This Qatar QSuites Business Class Review is from our Doha to New York JFK flight, the last of our African safari. For the prior posts please see:
Review: Qatar QSuites Business Class 777-300ER ORD-DOH
Review: Four Seasons Doha, Qatar
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Review, Doha to Zanzibar
Review: Coastal Aviation Cessna 208
Review: Singita Sabora Tented Camp
Review: Aspire Lounge, Nairobi Airport
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class A320 Nairobi to Doha
Qatar QSuites 777-300ER Cabin and Best Seats
Qatar QSuites on the 777-300ER offers 42 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, across 11 rows (row 7 only has 2 middle seats). Note that all A and K window seats are rear facing, but assuming that's not an issue, those are my top picks as best seats. Why? Because these seats are closest to the window, whereas B and J seats, although also window seats, have the seat closest to the suite door and the aisle, so closer to foot traffic and not as quiet or private.
I do recommend avoiding seats that are close the galleys or lavatories, that is, rows 1, 6, 7, and 8. That leaves 3A/3K, 5A/5K and 10A/10K as the best seats for solo travelers, or even for those traveling together who don't need to sit together, and prefer window seats.
If you are traveling as a group of 4, you can request quads formed out of middle pairs of seats, so that you can more easily enjoy a meal together. While 5 quads are possible, I'd suggest trying for the most central one in the forward cabin, 3E/3F combined with 4D/4G so that you won't be too close to the galleys or lavatories.
Qatar QSuites Business Class Seat
Qatar QSuites Business Class seats are 2.5 inches wide, good for Business Class; Qatar A320 and Etihad A320 Business Class are also 21 inches wide, Cathay Dragon A320 Business Class seats are 20 inches wide and American Airlines Business Class on the A321 transcon is only 19 inches wide.
Next to the seat is a bench, which encloses storage space. There's a tray for a phone and small items, and a bottle of Evian water is already there, handy for when you get thirsty mid-flight.
Seat Controls are Below a Curved Counter Area Next to the IFE Screen, within easy reach of the seat. There's a Do Not Disturb (DND) button for privacy that you can press; it illuminates your seat number outside the suite in red.
Here's my Qatar QSuites Business Class YouTube Video Review:
Qatar QSuites Business Class Menu and Dining, DOH-JFK
It was quite hectic when we boarded, as business class was sold out, with no empty seats, and the flight crew clearly had their hands full. I asked one flight attendant hurrying by if I could have a some orange juice, but it was at least 7-8 minutes until she was able to bring it.
Usually an oshibori (refreshing towel) is brought at the same time as the welcome drink, but in this case I was only asked at the time my juice was brought if I'd like a cold or hot towel (a nice touch–Qatar is the only business class I'm aware of where you're given this choice). The towel came a few minutes later.
Our flight departed at 1:20am from Doha, and while we'd gotten some sleep at the Oryx Doha Airport Hotel, it wasn't a full night. As soon as we were at cruising altitude, I enlisted the help of the flight crew to make my son's seat into a flat bed, so he could get some more rest.
As I hadn't had any dinner the night before, I was quite hungry, and opted to have dinner. Here were the menus for our Doha to NYC flight:
While meals were being heated up, we were served a drink and some mixed nuts, although the nuts were room temperature and not warm.
There was a tofu amuse bouche that was ok, although I'm not a big fan of tofu and didn't care for it. The crab amuse bouche on our outbound Chicago to Doha flight was far better.
Neither of the appetizer choices appealed, so I went straight to the main course, for which I'd chosen the Smoked King Fish. The fish itself was tasty, if a bit overcooked, but the vegetables were considerably overcooked. It also seemed to be missing the olive tomato salsa and rocket salad.
The highlight of the meal was definitely the molten chocolate cake dessert, even though the interior wasn't that molten. It was attractively plated, however, and the raspberry coulis was a welcome complement to the rich dark chocolate. Unfortunately the macadamia nuts noted in the menu description were missing.
Prior to landing we had some breakfast. Unfortunately, there weren't any more Greek yogurt parfaits available–the purser confided, when I asked, that there were only 7 loaded for the flight, even though there were 42 passengers on this full business class flight. She was able to find me some plain yogurt from economy, which I appreciated, even though it wasn't very good.
Fortunately there were still some berries left from the dessert menu, so I had those, along with some orange juice, to start.
I followed that with the Emmental Cheese Omelet, which was fine but not memorable, and came with a chicken medallion, overcooked asparagus and potatoes. There were supposed to be some button mushrooms, but they were were missing from the plate.
I also had a decaf cappuccino that was good, although as I've mentioned in other Qatar posts, my favorite hot beverage on Qatar flights is the Karak Chai with cardamom. Since it's caffeinated, I didn't want to have it this time, as we'd be arriving in NYC early morning and would need a nap to get back on schedule.
Qatar QSuites Flat Bed and Sleep Quality
Qatar QSuites seats recline into a flat bed that is 79 inches long. Most business class products provide a blanket but no sheet or mattress pad, whereas Qatar does provide a quilted thin mattress pad to cover the seat, and a pillow case for the large pillow, both very nice touches, in addition to the blanket. Here's a close-up of the quilted mattres pad:
Since the bed remains on the very firm side, I find it much more comfortable to bring along an inflatable Thermarest mattress pad. Thanks to the mattress pad I was able to get several hours of sleep on the flight.
The Verdict
This was our second Qatar QSuites Business Class flight, and as with the first, it was a full cabin. I like many aspects of the hard and soft product, including the closing suite doors and privacy of the suite, especially the rear-facing A and K window seats; the use of a mattress liner and pillow case; pajamas and slippers; and dine on demand dining.
On the other hand, given how full the QSuites cabin is on major routes such as between JFK and Doha and Chicago and Doha, these routes really should be catered better so as not to run out of basic breakfast choices, such as the yogurt parfait, and should be staffed better as well, since there was a long wait for virtually everything I requested. I also dislike the lack of room in the footwell area.
As business class products go, I still prefer JAL Sky Suite Business Class as long as I'm in a window seat, since the suite is extremely private, without the cramped footwell issue of Qatar QSuites or other Business Class products such as Brussels Business Class and SWISS Business Class, plus, JAL Sky Suite Business Class provides an airweave memory foam type mattress pad, which no other business class product provides.
Recommended Posts
Qatar Business Class Tip: Pre-Reserve Meals in Advance
Awful Qatar Business Class Award Availability on U.S. Routes
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I thought QR exclusively flies the A350-1000 between JFK and DOH. Was this an aircraft swap?
Yes, exactly right. Normally it would be an A350-1000 on this route, with a larger forward business class cabin, one where I recommend seats 3A/3K, 5A/5K and 7A/7K, we had an equipment swap. I’ll have a future review of an A350 QSuites flight for Doha to Houston.