This week have our next guest post from Australian Michael! This post is a continuation of his journey from Milan to Doha to Melbourne. In this post, we’re going to cover his lounge experience in Doha followed by his Q-Suites flight from Doha to Melbourne.
Bottom-line up front
Qatar Airways Business Class is considered one of the best in the world, and, in the other Michael’s opinion, clearly earns that distinction. Everything about the journey, from the ground experience to the seat to the on-board service is excellent and sets the standard for business class flights. The Q-Suite continues to hold up well, and it’s not surprising why so many flight blogs review Qatar flights. Hopefully everything will continue to hold up well in the long-term.
The ground experience
Based on the gate used for his incoming flight, he decided to visit “The Garden” Al Mourjan Business Lounge in Doha. He did briefly consider swapping to the primary lounge, but he ended up deciding that the hassle wouldn’t be worth any marginal improvement over The Garden. His first task at the lounge was swapping to a window seat for his next flight, and he succeeded at the customer service desk.
The lounge is split into two sections, along with a paid “Louis Vuitton” area. Overlooking the garden area are a few comfortable chairs on the way to the restaurant, but they were all full on his arrival (which makes sense to me!). The non-restaurant side had a substantial amount of lounge seating as well.
Michael started in the restaurant portion of the lounge. Meals and drinks in this lounge are ordered off a menu. He opted to start with a simple meal of a small plate of good quality sushi and a Coke Zero. He also tried the beef stir fry, but it wasn’t to his taste. The steak he had specifically been hoping to try wasn’t even on the menu that time.
After his arrival meal and relaxing in the lounge, he decided to take a shower, which also required that he store his carry-on luggage for whatever reason. The showers were very clean and modern (but without toilets), and they were decked out with Diptyque amenities. The extractor fans were also excellent, so the shower room didn’t fog up, which he appreciated (I’ve never really paid attention to this being a problem in other shower suites I’ve used, but he had heard it was an issue in the other lounge).
After his shower, he proceeded to his boarding gate. At the gate, they actually knew that he was actively coming (by name), so he thinks the lounge alerted the gate that he was on his way. He arrived just in time for group 2 boarding having started. He wasn’t allowed to take any drinks through gate security, which is apparently standard for flights to Australia.
The seat
Upon stepping onto the plane, he was immediately struck by the size and privacy of the Q-Suite. One advantage of the Q-Suite’s layout compared to a more typical reverse herringbone business class layout is that the foot cubby is noticeably larger (Michael’s boots even fit). Everything was already waiting for him at his seat: bedding, a packaged Diptyque towel, and an amenity kit with a bag. The contents were also Dipytque-branded, which created good product consistency across the lounge and aircraft.
The seat has great storage, and it’s worth noting that the cubby beside the seat can also be raised to be an armrest if desired.
Michael accepted the pre-departure beverage offering of a glass of champagne (and found it way better than his equivalent offering in British Airways Club World. He found himself comparing this flight to his British Airways First Class flight because BA’s offering is considered the World’s Best Business Class (probably downgraded to second best business class now though with the Q-Suite). He also received a pair of inflight pajamas, which were comfortable and true to size (but still no pockets).
The on-board service
Qatar offers a dine-on-demand concept, but Michael decided to have his first meal service at the standard time (right after takeoff). His table was set with a nice tablecloth, salt/pepper shakers, and a fake candle. Before his first course came an amuse-bouche:
The amuse bouche was followed by the salmon and caviar as his starter. It’s hard to turn down caviar in principle, in both our opinions, especially given how rare it is to be served in business class. It was fresh and served with all the accompaniments that you’d expect with caviar. Next, he took the beef as his main course. The dish was very flavorful, but it was just slightly more well done than he would’ve liked, but the sauce made up for it. The entire meal was paired with a selection of warm bread. He enjoyed his meal with a glass of the red wine that was recommended by the crew which was an “excellent pairing”.
Compared to his previous flight from Milan, the flight attendants were marginally less polished, but they were still some of the best crew he’s ever had. Specifically, they seemed overly eager to clear dishes before Michael had finished each course.
After his main course, Michael opted for the cheese course. Like every other course, the cheese course was excellent. The crackers were provided in a separate basket and the cracker-to-cheese ratio was, for once, actually correct! His final course of the meal was berries and cream for dessert. The dessert was actually on the breakfast menu, which is useful to highlight how well the on-demand dining concept works on Qatar. Having berries for dessert makes sense to me as something light and sweet after having already had a post-main course cheese course.
Shortly after he finished his meal, it was bed time for Michael. The crew turned down his seat and added an excellent mattress pad while he changed into my Qatar-provided pajamas. He then proceeded to sleep for over 7 hours (the total time between dessert and his pre-landing meal was about 8.5 hours). With the mattress pad and in bed mode, the Q-Suite’s seat was extremely comfortable, and he had virtually no space restrictions. The pillow and blanket were similarly excellent. The seat was private enough and with noise dampening that he didn’t even need headphones (though I continue to always need them to just block the engine sounds even if my seat is private).
Upon waking up, he decided to take advantage of the dine-on-demand menu again and have a pre-arrival meal. From his perspective, it represented breakfast, but time-wise, it was closer to brunch. He started with a cappuccino, fresh orange juice, a croissant, and a plate of fresh fruit. He could have had a larger breakfast, but that was all he wanted. After he finished his light breakfast, he had about 90 minutes left before landing, so he browsed the inflight entertainment.
The IFE was great, with free Starlink WiFi (fast enough for streaming), but he only watched a single movie on the seatback screen. Upon landing, the crew held back all passengers in economy until all business class passengers were able to disembark much like my flight on Etihad. Michael enjoyed that as a premium touch,
In summary, Michael was extremely impressed with this flight. The ground experience was excellent; he specifically said he can’t think of a better business class lounge he’d previously been to (5/5). The Q-Suites was a clear 5/5 for him, especially for a business class seat. The meals on board were some of the best that he’s ever had in business class (except maybe his preceding flight from Milan on Qatar) (5/5), and the service was excellent (5/5). The IFE offers were similarly excellent (5/5). Overall, this flight scores a perfect 25/25 for him, which is awesome! But it’s not exactly a surprise; Qatar Q-Suite flights almost always score extremely well on flight reviews on other blogs. He has an upcoming review of Singapore Airlines’ business class, which might give this flight a run for its money. Stay tuned!
Michael booked this flight using Avios. Prorating the Avios cost across the two flights, this flight cost around 130 000 Avios and €230. Since it was booked with Avios, it didn’t earn him any points back, except on the taxes and fees on his card, which was minimal.
Michael's travel blog 