We boarded on time and I turned left into the first class cabin. Although there was no shower on this A380, I was still looking forward to seeing how Qatar Airways compared to Emirates. I paid 99k Avios plus around $200 for the entire itinerary BKK-DOH-DXB including a 20 hour stopover in Qatar (but not including a free hotel like with Emirates).

QR835 A380 BKK-DOH
Scheduled: 20:00-22:45
Actual: 20:15-22:59

I was warmly welcomed by my flight attendant Nauman from Pakistan, and the flight leader. The seat was huge although there are no doors in the cabin.

There was a small closet next to the seat with room for my backpack and hanging clothes and a large closet at the front of first class where the crew stored my larger bag. There are no overhead bins, making the cabin feel very open and airy.

There are some small storage areas near the seat.

Seat controls are handled from that small screen that manages lights and seat functions.

The cabin ended up full, although when I checked a few days before the flight, I was the only person in First Class. Business Class was oversold so several people received free upgrades.

I was given a Dyptique amenity kit and Qatar’s F1 pajamas. The kit had a few extra potions and lotions compared to the Business Class kit I had received back in March on the way home from Bali. The flight attendant also graciously brought me a female version of the kit to bring to my wife.

I decided to change into my pajamas in the restroom before the flight. The restrooms are located at the front of the cabin in a similar spot to Emirates and they are also huge, but don’t contain a shower. There are also some extra Dyptique amenities available.

Champagne was offered and Qatar uses Armand de Brignac in First Class which was actually quite good. Cheese and olives were served with the champagne so I picked at the cheese and avoided the olives (the one food I don’t like). A packaged cold towel also kind of downgraded the experience a bit from even most business class cabins which usually offer a real cold or warm towel.

Arabic coffee and dates were also offered before takeoff.

I was also given a box of chocolates, which I saved to enjoy with my wife after the trip.

We took off a bit late and I watched our taxi and take off through the windows and on my screen with the cameras.

After we took off, I tried the rose champagne which wasn’t bad either. It was served with chips and nuts. The cabin lighting wasn’t ideal for pictures at this point.

It was time to take a look at the menu. I was actually kicking myself a bit as there were some pre-order options that looked better than what was on offer onboard, but I forgot to use that option leading up to the trip.

As this was basically a six hour plus evening flight, it was sort of a mini-redeye. A lot of people went to sleep after the meal, but as you’ll see, I had other plans.

The meal started with a scallop amuse bouche which was tasty.

Following that was caviar, this time also served with salmon, which I enjoyed. Apparently, Qatar uses a better quality caviar served in the tin compared with what is now served on select QSuites flights.

For my appetizer, I ordered the papaya salad as I had enjoyed it in Vietnam, but the way this was made was different. It had larger slices of papaya (which are below the seafood) instead of the shredded papaya in the usual dish. The seafood was good though.

For my main, I was deciding between the lamb and chicken kofta and the sea bass. In the end, I ordered the lamb and chicken and it was quite good, although the meat needed the accompanying yogurt raita as it was a bit dry.

The dessert might have been the best part of the meal as I had the mango with smoked coconut ice cream.

At this point, I decided to check out the bar area behind Business Class on the upper deck. It was quite lively back there with a few people enjoying an after-dinner drink. The one negative of the Qatar A380 bar is that there is a small economy cabin behind the bar area where the people do not have access to the bar, but have to listen to people enjoying it as well. I wouldn’t sit there if I was in economy class.

They showed me the list of spirits available at the bar and I asked about the port from First Class which they were happy to bring back there for me.

There were some small bites available, both sweet and savory.

I ended up chatting with a some fellow travelers, first a German guy who was returning home and had been upgraded to First Class thanks to his Qatar status. Then I spoke with two English Business Class passengers, both of whom happened to be Manchester United fans, but despite that, they carried on an intelligent conversation 🙂 One was on a sales trip and the other was a travel agent.

We took a selfie at the end of the flight, but I never got their names. If you are reading this, reach out via email and connect.

We hung out and chatted so much that by the time I went back to my seat, the flight was almost over. If we’re counting, that’s now two A380s and zero beds tested. Maybe I’m not so great at reviewing flights, but I am good at enjoying them.

We landed in Doha a bit late, and it was the first time I was actually entering Doha instead of just connecting. Immigration was a bit slow. Even though I was using my British passport which did not require paying an entry fee (US passport holders pay $21), I had to use the same line. It turns out that the Al-Safwa First Class Lounge has an area at immigration where I could have got through quicker, but I wasn’t aware of that. Oh well. It took about 20 minutes to clear immigration and then I found the shuttle for the Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha and arrived at the hotel around midnight.

I enjoyed my flight on Qatar Airways A380 First Class. The bar made a huge difference as I was able to get up and socialize a bit with fellow passengers. On the whole, I think QSuites is perfectly fine and a fun way to travel. I don’t think I would pay extra in cash or miles to fly First Class again, but I’m glad I got to try it.

Up Next: Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha Review

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