Airline: Qatar Airways

Flight Number: QR815

Plane: Boeing 777-300

Cabin: Business Class

Seat: 11K

This Flight

I am going to be up front and say this is one of the worst flights I’ve ever had with Qatar Airways, who are otherwise excellent! I may at times get angry in this review!

Qatar Airways operate two flights from Hong Kong back to their base in Doha, Qatar.

There is the earlier QR817 leaving at 19:10 and landing at 22:25, and the later QR815 at 01:25 landing at 04:40 – both are same day flights. The length of the flight is about 8hrs, or just under – so the same as London to New York.

For various reasons, I decided to take the later flight, as I was doing business in Hong Kong – and it gave me a full day, before heading to the airport.

Checking In

Hoping I could get checked in early and visit some of the amazing lounges in Hong Kong, I’d got to the airport early about 21:00, and there was a sign saying the check in desks didn’t open until 22:00 – there was no queue and nobody at the desks, so I went off to a cafe for an hour or so.

I went back about 21:50, and already there were people checking in. As I am a OneWorld Emerald, I used the First Class check in….. Checking in took forever, there was 1 family of 5 in front of me being a complete pain (the Business Class line was huge, and I was in a rush!). I didn’t get to the check in agent until 22:10 – by which point the agent basically told the family to go away.

Having eventually checked in, it transpired there is no “fast lane” for Business Class or First Class flyers, it took about 15 minutes to get to the front of the Security line,

Again, first world issues – but Hong Kong’s lounges are amazing, and this was eating into my time…..and I had less than 3 hours!

The Lounge

The ‘official’ Qatar Airways Lounge I was given a voucher for was the Plaza Premium First Lounge. This lounge was excellent, they even offered me a buggy to the plane – which to be fair some people may have taken as the lounge is by Gate 1, and the plane at Gate 56! This was a very good lounge!

With a Business Class ticket, and since Qatar Airways is a OneWorld carrier, you can also access the Cathay Pacific Lounges. You are literally spoilt for choice, and after some quality time in the Plaza Premium Lounge, I walked all the way to the Pier Business and then to the Pier First lounge (where I showered). These lounges are excellent, as are the the many other Cathay lounges – so I won’t gush – just visit them!

The Plane

This flight was on a Cathay Pacific leased Boeing 777-300. As I’ve said before, the short story behind this is that Qatar Airways found themselves in an argument with Airbus over A350’s, and consequently found themselves short of aircraft. So, they leased some 777’s from Cathay Pacific. Sadly, these seem to be the more tatty aircraft.

The aircraft has 6 x First Class seats, 53 x Business Class seats, 34 x Premium Economy seats and 201 Economy seats. I am not sure how Premium is sold or advertised on these aircraft, as it’s not a service Qatar otherwise provide on their 777’s – but they do sell First Class seats as a First Class product.

The Seat

I have reviewed the seat previously on my flight from DOH to MLE and back. The only difference is I was in 12A on those flights, and this was 11K.

Having flown Cathay Pacific a number of times, I was familiar with the layout of the seat, which is actually virtually identical to the American Airlines Flagship Business Class.

The good points are that generally there is a good amount of space, decent storage, the seat is comfortable – even if you are very tall!

The less good points are that this was an old aircraft, and everything appeared to be stuck together with tape and silicone!

The tattiness aside, this was generally a very comfortable seat, and I’d be happy to be flying in it for much longer than this 7:40hr flight.

Here are a few pictures of my actual seat – which came with lots of bedding!

Food and Drink

Drinks

Upon boarding, I was asked what I wanted to drink………but the conversation went along the lines of “do you want a glass of Champagne” rather than the usual 10 drinks offered. A little odd, but whatever. I talk more about my assigned Cabin Crew member below.

I was then asked what I wanted to drink after take off, I ordered a beer, but was drifting in and out of sleep once airborne. I’d asked the Cabin Crew member to give me a nudge when the drink was ready (usually this is never a problem) – as it was my intent to drink it before dinner and then sleep. This didn’t happen – and an hour later I woke up to no drink, which was then belatedly delivered.

In general terms, Qatar Airways offer an excellent range of drinks, including cocktails, teas, wines and beers. Definitely no complaints there!

I went for Bordeaux with my beef – but it was obvious that this cabin crew member didn’t really know the wine list, or care to offer my the opportunity to taste.

Food

Because this was an overnight flight, a late night dinner was offered. Seemingly the late night dinner does not offer a starter – which was fine by me.

Late Night Dinner

This meal is dine on demand, and you can have it at any point you want in the flight. However, when ordering the Cabin Crew member failed to ask me when I wanted it, so I asked for it ASAP, so I could sleep. Sadly this did not happen, and 1hr in (when I woke up), my drink had not arrived. On the belated arrival of my drink, the cabin crew member then began laying the table, and told me dinner would be 20 minutes….. so that was 1 hour and 20 minutes off my sleep time!

Mains for dinner were:

• Pepper Soup
• Beef Tenderloin
• Smoke Salmon
• Spinach Ravioli
• Noodles
• Salad

I had pre-ordered my food (the beef), however, the cabin crew member had no information about this when she came for my order.

Breads were served with the food – but no oil was offered or arrived. This was in contrast to every single other flight I’ve been on with Qatar where they proudly reel off the 4 or 5 oils available.

Desert options included:

• Chocolate cake
• Cheese

Once I had eaten my beef, my table was rapidly cleared – so this is what my desert looked like! I wasn’t even asked!

Breakfast

This, I have to be honest, is where I began to get angry.

Once my dinner was finished I was now 2hrs+ into a 7:40 flight (5:40 left to sleep) – because the cabin crew member didn’t wake me up like I’d asked. OK, maybe it’s my fault – I should have set an alarm? But it didn’t hurt to give me a gentle nudge, which is what my specific request was.

I had been very specific before takeoff that I wanted my breakfast 45mins to 1hr before landing, and explained what I wanted – to be delivered as late as possible. TWO HOURS before landing, I was woken up to ask what I wanted for breakfast. I explained I had already given my order (same cabin crew member throughout), but explained what I wanted again, and re-stated I would like it 1hr before landing. The next thing I know she’s laying the bloody table! This annoyed me (it was eating into my sleep), and I told her to come back in an hour. No, I really did, I was very polite.

Another thing I asked for was my usual breakfast cocktail when flying….. Coke Zero and lots of ice….. Having asked for this, I was given a glass of fizzy black stuff, with no ice. With the cabin crew member vanished, I tasted it – it was ‘full fat’ Coke…..which was warm and disgusting. F***king useless. She then came back 5 minutes later and told me there was no ice of Coke Zero left (why not tell me before I tasted it?!) – “indeed” I responded sarcastically – I was over trying to get service out of this idiot. My water glass was never filled up either. The service was just careless.

Turning to the actual breakfast itself, it came as two courses;

• Greek Yogurt
• Fresh Fruit
• Cereal

I went for the cereal, which also came with pastries. Nicely presented.

For the ‘main course’, the options were;

• Omelette
• Scrambled Egg
• Beef Congee
• Pancakes

I went for the pancakes, which were nice and well presented.

Amenities Kit

There seems to be the arbitrary rule with Qatar Airways that if you are flying to Doha you get the cardboard Amenities Kit, and if you are flying from Doha you get a ‘proper’ Amenities Kit.

I was subject to the cardboard kit, which included;

• Socks
• Eye Mask
• Lip Balm
• Hand Cream
• Some kind of spray

As this flight was over night I was also provided with PJ’s.

Entertainment

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!

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 – even with this idiot running the cabin!

Wifi

I don’t believe there was any Wifi available for this flight. Given it was overnight, I would have never of used it.

Cabin Crew

How to describe the cabin crew on this flight……..useless would be generous.

• No IFM (In Flight Manager) ever introduced themselves to me – usually they do with the flight time, etc
• It was clear from the Cabin Crew member allocated to me, she was not following ‘standard’ Qatar Airways service standards
• As I said above, there was no asking what time I wanted my dinner
• My post-takeoff drink lost me an hour of sleep
• Waking me up to re-order my breakfast cost me another hour of sleep – as well as trying to lay the table 1hr early (by this point I was awake)
• Taking off, there was no pre-flight checks done – in fact I took off in ‘lay flat’ mode, as I was sleeping during the taxi!
• Not asking if I wanted any desert and clearing the table seemed like a she was rushing me to sleep, perhaps so she could rest
• The Coke and ice thing annoyed me – room temperate Coke is disgusting
• Upon exiting the aircraft in Doha, she said stood by the door without a smile and said nothing to anyone leaving.
• It was clear from the Cabin Crew member allocated to me, she didn’t give a sh!t

All in all, this was bad especially on 7:40 overnight flight where sleep is everything!

Landing in Doha

By good fortune for my decreasing patience, the plane landed at a gate, so there was no bus trip – which may have been the final straw!

Other than that my luggage was checked through, so I hit the Garden Lounge, where I ended up sleeping, rather than working (due to the lack of sleep on the flight) – which was definitely not my intention!

Conclusion

Usually I think Qatar Airways are excellent, however this flight was terrible – all down to one cabin crew member.

The flight was short at 7:40. Take off the hour I lost post take-off, and the hour I was unnecessarily awoken for breakfast that left 5:40 to sleep. Dinner was about an hour by the time it was cooked and served (despite being 1 course) and between breakfast and descending, I was awake for another 1:30….. At best I slept for 3hrs…..and I think I could have easily slept for 5hrs, if the Cabin Crew had done her job properly.

The checkin process was annoying – albeit not Qatar Airways’ fault. The lounges were excellent, however more because of Cathay Pacific. The plane was beaten up, but still acceptable, and the entertainment was very good. Having no Wifi didn’t worry me. The food (what I was ‘allowed’ to have) was very good, and the beers and wines as always on Qatar Airways, excellent.

Sadly, despite all the good things on the flight, it was spoilt by terrible terrible service. The annoying thing is I could fly Qatar Airways tomorrow, and probably have the best service in the world – but it’s that lack of consistency which is frustrating! At least with United Airlines the Cabin Crew are consistently bad!