much and J is very very cramped; servcie is goo though) and I prefer QR quite a bit over BA where I have found F service rather patchy. The shorter legs on the smaller planes like their A320s are still good in F (plentiful hot towels, Arabic coffee, dates, good food, excellent service). QR lounge in DOha is very very nice too.

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LH SEN, UA 1K/UGS, HH GOLD, BA SILVER, AA PLAT

[This message has been edited by ffdom (edited 05-11-2003).]

It's not a goat! It's called an Arabian Oryx, an animal of the antelope family and is native to Qatar and some other places in the Arabian Peninsula. You can find more at:
http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/oryx.htm