Qatar Airways Experience.

[yermanee]

Just returned from a short trip to Europe (Brussels) in Qatar Airways business class.

Overall impression is that it’s still a very good airline, especially when flying their B777 with complete flatbeds.

However the quality is slipping just a little bit, evident in small details like the amenity kit for example and the A330’s starting to show their age.

Their new program for frequents flyer’s that enables one to exchange miles for duty free products works a treat. However the monetary value for your miles is quite poor compared to Etihad’s program. Furthermore Etihad gives you the possibility to order online for shipment to your home which is an added advantage over having to personally be at Doha Airport.

Premium terminal at Doha remains a treat though but the bus transfer can be painfully long.

That’s it.

Yermanee

[stevenwalker211278]

after flying with qatar business class 5 times now i feel i have experienced them to the full

i agree that the 777 is a good business class with the flat beds but the older aircraft and beds are dated and not so comfortable

the lounge in doha is ok nothing amazing and emirates longe is much better in dubai

i have had much problems with qatar .. last year they damaged my suitcase and lost property but refused to admit fault and i lost 8000 pounds worth of clothes and watches

there customer service is dreadful but then which airline had a good customer relationship unless your offering to spend more money

.. in this time i have never been offered any upgrade or anything even with my miles

[yermanee]

after flying with qatar business class 5 times now i feel i have experienced them to the full

i agree that the 777 is a good business class with the flat beds but the older aircraft and beds are dated and not so comfortable

the lounge in doha is ok nothing amazing and emirates longe is much better in dubai

i have had much problems with qatar .. last year they damaged my suitcase and lost property but refused to admit fault and i lost 8000 pounds worth of clothes and watches

there customer service is dreadful but then which airline had a good customer relationship unless your offering to spend more money

.. in this time i have never been offered any upgrade or anything even with my miles

Well it's all a matter of personal preferences I believe.

I didn't like the Emirates lounge in Dubai, and can tell you horror stories of their security staff.

Dubai and Emirates never again. I did however enjoy their lounge in Bangkok.

Yermanee

[prefabs]

I only traveled twice with QA, both times in economy. Hardest seats I ever experienced in 35 years of intercontinental travel

[THAIPHUKET]

same impression like Yermanee, however taking everything into account, for me they still the best in business class, have not tried Oman Air. Schedule not as convenient.

[Javabear]

I've flown QA many times in business and been very pleased each time. I got food poisoning from the Emirates lounge in BKK and my friend got his suitcase broken into on the same flight. We bot contacted Emirates in regards to these issues and they refused to even respond. I haven't flown them since.

[TheCure]

I have only has good experiences flying to Paris on QR in C, at least 10 times now.

Food is the best I have had in C class( and puts TG food to shame so badly) , service is usually great , and the 777 out of BKK has one of the best C seat on the market.

'The premium terminal in DOH is also quite nice .

Overall very pleased and never had any negatives like lost luggage or customer service issues.

Last but not least , their fares are at least 30% cheaper than TG.

[blackpoolbob]

after flying with qatar business class 5 times now i feel i have experienced them to the full

i agree that the 777 is a good business class with the flat beds but the older aircraft and beds are dated and not so comfortable

the lounge in doha is ok nothing amazing and emirates longe is much better in dubai

i have had much problems with qatar .. last year they damaged my suitcase and lost property but refused to admit fault and i lost 8000 pounds worth of clothes and watches

there customer service is dreadful but then which airline had a good customer relationship unless your offering to spend more money

.. in this time i have never been offered any upgrade or anything even with my miles

Well it's all a matter of personal preferences I believe.

I didn't like the Emirates lounge in Dubai, and can tell you horror stories of their security staff.

Dubai and Emirates never again. I did however enjoy their lounge in Bangkok.

Yermanee

I also dislike the so called lounge in Dubai it is terrible - what problems did you have with security? I fly Emirates a fair bit and was recently Business in the A380 and have to say I enjoyed it - but.... not to be picky but the fittings / trim etc seemed very flimsy and I doubt it will stand up well in the years to come.

[richard_smith237]

Emirates have priced themselves out of my Budget, they are always more than B125,000 to the UK.

When I flew Qatar Airlines a few years ago I was disappointed with their seat - although it was flat it was not horizontal, I found that uncomfortable. I have also found some of their lay overs to be rather excessive. Does Qatar now have flat beds that are 100% horizontal ?

I have been flying Etihad for the past 6 years or so as they have appeared to offer the best prices: B78,500 to B102,500, reasonable connections in Abu Dhabi (i.e. usually around 2 hrs), they offer a car (usually an S Class Merc on the UK side for anywhere within 100miles of the airport), they also have 100% horizontal flat beds, which aren't the best, but they'll do when I'm paying for two tickets.

Mid June my travel agent is quoting B93,400 to Manchester while Emirates to Birmingham is B140,000 !

What are the rates have people been getting on Qatar flights to the UK ?

[yermanee]

Emirates have priced themselves out of my Budget, they are always more than B125,000 to the UK.

When I flew Qatar Airlines a few years ago I was disappointed with their seat - although it was flat it was not horizontal, I found that uncomfortable. I have also found some of their lay overs to be rather excessive. Does Qatar now have flat beds that are 100% horizontal ?

I have been flying Etihad for the past 6 years or so as they have appeared to offer the best prices: B78,500 to B102,500, reasonable connections in Abu Dhabi (i.e. usually around 2 hrs), they offer a car (usually an S Class Merc on the UK side for anywhere within 100miles of the airport), they also have 100% horizontal flat beds, which aren't the best, but they'll do when I'm paying for two tickets.

Mid June my travel agent is quoting B93,400 to Manchester while Emirates to Birmingham is B140,000 !

What are the rates have people been getting on Qatar flights to the UK ?

Qatar are in the same price bracket as Etihad and usually a couple thousand baht cheaper.

Etihad does indeed have the full flat beds but they are very narrow. Great privacy however.

Abu Dhabi is easier to transfer because at Doha it is still bus transfers.

Bangkok to Doha is on the B777 with full flatbeds, A330's have the angled lie flat seats which are indeed a bit less comfortable.

The difference is in minor details but the overall experience with Qatar is just a little bit better in my personal opinion, one feels just that little bit more exclusive.

However if the connections with Oman Air are more favorable than Qatar's, I do prefer their business product but mainly because of the seating comfort which is in 1 - 2 - 1 configuration with the best seats I have experienced, but just a tad pricier than Etihad and Qatar.

It's all a matter of priorities and personal preferences.

Watch the airlines latest offers in the pinned section of the travel forum, or visit the airlines websites regularly.

Yermanee

[richard_smith237]

Thanks Yermanee,

Oman sounds like a decent option and I'd like to give them a try. But.... Their website is less user friendly, I can't get a booking from BKK-MCT-MAN (return), I can't find any flights to Manchester from Muscat either. So I checked flights to London, but due to their website I had to run each leg individually... as a result the cost appears somewhat excessive at over THB 300,000.

I've e-mailed my travel agent to see what they can find of Oman air.

The Oman Airlines Webpage informs me that heir Chuaffeur Driver Service is limited to a 50km radius in the UK. I live 90miles (144km) from Manchester airport. Etihad offer a 100 mile radius for business class travellers.

It still looks as though Etihad is the best deal vs value - I'll provide any better updates on this thread and the other flight thread if I have it.

By the way: The Etihad sale does not offer anything in business class which beats SixStars travel.

I've also asked SixStars about Qatar airlines, however, in the past I have found them about B10,000 more than Etihad - We'll see, I suspect a lot has to do with timing.

[yermanee]

Oman sounds like a decent option and I'd like to give them a try. But.... Their website .................

Yes their website is like an octopus, it sucks.

I've flown them twice now, once to Frankfurt and once to Paris and both times I booked through their local agents here in Pattaya. One at 82,000 Baht and one at 85,000 Baht

BTW 2 trips in business class is gold status.

Don't know abt limousine services because never use them since I always rent a car in Europe at the airport I'm flying to, and in Thailand they all give only 50 or 60 Km's from the airport.

Cheers

Yermanee

Edited May 21, 2012 by yermanee

[BBurns]

after flying with qatar business class 5 times now i feel i have experienced them to the full

i agree that the 777 is a good business class with the flat beds but the older aircraft and beds are dated and not so comfortable

the lounge in doha is ok nothing amazing and emirates longe is much better in dubai

i have had much problems with qatar .. last year they damaged my suitcase and lost property but refused to admit fault and i lost 8000 pounds worth of clothes and watches

there customer service is dreadful but then which airline had a good customer relationship unless your offering to spend more money

.. in this time i have never been offered any upgrade or anything even with my miles

Well it's all a matter of personal preferences I believe.

I didn't like the Emirates lounge in Dubai, and can tell you horror stories of their security staff.

Dubai and Emirates never again. I did however enjoy their lounge in Bangkok.

Yermanee

I've been flying Qatar Air for over 6 years now. I've also flown on about 9 other international airlines as well. I have to say that Qatar's Business and first class is by far the BEST of them all BUT their coach stinks. LOL. Their website DOES need to be streamlined and is very slow and buggy. Their calling center stinks but their first and business class lounges are OUTSTANDING. But yes the bus ride is long and that sucks. I love it when I bored the plan the the flight crew personally welcome me back and tell me that it's nice to see me again. I know it's just part of the customer service BS but it still feels nice. I get an extra 15 kilos of baggage wait when I fly since I am a silver member and my bike is shipped at no extra charge and does not count as one of my bags. You get to ship 1 piece of sports equipment for free ever time. Qatar I'm sure is not the best but they have always done a great job with me. Yet the coach sucks. Again this is just my personal opinion.

[richard_smith237]

The travel agent has come back with the following for Business class travel from BKK to the UK for dates 18 June (+/- 2 days) to 7 July (+/- 2 days).

ETIHAD to Manchester 93,400 baht.

KLM to Birmingham 111,200 baht

OMAN AIR To London 95,500 baht

GULF AIR to London 88,000 baht

QATAR AIR to Manchester 107,000 baht / to London 104,000 baht

Etihad still looks the best deal as for an additional 10,800 baht (2 tickets - Wife and I) when compared to the cheapest (Gulf Air) Etihad offers Airport transfers within the 100mile radius (in S Class Merc, Jag, Audi A8 nonetheless).

[frankold]

Emirates have priced themselves out of my Budget, they are always more than B125,000 to the UK.

When I flew Qatar Airlines a few years ago I was disappointed with their seat - although it was flat it was not horizontal, I found that uncomfortable. I have also found some of their lay overs to be rather excessive. Does Qatar now have flat beds that are 100% horizontal ?

I have been flying Etihad for the past 6 years or so as they have appeared to offer the best prices: B78,500 to B102,500, reasonable connections in Abu Dhabi (i.e. usually around 2 hrs), they offer a car (usually an S Class Merc on the UK side for anywhere within 100miles of the airport), they also have 100% horizontal flat beds, which aren't the best, but they'll do when I'm paying for two tickets.

Mid June my travel agent is quoting B93,400 to Manchester while Emirates to Birmingham is B140,000 !

What are the rates have people been getting on Qatar flights to the UK ?

They also have s-class pickups in BKK.