ShazKhan flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A330-300 (281 seats) (22/03/2012 22:37)

Flying with Qatar from Geneva to Doha (Airbus 330-300) and then on a shiny new Boeing 777-300 from Doha to Bangkok, I can definitely conclude that Qatar Airways offer great value for money.

Though the hostesses were not the warmest, they were efficient and responsive, always with a smile and generally helpful.

The cabin experience was pleasant with the ambient coloured lighting and though there was more space for the legs on the A330 the B777 was generally more comfortable and fresher, however note that the window seats have significantly less leg room due to the entertainment system unit that sits under the seat. The entertainment system itself was one like I have never experienced. With a fantastic choice of films, tv shows and documentaries, I could start watching from the moment I sat down to the moment we landed, with no interruptions by cabin announcements.

The food was nothing exceptional, but then economy airline food rarely is. Generally, the pre- and inflight experience with Qatar Airways was very smooth and easy – they were even generous with my hand baggage allowance and made no comment when I embarked with four carry-on bags, though granted they were all quite small.

I brought a full-size pillow with me and had a window seat which allowed me to get comfortable enough to sleep for several hours of the journey.

I would definitely fly them again long-haul, but would definitely have to bring my pillow for additional comfort!

Home@FL350 flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A330-200 (260 seats) (14/03/2012 14:29)

ARN - DOH

Routinely flying Qatar Airways in Business Class, it is always a let-down to find oneself demoted, but alas this was the situation when recently treating the family to a holiday in Dubai - flown in Economy.

To my delight, I found my (admittedly low) expectations unfounded and in fact consider our experience on Qatar Airways a benchmark for other carriers to follow. We had ready, fresh comparisons to make as we have travelled long-haul on both American Airlines and British Airways (separate trips) over the past 3 months.

Boarding was efficient - families with children being allowed to board first.

To start with, our request for a bassinette (for our infant) was granted - giving us the best seats in Economy (lots of leg-room). After boarding, and before take-off, the crew stopped by on at least 4 occasions to ask if there was anything they could do to help us prepare for the flight. 2 children's bags were then given to us (one of which included a digital watch and the other a brand-named soft toy), shortly followed by sweets for our older child.

After take-off, one of the flight attendants again stopped by and said she'd like to take our older (3 years old) child's meal order first as they wanted to be sure that some of the options had not run out by the time they got to our row.

Immediately following, another flight attendant stopped by to give our younger child a fairly large bag of food - including 3 jars of Gerber/Nestle-type baby food, a banana and other suitable and appropriate food for a child of that age.

Having flown some 10 long-haul return flights (more than half of them in business class with BA and Lufthansa) with children over the past 3 years, this was an absolute first for an infant/lap-child to be given his/her own baby food.

Even though the flights both outbound and return were nearly (or completely) full, the cabin crew couldn't do enough to make sure our children were well looked after - even offering to hold our infant should we need to visit the lav.

The service support for our children aside - we found the quality of food for us adults to be very good too. 3 choices of mains with a good selection of 3 reds and 3 white wines (in individual bottles) too.

Coffees were served with a pre-packaged biscuit/chocolate that we purchase at our own local market for 1.5 GBP/2.5 USD each. A nice, if not somewhat luxurious, touch for economy. When the cabin crew were not serving meals or refilling drinks (beer or wine), they proactively walked through the cabin on at least 3 occasions to offer water or juice from a tray.

The entertainment system seemed to have the same type and selection of options that I am used to in QR's business class and the screen (at least at the bulkhead - bassinette row) was about the same size at BA's CW screen.

The flight arrived on-time.

Baggage was slow to arrive eventhough the bags were tagged "priority" due to my Gold status with Qatar Airways - but this is an airport issue, not under thedirect control of the airline I understand.

All in all, we experienced a very fine Economy class product with an efficient and enthusiastic crew.

And, a bag full of pre-packaged chocolate biscuits to enjoy - courtesy of the purser who handed them over as we departed the aircraft.....

jenchanted flew Qatar Airways Economy (16/10/2011 14:06)

I was on a 16 hour flight to Barcelona and was very uncomfortable because of the size of the seat. It was very hard to sleep and I had cramps on my legs. I'm a very petite person and quite slim and still I was having difficulty. Frankly, it seemed tighter than budget airlines I've been on before. But they did make up for it with the friendly and attentive service and the food is above average.

ODEWilliams flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A340-600 (01/08/2011 21:38)

I loved flying with Qatar Airways, The economy class service was really good, a lot better than some airlines business class service!

The entertainment was great. I flew from Heathrow to Doha, then from Doha to Nairobi, and for the first time, I stayed awake for the whole flight and wasn't bored for a minute!

The food was nice, however breakfast wasn't that great! the orange juice tasted cheap!

Overall definitely a 5* service and I would be honoured to fly with them again!

Charles-P flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A330-300 (305 seats) (30/06/2011 08:04)

My first flight with Qatar Airways and overall very positive. We left Doha very early for the six hour flight to Brussels, I had only 50 minutes to transfer between flights but the system worked well with short transfer passengers identified by special tickets. Boarding was quick with priority given to a couple of families that had very small children.

I shared the centre row of four with one other passenger so we each had an a spare seat next to us. Legroom was ok for economy although the seat back entertainment box does restrict foot room under the seat in front for every other seat.

The interactive film and TV system looked very good at first with a good choice of films and US/UK comedies regretfully the system failed after 15 minutes and despite attempts to reboot it the crew finaly gave up after an hour and said the system would not be working for the duration of the flight. (the moving map and games continued to work)
Food was blueberry muffin together with fruit, yoghurt and juice. All seemed fresh and tasted reasonable.

The staff were polite, helpfull and seemed to represent nearly every nation ! I saw them deal very well with a harrased young mother who was travelling with two children one of whom was six weeks old. They calmed her, helped with the children and checked on her during the flight to make her journey easier.
Arrival at Brussels was on time and we were quickly off loaded.

A good airline, Doha airport efficient despite being in the middle of redevelopment, good crew.

DazmanL flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A330-200 (260 seats) (02/05/2011 13:43)

Overall this airline whips British airways in all areas bar one.. online check in.

Online check in is terrible on this airline. I wad travelling with my wife and it pre allocated us seats apart. When o tried to change to two free seats together it gave an unspecified error and just checked us in on the original seats and the system doesn't have options to change your allocation afterwards.

It looks like the reason for failure was that the seats were already booked but they showed as free!

AlsoI checked in at 36 hours before the fkight departed yet nearly every seat was reserved leading me to think that this airline pre checks everyone in making online check in a bit worthless.

ijavdun flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A330-300 (238 seats) (20/03/2011 22:52)

LGW/DOHA DOHA/DXB Flight was ok,they say they are a 5* airline!!!!!!!! I have been on a lot better charter flts. Food is terrible!! I would perfer to pay more and go direct to DXB with EX flts.

frustratedflyer flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a B777-300ER (15/11/2010 08:58)

Flying from Doha in economy is not much fun. At 6.00 am it took almost 20 minutes to get in the car to the drop of point. The volume of traffic was just too much and people were parking in a very selfish manner stopping others from doing so. Inside the terminal was no better. 20 minutes to drop bags after online check in and then a massive 30 minute queue for security/immigration. Whilst in the queue I looked at my boarding pass and found that my boarding start time was after the scheduled flight time although the check-in agent did not mention it or apologise for the delay. Whilst on the plane the captain did apologise for the delay and explained that it was due to connecting passengers arriving late on other flights. Not a great reason if you are not in transit!!

Signage at Doha airport is poor but the airport is modern. I wished I was in business at the premium terminal. The flight eventually left almost two hours late. The seat at IFE are better than on the A340 but I was frustrated that my viewing was interupted by information on the system, then the menu and finally rules for customs on arrival played several times.

Service was quite good and the seat quite comfortable. Food was better than average and there were some nice touches like hot towels before food. I was also pleased that they restricted the alcohol to the passenger beside me who was knocking it back rather too frequently!

mohammad2 flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A340-600 (14/12/2008 17:04)

Good

romeopapa flew Qatar Airways Economy, on a A330-300 (305 seats) (06/10/2008 09:53)

One of the best airlines I have flown with. I fly economy, but the service is first class

flylite flew Qatar Airways Economy (26/09/2008 10:06)

I had a very short stop at Doha airport, connecting from Mumbai to Heathrow, and was worried I might miss my flight, but the transfer at Doha was quick and painless. Excellent. The flight was comfortable and the IFE was good, with my own screen, stop-start functions and even games. Good choice of films. Highly recommended.