Qatar Airways 777-300ER Qsuite Business Class Review

Qatar Airways launched its revolutionary Qsuite Business Class in 2017, attracting rave reviews and raising the standard for Business Class across the world. Since its introduction, Qatar Airways has gone from strength to strength, winning four of the last five Skytrax Best Airline awards.

You’ll find the Qsuite on selected Boeing 777s and Airbus A350-900s, as well as all of Qatar Airways’ A350-1000s. Australians can fly Qsuites from Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide to Doha, including Qatar’s tag flight that runs from Adelaide to Doha via Melbourne. From Perth and Sydney to Doha, you’ll be on an Airbus A380, which uses the same seat as the Boeing 787-8 in Business Class.

When booking on the Qatar Airways website, the airline will even display whether the aircraft flying the route searched has Qsuites. Although Qatar Airways does change aircraft frequently, they often rebook to Qsuite-equipped alternative flights if available.

This shows how proud Qatar Airways is of their flagship product. But is it still just as good in 2024 as it was seven years ago? I’ll answer that question in this review of Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-300ER Business Class.

Flight Details

Flight number	QR934
Route	Doha (DOH) to Manila (MNL)
Aircraft type	Boeing 777-300ER
Class of travel	Business Class
Seat number	3K
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

The full itinerary I booked was a return trip from Manila to Rome, with a stop in Doha in both directions. Originating from Manila allowed me to take advantage of cheaper Business Class fares to Europe from the Philippines.

In total, the trip cost AUD3002 (USD2,000 at time of booking). The segment between Doha and Manila, which I am reviewing in this article, earned 4,250 Qantas points and 100 status credits.

I booked the cheapest available fare, which at the time of booking was the “Business Classic” category that includes lounge access. However, Qatar Airways also offers a “Business Lite” fare on some routes which doesn’t include lounge access, nor seat selection prior to check-in.

Rather than paying cash, you could use points to book Qatar’s Qsuite Business Class, including from Australia. While you can use Qantas points to book Qatar Airways Business Class, Qatar only releases Business Class seats to Qantas three days prior to departure.

It’s easier to find reward seats on Qatar Airways using Velocity points or Avios. Note that Virgin Australia does apply carrier charges on Qatar Airways reward seats. On a one-way itinerary from Australia to Europe, for example, you would pay 139,000 Velocity points + ~$750-$850 in taxes & carrier charges.

Alternatively, using Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios on an Australia-Europe itinerary in Business Class would set you back 90,000 Avios + ~$550 in taxes and fees. You can transfer Amex points to Privilege Club at a 2:1 rate, or PayRewards points at 3:1. (a 2:1 transfer partner with AMEX, 3:1 with PayRewards). This is still cheaper than using Velocity points, even though Privilege Club recently increased its reward fees.

Airport Experience

I arrived at Doha’s Hamad International Airport on a connecting flight from Rome, which parked at a remote stand. After a 15-minute bus ride to the terminal, I cleared transit security through one of the separate lanes available for premium passengers.

After security, there is a direct lift to the Al Mourjan South Lounge. This is one of two Al Mourjan lounges (the other being Al Mourjan – The Garden, in the new section of the terminal). Both these lounges are only for travellers in Business Class; status cannot get you into the Al Mourjan lounges! (Qatar Airways has different lounges available to Economy passengers with Oneworld or Velocity status.)

The Al Mourjan Lounge South

The Al Mourjan Lounge South is huge, with multiple distinct sections. The first thing that fixated my attention was the giant water feature, encapsulating the overall feeling of grandeur and calmness.

On the main floor, there is an abundance of seating with individual seating arrangements in the centre flanked by lounges against the wall. At various points in the lounge are sculptures and other art designs, which help to partition the space.

There’s a small deli bar at one end of the lounge, which contains a selection of cold bowls.

The Al Mourjan South Lounge has shower suites available for use, along with multiple bathrooms. The shower toiletries are provided by Dyptique, and you’ll also find attendants on duty.

The single best feature of this lounge is the main dining area, located on the mezzanine floor. As I only had about an hour between flights, I went straight up the stairs to this dining area which consists of single large room. It has multiple buffet stations offering a great selection of hot and cold food options.

There’s a staffed bar, with a wide selection of drink options.

A la carte dining is also offered, with menus available at each table via a QR code (and on the Qatar Airways website). I chose the spiced prawns, which were fantastic. I’m also a massive fan of Qatar Airways’ signature lemon and mint drink, so ordered that to accompany the meal.

The lounge has a gaming room, a business centre, prayer rooms, quiet relaxation pods and a smoking lounge available on the ground floor. There are also lockers available for use, should you wish to explore Hamad International Airport or simply not worry about your bags. Frustratingly, the lounge uses the airport Wi-Fi rather than a dedicated network, coming with interruptions and generally slow internet speeds.

Boarding

I left the lounge at boarding time, arriving five minutes after boarding had started. Despite the gate lounge being super busy, the staff did enforce priority boarding strictly and I was soon on board.

The Hard Product

Qatar Airways uses its “high-density” Boeing 777-300ER on the Doha-Manila route, with 24 Business Class seats and 388 Economy Class seats.

The Qatar Airways Business Class seat

Business Class is in a 1-2-1 configuration, with six rows between the first and second doors. Each seat is lie-flat and comes with a fully-closing privacy door, although people walking in the aisle can still look into your suite.

Each seat alternates in two different ways. Firstly, seats alternate between being more exposed to the aisle, and having the console between the seat and the aisle. Secondly, seats that are further away from the aisle face backwards.

I chose seat 3K, a backward-facing seat on the right window side, which was closer to the window. Even with the door closed, the seat felt incredibly spacious, with plenty of storage options available.

The seat is fully lie-flat, converting to a two-metre long bed. I found there was plenty of space in the footwell, even when lying flat. In part, this is due to the staggered design, so the footwell fits in the console of the next seat.

Entertainment and Wi-Fi

The entertainment selection was also excellent. Qatar Airways’ Oryx One system provides plenty of content, from TV show seasons to new movie releases. The touch-screen was large, high definition and responsive.

Qatar Airways also offer Wi-Fi onboard, advertised as ‘Super Wifi’. If you attach your Privilege Club membership number to your booking (or join onboard), you can access one hour of free internet. In the end, I purchased the full-flight pass for USD10 (~AU$15).

Wi-Fi speeds were generally quite solid, although they fluctuated a little throughout the flight.

Overall, Qatar Airways’ Qsuite on the Boeing 777 is an extremely comfortable seat, with great tech, privacy and space.

The Soft Product

Qatar Airways offers an extensive dining experience in Business Class, with quality amenities as well.

Amenities and bedding

Waiting at my seat were pillows, a blanket, amenity kit, headphones and a face wipe. The dress pillow bears a landmark of a destination that the airline flies to – an awesome touch!

Qatar’s headphones are noise cancelling and were fine, although not particularly high quality.

The amenity kit is from Diptyque, and contains a variety of items including socks, lip balm and moisturiser:

Qatar Airways also offers pyjamas in Business Class, which are very comfortable. However, they definitely are on the larger side! As small-size pyjamas go quickly, I’d advise asking the flight attendant proactively for a small pair if you would prefer that.

After dinner, the flight attendant cleared my tray table and came to set up a mattress pad for the seat, adding that extra bit of comfort!

While the flight attendant set up my seat, I changed into my pyjamas, hoping to grab some sleep. The bed was very comfortable with the mattress pad on, although I personally struggled to sleep. This was mostly due to the time difference – it was still daytime where I’d just been – rather than a comfort issue.

Food and service

Upon settling down in my seat after boarding, a flight attendant offered a choice of champagne, sparkling water or lemon & mint juice – I went with the latter. Cold towels (a product of COVID changes) were already waiting at the seat.

A menu card for the flight was waiting at my seat as well:

Qatar Airways uses a “dine on demand” concept for Business Class, allowing me to choose exactly when I’d like to eat. This is a great service! As I’d eaten in the lounge (and on the previous flight), I delayed the meal until about two hours into the flight.

Qatar Airways also offers an extensive list of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcholic. The non-alcoholic drink list read as follows:

A list of wine (champagne only pictured), and other alcoholic beverages was also provided:

After pushback, we taxied out to runway 16L and enjoyed a fantastic view of the sunset before takeoff:

As I said, I got my meal about two hours after takeoff. A flight attendant came to my seat and set the table – Qatar offers a full restaurant-style dining experience, complete with a fake candle! Note that, although Qatar now provides a caviar service in Business Class in some routes, this wasn’t available on my flight.

My meal started with a selection of bread, which I got with a Diet Coke. I chose the beef tataki to start, which was incredibly soft and tender:

I chose the lightest main available, the vegetable gyoza. These were good, although perhaps a little plain – a bit of spice added to the vegetable mix for an extra kick would have helped.

The meal concluded with a fantastic burnt basque cheesecake, accompanied by fruits and a small dollop of ice cream.

After a couple of hours attempting to sleep, I gave up. A flight attendant noticed I was awake and asked if I would like a coffee, so I ordered a cappuccino. This came with some lovely little cookies:

I asked the crew to serve my breakfast meal around two hours before landing. Again, the flight attendant set the table, complete with a fake candle.

My starter was a simple plate of fresh fruit, pastries and some fresh orange juice:

Unfortunately, they had already ran out of my first choice of main, the congee. Instead, the flight attendant recommended the Qatari egg shakshuka. I’m usually quite cautious of egg dishes in the sky, but I gave it a go:

Honestly, this has to be one of my favourite breakfast dishes I’ve had on a plane. The eggs were light and fluffy – not the powdered stew you often get. There was a bit of spice to the relish, which also helped wake me up, while pita bread and feta balanced it very nicely. An awesome dish.

The flight attendants through both meal services were attentive and really reinforced the restaurant vibe, providing water refills and asking consistently if I was after more or different drinks.

The cabin crew handed out a small box of Swiss chocolates and another towel before landing. We arrived in Manila on time, where immigration was surprisingly not busy.