Qatar Airways

IAH-DOH-MAA in Y. Check-in line looked horrendous at first but it moved well and we were on our way in about 30 minutes. I found it strange though that you first had to queue up for a baggage weight check then go to the counter and have your bags weighed again. IAH-DOH was in a B777-300ER. The 3-3-3 configuration that QR uses is far superior to the 3-4-3 setup that more and more airlines are using today as the extra inch or two of width provides a feeling of much more personal space. Seat pitch at 33 inches is also better than many long-haul carriers and as we had seats directly in front of a bulkhead had unlimited recline at our disposal which made for a more comfortable flight. I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep. Two meals are served with decent taste and quality and free wine beer and spirits available. I had heard horror stories about the transit procedure in DOH but found it quite painless and it took just 35 minutes to get from our plane through the bus ride and security and to our onward gate. Boarding process for our DOH-MAA leg was a bit chaotic. Boarding starts very early more than an hour before takeoff and you are initially herded into a holding area with far too few seats compared to the number of people. You are eventually boarded onto a bus followed by an extremely long ride to the plane at which point we were held for a further 5-10 minutes. Once on board everything was fine though I found the A330-200 considerably more cramped than the 777. The IFE box didn't help but the seats were also an inch narrower and with an inch less pitch. On both legs the IFE system is excellent with a wide variety of AVOD shows/movies and games along with a customizable flight map. Meal was the typical "veg/non veg" option you get headed to India and quality was not nearly as good as on the IAH-DOH leg. Service by the FAs was consistently excellent with every request attended to promptly and with a smile. Qatar offers a very good coach product overall and is a superior alternative to Emirates if you are headed to Asia or the Middle East.

Flying in Business Class from Bali - Singapore - Doha on the new 777-300ER is a remarkable experience. Qatar is definitely up there amongst the best in terms of inflight product on the 777-300ER. The seat converts into a fully-flat bed and although the layout is very open (compared to SQ and EK) given the 2-2-2 layout walking over your neighbour in order to reach the aisle is not overly cumbersome. The food and service was excellent although am not a huge fan of some of their colour choices for their uniforms. I also really liked the PJs that you get although then you realize that the bathrooms are very small and changing is not that easy. SQ for example has a much bigger lavatory up front and also more stylish. Qatar could improve on this. What I'm not a big fan of is their IFE system. It seems very simplistic trying to move the mouse around the basic user interface and the choice of movies is lacking. This was perhaps the biggest drawback on my Qatar flight.

Munich-Doha-Perth. Munich to Doha on pretty empty 787. Lovely plane and flight. Doha airport painful long bus to and from planes. Had booked Oryx lounge which is well worth it. Doha-Perth full but service still quick. 777 not as nice as 787 but still perfectly comfortable. Overall short flight time but service not as good as Singapore air. Will try Qatar airlines again once new Doha airport one but likely to stick to Singapore air until then.

Doha - London LHR QR001. First Class Lounge at Premium Transfer Terminal very nice but boarding process was quite disorganized. The car that was to transfer me to the plane came only after all business class passengers left to buses while I had to wait at the gate door. Onboard the A330 was new and clean seats comfortable staff were very attentive and friendly. Food was outstanding the best first class food I ever had. The greatest drawback was the IFE. Films were very poorly chosen and there was quite a limited number of them. Will fly Qatar in the future but only if they improve their boarding process and IFE.

BKK-DOH-HBE. Economy Class. It is the first time we have flown economy for a few years and will probably be the last. Seats are cramped person in front put his seat back when we tried the person behind complained so I was sitting 4 inches from the screen. Food average. Will travel again on Qatar but only in Business Class.

21/12/13 LHR-DOH-BKK 5/01/14 BKK-DOH-LHR. What did I think of the service? In a word impressive! Now a days when some airlines seem to think of economy passengers as 'self loading cargo' it was refreshing to receive a level of service that I thought no longer existed! Very comfortable cabins very good catering and impressed with the cabin staff. Last time I flew to Asia I used Gulf Air: They out classed them.

Flew Zurich-Doha-Bangkok in coach. What I experienced was not surprising but rather confirmed the different things I had read about them: first off the planes are almost brand new and in excellent shape. The inflight system especially on the Dreamliner is worth its name. The seat comfort on the 777 is superior to the 787 but legroom is adequate in both for a person my size (I am 176cm). The flight crew on the flight deck are very well trained. Communication is excellent. But service quality is not being lived up to by the cabin crew. On both flights we had an extremely tired and unamused looking crew. No smiles no communication. Secondly: the food! While the chicken on the way from Zurich to Doha was easily a masterpiece the meal on the leg from Doha was simply inedible. Layover in Doha is something to be avoided. The transfer ride is tiring the terminal is awful and the food court easily the worst. All over a decent experience.

24 Dec 2013 QR 002 LHR-DOH and QR 832 DOH-BKK 25 Dec. Boarding on both flights chaotic. Although staff called for boarding by seat numbers nobody took any notice. Both flights full service on board was poor to say the least. Inflight food although served hot was not appetising drink rounds for water and juices had to go to galley and ask for them only brought through cabin once on each sector. I'll revert to previous carriers.

Economy SIN-ZRH-SIN via Doha. Flight operations were fine helped by the mostly very friendly and responsive staff and the use of state-of-the-art equipment (777/787). The choice and quality of the food was however nothing to rave about. Whatever its length any layover at Doha is painful to say the least. This is partially due to the poor infrastructure of the airport but also due to the rather chaotic organization of the airline's ground operations. On the way back I had a 8+ hour layover. I did not want to spend this time at the airport and booked a hotel. When enquiring at Zurich airport if I could leave the airport at Doha I was informed that this may be difficult. We still got off at the Arrival Terminal and - while the waiting period (about 1 hour) and the visa-on- arrival charge was a kick in the teeth immigration was smooth but getting away from the airport was again somewhat frustrating. The airline has potential but has to improve its ground services. In any case I will not take another flight with Qatar Airways until the new Doha airport is operational.

Travelled London (LHR) to Kilimanjaro (JRO) via DOH and DAR in economy. The check-in at London was smooth. I was not impressed with the Dreamliner (787) that QR used for the flight from London to Doha and vice versa. The IFE did not work so we didn't have anything to watch or listen to. Some of the toilets were already in a mess. FAs were friendly and helpful. I should give them credit for trying to make the journey enjoyable. Flight from Doha to Kilimanjaro and the return flight were OK. The food was also average. Would I recommend QR? I would if you get the right price and if there is no choice.