Review of Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Washington in Economy

Report No: 2022-602

Dear Flight-Report community, I am backed up with previous Flight-Report's that I've written in 2022 thus I would be start sharing them within regular intervals before I head up with newer 2023 ones which I'm also more excited to share with you.

Dear folks,

Welcome to this new series where I would cover another trip to the US with Qatar Airways. As I had an American Airlines voucher to be used, I booked this trip via American Airlines as flying with BA via London and QR via Doha was the same price when booked through American Airlines, I obviously chose the QR option as QR has better service compared to BA and flying a westbound transatlantic on a red-eye flight would allow me to sleep more easily reducing and almost eliminating jet lag.

The second and last report of this series would be the transatlantic leg of this trip which would be operated by a Qatar Airways 777-300ER after an equipment change from an A350 a few weeks ago from the flight. Before the flight, I was also able to visit the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge and would cover my dinner as well in this report

The routing for this series would be as following;

Loads for this flight

Business Class: 95-100%
Economy Class: 85-90% 

DOHA HAMAD AIRPORT - DOH

Since the previous flight from Istanbul has parked to a remote stand, we were dropped off at the East Transfer Security checkpoint and as there was a long wait, airport employees were directing everyone to the West Transfer Security checkpoint which would add a 5 minute walk thus I flashed my boarding pass with my Platinum status and a supervisor has allowed me to use the Premium Line at the East Transfer Security where there was almost no wait.

After clearing security, I used the elevators to go upstairs to the Al Mourjan Business Lounge which I was entitled to at that time.

QATAR AIRWAYS AL MOURJAN BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE - DOHA HAMAD AIRPORT

At that time, I flew this flight, Qatar Airways was continuing their goodwill gesture allowing oneworld Emerald ( Qatar Airways Privilege Club Platinum ) members to the Al Mourjan Lounge since the new Gold and Platinum Lounge's that are open at the present moment were still under construction.

This goodwill gesture was a pretty significant and enjoyable benefit for me as for two years in the pandemic, I benefitted from a better lounge experience even when flying Economy and the lounge made me loyal to Qatar Airways since it improved the transit experience significantly.

However, this was my last occasion using this lounge as an Economy Class passenger since the new Platinum Lounge is open and unless I pay to enter this lounge, I would no longer be admitted to it with my QRPC Platinum status when flying Economy or Business Lite.

Since I only had about 30 minutes to have dinner, I went directly to the restaurant and asked the attendant to write my name on the waiting list since the restaurant was at capacity. Within 2 minutes my name was called and I was invited upstairs to have a table.

After sitting at my table, it took a while for the server to approach me because it felt that they were understaffed and the servers ignored me when I tried to make eye-contact with them. Once the server approached me, I have ordered some rosé champagne and still water and the rosé champagne arrived within 2 minutes, but there was no sign of the bottle of water.

By the way, since I had limited time, I didn't order anything from the a la carte menu as it would have taken 15-20 minutes for the dishes to be prepared due to the wait at that time whereas I only had 30 minutes in total; thus, I decided to get some food from the buffet.

Since I ordered sushi at the time when the server first approached me, I reminded the server who brought me the sushi regarding water and then finally, a bottle of water had arrived at my table. While I was enjoying my starter plate a few minutes ago, I tried to create eye contact with the servers but they continued to ignore me.

Later on, it was time for dessert and I have got a cake and a pudding from the dessert bar and tried again to create eye contact with a server to have something hot with the dessert but again, most of the servers were not even looking at the people and just walking down the aisle looking straight so I didn't have time at all to enjoy a hot drink at Al Mourjan with my desserts.

To be honest, this wasn't the best Al Mourjan experience that I had but the lackluster of service and the difficulty to get attention of a staff member is quite annoying, especially at a 5* airlines flagship business class lounge.

GATE AREA & BOARDING

About 45 minutes before scheduled departure time, I have left the lounge and walked to our departure gate which was C1.
Eventually, that gate is one of the closest gates to the lounge so I was able to allow some extra time at the lounge.

While arriving at the gate, my documents were checked and I was directed to the Economy line despite showing my Platinum status twice for the security check at the gate which was also a pity as the Economy line was a bit longer than the Priority Line.

However, gate security was handled in 5-10 minutes, and I was in the departure lounge. They were boarding Group 2 at the time I entered the gate area.

At least, I was able to skip the queue this time by showing my Platinum status my the boarding pass, so that I could ensure I had space at the overhead bins for my carry-on.

QR 709 DOHA HAMAD AIRPORT TO WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT

After being welcomed by the crew, I have headed to my seat 19K for this flight.

On the seat, a pillow, a blanket, an amenity kit, a protective kit including masks, disinfectant gel and gloves, plus headsets were present.

To be honest, the legroom is quite good on these aircraft.

There is a USB port under the screen as well as a power outlet underneath the seats.

In addition, there are individual air nozzles over every seat which is a great feature to adjust the flow of air towards me. Some airlines prefer not to include this feature on their wide body aircraft and I am glad that Qatar Airways aircraft have them.

This Boeing 777-300ER is one of the older ones of the Qatar Airways fleet, thus, it was equipped with the older version of the Panasonic IFE system. However, still a decent amount of content was loaded into the system and it didn't have limited choices as my previous IST-DOH flight on the leased 777-300ER's had.

Here is the menu of the IFE system

Boarding ended a bit later than it was supposed to be and some passengers were angry as they have paid for an extra legroom seat and they found themselves at a regular row; as well as there were parties with multiple people paying for seats and getting separated. ( These were passenger claims directed towards the crew ). However, the crew was professional in this situation and was able to solve the problem. At that time, there were also seat swaps going and in the end, the seat next to me remained vacant which is something great for a 14 hour flight.

After boarding was complete, the safety video was monitored from the personal screens.

And, we have started to push back

While taxiing to the runway, it was time for plane spotting. Most aircraft that I spotted was a Qatar Airways aircraft as expected.

However, I was also able to spot a Middle Eastern Airways A321neo heading to Beirut that night.

As well as a Nepal Airlines A330 and a Turkish Airlines A321

Also not to skip the grounded Qatar Airways A350 aircraft parked near the Emiri terminal

After a short taxi, it was time for us to take off for a long transatlantic flight to Washington Dulles Airport.

While departing an advertisement about the Super Wi-Fi service was screened from personal monitors.

Since Qatar Airways asks for a fix price for this service on all of their flights having this service and as $10 for 14 hours is a decent value, I have purchased the Full Flight option onboard this flight.

However, if I didn't purchase Wi-Fi, I would still had 1 hour free access because of being a Qatar Airways Privilege Club member.

After takeoff we have headed westbound over Saudi Arabia and at that time the cabin crew in charge of my row, introduced herself and greeted me because of my status. She told that the meal service would start shortly but didn't ask my preference anytime before the cart arrived at my row.

Dinner was served about an hour after takeoff where there were three options which were beef, chicken and vegetarian. I have opted for the beef option which was served with a noodle salad, a dessert, bottle of water, infused bread and a choice of drink. I have asked for butter which was also promptly served.

As a disclaimer, I remembered taking a picture after having a few bites from the meat so the actual portion was larger than below.

After the meal service, I have asked for a green tea and a cup of water; however, the green tea never arrived back from the galley for the next 30 minutes, so then I decided to go for sleep.

I have waken up with the mid-flight service and regardless of my choice, I was straightly handed the vegetarian option and the crew serving ( this time a different attendant ) straight went to ask for a choice of drink. 

At that time we were over the North Sea and 55% of the flight was already in the past.

At that time, I decided to visit the lavatory which wasn't at perfect condition but still clean.

As you could notice, a rude passenger has left his empty bottle of water at the lavatory next to the sink instead of throwing to the trash cans.

Then, I went to sleep one more time and woke up just before the breakfast service was supposed to begin. Similar to the first two services, none of the crew members asked me about my choice before starting the meal service, and despite that, all three choices were available when the trolley came to my row.

For this meal service, the tray came with the main course, a fruit plate, a fruit yoghurt, a croissant, a bottle of water and a strawberry jam. I have requested butter for the croissant which was promptly served.

Also while I was writing this report, I realized that it would be on the spot to appreciate Qatar Airways since during their meal services, they heat the bread/croissant even in Economy Class, while some other carriers like British Airways wouldn't even budge to heat bread in their premium cabins.

I don't remember the exact options but I have opted for the frittata option this time, which was served with spinach, a chicken sausage, and potatoes

With the meal service, my choices of drinks were also promptly served.

After enjoying the meal, while my tray was collected, I asked for another cup of tea, which was promptly served.

About a few minutes later, we have started preparations for our descent so I have opened my window blind.
As a reference, neither the crew serving my area, nor the cabin supervisor came for the goodbye and thank you greeting before landing so I wasn't able to express my opinions about the service level and some other issues that happened on this flight.

While descending I was able to take a photo of this United 737-700 just departed Washington Dulles bound to St. Thomas, USVI.

Washington Dulles Airport from the air

An Emirates A380 had arrived just before us and at that time I hoped that this wouldn't affect the queues at the immigration hall.

Making an U-turn at the air so that we could land according to the landing pattern at that time where landings were handled northwards.

And we have landed ahead of schedule.

My spotting at IAD started with the private jets near the General Aviation terminal

The Main Saarinen Terminal which had no aircraft attached at that time

Air India 787-8 parked at the gate waiting for its flight to Delhi as AI 104.

And we were going to park at gate A23/A25

And when the seatbelt signs have switched off, everyone rose up while the crew closed the curtain between Business Class and Economy Class.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT - IAD

Once all Business Class passengers disembarked it was our turn and after saying goodbye to the crew, it was time to leave the aircraft and head to the moon buggy taking us to the immigration hall.

A last view of A7-BAC which I rode for the second time; if you wonder when did I rode this aircraft for the first time you could find the respective Flight-Report here of that specific flight.

Despite an Emirates A380 arriving a few minutes before us, the immigration hall was empty, where there was no wait at all which was a pleasant experience since IAD immigration queues could get horrible sometimes leading to waits of multiple hours.

Then I left the airport with the 5A bus to the city center and the journey has came to an end.

Thanks for reading this report and hope you enjoyed it.
Hope to see you at the next Flight-Report.