My First TR: 21 Flights in 28 Days

[RooFlyer]

Pressure is on, exceladdict :mrgreen: .

 

[Danger UXB]

I'm here for the ride aswell. I have a TR in draft form....looks like I need to post

 

[amaroo]

Excellent photos ... Jellybeans, love 'em.

 

[exceladdict]

Thanks all. I am a few days behind on the blogging now - spent all afternoon negotiating a flight out of New York thanks to the storm and ended up stuck for the night.

Anyway, let's catch up.

2: Stopover, Hamad International Airport, Doha (4h)


Arrival in to DOH was about half an hour ahead of schedule, giving us approximately four hours in Doha. After disembarking we made our way through to transfer security, and on to the huge departures area of the airport, featuring a giant teddy bear.

Into the QR J lounge - which was also appropriately huge - featuring a giant water feature on the main level.

The restaurant is upstairs. A huge chandelier welcomes you to the dining area. A nice assortment of breakfast foods are on offer.

 

[exceladdict]

There's plenty of private seating areas in the restaurant.

In the business area, there's a games room, complete with foozball.

As the sun came up there was a nice view out of the planes outside. I saw only one non-QR plane the whole time I was there (not pictured).


Other anecdotes:
- Unfortunately, the whole area near the smoking room stunk - both in J lounge and in the ones near the gates (not a smoker myself). It's a shame as investing in double doors would have prohibited this.
- There was a 30 minute wait for showers, so I didn't bother, I'll try to review them on the way back (that's my only hint about long term itinerary for now)
- There seemed to be people drinking, but no krug on display or bev menus available.

Next up: Out of DOH to IAH!

 

[bismarck]

Great photos. Look forward to following along.

 

[JohnM]

Excellent; I plan to be on this flight later in the year.

When RF? Stopping over in PER at all?

 

[Kolo]

I love the mystery of the trip so do please just drip feed us!

 

[Per_Travels]

The one downside I've found with the lounge at Hamed is the number of showers - it always seems to be busy. A tip for the men out there. If the usual showers are full I've been directed to the VIP (men only) area which is towards the downsairs restaurant. Much larger and nicer showers than in the main lounge

 

[RooFlyer]

When RF? Stopping over in PER at all?

September-ish. Was planning ex PER but it turns out QR have special 'travel agent fares' ex MEL (only) and its cheaper than PER. Nothing booked; still up in the air. Planning to spend a day or 2 in the Georgian wine districts.

 

[exceladdict]

3: Depart DOH, QR J to IAH, 16h:30m, 777-3


As we were slightly late to board last time, we thought to get over to the gate a bit early this time. But of course, we forgot it's a flight to the US, so it's time for an extra security screen. No photos, but unfortunately having gone through pre-flight screening I didn't have the LGAs ready.


The on-departure security gate seemed poorly planned. There was a huge line of travellers, and while there was a premium line, there was an extremely tiny area between the screening areas and the departure lounge. No priority access here - just a mosh pit of passengers trying to put on their shoes and get through to board.


After two minutes, and finding the phone I thought I'd lost at security, it was time to board. One row behind last time. Maybe the 777-3 has different engines, but row 3 seemed a fair bit noisier than 2a/b on the 777-2.




J Cabin had two empty single seats, one in row 1 and 4. I'd recommend not going with row 1 unless you have a strict front row always policy - screens are in the armrests and appeared to be at a funny angle. said, there's a big crew area between row 1 and the toilets so there was no one lingering near the front row.


Taking off during the day, Doha looks nice from the sky:


A huge variety of choices again for the meals.




Having eaten in the lounge, I opted for a 'light choice' this time, being the Gnocchi, which was downright amazing:



My wife had a nice cheese platter:

 

[exceladdict]

It was interesting that the flight path took us via Iran, Russia and Northern Europe - never seen a sight like this:




For some reason, it never occurred to me that the shortest flight path could be over the top rather than East-West. I spoke to the Pilot, he advised it was due to headwinds on the transatlantic East-West route. I quite enjoyed the QR Flight Progress system:




After a Tom-Cruise-Movie-inspired sleep, it was time for another course. This time, the lamb, which was a bit chewy but otherwise very flavoursome:




My Wife had the Gnocchi, after enjoying the taste of mine earlier


Then, it was time for some work. After starting the year with a fresh inbox, it took six hours to clear it down to four which i'd reply to later. Let's see how long that lasts when I'm back online!


We were a bit peckish, so ordered again off the anytime menu - for me, Chicken Sausages and a frittata - didn't quite hit the spot. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't have it again.




My wife enjoyed a falaffel wrap, which looked and tasted great:





All in all, a great flight, obviously very long but I couldn't fault the service. QR have a fantastic long-range product - even those in economy didn't look too miserable. I look forward to comparing it to other carriers. Total flight time was just under 16h and we touched down a little early.

Final Anecdotes:
- IFE didn't have the hugest range, I only found a couple of movies and TV shows I was interested in. My wife thought the same. I feel like the QF selection is a bit more to my taste, but that's probably more contextual to Australian tastes. There did seem like a lot of choice on QR, just not choices I was looking for.
- Our checked bags were tagged as priority and came out very quickly. Not sure if this is a new OW thing as all bags so far on the trip have had orange tags.
- The flight overall was very good, not much turbulence but for a little over Canada. The previous flight had a bit of turbulence around India, which I think I forgot to mention.
- Our first pilot was English, second was an Aussie. I'm quite inexperienced in international flying, but I thought this was interesting - perhaps QR are hiring international experienced pilots?

Next up: Staybridge Suites, Houston IAH

 

[JohnM]

September-ish. Was planning ex PER but it turns out QR have special 'travel agent fares' ex MEL (only) and its cheaper than PER. Nothing booked; still up in the air. Planning to spend a day or 2 in the Georgian wine districts.

I'm DONE5ing 1 Sept-20 Oct anyway .

 

[ozmouse]

Im on board for the journey as well excell!

I am currently going thru the planning for around the world in 30 days in june. My head is exploding with logistics, but all made possible from hanging on the boards. Alot of firsts for me... first class suites! and flying QR J back into Oz.

 

[Kangol]

- There seemed to be people drinking, but no krug on display or bev menus available.

Did you ask if they have Krug? I read some previous reports that Krug will be available all the time in the QR DOH J lounge

 

[QF WP]

Our first pilot was English, second was an Aussie. I'm quite inexperienced in international flying, but I thought this was interesting - perhaps QR are hiring international experienced pilots?

Quite a lot of Aussie pilots ex-AN ended up there, including my neighbour (for ~ 5 years). He came back because living in Doha got to him (language barrier, sterility of the sand and buildings, plus he likes a drink). The $$ were good - USD tax free. Helped him pay off his house.

 

[JessicaTam]

Checking in for what is shaping up to be a great TR. Nothing like lots of flights in a short amount of time!

 

[Daver6]

Did you ask if they have Krug? I read some previous reports that Krug will be available all the time in the QR DOH J lounge

I will be one extremely happy camper if that is the case! I have a couple of lengthy layovers in DOH coming up.

 

[exceladdict]

I will be one extremely happy camper if that is the case! I have a couple of lengthy layovers in DOH coming up.

Did you ask if they have Krug? I read some previous reports that Krug will be available all the time in the QR DOH J lounge

Will check along with the showers on the way back. Being 6am, I wasn't in the mood for a drink at the time (I'm getting old, I know).

 

[exceladdict]

4: Staybridge Suites 'Houston IAH'


After arriving in Houston we made our way through the formalities and picked up our baggage. A taxi to our hotel would have been 15 minutes if the cabbie didn't miss the turn off. He did however try to make this up by exceeding the speed limit by 25 miles, terrifying me sufficiently to ask him to slow down. Turns out we could have got a free shuttle if I called the hotel.


We arrived at the 'Staybridge Suites houston IAH' and were greeted by a friendly duo at the reception who thanked me for my loyalty by being an IHG platinum (cough, having a dining rewards card) and upgraded us to a King 1-bedroom suite (from a studio). The suite was nice with a full kitchen, just no milk for the coffee.






Bed was very soft and we had a great night sleep after 37 hours of flights in the last 41 hours. In the morning, the breakfast buffet was fantastic, complete with waffle iron. It seemed a step up from the HIX 'Express Breakfast' I became familiar with on my last trip to the states.




The hotel also has free 'social nights' on tues/wed/thurs which we missed by a day, but seems like it would suit business travellers. We then received a free, timely and comfortable transfer up to IAH - interestingly, the driver didn't wait for the large tip I was ready to hand over!


Overall a very good experience, definitely not a 5 star hotel but it's obvious why it has great reviews from people who have stayed there. All up, not bad value for 5,000 IHG points + $40 (compared to approx US $160 on the night we were there, it was a bargain).


Next up: US Airways F to CLT