Review – Qatar Airways Qsuites, Auckland – Doha

Yesterday I flew onboard the worlds 2nd longest flight from Auckland to Doha in Qsuites. If you’re a long-time reader of the blog, you’ll know I reviewed Qatar Business from Doha to Auckland but that was long before the closing door suites were introduced. For this flight, I used 80,000 American Airlines miles and around $150 in tax due to having to book so close to departure.

Qatar uses the Qantas Business Class lounge which is safe to say, awful, so I made my way through the airport to my gate and waited about 15 minutes before boarding. I wouldn’t normally do that but when a lounge is just too busy and loud, sometimes It’s not worth it to stay in there.

For this flight, I picked window 5K which is a rear facing Qsuite.

Qatar Airways Qsuites

As I made my way to the seat, the crew introduced themselves and welcomed me onboard. The staff were really outgoing and were able to have a good conversation with a smile, I could tell this would be a good flight.

Qatar Airways Qsuites

The cabin crew offered passengers a choice of pre-departure beverage, I went with the Lime and Mint drink as well as a glass of the famous (and very surprisingly tasty) So Jennie Champagne.

Traditional Lemon & Mint drink as well as So Jennie (non-alcoholic champagne)

Awaiting at your seat will be a pillow (which you’re allowed to take home), a blanket as well as a Brics amenity kit.

Qatar Airways Qsuites

The amenity kit contains anti aging cream, a face mist and some lip balm.

Brics Amenity Kit

Amenity Kit Lotion and Spray

After serving passengers their welcome drink, the menus and PJ’s for the flight were distributed.

Business Class Menus

Qatar Business Class PJ’s

The Qsuites are really a massive improvement upon the old Business Class seats. Qatar were the first airline to introduce closing doors in Business and they really did a good job with the seat, the finishes look fantastic, the IFE screen is large and responsive and there’s adequate storage in the space next to your seat.

Qatar Airways Qsuites

This incredibly powerful machine will be my view for the next 17 or so hours onward to Doha!

View from 5K

You’ll also find a mattress cover in your footwell, I also grabbed another blanket from an empty seat to use as an extra topper.

Blanket and Mattress Cover

Next to your seat is where your main storage compartment is. I was able to fit my Macbook, Ipad as well as a camera and lens in this, quite sufficient space. To the left you’ll see a small space, this is where you store your shoes.

Seat Storage

You’ll also find a reading light next to your seat.

Qatar Airways Qsuite

Seat Lighting

Our flight departed Auckland on time which is always nice, the loads for this flight were also not maxed out with quite a few empty Qsuites on this service.

Departure out of Auckland

Departure from Auckland

Here are the menu’s for the flight:

Just after takeoff, the crew started to get ready for the first meal service. It’s important to note that Qatar actually do dine on demand so you get to pick when you eat, this really helps for people connecting from or onto flights as well as people in a whole different time zone.

Qsuite 5K

I will say, Qatar did a really good job making this product look really visually appealing, the colours of the maroon, grey and white bench-top finishes look fantastic.

Qatar Airways Qsuites

Now not every seat is perfect and there are a few things I picked up on that I’ll talk about. The 1st one is the bed when it’s reclined fully flat, it’s not as comfortable as I had hoped. Now, Is it bad? Absolutely not, however, I just feel it’s very firm underneath and not as plush as I’ve seen on a few other carriers Business products. The 2nd is the width, I think it’s just a little too tight, I’m not a big person but it was pretty difficult for me to get a good angle to sleep on.

Qatar Airways Qsuite

My favourite thing about the Qsuites though has to be the closing door, I think most will agree with me on that.

Qatar Airways Qsuites

The crew started off the meal service with some warm nuts and I decided to get a Pineapple Juice Mocktail to start.

Pineapple Mocktail and Warm Nuts

To start off the meal service, a cured salmon with celeriac remoulade was served.

Cured Salmon

Dining Setup

And for the main, I decided to go with the gulf style chicken machboos which was amazing!

Arabic Style Machboos

I only decided to have a light meal as I was feeling sick before the flight. Once the meal service finished, I went to get changed into my PJ’s and came back to find my bed made up.

Qsuite Bed

For this flight, I was able to sleep the last 5 or 6 hours and woke up just before our arrival. The arrival into Doha is 11:05pm so I was planning to get off the plane and straight to the W to sleep.

Qatar Airways Qsuite

As the crew were preparing the cabin for arrival, one of them came to me and asked if there’s anything I’d like before they can’t service items so I decided to get some fruit.

Fruit Platter

Overall

My first experience onboard Qsuites was really positive. The crew were probably the best I’ve had on Qatar, the meal was fresh and hot when it was served and the seat overall is fantastic for privacy.

If you’re travelling together as a couple or family, the middle seats are really well designed for people wanting to interact with their fellow passengers and I’d recommend selecting these seats.