Qatar Airways is often ranked amongst the world’s best airlines, and straight up I couldn’t agree more. They are my airline of choice for visiting Asia, with almost any destination accessible from London via a connection in Doha.
Qatar Airways business class product is called the Q suite, and a suite it is, with a closing door, high walls and loads of space. It is the best business class product I’ve ever experienced and I’m going to review it today based on return flights between London Heathrow and Phuket Thailand.
Contents
At the Airport
Flying from London, Qatar Airways has a brilliant lounge at Terminal 4, the use of which is included as part of the business class ticket. The lounge is spotless, offers a wide selection of drinks and the most delicious buffet food. Before my flight I had stuffed my face on totally delicious curry, rice, roti, daal, salads, cakes, biscuits….yum. Also included in London is priority check in and fast track via a private security line not accessible to other airlines/non business class passengers.
All Qatar Airways flights in to Asia transit via Doha (a 7hr flight from London). Doha offers one of the most amazing airports in the world, and gorgeous lounges for business class passengers whichever terminal you fly in to. The lounges have lovely showers, multiple restaurant options, huge areas to relax in and free WIFI. Again the food was amazing and included in the price of the business class ticket. We now have a go to ‘spot’ in the lounge that we love, freshen up with a shower, eat some food, and get ready to board for the next half of the journey.
Returning home from other Asian countries back through to Doha and onwards to London, there are partner lounges all over the continent. In Phuket we had access to a lounge which, whilst not on the scale of London or Doha’s, offered a decent food selection, comfy chairs and nice toilets. You’ll be directed to the correct partner lounge at the business class check-in.
Airport Score: 9/10
Cabin & Seat
This is where Qatar stands apart from the likes of British Airways. The business class Q Suite Cabin is truly outstanding.
Entering the seat, there is a sliding door. Inside the cabin you have a large seat which extends to a 6ft2 bed, a large touch screen TV, a side seat which opens up as storage for shoes and belongings, a table, and loads of space to move around.
If you’re in a window seat you are in a singular suite, and if you’re in a middle seat you can either be in a singular seat, or move the barrier between you and the person next to you to convert to a double suite with a double bed in the middle (with 2 separate TV screens so you can still be together but separate).
My husband and I don’t actually like doing this as we like our own plane time and tend to just annoy each other as inevitably one wants the light on to read whilst the other sleeps etc, so we tend to book separate seats!!
Toiletries are also provided, including compression socks, eye mask, lip balm, moisturisers etc. Toothbrush and toothpaste sets are provided in the much larger than normal plane bathrooms.
Cabin Score: 9/10
Food & Drink
Delicious. And I don’t like airplane food. Qatar Airways serves a three course meal, depending on time of day, on each flight. As an example, on the way our I had a Middle Eastern mezze with hot roti and hummus, followed by a chicken Biryani and fresh fruit for a dessert. It was sooo tasty!
The food on the other flights was just as incredible – in fact so good I ate it before I thought to take any photos which is the best review it could get really.
An in flight wine menu is also offered, including everything from champagne to reds, as well as an extensive cocktail menu. I had a Cuba Libre and some bubbly rose and both were great quality. There are also lots of soft drinks on offer too, as well as snacks such as popcorn, biscuits and even an afternoon tea with scones.
Food & Drink Score: 8/10
Service
Flight attendants are lovely on Qatar Airways. Firstly, they always refer to me as ‘Miss Hannah’ which I quite like, and they are always there but never pushy. The lovely Maggie on board the Doha to London route even went so far as to tuck me in and leave me some water and a cold flannel for when I woke up, as I’d fallen asleep with my blanket off. I initially thought it must have been my husband, but shouldn’t have been so foolish!
Overall I’d describe the service as attentive but respectful of space which is exactly how I like it. You also have a service button in your control panel of the suite so you can just ring a bell whenever you need anything.
Service Score: 8/10
Price
Qatar Airways isn’t the cheapest business class option. That said, it’s part of the One World Alliance with British Airways meaning I use my Avios points to fly with them. I collect Avios during the year- via spend on Amex credit cards, on short haul BA flights, the weekly shop and as much other shopping as possible via the BA shopping portal, all hotel bookings via Booking.com, plus my husband’s work travel adds a chunk. Every year we earn an average of 400,000 Avios from the above.
For the London Heathrow return to Phuket business class flights, I paid £480 plus 192,500 Avios per person. Cash equivalent would have been £4,330 per person.
This is much more expensive in points and cash value than booking using Avios on British Airways flights (E.g. I flew return to Costa Rica from London for £300 and 75,000 Avios per person). In my opinion though, if you have the points (or the cash!), Qatar is a truly brilliant airline well worth the additional cost.
Price score: 6/10
What do you think? Would you like to fly Qatar Airways Business Class? If you’re interested, you can also compare it to my review of British Airways Business Class Review. Stay safe and happy travelling!
Barney Travel Technologies
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