The first time I flew in Qatar Airways business class a couple of years back, I was extremely underwhelmed given the 5 star rating. Their business class product was pretty much identical with Finnair on a HEL-DOH flight. This time I ended up getting a free upgrade to Qatar’s most exclusive business class, namely the Qsuite. I finally got to see what all the fuss was about. Qsuite is way better than your regular business class, I can tell you that much! But it is not a suite per se either, so let’s get to reviewing.
Check-in
Qatar airways recommends you to do the check-in 3 hours before the departure time. I can see why. Their typical passengers love to travel with a lot of luggage, this is possibly caused by the fact that you can bring as many bags with you as you want for as long as you are within the weight limit. They also have a very international bunch of people travelling on their flights which means more paper work in the form of visa checks.
Boarding
At Doha, Qatar does the priority boarding the way around. After I got my upgrade, I noticed that the boarding time had gotten delayed by around 20 minutes. The actual boarding started as planned, but Qatar boards their Qsuite passengers later through a completely separate gate. This way you can avoid the lines and enjoy Al Mourjan lounge for a bit longer.
At any rate, do start moving in time! Hamad International Airport has one of the most stupid airport layouts and the walking distances are long. Who needs the infinetly long corridors and large tax-frees to begin with? Just have all the gates close to each other and have a tax-free mall separately…
The seat and the “suite”
The first thing that pops into everyone’s minds is the luxurious suite that Qatar is supposed to have on the plane. I do think that the seat itself is fantastic, the screen is large and there are ports to connect many devices and buttons to adjust the seat. However, I thought it would be more of a suite, but in reality, it is a regular business class seat with a sliding door next to it.
There is exactly the same amount of leg room as in a regular business class. Worse yet, you have to be careful where you place your shoes because the seat might get jammed if they are placed in front of it.
The seat, and how average it was, was basically my only disappointment on the flight. Maybe if Qatar didn’t use the word suite at all in the branding, I wouldn’t have had high expectations.
The entertainment system was full of movies and the display was sharp and bright. The noise cancelling headphones were a bit old and produced some white noise. The movie section was not easy to browse, but many of the latest movies were already there.
Amenities
Qatar gives you a bit of everything. There is a pillow and a super soft and warm blanket. In addition, you will get a stretchy pyjama that will not interfere with your blood circulation like tight jeans would.
The amenity kit pouch is made out of leather and has fancy French cosmetics inside. The pouch itself is so fancy that I will keep it as a souvenir from this experience for years to come!
Food and beverages
The service starts with a welcome drink. You can order pretty much whatever you want, but I went with their signature drink. The drink was good and I got a second one already before the take-off.
Qatar has a whole list of foods you can eat. You can eat from the menu in any order you want and whenever you want. I went with the recommended two servings. At the beginning of the flight, I had a light breakfast and before landing, I had the full dinner.
Light breakfast
First, a word of warning, when the plane takes off, it will take some time for the staff to prepare the kitchen, so if you are dead tired like me, just go to sleep and don’t wait for the breakfast. You can have your breakfast later on as well. At any rate, the food was super good and I wish I could have taken some with me back home. 😋
Full dinner
The dinner was served way faster than the breakfast. It was very tasty as well. The pictures look a bit crappy because the frequency of the light emitted by the lamps was interfering with my camera. Sorry for that. 🙇♂️
Before landing
Right before landing, the staff served us a small box of chocolate. The chocolate was not good at all, but I guess it’s better than nothing. After serving the chocolate, the flight attendants forgot to clean the trash, so there were water bottles all over the floors when deplaning. 😅
Conclusions
Qatar Qsuite is an excellent business class product. Bare in mind that it is more of an average business class seat with a door than a real suite. The food is very good and the amenities are top notch. Qsuite is one of the fanciest ways to fly from one place to another and I am waiting eagerly for the next time I get to experience it.
