Flight: Doha to Heathrow

Airline: Qatar Airways

Flight Number: QR15

Plane: Airbus A350-1000

Cabin: Business Class

Seat: 4J

This Flight

This is my review of my trip from Doha to London Heathrow, which was part of my larger trip to the Maldives.

QR15 has an interesting history for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, QR15 used to be an all-Business Class route on Airbus A319 between May 2014 and November 2015.

Secondly, QR15 was a Boeing 787 route, but was then changed to the A350-1000 – but then when Qatar Airways grounded the A350’s they were switched to the Boeing 777-300ER. With the A350 grounding over, this was one of the first flights back on the A350 to Heathrow!

QR15 as I understand it, is as a daily flight from Doha to Heathrow, leaving at 15:15 and landing at 19:50 – the flight is about 7 hours. The flight then turns around and becomes QR16 leaving Heathrow at 21:30 and landing in Doha at 07:10.

Checking In

Having arrived in from Male, I simply followed flight connections to re-check through security, which took less than 30 seconds.

One re-dressed, I was back in the terminal for some shopping, before heading to the lounge.

As always, moving through Hamad International Airport was very easy and enjoyable.

The Lounge

Unfortunately, this fare was booked as a ‘P Fare’ which doesn’t allow lounge access with the flight – otherwise I would go to the Al Mourjan Lounge.

Luckily however, OneWorld Emerald members have access to another lounge called the Platinum Lounge.

Whilst the Al Mourjan Lounge is exceptional, it is often very busy, where as the Platinum Lounge is less so. The Platinum lounge offers slightly less in the way of food options – but there is plenty spaces to work, eat, sleep or shower – so in many ways its a very good lounge – and quiet!

The Plane

This was Qatar Airways’ Airbus A350-1000. This was the first time I’ve flown on one of Qatar Airways’ A350’s and I was impressed by how quiet it was.

The plane is equipped with 46 x Q-Suites and 281 x Economy seats.

The Seat

As I mentioned, this plane is equipped with the rather fantastic Q-Suites. You can see my full review of the Q-Suite here.

Sadly, one thing I couldn’t not ignore is that for a ‘new’ A350, the suite was showing signs of wear and tear, and a lot of the paintwork was pretty battered. This was especially since it seems a lot of the metal is painted black, and the scrapes were starting to show its original silver colour.

Waiting at the seat was a very nice blanket, a pillow, an Amenities Kit, and a bottle of water.

Aside from the fact the suite could have done with some tidy-ups – I’ve no complaints at all about the suite – it really is an excellent product!

Food and Drink

Qatar Airways sort of offer pre-selection of food. Seemingly long-distance flights from Doha do allow it. This was good news, and I pre-ordered the lamb shank.

Drinks

Prior to takeoff, I was asked what I wanted to drink. I was offered a large number of juices, cocktails and so forth – but I went for the rose champagne.

Once airborne, I was offered drinks served with warm nuts. I had asked non-descriptively for the “coldest beer you have”, as Qatar have excellent choices of beer, and I can (and will) drink all of them. The cabin crew member came back with Stella and Leffe, saying she couldn’t work out which was colder – so gave them both for me to try!

I liked that approach, it showed a personal service, and reminded me when I flew from Heathrow to Doha, and the Cabin Crew member asked me if I wanted to do some wine tasting while I was working. It’s those personal touches that make the flight, in my view.

Qatar Airways do also offer an excellent wine list, including the newly added Whispering Angel wine.

As I was having lamb (and later cheese), I went for the Bordeaux, which was excellent.

Food – Lunch

On this flight, the food offering was ‘lunch’, with a light snack later on. As always, lunch was served with the candle, accessories and breads.

Ahead of the starters I was offered a canapé, which was beef carpaccio. On this occasion I had it (usually it’s something fishy), and rather enjoyed it!

Starters for lunch included;

• Soup of the day
• Balik salmon
• Arabic Mezze

The soup was seafood, not eating fish I decided to try the Arabic Mezze – I’ve seen it as an option on many flights, but never tried it.

I have to say it was very good, and I very much enjoyed it!

Options for Mains were;

• Lamb shank
• Qatari chicken
• Turbot
• Mushroom and artichoke ravioli

Around 30 days ahead of the flight you are able to pre-order meals on flights departing from Doha – I stated with my lamb shank option, and found it to be very good indeed!

Options for Desert were;

• Cheese plate
• Vanilla and blueberry cheesecake
• Berries and cream
• Ice cream

I decided to play it safe with the cheese plate, which as usual was rather hearty and had plenty of crackers and cheese.

I did order a glass of Port to have with the cheese, but I found it rather sweet, and possibly not the right pairing to have with cheese.

Food – Light Snack

The ‘second service’ of food on this flight was either afternoon tea, or croque monsieur. Having been rather stuffed from lunch, I decided not to have anything else – but here’s a picture of my croque monsieur from another flight!

Food – Snacks

Allegedly, there are snacks such as popcorn, crisps, chocolate and biscuits available.

Unlike my flight from Dublin to Doha, these appeared to be hiding in the galley, needed quite a hunt – and there were not many left!

Amenities Kit

Good news! On this flight a ‘proper’ Amenities Kit was offered!

Provided by Diptyque, this was a lovely leather case (not card board box!), and inside it contained;

• Socks
• Hand cream
• Lip balm
• Face cream
• Fresh spray

So…. I guess it’s the same as the cardboard version – but just in a much nicer and far more premium case!

Wifi

Wifi was available for the price of $10. If you are or were prepared to sign up and be a Privilege Club member, it was free.

Frankly, this was the most frustrated, annoyed, and at points angry I have been with Wifi on a plane. I intended to use the 7-hour flight to get loads of work done – in fact I didn’t sleep at all on the flight, as I’d earmarked it for working.

I would estimate of the 7 hours I had bought the package for, it worked for no more than 90 minutes….. ok so it was ‘only’ $10….. but it was $10 for a service I paid for but didn’t get – not to mention disruption to my work. It is Business Class afterall!

Once landed I contacted the company about the fact I had issues and the response was to make me go round in circles. First, they said that my internet had worked, as they could see that I had used it…. Then they said I’d agreed to the policy, which apparently said the internet may not work “all the time”, giving me a lecture on satellites, weather, etc, etc …… Then, they said I was not entitled to a refund, because it was “policy”. When pushed on these various ‘policies’ they could not provide me with any information or proof they even existed.

After about 10 emails back and forth, I reported to my credit card provider as service not provided, and got a refund that way.

Either way, it was still bloody annoying to have prepared myself to do 7 or so hours of work, and barely be able to do it! Even worse was the after-sales customer service!

Entertainment

The Q-Suite has a large and in my view well-sized screen (I didn’t measure it), and controlled by the remote at the seat. Cleverly, the seat remote can have different content on it to the main screen – so you can control music on the remote whilst watching the flight map, for example.

It’s always been my experience that Qatar Airways’ entertainment is extremely generous.

There are literally hours and hours of music (often multiple albums of the same bands), which is great. On this flight there were about 6 albums by The Eagles and 4 or 5 by Aerosmith. Plus loads of live concerts, etc.

There was a whole bunch of other entertainment choices of film, TV, sports, etc – more than you could ever watch on a flight around the world!

There are a couple really cool things with the Q-Suite. Firstly, if you are working and you like to use a second screen (like me) – if you have a HDMI cable you can second screen to the entertainment system! A stroke of brilliance!

Another thing that Qatar Airways were piloting was the ability to remotely control the entertainment system via your mobile phone, as a remote. This is done by scanning a QR code on your phone, with it connected to the Oryx wifi. I have to say, having given it a go, it all really did was move a cursor on the screen (and turn the lights on and off) and was basically a remote control mouse. So while I like the idea of new technology, until it’s developed more, I couldn’t really that it was that useful.

The other fun thing on Qatar’s A350’s is the camera! Some airlines (like British Airways) disconnect these from the entertainment systems – but I am glad to say Qatar Airways don’t!

Headphones are offered as per of the package. Often, I use headphones to save getting mine out. I find the Oryx headphones to be decent – and unlike American Airlines, they’re not demanded back 90 minutes before landing!

Cabin Crew

Usually, the Cabin Crew from Qatar Airways are excellent.

On this flight I found a mixed bag of cabin crew. My flight attendant was great – she delivered the food well and quickly, and was thoughtful about the beer. She was also a bit forgetful and not that attentive during the meal service – I had to remind her about top-ups of wine during the meal, etc. I also asked for a glass of Port to go with the cheese, which she forgot.

I also found that when the dinner service was done, all the cabin crew vanished. I was not offered the second meal, nor was I offered any drinks throughout the flight.

It may be the case that the cabin crew are expecting people to press the call bell – but either way, not to be present throughout the flight, didn’t seem right nor proactive to me. Whilst my flight attendant did her best, others in the galley (when I went on the search for snacks) were far less accommodating and came across disinterested and at points rude.

The cabin crew also left things like glasses and other things on the side table in my suite for hours on end – so it got a bit busy at one point!

A final point on this is that at the end of the flight my flight attendant asked me if she could have my menu back to re-use! This is the first time I’ve ever been asked for this – even on the tightest of airlines! Some may say sustainability, others may say cheapskate!

Landing in Heathrow

Landing in Heathrow’s Terminal 4 was fairly straightforward.

It was a fairly long walk from the Gate to Passport Control, but once through it was around a 20-minute wait for luggage.

Conclusion

As I said in my Dublin to Doha review, I am usually a big Qatar Airways advocate and I have to say by other standards, this flight was extremely good. The seat was great, entertainment great, the food excellent – even the Amenities Kit was good.

However, in part I was annoyed and let down by the Wifi situation. I get that there can be technical problems, but to make me go round in circles with ‘policies’ and refuse a refund for a service I didn’t get, was not impressive.

I wasn’t that impressed with the attentiveness or the attitude of the cabin crew on this flight, compared to many other Qatar Airways flights.

Then the whole handing the menu back at the end to re-use didn’t bode well at all with a premium experience.

All of this comes rather too quickly after Akbar Al-Baker left the airline. It could be a case of ‘while the cats away’; it could be the case that standards have dropped; or they’ve expanded so much they are not hiring or training the best; or it could be the case that Qatar Airways is so popular they don’t need to care any more – whatever it is, in my view, sadly Qatar Airways are becoming a ‘mixed bag’, rather they than consistently excellent they were once before…… None of this is stopping them charging top dollar for a declining service!

So……..having previously always gushed about Qatar Airways and my experiences – on this occasion, I’m less inclined to do so. The flight was nice, certainly better than BA could ever offer – but it was by no means perfect! I don’t mind paying a ‘little extra’ for Qatar Airways (compared to say, BA), but going forward, I think will be carefully considering what that ‘little extra’ is, and whether it’s actually going to be worth it, if the standards keep declining.