The whole purpose of being in Paris on this day was to catch a Qatar airways flight to experience Q-suites. Such are the perils of making reservations one year in advance.
At the time it was a great find. There were only 2 Q-suite routes, LHR and CDG to Doha. Add in a first class trip to the destination on an A380 and it was worth the extra points.
I was actually hoping for a aircraft change to the A350-1K. So I set an alert on Expert Flyer. Sure enough, about a month before departure this email arrived.
At first is was YES! Then as I scanned the email to see the New Aircraft it was an instant realization that I was going from the best business class seat Qatar offers to the worst.
Arriving at the airport early enough to check out the lounge was a priority. The Qatar lounge in Paris has recently been renovated. It is a beautiful lounge with plenty of different types of seating along with an outdoor terrace.
Breakfast was on the agenda so I headed to the back of the lounge where food is served.
A very creative display of food and beverage items were presented.
You could also order from a limited a la carte menu.
Soon it was off to the gate and inside the 777 that didn't have Q-Suites. I had pre-assigned 3K which was a window rear facing seat. After the aircraft swap I saw no reason to change. To Qatar's credit (and this is an assumption), I noticed on the seat map that the seat next to me was blocked. I don't know if this was because of the aircraft change or not. On the other hand the cabin wasn’t very full so it didn't really matter.
The cabin was dark, partially because the lights were dimmed and partially because of the Qatar colors.
The armrests slide open where a bottle of Evian water is given. Below that is a storage area for tablets and small laptops (if you break the rules) as well as reading material.
An amenity kit was distributed.
The IFE screen is small and placed in the seat back in front of you.
Finally the seat control on the outside armrest.
I may complain about the aircraft swap, but I slept pretty much the whole flight. Still adjusting to time change.
Being a morning departure alcohol wasn't on my mind. Just a coffee please. But we can take a look.
After breakfast in the lounge I wasn't famished for sure. But I ordered anyway.
I don't remember the candle on my prior Qatar flight.
And I am not sure why I ordered this. I should have ordered a glass of champagne and been done with it.
Do the French want bearnaise sauce with everything?
During breakfast the Alps offered some scenic views with the clouds appearing to be mountain snow caps.
Soon we were arriving in Doha which would allow me to forget about getting Q'd.
The fun is about to come.
Redemption Pricing
I used American points for this redemption. A first class redemption from Europe to Australia is 115,000 points. Minus the CitiBank discount the flight costs 105,000 points. To me it was worth it IF this flight was Q-suites. But it wasn’t and that make the redemption something I wouldn’t do again.
Carrier: Qatar Airways
Date: August 2018
Route: Paris De Gaulle - Doha
Flight #: 42
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300 Reg# A7-BAL
Configuration: J42 / Y293
Seat(s): 3K
On Time: Yes
Reward Flying Rating: 4.7 out of 10 ✈
Cabin:
✔︎Dingy comes to mind. However my well documented disappointment affects the ratings.
Seat Comfort:
✔︎I slept.
Cabin/Seats Rating: 4 out of 10 ✈
Amenities:
✔︎ A typical business class amenity kit, standard pillow and blanket and a bottle of water, Evian though.
Meals: Presentation:
✔︎An effort was made for a nice presentation.
Meals: Quality:
✔︎The food was fair. Egg omelettes are notoriously bad on airplanes. The beef hash was kind of watery. And I slept through afternoon finger sandwiches.
Amenity/Food rating: 5 out of 10 ✈
IFE:
✔︎Small screen, far away. Limited content.
WiFi:
✔︎ No wifi
IFE rating: 3.5 out of 10 ✈
Flight Attendants:
✔︎The crew did their job. They wasn't much in the way of personal interaction however.
Flight Attendant rating: 6 out of 10 ✈
Aircraft:
✔︎B777-300
Aircraft rating: 5 out of 10 ✈
What are your experiences flying Qatar Airways?
