the world is your adventure. explore the possibilities. challenge yourself.
push your limits. whatever doesn't kill you ... only makes you stronger.
seek the truth. knowledge is power. dare to be different.
speak your mind. endless passion and ambition.
sleep when you're dead. be extraordinary.

seize the day.

rr

 About ryanrowe.com




First class flying with Qatar Airways - a premium experience!

October 25th, 2008
posted by Ryan Rowe

I am currently sitting in the first class lounge at Doha International Airport, sipping a cold beer and eating salted nuts. When I arrived at the Qatar Airways counter at Moscow Domodedovo International Airport this afternoon I was quite chuffed when they informed me I’d been upgraded to first class.

Of the half-dozen or so premium traveller lounges that I’ve been through in my time, this one ranks among the best. My criteria are comfort of seating, ambiance, and services offered. The other notable one I’ve enjoyed include the British Airways lounge at London Heathrow (see my post from xxx).

The first class lounge at the Doha airport (there’s a separate one for business class) is one of the nicest lounges I have ever seen - free massages, showers, nice buffet, full bar and great comfortable seating with soft lighting making it easy to doze off comfortably while waiting for your flight.

As for the flying experience, I had my own box-like mini-compartment offering a fair degree of privacy, with a chair that folds out into a flat bed. That is serious leg room! They offer you champagne on departure (I opted for OJ instead) and a menu with a choice between five mains. You get a full setup on your tray, with real cutlery and dinnerware, some exquisite-tasting salad dressing, a choice of fine wines, cheeses, etc.

This is only my second time flying first class, the first was with Etihad through Paris. (See my article “xx”). I found the overall service to be only marginally better with Etihad (they’ve got their INSPIRED program which lets you order anything you want (food / drink) and have it prepared by chef specially for you, as long as the ingredients are on board). Also the Etihad cabin crew were also slightly more attentive. However the layout of the seat is better with QA. Etihad’s flat bed is too complicated to operate and too narrow for my frame.

Generally speaking, while flying first class is a great experience, the added benefits it seems to offer (i.e. the level of attention and service, the flat bed and the added privacy) are not key criteria for me when I fly. I can see however that it may be worth it for some who require the most in privacy (i.e. celebrities, politicians, royalty or high profile businessmen), the disabled who need to have a certain level of attention or those who absolutely require a decent night’s sleep and are time-constrained.

Off to Abu Dhabi now! Until next time!

Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 9:46 pmand is filed under Life of a Working Stiff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply