Qatar Airways

IAH-DOH-CCU-DOH-IAD September 23 2013. IAH-DOH - Incoming aircraft had a lightening strike on its way in and needed a complete check by engineers in Houston. This delayed the flight by over 5 hours and everyone missed connections in DOH. Qatar staff in Doha came through for everyone with alternate flights already worked out by the time we reached DOH. Most people were provided transit visas and accommodation with a generous food allowance in DOH. IFE was good food was okay. Cabin staff was polite and helpful. DOH-CCU - Cabin crew excellent. I had a non functional IFE screen and they tried a restart thrice. After that they switched my seat. The food service was thorough service was attentive and I felt comfortable in a flight with service after a long time. CCU-DOH - Good cabin crew good food and attentive service. Ground staff from Air India could not keep up with the Qatar staff and fumbled the service all through. On the flight smooth sailing. DOH-IAH - Attentive cabin crew and good service all round. The only negative was when they ran out of meal options for the lunch service and had to force the same veg option on everyone. IFE malfunctioned during the flight and they reset the whole system that took 30 mins or so. However IFE service was good. Overall satisfied with the service crew and IFE. It would be better for them to rethink their Indian choice for veg as the food tends to get too dry over a long haul flight.

SIN-DOH-MAN/BRU-DOH-SIN. Excellent on-board service and the seat pitch is the best I have seen in Economy for a long time. The 777s use 3-3-3 configuration which makes for a comfortable seat. Pouches with toothbrush socks ear plugs and eye-mask were given out on the overnight sectors. Only thing that could get better was on the BRU- DOH sector crew ran out of food trays at the back of the plane and had to ask a few times from the crew in the front. I also had to remind the crew that my travelling companion needed a diabetic meal. But these are small issues. In all value for money better than the other airlines who try to pack close to 400 passengers on their 777s for the same price.

PER-DOH-JFK PER-DOH-CDG MXP-DOH-PER. Great new fleet even the older A320s and A330s are new compared to other major airlines. Newer 777s are gorgeous though have flaws (like stuck TV screens and dirty seats). Food is average. When connecting for hours in Doha you still find yourself with a breakfast omelette followed by another breakfast omelette on the next flight? Entertainment system - good when it works. Great selection but on 6 flights I had 3 seats without working TV and 4 headphones that did not work. Service - pretty poor. Staff are generally indifferent friendly-but-dazed. Timeliness - my experience has not tracked with the on-time stats of the airline. I had one out of six flights depart on time. The rest arrived late by an hour or so. Very decent option for the price but not anywhere as good an experience as its "5 Star" competitors such as Singapore or Cathay.

BKK-CDG w/a change in Doha and CDG-BKK. This is the 2nd time I have flown w/ Qatar this year and each leg the service is friendly and efficient and the Food is really good. Not to mention their on-time departures. The seats have sufficient space even reclines (well for me at least at 5'7"). They have great selection of food and entertainment and if your lucky enough for an overnight flight a great pouch consisting of socks eye-mask and toothbrush. Anytime you ask for help or are served the flight attendants have a smile. For the money - this is by far my favorite airline.

SIN-DOH-BRU and TXL-DOH-SIN. Food onboard was acceptable. Seats were fairly comfortable. Inflight service ranged from average to outstanding depending on the flight attendant. Inflight entertainment was very good. The problem was the transit at Doha it was nothing short of a disaster. The buses that take you to and from the terminal were excruciatingly slow and extremely packed. Even though the bus doors were shut the buses didn't move and we were on the tarmac for about 15 minutes. No announcement no apologies. The terminal itself was packed when we got there and clearly did not have enough toilets. While they were not downright filthy they were certainly not the cleanest toilets in any airport anywhere. After having our boarding pass scanned for the transfer flight we took an escalator down to the waiting area in the bus bay. We waited more than an hour there with about 10 seats no toilets in a room that could comfortably only hold 25 passengers but is now holding a whole plane load. Many started sitting/sleeping on the floor. When it was time to board the bus a stone faced staff member came down to tell us to queue up. Again no announcement no apologies just do as you're told. When the bus got to the plane surprise surprise the doors stayed closed and we stayed inside the packed bus for another 15 minutes. Only on the plane did the captain explain that the aircraft came in late resulting in the delay. I wouldn't want to do another transit in Doha again at least not until their new airport is completed.

LHR-DXB return via DOH. First leg on A330 - seat and entertainment fine. I hold privilege club gold status and was greeted onboard by crew. Meal choices outlined were inconsistent with what was actually served. Overnight flight which departed one hour late - cabin lights dimmed after dinner service but fully illuminated three hours before landing when they served a snack (which was appalling). Missed connecting flight in Doha but was already booked onto the next flight and had to wait only 90 mins. Second leg on a new A321 with touchscreen entertainment. Crew were polite and efficient. Snack served on this 40minute flight consisted of a savoury and sweet breakfast - which was horrible. A microwaved sandwich and a muffin. Return DXB-DOH again new A321 crew once again polite efficient and friendly. Awful snack once more. DOH-LHR leg was disappointing. The flight was full and on a A330 which was clearly showing its age. Old style IFE - with controller inbuilt into the armrest - which makes it very awkward to operate. Crew were clearly over stretched and somewhat inexperienced forgetting requests and serving wrong meals. I will continue to fly QR but the decline in catering is a concern. Also I have noticed that some crew lack the hospitality which has made QR deserve its 5* status. I remain committed to flying QR whenever possible and will continue to recommend.

MCT-DOH-CAI. First leg served with an old and cramped A320. Inflight catering for that leg was not the best just an average snack crew members were doing a good job on that sector. Transit in Doha was a short one around 2 hrs. The terminal itself is so boring if compared to EK's T3 at DXB with a very limited food outlets and coffee shops. The Second leg was served with the companies pride not the 787 but the 777-300ER I would say that the aircraft is pretty much enjoyable in the 3-3-3 abreast layout over Emirates 3-4-3 which gives a feeling of flying a budget airline. Cabin crew on the second leg were just missing the proficiency of a five star airline. Wont hesitate to fly QR again for the sake of the cheap fares.

We flew to Manchester from HK last month with our baby son. On 3 legs of the trip the service and general experience could not be faulted in particular the cabin crew were genuinely caring for our son providing him with chocolates toys and carrying him around the airplane. On the Doha - Manchester leg of the journey the service was appalling very offhand perhaps not helped by the fact there were extra demands on the attendants due to the fact the in-flight entertainment was not working but our baby son was ignored right down to fact there was no offer of baby food for him! So 3 legs unsurpassed service far superior to my experience on my regular business class airlines but of course what one remembers unfortunately was the one poor experience which was made more memorable by how good the rest of the journey was.

SIN-DOH-LHR-DOH-SIN. New plane for SIN-DOH-SIN good service but not comparable with SQ or CX. DOH-LHR-DOH on dated A330 Inflight entertainment system old with technical issues both ways. However will still use QR for its cheap fare.

London to Dubai via Doha. The service received from the check in desk to all air crew was impeccable. Seats were of good comfort in economy and leg room was good as well. Inflight entertainment had a large number of choices to choose from. A bit of everything for everyone. Was travelling with a 5 Year old and catered their needs well as well as giving well presented child's meal. Only the transfer at Doha needs to improve a bit as having go by coach to the transit and aircraft is annoying. But overall very good and the best service I have had on anyone airline I have travelled that includes BA Virgin and emirates.