DirektornSE

I have been flying with QR since 2017, all in BC or F. Last year I got Platinum (Felt a bit strange due to Covid) - But I have had around 50 flights between 2020-2022 so I have tried to support the re-opeing of the world.
I also want to say that I have nothing against the QR staff, or any airline staff during my trip. The rest of them however is another story and I will get to that.

So I spent some time in Phuket, Thailand celebrating new year. I was flying back on the 4th of Jan. I wanted to fly BKK-DOH as I love the A380 and I have been upgraded to first on 3 out of 4 previous flights (Both directions, all apart from one was free upgrades)
(I think the one time I was not upgraded I was just late to the gate as my luggage got the "First class" tag)
This meant I had to fly HKT-BKK and DOH-ARN with a code sharing partners. I didn't mind that much, it also meant I had more time in DOH (For some relaxation in Al Safwa)

My trip started in Phuket, as usual as most flights are evening flights with a slow drive to the airport. I decided I wanted to have 3 hours on the airport as I was not sure I could use CIQ and do immigration in Phuket (last time I flew HKT-BKK and used CIQ was in 2017 or something)
The drive tock 1h 20m so I had 2h 40m in Phuket, perfect for some beers and reflection on my trip.

This flight was operated by Bangkok Airways. Upon reading online they should be able to print boarding tickets for the entire flight and check-in my luggade for the same.
That was indeed true and the check-in was done quickly. I asked for an emergency seat on the flight as I'm quite tall and the flight to Bangkok. No problems at all. I was checked in as a CIQ passenger and got the famous sticker showing I'm an international passenger despite boarding a regional flight. All good
I passed immigration and security somewhat quickly (~15 minutes) and was now on the "international departure" side.

Now I'm OneWorld Emeraldand Star Alliance Gold member so I was thinking lounge access would not be a problem. But I did not check before arriving if Bangkok Air is part of any alliance. They where not, so no lounge access. Bummer!
So I could not use Thai Airways lounges, nor cathay pacific one world lounge despite my status.. I was hoping to be able to use the Blue Ribbon Lounge but as I was flying "international" it was not accessible to me, at least that is what I understood, did not ask.
Instead I used my Priority Pass status and used the really ugly Coral Premium Departure Lounge just to find out they where out of beer! No Alcohol what so ever and I had 3 hours until my flight!! help!!!
I instead bought a beer for my last BATH and afterwards walked to the upper floor as I find that less crowded and not that noisy and started reading a book.

The Bangkok Airways trip was nothing special, a low-cost, all economy airline flying the not so new A320.
The only strange thing was the departure in Phuket, as this is an domestic flight there are a few gates allocated CIQ and once they started boarding they had the escalator down to the corridor where you can walk "outside" of the domestic terminal closed. So everyone that was boarding where pushed into a really crowded small area just above the escalator and the boarding desk. I decided to wait boarding until this mess was sorted out....

I skipped the dinner despite having not had any food in the airport, I planned to eat in Bangkok instead, and of course on the flight to Doha. It looks like a good option as my neighbour has 2 bites and skipped the whole ting as well.
In Bangkok we parked at a remote gate so that meant an unpleasant bus trip. In Bangkok CIQ passengers needs to watch for the CIQ signs that airport staff holds as you are arriving at the domestic part of the airport. No problems there and I was quickly in the airport, however a long walk away from the Qatar lounge.
The Qatar Bangkok lounge have been closed during the whole covid period but was re-opened last year and is a quite alright lounge (and most importantly is close to the departure flights)
So I had somewhat dinner in the middle of the night and a few glasses of wine and could finally relax and got myself a bit exited if I should be upgraded to first once again.. I didn't know it but this was the peak of my trip as it should soon turn into a really bad trip..

I walked to the gate so I should arrive at boarding time (02.10 I think) and there I was yelled at by the QR staff complaining that I have to wait and this was not my flight..
As you might remember I checked in with Bangkok Airways and as such my boarding pass has the Bangkok Airways logo and design. This confused the man as I insisted that I'm going on this flight (The A380 was just parked outside) - I was pushed to the side and had to wait.
After a few minutes a QR crew came and asked to see my boarding passes. One I handed them over she issued new QR ones (Here where the point where I would either be flying First or .. not)

It turned out it was the later, I'm almost convinced that she on purpose did not put me in first. I was kind all the time, and did not raise my voice or anything like that, but I was insistent on that this was my flight. Once having QR boarding passes she allowed be to pass the queue and board the flight.. Bye bye First Class. I did not get any appoligy by the screaming man or the staff, they where just really unfriendly.

While onboard I got the same treatment as usual on Qatar, very friendly and great staff. Even if the BC is quite busy in their older A380's I have had one flight in BC previously on the A380 (the time when I was not upgraded to First on the same route, and once flying to SYD a few years back)
I want to say its not worth upgrading to first, not even using points or credits at least for this route as I find the service excellent in BC, and its' not getting 10x better in first. The only reason why I prefer first would be the Caviar as it's excellent and for the enormous screen.

Anyways the only small problem, that seems to happened on all flights is that I prefer drinking beer while eating meat, and on this night flight they servered the mini-burgers (that I really think is the best night snack on any airline) and for that you have to drink beer
There are two problems with how they serve beer, but I think they finally have a note for me... They brought the can together with the glass, otherwise they will throw away the can almost half full. Not sure why they do that, it's just a waste.
The second problem is that, as they do not have unlimited supply of beer you only need to have 2-3 beers and then the are out of beer.

In Doha I had 3 hours... Here the next problem arrises. I was not granted access to the Al Safwa lounge. First they didn't want to allow me up the escalator as I was flying business. I pointed out I'm a Platinum member and was granted access.
One up the reception kindly rejected me as my last leg was with AY - Finnair. I have another thread about the whole experience so won't go into details here but this was a Code Sharing flight, and in fact QR has stopped flying to Scandinavia due to its battle with Airbus as these routs normally is operated with Airbus 350.
So BC for me.. As always Al Mourjan lounges can bee quite busy. I got a table just at the buffé that is one of the worst spots. Didn't mind that much at first, I planned to visit the Al Mourjan North lounge as well as it's closed to my departure (Finnair and other airlines get's pushed to the fair corner of the airport...)
Then a weird thing happened. I got a fly in my glass of wine. It was quite funny and bizarre at the same time. Of course I noticed and was quickly given another class and a manager passed by and apologised. Then she came back to note my flight number (and other details) and excused here that it was required for some reason.

One note about Hamad Airport is that they have excellent WiFI - The annoying part however is that scanning your barcode using the Webcam on the laptop can be quite annoying. I have never had any issues using the camera on my iPhone but the one on my Macbook always requires a minute or two until I get the right angle and distance..

I then took the train and walked to the North lounge. That was equally, or even more busy but managed to get a glass of wine and got some work done before heading down to complete some taxfree shopping before walking to my gate
.
Here, once again a remote gate and a bus that took a whole 10 minutes to reach our Finnair plane. Then my next disappointed came. For most of you it would have been the other way around as we where flying the new A350 business class seats, the now famous binary seats (You either sit up or you sleep) - They have no decline what so ever. They do look really good and the intention with this post is not to review the seat. I can just say I'm not a big fan and this will have an impact on my flying Finnair.
The crew was really nice, interesting only one crew member was Finish so me practicing Finnish did not have any (positive) effect at all. If I compare the Qatar crew with Finnair I think I'll give Finnair a higher score as it felt more natural. QR crew can feel a bit robotic as they are forced to use the same sentences all over, if you are flying QR a lot you know what I mean...

Anyhow, nothing to exiting on the flight apart from turbulence and the same odd route back to Sweden to avoid flying or certain parts of the world... (This adds almost an hour extra flying to/from DOH)
One side note it feels that Finnair, who's normally have a great selection if beers did not, in fact they had more none-alcoholic beer options than alcohol. As this was a morning flight I didn't care to much and I was going to work for the rest of the day after arrival.
I was also disappointed that the now also famous Finnair glasses where changed, and they signature blueberry tonic also was changed. Well well.

So retrospective wise I guess I should:
* Avoid any flying anything than QR operated flights at all costs
* Avoid flying Finnair long-haul on their A350
* Prepare myself that lounge access when flying QR is nothing you can expect even being a Platinum customer
* Most likely avoiding Qatar all together as there are only one flight from ARN that is operated by Qatar, but that might change and then I would never be able to use Al Safwa

Also on a generic note I'm still puzzled why so many economy passengers thinks they can board when there are priority boarding? It's always some random idiot who I'm sure he or she knows they are flying in economy and should wait until it's their time but just ignores that. Of course if you are a gold or platinum member I get that, and as yous status is always included on your ticket these people will not be rejected.

Anyways,
Thanks for reading.

gaobest

I guess at the QR lounge in bkk it’s better to get new QR boarding pass inside the lounge to avoid hassles with the gate staff.

Seems like you overall enjoy QR so maybe it’s an issue of the specific rules. they can be hard to manage.

I’m surprised that Finnair was low on beer although perhaps it’s a DOH issue - we all know about Imbev / Budweiser and the beer issue during the fifa cup.

you could send a note to QR service about the rude gate staff at bkk and maybe get some points.

finally when denied Lounge access and seeking alcohol, sometimes the next best choice is to buy it retail and just pay the inflated costs :-)

SKT-DK

I stopped reading after the very entitled comment about "I think she deliberately did not put me in First"....

And it's Baht, not BATH...