Over Christmas time I had to visit family back in the Dominican Republic and looked into flights from Asia-USA. Notoriously I have found the best deals out of Jakarta and this was an especially good deal. Roundtrip on QR for 2300$ USD over peak travel season sounded like a no-brainer.
Having stayed at the TWA the night before after landing from the Dominican Republic it was time to take the train to terminal 8. In doing this I arrived 20 minutes before departure. Usually, I make an effort to visit the lounge but unless I'm flying flagship first on AA I don't think the business lounge has much to offer.
All checked in I had to do the dreaded walk to the other side of the terminal which is always irritating but nonetheless I was soon to be onboard Q suites!
Boarding commenced on-time and I quickly found my seat of 8A for today's flight.
I was greeted warmly by the FA's and offered a pre departure beverage which consisted of well you guessed it, champagne.
The 777-200LR is a treat to be on since not many airlines use them anymore.
Q suites are a fantastic product that features a fully enclosed door. It also comes with spacious seats/beds and all the bells and whistles such as an amenity kit, pajamas, and more.
Today I was flying alone but the middle seats in odd rows turned into double beds and of course all the famous 4 person quadrant for families, great design QR!
Since QR uses terminal 8 and we had a 31L departure it was a longgggg taxi of about 30 minutes give or take
I do always love this taxi since sitting on the left hand side of the plane you can see many interesting aircrafts!
However, soon enough we were up up and away bound for Doha!
Seat 8A has some incredible views!
Qatar offers a dine-on-demand concept but I was starved so opted to have lunch right after take-off.
The crew was happy with that and was inclined to acquiesce to my request.
At this time QR was serving Alexandra which kept me happy the whole flight, not sure about right now as haven't flown them since.
Below is what the food menu looked like onboard this 12-hour flight.
The table was set to perfection with their signature candle and the amuse bouche was delivered to the seat. Something to note is that the crew on QR are so busy during first meal times but continue to be friendly yet also professional.
For the starter, I chose the beef carpaccio but they brought around the mezze by accident. They later brought me the carpaccio as well and apologized for the mix-up. The mezze is great in Qatar while the carpaccio was okay. Champagne was constantly touched up throughout the meal.
The QR meal service ambiance is exceptional
I opted to go with the surf and turf which was delicious and definitely one of the better business class steaks I have had. Along with a glass of red it was a good main course.
After finishing up the Beef I asked if something else was available just to try out something different. The crew said they would check and let me know.
The crew informed me that the sea bass was available.
Holy smokes was it good, amazing.
Very small thing to note was after I had finished my wine they didn't clear the glass until I was finished with the meal. I don't mind at all but I know some people can be nitpicky on service.
The only issue with this flight is trying to adjust to Asia time since it's theoretically a 10-10 flight US time. The whole flight I was awake so didn't get to use the bed. However on the next flight to CGK I slept the whole 8 hours and the bedding is nice while the seat is spacious. The footwells are larger than some aircraft although not comparable to F in anyway. Better that Polaris that is for sure.
After doing some work I decided to relax and watch Crazy Rich Asians while the crew constantly came around and topped off my Alexandra and sparkling water, yes you read that correct, water!
At this point we were about halfway through the flight.
When the crew came around again I made a joke about cocktails and asked if she would surprise me with a cocktail, but one that isn't on the menu. This is a fun game I like to play sometimes if the crew seem open and happy to it which is only sometimes the case since occasionally crew don't like doing this. This specific FA seemed really excited and over the next 4 hours she made me some cocktails which were all amazing. She didn't tell me what was in them since I didn't want to know but it's these FA's that make a flight stellar.
I watched a little bit more of pitch perfect and switched back to mimosas since well it was 4am in Doha so seemed suitable.
Before I knew it we were approaching Doha and the crew came around to offer me chocolates which were amazing.
A change back out of the PJ's and it was time to begin our descent. The FA came around to thank me for flying QR and said she had fun making cocktails while being happy I liked them (my apologies as I forgot to take pictures of them, I'm kind of new to this).
We touched down a little bit ahead of schedule which never hurts since I had a connecting flight on an A350 to CGK in an hour and a half.
Now this is where a conundrum came up as since I was exhausted I forgot my hat on the plane, it's a very special hat to me. Yes it was my fault for forgetting it but once I got to the transfer desk I went over to enquire about getting it back. Long story short there was a small argument as they didn't want to look into it but eventually (after 10-15 minutes) they asked the cleaners to take a look since they were onboard already. No hat was to be found, interesting. This was the only small fault as I felt like it could have been handled better by the agent as a paid J customer but like I said it was my fault I shouldn't have left it on the plane.
I headed through transit security to a packed lounge before passing out on an A350-900 with Q suites to Jakarta.
Side note- I'm just getting into reviewing travel, always loved aviation and fly about 120 times a year. What would you like to see more of ion the reviews? More pictures? Less words? Would love some feedback! Thanks for reading!
Nice report once again! I have yet to fly Q Suites, but from everything I've seen it definitely is one of the best J seats.
Exactly--that's what makes Q Suites great. They work for solo travellers as well as couples and families travelling together. That's a (minor) problem I have with a lot of less flexible Business class seating arrangements is the separation that can make it difficult when travelling with family--and I mostly travel with my kid. I know such a first world problem, which is why it's a "minor" inconvenience, and I realise most ppl travel alone for business so they like the separation.
QR often have some very good deals from Southeast Asia so for that price it is a no-brainer, as you mention. It's barely more than Y to travel in ultimate comfort.
Thanks for sharing!