Flying Qatar Airways Qsuite for the first time

I’ve been dreaming about flying in Qatar Airways Qsuite for many years, and over the years, I explored many ways to make this dream come true. I accumulated Qatar Airways Avios points and was waiting for the right opportunity to redeem them for my dream Qsuite flight. My preference was to use the points in a flight to Toronto, simply because it’s a very long flight so I would maximize my experience. I was also eyeing flights to South Africa or maybe Southeast Asia, as I never imagined that I would ever have enough points to fly all the way to Toronto! However, one day, while checking the Qatar Airways app, I noticed that they were offering a mixed-cabin First/Business Class itinerary; First Class from Dubai to Doha, followed by Business Class from Doha to Toronto, for only 75,000 Avios points. It honestly looked unreal!

I didn’t think twice and took the offer right away. I booked the flight and started getting excited about finally experiencing Qsuite after dreaming about it for so many years.

And let me tell you something; this experience did not fail to impress. In fact, it exceeded my expectations and even my imagination. It was so impressive that even everyone I shared the photos with was impressed. It was by far the best flight experience I’ve ever had, and I would like to share with you more details about it by writing a detailed review in this blog. So, let’s go!

Dubai to Doha in Luxurious Qatar Airways First Class

The first leg of my flight started from Dubai, where I currently work and live. The flight from Dubai to Doha was at 5:50 AM, so I was at the airport at around 4:30 AM. I checked in at the counter in a breeze and was told that I would have access to the Ahlan First Class Lounge at Dubai Airport Terminal 1. After security, I literally stayed in the lounge for only 20 minutes as they were announcing boarding. I only had an espresso and a sweet there. I wish I had more time to explore the lounge, but that was not possible due to the lack of time.

It was the last call when I arrived at the gate. I boarded the plane, and this is when the beautiful surprise started. When I saw my beautiful, spacious seat, I thought: well, is it fair to call it a seat? I would rather call it a suite maybe! Well, it is a suite! And it is massively spacious, and everything about it looked and felt like royalty. Speaking of royalty, this is the kind of service you get with Qatar Airways when you fly First Class. It’s slightly above the service level in Business Class (which is still very high and which I am going to talk about in the next section of this blog), but everything about First Class felt one step above that.

The service started when the incredibly polite, friendly, and professional cabin crew came to my seat, addressed me by my last name (I asked her to call me with my first name Tahseen or even Taz, which is easier to pronounce and shorter), asked me for my choice of welcome drink, and handed me the menu for breakfast.

Minutes later, the freshest lemon-mint drink I’ve ever tried arrived. It smelled and tasted so fresh that despite being sleepy, the fresh smell of the drink woke up with excitement and energy. Then she served me some premium dates with Arabian coffee, which was so much needed at this time of the morning, and of course, a hot towel to refresh. After that, I was getting myself familiar with the seat until we pushed back and started our takeoff. Sadly, this flight was very short, only 40 minutes of flying. But despite being that short, it would always be memorable for the warmth of service I received on this flight and the quality of everything that was served to my seat.

The seat was incredibly spacious, with tons of storage space, and there was even the possibility for someone to sit with you, literally in front of you. I assume this is perhaps designed for a companion or a colleague travelling with you, although I can imagine it could be useful for an assistant or someone travelling as part of your team. Of course, the seat can also turn into a fully lie-flat bed, which would be perfect on a longer flight. There’s a massive amount of storage in the seat as I was easily able to store my carry-on there. The Wifi speed is very fast and it’s complimentary. Finally, the only thing it lacked was the complete privacy that you get with the Qsuite seats.

For the breakfast meal, I opted for the scrambled eggs breakfast, which was presented in an elegant way and tasted so brilliantly good. The crew kept coming back to my seat to ask me if I needed anything else. I had a cappuccino before landing.

I didn’t want this flight to end, although I was still excited about trying Qsuite over the Atlantic on my next flight. But I was telling myself that the next flight couldn’t get better than this. Finally, to make this short flight experience even more special, I was the only passenger in the First Class section, which consisted of only two rows, with four seats in each row. So, having the entire First Class cabin almost to myself definitely made the experience feel even more exclusive.

A Short Layover in Doha and a Glimpse of the Fancy Lounges

Once I arrived in Doha, I was picked up in a luxury bus for First Class from the plane to the terminal. What fascinated me about this bus was the quality of the seats; so amazingly comfortable! And the burgundy Qatar Airways interior was fascinating too. Literally, everything I was experiencing on this flight, I didn’t want it to end 🙂

We were driven to the terminal and, after security, I made a mistake, and I realized it was a mistake later. I had about 2 hours to kill at Doha Airport, so I could have utilized that time in a more enjoyable way. Instead of going to the First Class Al Safwa Lounge, I went to the Al Mourjan Lounge for Business Class thinking that I had no access to Al-Safwa First Class Lounge. Don’t get me wrong, Al Mourjan Lounge is still amazing, but it happened to be very crowded when I was there due to the busy departure time at Doha Airport, with so many packed flights to US destinations.

The Al-Mourjan Business Class lounge was very busy, but it was possible to find a peaceful spot in the business center inside the lounge. I wasn’t hungry at all and didn’t feel like drinking more coffee because I had already had a lot, so, I just opened my laptop and started responding to some emails.

Later, I realized that maybe I would have access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge because I had flown First Class from Dubai to Doha. So, I headed there and asked at the reception, and guess what? Yes, I had access! And guess what? I had missed an amazing opportunity to spend almost 2 hours in this splendid luxury lounge, which felt even more beautiful and exclusive than Al Mourjan Lounge. At least, it wasn’t as crowded.

It was a mistake, but something to learn from for the next time (I hope there will be a next time). Anyhow, I ended up spending only 15 minutes there, as the boarding announcement for my flight to Toronto started.

At the gate, I was “randomly” selected for an extensive security check, so it took a couple of minutes more. And then, later, the big dream was becoming true; here I am, face to face with my long-awaited Qatar Airways Qsuite.

The Qsuite – The Seat

The moment I was looking for has finally arrived; here I am in front of my suite. Before entering it, I quickly took some photos of it, although my immediate reaction once I entered the cabin this time was that it was rather crowded, and I started to hear some crying babies (I’ll tell you more about this later). The Business Class cabin on this Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000 consists of 24 Qsuites arranged in 1-2-1 configuration across 6 rows, giving every passenger direct aisle access and their own private suite. Anyhow, I quickly snapped some shots, placed my carry-on in the overhead bin, and sat inside my suite. It’s a private suite, so it’s possible to close the door and feel completely disconnected once the plane takes off.

Once I sat in my seat, which was a rear-facing seat, I found an amenity kit waiting for me, from a French luxury niche brand called Diptyque. I was greeted by a cabin crew member a few moments after I sat down. He was a nice and polite guy, but I honestly had a hard time understanding what he was saying, maybe because of the noise, maybe because I was so sleepy, or maybe his accent wasn’t very clear. He sounded like a Spanish-language speaker, but I didn’t ask him where he was from exactly; he could have been from South or Central America. He offered me a welcome drink to choose from, and once again, I opted for lemon with mint. This time, it was still great, but it wasn’t as fresh as the one I had on the previous First Class flight. He handed the menus to me (extensive food and drinks menus), and guess what else? The pyjamas! It was so comfy to wear them during this flight, and they helped a lot to relax and fall asleep later.

I started to get myself familiar with the seat. Of course, it’s a top-class seat, very functional and incredibly private, with the ability to slide the door and close the suite once the flight is in the air. But I noticed that the storage space isn’t as spacious as the First Class seat that I had on the previous flight. At the end of the day, it’s impossible to get everything unless you’re on a private jet, correct?

Prior to the flight, I did a quick research about the best seat for this flight, and it turned out to be either 3K or 5K. I wanted to choose 3K first, but it was already gone, so I chose 5K instead. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a rear-facing seat, but it’s closer to the window, and there’s a space between the sliding door of the suite and the cabin, which makes it even more private than the forward-facing seats that are configured in the opposite direction (further away from the window but physically closer to the sliding door).

After take-off, the service started, but on Qatar Airways, they have on-demand dining, which means you can order food whenever you feel like it. Since I wasn’t hungry and was feeling so sleepy, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to change into the pyjamas and convert the seat into a bed.

I asked a cabin crew member to help me with preparing the bed, went to the washroom to change (which was spacious and very clean, by the way), and came back to find a bed waiting for me. I attempted to take a short nap for about an hour or so.

The Service

After waking up from sleeping for about an hour, I decided to call the cabin crew member and ask for breakfast to be served. I had three choices: Qatari breakfast (which is pretty much Egyptian breakfast, but that’s a story for another day), tomato and cheddar cheese omelette with chicken sausage, and coconut chia pudding.

Well, since I had scrambled eggs on the previous flight, I wanted to try something new, so I opted for the so-called Qatari breakfast, which is basically Ful Medames, a popular breakfast dish in Egypt. I have no idea why they call it Qatari. Anyhow, unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be that good and the bread was dry and maybe not as fresh as it should be. However, the fresh fruit starter and the selection of bakery items were amazing.

Before serving the breakfast, the friendly cabin crew member insisted that I should drink something, and since I had heard a lot about their signature luxury non-alcoholic sparkling drink, I ordered it. To my lovely surprise, it was so amazing that I had three glasses during this 13-hour flight!

After the breakfast, I had a cappuccino and decided to relax, but I loved that bubbly drink so much that I couldn’t resist ordering another one.

I relaxed, started watching a movie and browsing my phone. By the way, the Wi-Fi connection was complimentary, and the speed was phenomenal!

I relaxed again and probably fell asleep until I woke up and was ready for the main meal, which I was truly looking forward to. It was the grilled Angus beef tenderloin, which turned out to be spectacular. Not only was the taste phenomenal, but the presentation and the top-notch service were also amazing.

But even before this main dish was served, a truly tasty mezze trio was served (it’s also called Qatari in the menu). But let’s just not argue too much about the origin of the dish and simply call it Arabic mezze.

And after the Angus beef tenderloin, the sweet finale was served, which consisted of a berry cheesecake. It was, once again, out of this world! Truly fascinating taste. A moment later, the cabin crew member asked me if I would like a cheese platter, but this was when I was forced to ask him to stop serving me food, as I was super full. I wish I had more appetite to try the cheese, but unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to eat anything more.

After that big meal, I continued watching a movie and then decided to fall asleep. This time, I fell asleep for more than three hours and was woken up by the cabin crew about an hour before landing. I remember being somewhere over Greenland when I fell asleep, and then I woke up to find myself over Quebec, less than an hour away from Toronto. The cabin crew member asked me if I would like to have a light meal, so I opted for smoked salmon on a bagel with cream cheese and a cappuccino.

Overall, the service throughout the flight was simply exceptional. The cabin crew were incredibly attentive and very professional, always making sure that I had everything I needed without ever feeling intrusive. From the moment I asked for the bed to be prepared, through the meals, drinks, and everything in between, the level of service remained consistently high. They genuinely made me feel well taken care of throughout the entire 13-hour flight, and this is definitely one of the things that made the Qsuite experience so incredibly special.

Summary

If you made it to this section without feeling bored and while being so excited reading about this experience, then I would like to thank you for putting in the effort to read this. This is my favourite section, as I can write freely here about my experience without any structure or boundaries.

Where shall I start to describe my amazing experience with Qatar Airways? I simply can’t imagine any other airline that can provide a similar experience, and I’m talking about the whole experience here, not only the private suite, the top-notch service, or even the food. No! The whole experience, from the very first short flight from Dubai to Doha in First Class, how I was greeted onboard, how I was served like royalty, and how I was picked up from the plane to the terminal in that luxury bus.

The whole experience, from the beginning till the end, was so exceptional that when we were approaching Toronto Pearson Airport, despite being excited about seeing friends and family there, I truly wanted to stay up in the air for a couple more hours and continue indulging in this amazing, exceptional experience.

I’m so happy I had the chance to experience it and have such a wonderful flying experience. However, I wish the flight from Dubai wasn’t so early. Due to the early departure time, I probably woke up at 3 AM that night, so I wasn’t in my best mood because of the lack of sleep. Although the experience itself kept me excited, I would probably have been even more excited and would have had more appetite if the flight hadn’t been that early.

One last thing I noticed during the flight was that, at times, some passengers were quite loud, and there were also moments when some children were not being kept settled. This was a little disturbing at times, especially when I was trying to sleep, and I eventually had to use earplugs. But honestly, this is something completely outside the airline’s control, and these things can happen on any long-haul flight. After all, we are sharing the cabin with other people, and a 13-hour flight is a long time for everyone. I just wish if the cabin was more silent but we can’t get everything that we wish for.

Finally, as I mentioned above, I redeemed 75,000 Avios Points to buy this ticket from Dubai to Toronto on First and Business Class Cabins. On top of the points, I paid AED 1,145 which is only USD 310 in taxes and fees. I believe that it was an amazing deal!

After having this experience, I guess I would do my best to fly with Qatar Airways in Business Class again, even if I had to pay the full fare for it. I believe that it is an exceptional experience, and it’s definitely worth it. I guess this is all I wanted to share about this amazing flight for now.

Qatar Airways, you deserve 5 stars!