Mini trip Qatar Qsuites Cbr to JFK

[Flying mermaid]

At 12 o clock the Qatar flight was called in the lounge and we wandered off through security and immigration. Everything looked clean and shiny. 3 passport readers and quickly through security - whole thing took about 5 minutes. A few photos of the waiting area with duty free and a bar. We then bumped into an acquaintance (typical Canberra), so got a bit distracted and didn’t look around much. Large number of Qatar staff at the gate. Perhaps 30 people across business and economy boarded.

 

[Pushka]

yes I think they are taking the opportunity while parliament is not in session to spruce up the two lounges.

I’m hanging out for you to board QR and check out the seats and Amenities pack to see if it’s the new ones. What time does the flight leave?

 

[Flying mermaid]

I’m hanging out for you to board QR and check out the seats and Amenities pack to see if it’s the new ones. What time does the flight leave?

we have made it to Sydney - no amenities yet, as it was just a 20 minute flight.

We love the seat - before we even sat down they had pushed the divider right down, so we found it very spacious and so nice to be right next to each other for chatting purposes.

Beats the 787 suite hands down - much less claustrophobic. I will take some photos on he next leg for people unfamiliar with it, but we really liked it. Staff were just lovely - I checked again what had happened with our original seats and yes 3F is out of order, which is why we were moved. It does mean we are now in the second business cabin, so I don’t know what impact that has on service etc, but certainly the seats themselves are no different.

 

[Flying mermaid]

We landed in Sydney around 2pm at gate 25 and will be leaving from the same gate. Boarding is at 2:45, so plenty of time to visit the Qantas lounge and have a quick snack. Not my favourite lounge and quite crowded as usual, but Ok for 1/2 hour.

The Qantas lounge angels demanded lounge invites, which none of the Canberra mob had, so they wrote them out. Clearly a miscommunication with Canberra staff, as they said Qatar always wanted lounge invites.

 

[Pushka]

we have made it to Sydney - no amenities yet, as it was just a 20 minute flight.

We love the seat - before we even sat down they had pushed the divider right down, so we found it very spacious and so nice to be right next to each other for chatting purposes.

Beats the 787 suite hands down - much less claustrophobic. I will take some photos on he next leg for people unfamiliar with it, but we really liked it. Staff were just lovely - I checked again what had happened with our original seats and yes 3F is out of order, which is why we were moved. It does mean we are now in the second business cabin, so I don’t know what impact that has on service etc, but certainly the seats themselves are no different.

The second cabin has its own crew and we found their service was much faster and quicker than ours was. But that is of course totally dependent on the crew.

On our Q suite flight the crew made a big deal about getting the partition down. And it seems as though it was jamming as it did take quite some exertion to do that. But it was so much better when it was down than up.

 

[kermatu]

I didn't expect there to be duty free in Canberra. 30 pax boarding is about what I expected. Good to know there was some lounge time in SYD too.

 

[Quickstatus]

What is it like facing rearwards?

 

[Austman]

Facing rearwards is absolutely fine!

A bit odd at take-off.

 

[xabialonso]

Will be flying the QSuite in June from Singapore to Doha, cannot wait. Hope you are having a pleasant flight!

 

[Pushka]

What is it like facing rearwards?

Put it this way. Don’t have anything left on the bench etc especially an iPhone when you land. Or you will wear it.

 

[Quickstatus]

I fear rearward travel will get me airsick
It’s just unnatural

I don’t like facing rearward on a Sydney commuter train for that reason

 

[amaroo]

What is it like facing rearwards?

Can recommend it when travelling with young ones .... think BA J family of four. Thankfully, we're way pass that, would never do it again.

 

[Pushka]

I fear rearward travel will get me airsick
It’s just unnatural

I don’t like facing rearward on a Sydney commuter train for that reason

We didn’t get used to the crew walking past you then turning around to ask you something.

 

[RooFlyer]

We didn’t get used to the crew walking past you then turning around to ask you something.

Isn't it lucky it's QR and not 'some other airlines' where they would walk past your and keep going!

I'm quite happy with rear facing seats, especially if they are QSuites!

 

[Flying mermaid]

What is it like facing rearwards?

absolutely no difference, apart from landing and takeoff.

We had a terrific trip to New York and will update soon - total convert to Qatar.

 

[Pushka]

absolutely no difference, apart from landing and takeoff.

We had a terrific trip to New York and will update soon - total convert to Qatar.

They are totally my preferred airline too.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The suites are really quite spacious, once the divider is down. When we got on the plane in Doha, the divider was at full height and it is very imposing, although I didn’t find I banged into it, which was Pushka’s problem. It’s very easy to push half way down - just a simple press. Getting it all the way down is another issue. We gave up and asked a FA - she went and found the male FA and he got it down fairly quickly. It’s clearly supposed to just go down and click into place but just doesn’t quite work.

The controls for the seat were very easy to use and you could get the exact recline you wanted. When the seats go flat the arm rests disappear, so you have this really nice space for sleeping in. Mr FM and I tend to sleep/watch movies at different times, but there was no issue with one person being asleep and the other not, as the seats still work totally independently. We didn’t bother with the mattress thing - it’s just a thin padded bit of material and the seats are very comfortable without it. The guy opposite us managed to get his jammed in the seat mechanism, so I reckon you are as well off without it, unless you prefer the material feel.

The cubby hole for the feet was padded and quite spacious and I had no trouble having a comfortable sleep. The only other time I have had the cubby hole was on Qantas’ Dreamliner and I found it terrible.

I really liked the doors - because the two seats are in the middle in the backward seats, the doors are quite far away and give privacy without it feeling claustrophobic.

I wouldn’t choose 1 E and F as too close to the galley.

We really didn’t notice any difference between 3 E and F and 9 E and F in terms of speed of service. Row 9 was a bit close to economy and crying babies (there were a few), but that’s going to vary on each flight. On the flight to JFK when we were in 3Eand F I had what I call a screaming sneezer in 4 G - you know the type who sneezes with massive sound effects. Give me a baby any day

I had a look at the forward facing seats and they looked much more cluttered to me, so definitely a fan of the E and F configuration.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The other thing on the suites is that they have a bin thing next to you. It’s a bit difficult to use for masses of storage, but I put passports, purse, toiletries, medication, hairbrush, reading glasses in. Very easy to access whatever mode the seat as in and with the lid on and the door closed I felt quite secure (given the recent discussion about theft on board).

 

[Flying mermaid]

All the flight attendants we had were very sweet and worked hard. Because someone different serves each side we did get our meals at slightly different times, but that wasn’t an issue for us. Drink and meal orders were taken before takeoff and also what time you wanted to eat. Made for a very speedy service after takeoff.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Menus - a lot of my photos picked up the reflected colours I had a glass of the bubbly but wasn’t enthusiastic- I like mine very dry. Mr FM had the Argentinian white which he said was nice.