QSuites have been around for a little while and pretty much set the standard for Business Class seat layouts as evidenced by BA recently announcing their new cabin design (https://simpleflying.com/british-airways-club-suite-tour/) which, if not a copy, is a least inspired by the Qatar QSuites Business Class seats.

The point of difference to standard business class is that there is a little wall around your seat which can close off giving you privacy. Like having your own little office.

Qatar has managed to appeal to three groups of passengers – the solo passenger gets privacy, the couple travelling together get an intimate shared sleeping space (the partitions between their seats fold down) and the family or business group of four can fold down the panels between them and play cards or discuss business.

Qatar QSuites Business Class seat layout

The layout is hard to describe, so a screen grab from SeatGuru will illustrate – every other row is backwards.

The 1-2-1 layout means fewer seats but in my case at least, that means more attention from the attendants. Carol introduced herself on my boarding and deposited menus and a hot towel before returning with my welcome drink.

I’d love to be a champagne aficionado because the range of champagnes available on these flights keep those knowledgeable of the differences amused for hours on the travel boards. I stick instead to the non-alcoholic drinks – personal experience reminding me that the only thing worse than a hangover is a hangover in an air conditioned pressurised tube which dehydrates you for 8 hours.

The QSuite seat

The seat looked smaller than the photos I’d seen but as I settled in I could see how that was misleading – the Airbus A350-1000 (in this case A7ANE – almost new beginning service in November 2018), hid most of its 79” length tucked into the foot cavity.

The 21” width made me raise an eyebrow because there was a side ottoman with a lid which folded down to give you more seating right beside you, so it seemed ludicrous that they couldn’t somehow use that additional room to give more width. Especially when other airlines are giving 25” (Singapore) wide Business Class seats.

I must admit that I was looking forward to sleeping on a seat which looked like it might actually be able to accommodate my height!

The curved edge of the console gave exceptional access to the ports, remote and seat controls – in stark contrast to my previous flight. The whole suite just exuded space – there was the table top (currently occupied by the blanket, pillow and amenity kit), a shelf under the table top, the ottoman beside me (currently holding the noise cancelling headphones and a bottle of water).

Qatar had removed the luggage bins above the middle rows of the plane to maximise the airy feeling of space, but I was glad they had kept the ones above the window seats. It definitely didn’t feel smaller for a slightly lower ceiling and I really appreciated having my own personal double-nozzled air flow.

The screen for the entertainment system was touch screen (the one on my previous flight had been too, just too far away to reach!!) and even though there was a remote on a string available, I don’t know why you would bother. Again, the entertainment system was operational from terminal to terminal, so no downtime!

The door closing off the suite from the rest of the plane was only closed after takeoff and I was instructed to only use the gold sliding handle, not the emergency exit handle. In the event of an emergency you’d be able to lift the door out of position and fling it away to assist in escaping the plane, but that would obviously preclude using it for privacy under normal circumstances.

There was a DND (Do Not Disturb) button on the rounded console which I thought amusing – the walls looked high from the seated position, but when standing even my attendant could peer in without standing on tip toes.

Qatar QSuites business class food

After takeoff the food came – served as the previous flight on a lovely table cloth with a flickering electronic candle and accompanied with real cutlery and a basket of warm bread.

My appetisers this time were better than my main – salmon to start with, followed by four of the largest prawns I’ve had on a plane (big and juicy!) and then the beef fillet for a main. Not quite as good as the lamb on the previous flight, but still perfectly serviceable!

The rest of the flight

I managed to get a bit of sleep this time, but the width of the seat again was a little uncomfortable – of note was a three way seat belt with not only a lap belt but also a shoulder belt coming from the seat top and clipping onto the lap belt where it clipped into the seat.

Before landing I had a look around and took a photo of the aisle, or I guess with all the suite doors being closed it was more like a hallway – a bit of a novelty when typically the flight exposes you to all your fellow passengers for the many hours you are together.

I remember one long haul flight trying to get to the bathrooms in the middle of the night, picking my way over people’s feet dangling in the aisle and avoiding tripping on blankets pillows and other detritus like some sort of obstacle course. None of that in the Qatar QSuites Business Class.

It was around this time that I discovered that the Complimentary WiFi was working. You got an hour for free and then they’d charge you for the rest – but that was per device so if you had a couple of devices you could get quite a bit of usage if you really wanted to.

I’m not quite sure what you would need to use the internet for though. I just used it to check in on Facebook from Kirkuk in Iraq, but I guess if you needed to check business emails or had some work that needed doing and sending to someone it would be cool to be able to do that. I suspect since it used satellite technology that it would be slow. My experiences with satellite based wifi haven’t been the best so I left it well alone.

We were on the final part of the journey and I was impressed with the journey tracking part of the entertainment system. You could zoom in or out on the map, you could rotate your view of the plane and surrounds from any angle and you could even select a side of the plane and it would show you which towns or cities were in your field of vision.

I was glad I’d played with that because it allowed me to notice that it was a clear night, and that a little later we were following the Thames into Heathrow. There’s something quite magical about seeing the iconic sights of London from a plane at night.

The Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, The Shard, The London Eye, the various parks all welcomed me back to the city, and before you knew it Heathrow was reaching up and greeting our wheels.

Conclusion

So the point of the excercise was to compare and contrast the two Business Class offerings of Qatar Airways, so how did they stack up?

The Qatar QSuites Business Class seats really made a difference. Sure, the standard seat was good, but there were a number of reasons you’d have to pick QSuites over standard business class:

• The privacy – it was just so unusual not to have any interaction with any other passengers – no “oh, have you worked out how to plug in the headphones”, no “how do you work this?”, not even seeing the other passengers out of the corner of your eye. From the moment you take your seat to just before you leave it’s like you’re travelling alone.

• The seat – while both seats were a little narrow for me, the design of the QSuites seat meant that it was more comfortable to sleep – the fact that the foot cubby meant that you were legitimately 180 degrees all the way along was way more relaxing than the standard business class offering.

• The space – the standard business class seat was “just” a seat. A good seat, don’t get me wrong, but fundamentally it was a seat. The QSuites seat came with space – with places to put things and to put things away so you didn’t have to see them but could get them without getting up. Hard to explain but so much better for the psyche.

I’d love to have the Qatar QSuites Business Class available for the flights from Doha to Auckland (or reverse) – and hopefully at some stage Qatar Airways provides this option, because if you have to travel for 18 hours on a flight, and have elected to spend the money on business class to do so, it would be great to be able to take advantage of the best in this class of seats.

(Edit – The New Zealand Herald says the Q-Suites will be introduced on the Auckland-to-Doha route from 1 June 2019).

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I was travelling back to the Northern Hemisphere from New Zealand and had decided to try the QSuites Business class offering from Qatar Airlines, and could either have a zero turn around time in Doha to catch the QSuite equipped flight to London, or could wait 15 hours instead.

I elected to have the long wait and didn’t regret it at all.

I arrived after an 18 hour flight from Auckland on a lie flat business class seat and surprised myself that I got zero sleep. Like a zombie I made my way through security and noticed some fellow passengers from my flight heading towards a lift.

Correctly surmising that they were heading to the Qatar Airways business class lounge, I followed at a respectable distance. The reception area was well staffed and I waited maybe two minutes before the gentleman behind the counter greeted me and asked for my onward boarding pass.

Quiet Area cubicles

Upon seeing that my flight left at 3pm (it had just gone midnight), he immediately said that he’d get me a cubicle and got on the phone. I nodded like I knew what he was talking about and made generally encouraging noises “mmm yes cubicle” as he talked to a colleague.

Hanging up, he said that they had none immediately available but that I could sit on a couch until one became available,. I smiled and thanked him, got directions (around the corner, all the way to the end and then on the right) and headed through.

The place was huge. Enormous ceilings because its an airport, multiple areas to sit and a cafe type food place at the end, but nothing called cubicles or signage. I frowned and was starting to head back towards the entrance when I thought I’d just ask someone.

The first person stared incomprehensibly at me as I tried to explain. I’m pretty sure it was their lack of English rather than my zombie slurred speech, because the second person I spoke to pointed me to an easy to miss gap to one side of the sandwich bar.

Past the toilets the corridor bent right and then left and then I was at a counter in a darkened part of the lounge. I explained that the guy at reception had indicated that I should come for a cubicle and the receptionist’s eyes lit up with recognition. Ah yes, one room is available now, but I should have a better one ready soon – maybe fifteen minutes he said.

Again I smiled and nodded in fake understanding and then he lead me down a darkened corridor between little open offices and into my very own cubicle.

It was a little room with two chaise lounges facing a TV with departure times on it. Nice, I thought: I should be able to get some sort of sleep on one of these. My new friend bid me sit down and then headed off. I slumped onto one of the chairs and sat staring a the TV. He came back maybe five minutes later and said that the better cubicle had become available and to follow him.

This room had a much larger couch along side a comfortable looking chair with a table beside it. Ooh! I thought – that’s definitely going to be easy to get some sleep on! Before leaving, the receptionist asked if I would like a blanket and some water. Yes definitely thank you I said.

A few minutes later he brought me a 1.5l bottle of Evian and a glass of ice, and a little later a blanket in a plastic bag. I grabbed the amenity bag from my flight and dug out he earplugs and eye mask, and settled in to sleep.

A little sign mentioned that no announcements would be made so to make sure you set an alarm. I smiled wryly and thought if I slept for 14 hours something was very wrong, but still made sure to set my alarm, placing the phone on vibrate as well.

While the darkened area of what I later discovered was called the Quiet Area achieved the desired effect of subdued whispers from most of the visitors there were some guests who couldn’t fathom that maybe not everyone wanted to hear their conversations. It was tempting to let them have it, but I knew I was just being cantankerous because of the lack of sleep.

Maybe four or five hours later I woke up from a deeply needed sleep and felt somewhat more human.

Showers

I wandered out to the reception area and asked about the shower situation. Two doors were behind the reception desk and I had noticed them when I had come in. Ah, said the gentleman, there’s a twenty minute wait. No problem I said, I’ll grab something to eat and come back, and wandered out to the sandwhich bar I had come through on arriving.

Upon my return I was told that there was a shower ready to go and I walked into the shower area. To tell the truth I still dont know how many showers they have back there, but I was lead to one and told that there were towels and soaps and shampoos available. I thanked them and looked around. [edit – I subsequently looked up the evacuation poster and there are 9 showers in the men’s section and six in the women’s.]

The shower consisted of four pretty much equal areas – a luggage area with hooks for jackets was immediately opposite the toilet, and a well lit mirror and shaving mirror over a sink were just outside the shower, which sported frosted glass and two shower heads.

The water was hot and had good pressure which really helped soak away some of the sore muscles of the trip and sleeping on a couch. The towels were clean and I felt vaguely human after my brief visit. I got dressed and went back out to my cubicle.

I spent a little while back in my cubicle, recharging both my own and my phone’s batteries. Occasionally one of the reception staff would pop in (the cubicles did not have doors) and ask to see my boarding pass. I’d ask if they needed the cubicle and was told each time that I was able to have it for as long as I wanted it, so never felt rushed.

A few hours before my flight I decided I should probably see the rest of the Qatar Airways business class lounge and decided to head out for a substantial meal and a nosey.

Exploring the lounge

The place was huge. I’ve been to a couple of lounges, and they pretty much are one of two sizes. There are the “we don’t fly from here so will group together with other airlines and offer a lounge” types like the KLM/Air France lounge in San Francisco. An OK size. Let’s liken them to a standard shop in a shopping mall.

Then there are the slightly larger lounges which are the flagship of whichever airline run them – think BA lounges at Heathrow. These would be like a department store in a shopping mall – one of the larger shops there. Al Mourjan was like a whole wing of a shopping mall – an order of magnitude bigger again.

Looking down the length of the lounge was amazing – they’d broken it up with various types of seating areas in part I think to stop people from getting lost!

Starting from the Quiet Area end of the lounge, there was a median strip bordered by greenery with bamboo privacy screens separating sections off. Around the periphery low slung leather seats clumped around tables with what looked like iPads embedded in them. It was all very tastefully done with sections allowing you to select the type of seating you wanted to fit the size of your travelling party.

At the furtherest end form the Quiet Area, just beyond the entrance was a giant pool. I should call it a fountain though because spotted around it were jets just below the surface. Sporadically these would shoot a little jet of water up like an archer fish aiming for a bug and the sound of the water landing back in the pool was soothing. The silver finish of the ceilings reflected the light off the water making a very aesthetically pleasing feature.

If you were after natural light, then positioned around the periphery between the pool and window were even more seats. I paced the exterior of the lounge, insistent on getting a full understanding of how big this place was.

Around the corner were different coloured chairs, no longer the low slung leather, bow a bright blue fabric chair, again with a tablet embedded in the table beside it.

I should have paused to investigate what was on the tablet, but I was hell bent on discovering the layout. The map below gives a bird’s eye overview.

Food and drink

Scattered around the lounge were coffee and drinks stations accompanied with sweets and cookies stacked high, but I was after something a little more substantial so ascended the staircase to what I assumed would have to be where the food was. A chandelier of enormous proportions dangled above the pond int he centre of the curved staircase, illuminating the stairs.

And there it was: A huge buffet restaurant within two tables sporting catering dishes with meat and vegetables, small bowls of salads, plates of breads and a tureen of soup. The offerings leaned towards vegetarian, but so very tasty!

I tried the paneer curry and had to go back because it was so good. There was definitely something there for everyone, and so much of it too. A steady stream of staff kept the dishes full and when I sat down with my plate groaning, one came over and asked what I would like to drink. He later popped by and got me a refill as well.

I have something of a sweet tooth and. The delightfully arranged desserts certainly appealed. I was very restrained though, and made sure I didn’t have too much.

I’d secured a seat by the window and took the chance to take a photo which illustrated the size of the Qatar Airways business class lounge – far in the distance on the right was the Quiet area, but you couldn’t even see it, it was so small.

Meal over, I decided on one last circuit to see if I had missed anything and thus discovered some cool rooms I had totally missed!

Games Room

There was a Games Room, consisting of a couple of Play Station controllers, a racing simulator actually built in to the front of a F1 car, and a glass Foozeball table.

Business Centre

Tucked down an alcove was the Business Centre – a huge room with three lines of desks and built in computers allowing you to catch up on what needed doing.

Beyond the Business Centre were more seats, this time reclining ones which, were they not right beside the windows, would have been fantastic for sleeping. I guess if you had eye masks and ear plugs it might work!

The conclusion

And that was it. Fifteen hours in the Qatar Airways business class lounge Al Mourjan in Doha. I am so glad I was there for so long. Sure, I could have gotten to my destination quicker, but the fact I got some sleep, and a shower, meant that I was able to enjoy my QSuites flight instead of being a sleepless zombie.

The fact that I wasn’t rushed to give up my cubicle was fantastic and meant that despite some incredibly loud obnoxious people (clues in the name, people: quiet area), I was very well rested.

What I loved the most though was the guy at reception when I arrived. He immediately saw that I was there for a long time (this was at midnight), that I had just got off a long haul flight (I suspect I was probably not looking my best!) and took it upon himself to arrange a cubicle for me. That was nice.

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This time in my research I discovered that Qatar Airlines business class had a much vaunted service called Q-Suites which looked pretty good. The only problem was that at the time of booking, the flights in and out of Auckland weren’t an aircraft fitted out with Q-Suites.

So while Qatar Airlines were rolling the new fit-out to all their aircraft, the Boeing 777-200LR assigned to the 18 hour Auckland-to-Doha route was still sporting the old layout. (The New Zealand Herald says the Q-Suites will be introduced on the Auckland-to-Doha route from 1 June 2019).

Qatar is part of the One World alliance, and so in Auckland they share the Qantas Business Lounge.

Auckland to Doha

I hasten to add that the “old” layout was certainly no threadbare, poorly upholstered static seat from the 1970s! Oh no – my first leg was on the right hand side of the middle pair of the 2-2-2 layout, all facing forward. The legroom was astronomical!

The particular plane, A7-BBF, had been in service since 2010 and still looked well looked after.

Boarding was as simple as it gets, rolled out of the lounge and headed over to the gate. A brief scan of the ticket and a two minute wait to get through the door (single door on the 777) and then I’m turning left and checking out the cabin.

The seat is supposed to have 78” of pitch and a width of 22”, but with the acres of leg room it some how feels even longer.

The nooks and crannies carved into the middle console did a largely admirable job of allowing storage space and hiding the features that need hiding (the remote and dinner table), but I must admit that the connection for the (noise cancelling) headphones was difficult to access being tucked away near your hip.

Both myself and the lady travelling beside me couldn’t figure out how to connect, even after being told where the socket was by the attendant.

Speaking of which, I can’t speak highly enough of the staff. All the business class flights I’ve taken have prided themselves on their soft product – the service provided by the flight attendants.

Some (looking at you BA) have been a little lacking, but Qatar certainly went out of their way to welcome me onto the flight, thanking me for flying with them just prior to landing and being attentive during meal times.

I saw the breakfast service starting from the front of the plane and dinged my little call button and instead of just getting to me when she got to me, Tania came by and let me know she’d just finish up the other passenger’s meals and then would be right by. Expertly handled!

During the flight I was able to get a steady stream of snacks and drinks and Tania was most apologetic when they only had a medium in the complimentary pyjamas.

We’d looked from the Medium package to my ample bulk and back again and as a tribute to her training she waited until after I had made the comment that we might just need a larger size before laughing. Bonhomie rather than fat-shaming.

Speaking of freebies, rather than making you wait for the distribution of the amenities kit, they were there sitting on the armrest. I briefly looked inside, snapping a pic for Ange.

Inside were socks, eye mask, earplugs (though the noise cancelling headphones were perfect for keeping out the flight noise), Costello Monte Vibiano Vecchio cosmetics (Anti Ageing Moisturiser, Hydrating Facial Mist and Lip Balm) all in an attractive Nappa Dori fabric bag.

The entertainment system was on from the moment we got on the plane which made waiting for takeoff relaxing, as was the welcome drink and hot towel.

We pushed back pretty much on time and set off for one of the longest commercial flights available: across the Tasman to Sydney, across Australia, then swinging up over the Indian Ocean to brush over India and Sri Lanka before the brief dash to the Red Sea and then the kink to avoid flying over any of Qatar’s neighbours as they’re still not on speaking terms.

This flight was also supposed to have Complientary WiFi, but every couple of hours when I checked it only ever came up with a “temporarily unavailable” page saying the internet was unavailable. Definitely first world problems!

I’ve been largely impressed by the food offerings on the Business class flights I’ve been taking, but the food on the Qatar Airlines business class flight was a half step above the others.

First of all they have an à la carte concept where they make what you want when you want it – so you get to eat when it makes sense to your own body clock.

Just be warned – your best intentions are likely to go out the window when you see other people being served theirs and the delicious smells start wafting towards you!

The prawn appetiser was yum, and they provided a little basket of three breads with a choice of dipping oils which meant that regardless of how small the mains and appetisers were, you wouldn’t be going hungry.

I was particularly impressed by my main of lamb ravioli accompanied by my choice of ketchup or mustard. I’d like to take credit for the tastefully applied mustard but the star of the show was not my condiment application, but the lamb and ravioli.

I think it was the textures that played off each other so well, or it might have been the sweetness of the carbs in the ravioli allowing the slightly saltiness of the lamb to really shine – I’m not sure, but it was really good.

I did try to go to sleep a few times (that’s one of the ways I justify travelling business class to myself – I cant sleep in economy). Tania had prepped my bed with the thin mattress topper and I got the blanket out and made sure the seatbelt was visible, but sleep just wouldn’t come.

I cant blame the bed – though with my size the 22” width did feel a little constricted – as it wasn’t hugely different than any of the other business class flights I’ve taken.

The seat itself lowered from the level used as a seat, but even so the leg section did angle down, making the lying angle less than 180 degrees. I found out later that the trick is to get the seat into bed node (single button for that), then alter the position of the seat back a little followed by raising the footrest – this made it closer to totally lie flat.

With sleep not coming (and again, not blaming the seats for this one), I elected to watch movies and snack. The attendants were most attentive, topping up my crisps and ginger ales plus offering me a wide range of cookies.

Embarrassingly it seems the more space I get for my travels the less sleep I end up getting. Very hard to feel hard done by though, and I’m certainly not complaining!

Eventually after fifteen or sixteen hours of flying I finally felt like I was ready to drift off, and then the lights started to come up indicating we should get ready for breakfast and then landing. Mutter mutter mutter.

At breakfast I asked what the options were and Tania read them out. She was incredulous that I would consider the Arabian breakfast and after checking the menu I can see why.

Feta cheese, cucumbers, tomato and green olives with foul medames and Arabic bread. Foul medames is a dish of seasoned fava beans. Certainly not the full English! I elected for the standard cooked breakfast which was an omelette with hashbrown, mushroom and a sausage. Pretty standard stuff.

We landed not long after and I deplaned with everyone else and noticed that we were a long way from the terminal. Yup, no airbridge, which meant that, yes, a mobile staircase with buses waited below.

We headed down and as I arrived at the bottom the first bus’ doors closed indicating that it was full. I was a little surprised as there weren’t that many people in front of me and all of them were business class passengers.

As I got on to the second bus I could see why so few could fit on: this was not your large people moving bus, this was a leather chaired ample room luxury shuttle.

I was first on and grabbed a seat near the front, and even in my sleep deprived state (awake for 8 hours pre-flight, 18 hours on the flight), I kept an eye out for anyone old, infirm or with baby that needed my seat more than I did. I felt ok – the general out of body experience from lack of sleep aside.

The short trip across to the terminal was frustratingly long – I could see out the front window past the driver and there were traffic lights, other vehicles and frequent usages of the universal hand gestures for “wtf are you doing?”.

Eventually (10 – 20 minutes later) we were released at the doors to the terminal and joined a large mass of humanity ascending escalators to the arrivals area.

Eighteen hours is a long time to be in a plane. I would have liked to have been able to sleep, but failing that my trip was about as good as it could have gone. I also had a great benchmark for comparing the QSuites on my admittedly shorter hop from Doha to London. But first, the Qatar Airlines business class lounge!

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