Qatar Airways

QR006 from London to Doha then onward to Amritsar (India). Flight from Heathrow was poor. An old airbus A330-200. The seat pitch was bad. Not comfortable. The IFE was ancient. The control was fixed in the arm rest so navigation was hard and you had to press it hard a few times in order for it to function. The Hollywood selection was good but the world cinema choices were poor. The food was exactly the same as I had 2 years before on the very same flight. It was tasteless. The crew were good just did what they had to. The flight from Doha to Amritsar was much better on a new Airbus A321. IFE was faster and easier to use but same movies. Arrived on time in India. On the return the flight was overbooked at Amritsar and after much confusion was put on Air India which was surprisingly better than Qatar Airways.

Business class pax travelling from Perth to Madrid 1st June. Check in smooth and efficient lounge at Perth good. Boarded flight and welcomed by crew. Pre takeoff drinks supplied during flight Perth sector crew executed duties well although robotic and little interaction with pax until a smile before landing at Doha. Food was good wine list selection excellent and well presented. On landing at Hamad international what a disappointment after all the delays in the opening of facility. Doha to Madrid what a difference in the crew the service was excellent as the first leg but much sharper and the interaction by the crew with the pax was excellent. Coming from a hospitality background I would want this crew working for me menu choices good and wine list choices good our thanks to the crew for making this sector a very pleasant experience.

Singapore-Athens via Doha return. Mix of aircraft 777-300er and A330-200 outbound returning on A320 and 787. Night flight out of SIN so slept most of the way. Morning flight to Athens. Not a fan of the old A330 seat but overall no major issues. Return journey was evening departure from Athens on the 320. More like a regional biz seat and feels a little cramped. Seems to be too smaller plane for a 5 hour sector IMO. This was followed by the 787 which is fantastic in every sense. Again a night flight - Slept very well and look forward to being on this plane again in the summer. New airport both ways - Will be a big improvement when ready but why it has opened with 1 pathetic lounge I really don't understand. I travelled with a colleague who was flying Qatar for the first time I doubt he will fly them again because of the airport experience. Really was a major let down.

LHR-CMB-LHR. All flights (4 sectors) delayed. Ran for first connection and made it. Return got to gate and aircraft still boarding but told I was disconnected as baggage would not make it. 6 hour wait as next LHR flight also delayed. Connection time was 50 minutes on ticket yet told unless 40 minutes free cannot make connection. Why sell a ticket leaving a 10 minute space to make a connection. New airport too big and had to run 1/2 mile at least to get to next flight. Rude ground staff who have no idea how the new terminal works. On board no printed menu menu on screen not available for 4 flights taken small portions of food and plastic cutlery paper cups no wow factor in any way. Cabin crew polite and did try and entertainment good. cloth hot towels no overnight shades/toothbrush. I will not fly this airline again.

I flew 2 sectors in business - Jo'berg to Doha on the new 787 and Doha to Madrid on the older 777. Seat configuration is different but good on both - flat beds but more space on the 787. Both flights were delayed in departure - not so impressive. But the big letdown was the food! IT was (apart from KLM business) the worst business class food I have ever had! Stodgy unimaginative and dull. Service was odd - my post take-off drink was forgotten despite being written down and staff were surly and sullen.

Cape Town-Doha-New York and return: Excellent experience all-round. Charming and helpful cabin crew great entertainment (especially appreciate being able to view while landing). One point though: please don't run the menu for 45 minutes - 5 minutes will suffice! (Doha - CPT). Special mention of our stay over (courtesy Qatar) at Retaj Hotel Doha. Surprisingly fabulous hotel with great food added to our travel experience and even motivated plans to incorporate a visit to Doha which we had no idea was so beautiful on future travels.

Zurich to Doha and Doha to Narita on May 29-30. Was traveling with my wie and children (3 and 5). At the check-in we got the information that we can't access the lounge at the new Doha airport. For this reason we got a voucher which could be changed into vouchers at Doha airport. The flight from Zurich to Doha was one hour delayed. We didn't get any proper information. The departure time was shifted every 15 minutes. Once on board was surprised about the comfort in the cabin. The food and drinks were excellent. The service onboard was average. At Doha airport they were not really ready. Very long queue at the security check. Asked for business class fast track. Was not available. Then had to walk quite a long way for the connecting gate. We were flying from gate B1A. That meant we had to take a bus to the plane but first we had to wait outside for the bus. Once at the plane we had to wait outside again before we could enter. Flight was ok. Food again excellent and the service was better than from Zurich to Doha.

BUD-DOH-SGN on 28-29 May 2014. Aircraft's A321 and A330-200 respectively. All flights on time. No queues in any counters as there were plenty open. Ground staff in BUD were extremely attentive and co-operative and assisted me fully dealing with a luggage problem (my luggage only arrived to Hungary when I was due to depart after a weeks stay). WiFi not available. What was stunning was their excellent co-operation on this with the competing carrier TK. I was from BUD without demands upgraded from the cheapest possible economy ticket to business class to DOH. The cabin was almost full (10 seats of 12 taken) but service was top-notch despite I was initially not expected to be in the business class. Champagne has changed from Jackquart to Lanson. Food very good. Seats not lie flat but no much need to lie down on a day flight? Doha Hamad Airport is still in its infantry but service desks are all over the place to make up for faults. Arrived to be taken to the gates by the busses which was a first disappointment. The lounges are not fully operating: very few and crowded and short of meat-dishes showers and sparkling wine. WiFi is operating. DOH-SGN: Boarding directly from gate to aircraft ! A huge improvement from the old airport. Upgraded at gate despite aircraft was only 30% full. Champagne choice extended to include the Taittinger rose. Good food. Only 4 seats of 24 were occupied. FAs good though could have been a bit more observant/proactive. But they were all professional and comprehending. A pleasure to lie down on the seats.

JFK to DWC via DOH. Managed to get first row economy bulkhead seats for self and wife. Found myself sitting next to some sort of bodybuilder guy whose biceps extended over into my space. When they announced all pax on board we swiftly moved over to the centre three seats and took up aisle positions with the centre seat empty. Flight was decent but the IFE was abysmal. Poor choice of movies and entertainment. We were among the first to transit the new airport in Doha - thank goodness no more buses! Marked improvement over the existing airport. At JFK we got 5K miles extra because the Silver lounge was not ready yet but we used our HSBC Premier cards to get into the Oryx lounge. Decent service clean cabins and bathrooms maintained well. Food could do with an improvement and the IFE needs a complete overhaul.

On 4th May I flew from Melbourne to Manchester via Doha with Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways is affiliated with One World so lounge access is provided at Melbourne Airport by Qantas always a good way to start a long journey. The plane for the first sector was a brand new Boeing 777 and on a full flight I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of room in economy. I am 6ft 3in (189cms) and I could stretch out quite comfortably without touching the seat in front. I was sat in 23K. In flight entertainment was excellent with Premiere release movies and a host of documentaries to help while the hours away (all 14 hrs and 15 minutes for the first sector). Service and inflight catering was excellent with a good choice of food and regular water runs by the cabin crew. Landing in Doha was probably the only negative as the airport was packed and hectic. With a tight transit time of just 60 minutes I was fearing the worst but somehow it all seemed to happen and I made the connection. The second sector of 7hrs and 30 minutes was completed in an Airbus A330 which was notably smaller and older than the Boeing 777. However the service was on par and food and entertainment options again superior. All in all a pleasant experience for what is a gruelling distance to fly. Qatar Airways deserve the recognition and commendations they win on a regular basis. Highly recommended.