Hello Flight-Report #Avgeeks. I've been away for awhile, mostly making changes to this RTW adventure I'll be sharing over the coming days. Planning for this trip began back in 2017 when the schedule opened for reward tickets to be used in August 2018. The destination was Australia. I was waiting for a specific flight going west to Australia to become available when the schedule hit 331 days out. At that time Qatar had just introduced their Q-Suite business class seat. It was only being flown on Paris and London routes to Doha. On a whim I searched for CDG to Sydney. Bingo, Q-Suites to Doha and A380 service in first class to Sydney. Going east now. (BTW: the westbound flight opened but this was more fun!)
Numerous changes were made, what else is new, but in the end it was an
Epic Journey.
KLM ORD-AMS B747-400 Business Class - click to view
KLM AMS-CDG B737 Business Class - no report
Qatar CDG-DOH B777-300 Business Class / Qatar CDG Lounge - this report
Qatar DOH-SYD A380 First Class / DOH Al Safwa First Class Lounge - to come
Qantas SYD-CNS B738 Business Class - to come
Virgin Australia CNS-BNE B737 Business Class - to come
Qantas BNE-MEL B787-9 Business Class - to come
Qantas MEL-SYD A300-2 Business Class / MEL 2nd day open Business Class Lounge - to come
Singapore Airlines SYD-SIN Suites Class / SYD Krisflyer First Class Lounge - to come
Singapore Airlines SIN-PEK First Class / SIN Private Room - to come
Lufthansa PEK-MUC First Class - to come
Lufthansa MUC-FRA A321 Business Class / MUC First Class Lounge - to come
Singapore Airlines FRA-JFK Suites Class - to come
JetBlue JFK-ORD E190 Economy Class - no report
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 a 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.
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A very creative display of food and beverage items were presented. Even some fake food.
The rest was real.
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You could also order from a limited a la carte menu.
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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.
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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. I left it.
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 9AM departure alcohol wasn't on my mind. Just a coffee please. But we can take a look.
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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 has 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.
For information about reward pricing of this flight click here
Oh no, how disappointing not to get the Qsuites! But yeah, like you said it's super risky planning trips around a specific aircraft type--murphy's law is always there to mess things up. It's surprising QR are still operating aircraft with that old cabin--that can't be good for their image. It has a UA-Faularix Hyped-up-marketing feel to it.
The renovated QR lounge in T1 looks amazing, though!
Hi Kevin,
When the change happened I tweeting it. Qatar actually DM'd me. They asked for my booking reference and seemed willing to do something. As soon as they found out it was an American Airlines award ticket they lost interest. I still maintain to sell seats in a cabin that you are advertising to be the premier cabin, then change it is bad business. It's one thing to change aircraft with the same seats. This I felt was different.
And yes the lounge was super nice. Just remember it's before security, not by the gate which the check in agent stated it was. I passed security then had to exit and return. A mess.
Thanks for reading!
Disappointing to have a last minute aircraft change. But good report nonetheless!
Thanks for reading Singabore
Hi Mark and thanks for the next installment.
“At first it 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.”
-I share your disappointment in being TG’d by QR. Indeed, the hard product on the 777W is fairly ordinary.
“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.”
-Wow, wow, wow what a beautiful lounge. Such a far cry from the abysmal AF lounge they used to contract in T1.
“To Qatar's credit (and this is an assumption), I noticed on the seat map that the seat next to me was blocked.”
-Bingo, direct aisle access!
“I don't remember the candle on my prior Qatar flight. “
-And the LH salt and pepper grinders.
“And I am not sure why I ordered this. I should have ordered a glass of champagne and been done with it.”
-It looks rather OK, was not good in flavor?
“Taking a flight to fly a specific aircraft is risky, especially when the reservation is made a year in advance.”
- I guess that sums it up. Still an excellent report and good soft product so thanks for sharing. I sense the happy flying is about to begin again…
Hey Christian (your comments are timely)
Today I booked QSuites from ORD-DOH B777, then QSuites on the new A350-1K to Singapore and then New Singapore URL to SFO, inaugural flight!
-Yes saw your report on that one, you need to go back.
- I don't think I got up the whole flight. Slept
-Knew I'd seen those somewhere before!
Nothing to want again. The hash was watery and egg omelets on a plane I detest.
Thanks again Christian,
"Today I booked QSuites from ORD-DOH B777, then QSuites on the new A350-1K to Singapore and then New Singapore URL to SFO, inaugural flight!"
-My goodness I'm green with envy. What a itinerary. What currencies did you use? Can ORD-DOH-SIN be one ticket with any program? I really want 2 try qsuites...