Flight: London Heathrow to Doha (Qatar)

Airline: Qatar Airways

Flight Number: QR6 (QR006)

Plane: Boeing 777-300ER

Cabin: Q Suite

Seat: 3A

This Flight

Qatar Airways operate numerous daily flights from London Heathrow to Doha’s Hamad International Airport. I believe QR6 is the first of the day, departing Heathrow at 08:25 and landing in Doha at 17:10, with a flying time of just over 6 hours.

The last time I flew to Doha with Qatar Airways (QR) was over night when Heathrow’s Terminal 4 was still closed, but this time I was leaving from Terminal 4.

It is probably unnecessary to say that in true Qatar Airways style, this flight was exceptional.

Checking In

The check in experience in Heathrow’s Terminal 4 immediately set Qatar Airways aide.

Frustratingly and stupidly I seem to have managed to delete the pictures I had of Check In area, but suffice to say it was excellent.

Bags were taken from me and sent to the counters, I was invited to sit on lounge seating whilst waiting, drinks and dates were offered…….all at 05:00 – it was extremely good! It was a premium experience.

The Lounge

In my case I was able to access both lounges operated by Qatar Airways.

I first visited the Premium Lounge for breakfast, and then after I need to do some pre-flight printing (work never stops) headed down to the Qatar Airways Frequent Flyer Lounge. Or at least I think that’s what it’s called!

My favourite is the Premium Lounge, which I found to be very good indeed!

The Plane

This was one of QR’s many Boeing 777-300ER’s.

QR’s 777-300’s fitted with Q Suites have 42 Suites and 312 Economy seats – a total of 354 seats. They do not operate Premium Economy or First Class on 777-300.

Naturally, as I could only ever conceive to be the case – the plane was in A1 condition with barely a mark on it, inside or outside!

The Seat

This was Qatar Airways’ Q Suite, which I’ve previously reviewed here.

The Q Suite is an exceptionally well-designed suite, and waiting for me on the side was the quality bedding, pillow and amenities kit.

The suites are extremely private and offer a huge amount of space for relaxing/eating/sleeping/working/etc

Food and Drink

Drinks

Before takeoff the Cabin Crew came around and gave me around 8 different possibilities of drinks.

I decided to take a glass of Champagne, which was offered as either Laurent-Perrier Brut or Charles Heidsieck Rose Reserve. The list price per bottle is about £35 and £70 respectively.

Qatar Airways offers a fairly extensive wine and port list, which is provided separately to the food menu. Whites included Albert Bichot and Casa Silva Cool Cost , and reds from Yalumba and Josef Chromy Pepik. On average the bottles list at about £35.

Once taken off, I took a beer, which was served with hot nuts. Beer choices were (in my view) excellent – Stella, Leffe or Budweiser……….in fact I may have tried all 3 more than once on this flight! Of course all the usual breakfast and soft drinks were on offer – and yes I know it was 05:00!

Breakfast

When I booked this flight I did wonder whether this would be a breakfast or lunch flight. I’m not really a breakfast person and would have much rather had a 3-course lunch. But it was a breakfast offering for this flight.

Technically on Qatar Airways all food is available on demand, but in this case I wanted to have a bit of a sleep during the flight, so I opted to have eat first.

As always, on Qatar, the table was set very nicely and completed with a candle.

Starters for this breakfast service were:

• Seasonal fresh fruit
• Greek yogurt
• Breakfast cereals
• Cold meats with smoked salmon.

I started off with the cold meats, which came with bread – although I asked the Cabin Crew not to plate the salmon, which they graciously did.

Main breakfast options were:

• Traditional Arabic breakfast
• Omelette
• Waffles
• Steel-oats

I went for the waffles, which I think I can safely say is one of the best breakfasts I ever had one a plane!

Lunch and Snacks

Also offered on this flight was a lunch or light snack before landing. Again, technically this is available at any time, and I could have had before or instead of breakfast.

Lunch and snack offerings were:

• English fish pie
• Afternoon tea
• Pulled BBQ chicken sandwich
• Crisps, popcorn, chocolate and bisuits

I was actually very full after breakfast, and I also wanted to have some rest – so I didn’t end up ordering any secondary food.

Amenities Kit

For reasons that I am not entirely sure about, flights not starting in Doha are provided with a cardboard Amenities Kit – where as the Amenities Kits for flights starting in Doha are the traditional kits.

The cardboard Amenities Kit by Diptyque didn’t have a huge amount in it – but included:

• Facial mist
• Face cream
• Body lotion
• Lip balm
• Socks

There was no eye mask, ear plugs or tooth brush – but these could be picked up from the bathrooms.

Unlike the usual leather bags, these kits were also uni-sex. I have to confess to being slightly disappointed by this Amenities Kit – but for the reasons I explain below it didn’t last long!

Wifi

Wifi for this flight was priced at the bargain price of just $10.

The price was a steal, compared to other airlines offering at closer to $30 – and generally it worked well. I did find a few patches where it stopped for a good 30 minutes, which was annoying whilst trying to work – but it was generally pretty good.

Entertainment

The IFE (In Flight Entertainment) System was jam-packed with the latest movies, music and TV channels. For this relatively short flight there was plenty to watch!

As I wrote previously, I am a little disappointed by the moving map – but that may be personal preference.

There was also the ever-helpful Q Suite video to show you how to get the best out of Suite during the trip.

Cabin Crew

As far as I am concerned, Cabin Crew for Qatar Airways are the best in the world.

Their service, thoughtfulness and attention to detail was just spot on. My ‘main’ Cabin Crew member introduced herself to me – then her manager introduced herself to me afterwards.

My food and drinks order were taken with charm and a a sense of humour.

Then, the manager came back to thank me for being a OneWorld Emerald member (rarely happens on any other airline), and seemed genuinely interested how I come to travel so much, where I’d been, where I was going, future trips, etc. She also gave some personal tips on cities, restaurants and things to do.

When I asked about the cardboard Amenities Kits, and she explained only routes from Doha were with them – she then brought me a leather Amenities Kit left over from the in-bound flight.

After a nap I got back to work (whilst most of the plane was sleeping). The Cabin Crew member came to me and said “Neil, I can see you are working – but whilst you work I thought you might enjoy some wine tasting?”. “Absolutely” I responded – to which came back 6 glasses of wine to try.

I know I am gushing about this, but this is what make Qatar Airways world class. Attention to detail, thoughtful, proactive Cabin Crew, who want to help and go the extra mile for their passengers.

Absolutely excellent. One of the best cabin crews I’ve ever had on any flight I’ve ever had with any airline, hands down.

Landing in Doha

Landing in Doha was seamless. I was connecting on to a positioning flight, so walked from my landing gate to my departing gate for my connection.

Conclusion

This was a fantastic flight. One of the best I’ve ever had, in fact.

Admittedly I don’t care for breakfast, and I wish I’d have had lunch, and the (quickly resolved) Amenities Kit thing was a tad disappointing.

But these minor niggles were easily made up for in terms of the quality of the seat, the excellent quality of food, the drinks – but of course much more importantly the amazing Cabin Crew.

It does seem Qatar Airways are ramping their prices up now, but personally – if you really want to treat yourself – I can think of no other airline I’d rather fly with…… My only complaint is the 6 hours was too short!