We recently came back from our South African Safari trip. We had planned the flight bookings for this trip about a year in advance to ensure we could grab the Qatar Airways Qsuite business class flight to Johannesburg via Doha, and we were massively excited to try this famous business class experience for ourselves, which goes by the slogan ‘first in business‘.

In this post I will provide a full review of the flight from New York-JFK to Doha DOH onboard Qatar Airways’ A350-1000 with Qsuites. Briefly, we were very impressed with the seats, food and service, and will definitely want to fly Qsuite again. This is without a doubt the best business class I’ve had the privilege to experience so far, and I can easily see why Qatar Airways Qsuite is generally referred to as the best in the sky. Yes, the hype is well-deserved!

Specifically, this review concerns Qatar Airways flight QR706 on May 15, departing 1:20AM from New York-JFK and scheduled to arrive in Doha DOH at 9:05PM.

How I booked this flight

I’ve previously written in detail on how to book Qatar Airways business class seats. The approach to booking these seats would be identical regardless or whetehr they feature Qsuite or not, but you can count on the itineraries that use Qsuite to be very popular, and especially those between the US and Doha. So, you’ll want to be prepared, stake out the pattern of seat releases, and be ready to snatch them when they become available, a little under a year in advance. Or, be prepared to plan a trip at a moment’s notice when you find availability.

By planning in advance and booking right as the schedule opens, I was able to grab us two Qatar Airways business class seats for 95.000 Avios plus $287.20 per person in taxes and fees, with the following itinerary:

• Qatar Airways flight QR706 departing New York JFK on May 16 at 1:20AM and arriving in Doha DOH on May 17 at 8:45PM the next day (this review).
• Qatar Airways flight QR1363 departing Doha DOH on May 18 at 2:35AM and arriving at Johannesburg JNB on May 18 at 10:00AM.

Note that due to the war in the Middle East, our initial flight was cancelled, but we were able to rebook the same itinerary one day earlier. There were some small schedule changes, though, so the final itinerary was as follows:

• Qatar Airways flight QR706 departing New York JFK on May 15 at 1:20AM and arriving in Doha DOH on May 16 at 9:05PM the next day (this review).
• Qatar Airways flight QR1363 departing Doha DOH on May 17 at 3:05AM and arriving at Johannesburg JNB on May 17 at 10:30AM.

While I’d written last November about how our flight from Doha to Johannesburg had seemingly been upgraded from a Boeing 787-9 to an A350-1000 with Qsuite, that ended up being changed back. So, we ‘only’ had Qsuite on the leg JFK-DOH.

Check-in, Lounge and Boarding Process

At New York-JFK, Qatar Airways is flying out of Terminal 8. At least, for now: Qatar Airways is supposed to move to the new Terminal One when it opens, where they will also open an all new Qatar Airways Lounge. All of that is supposed to happen before the end of 2026, so while it’s a bit of a wait still, it is not too far off.

Regardless, we checked in at Terminal 8. We arrived around 9PM, though our flight was only at 1:20AM and it seemed check-in hadn’t started yet for our flight, judging by random people standing around with suitcases. Even so, we walked up to the business class lane. There were two counters with a red mat in front, signifying they were serving business class passengers and Qatar Airways plus oneworld elites. We were called forward by one of the agents, and even though she seemed at first hesitant to check our bags when it became clear we were on the 1:20AM flight, she proceeded to help us. However, she kept them off to the side, before handing us our boarding passes, and explaining that we were eligible to use the Greenwich lounge, as well as how to get there.

As a business class passenger, you’d normally be able to use the priority lane at security. To get there you walk around some of the other check-in counters (e.g. British Airways), following the signage. The TSA PreCheck line is accessed in the same place.

Unfortunately, after 8:30PM or so, JFK Terminal 8 closes the priority and TSA PreCheck lanes, so you’re restricted to the general lanes. You can still tell the staff that you have TSA PreCheck and they will allow you to use the low-fi scanner for faster passage.

Following security, the Greenwich lounge is straight ahead, down a ramp and to the left. You’ll see a massive American Airlines logo overhead, and above that signs for the three combined American/British Airways lounges. As you round the corner, the elevators will be immediately to your left. Take it one level up to enter the lounge.

I have reviewed the Greenwich lounge in late 2024, so I will not do so again since nothing has changed since then. Overall, it’s a decent lounge with pretty good food and plenty of seating, even if the interior aesthetics could do with a modernization.

The main room pictured below has a buffet, but then there’s also the adjacent room with a bar and food made to order, called ‘the Taproom’. Finally, if you’d continue beyond the Taproom and walked to the end of the lounge, you’d get to another bar called the Bridge. That area is probably the nicest, with plenty of plants, nice fixtures and an open air vibe that is pleasant. Keep in mind that for a late flight such as this one, the bars will be closed by the time you’d get there leaving only the buffet.

When it got to about 12:20AM, we left the lounge and went to gate 47. This is in the midfield concourse of terminal 8, accessible by an underground walkway. Unfortunately this gate area is rather cramped and ugly, with low ceilings and a lot of seating that’s rather packed together. It was filled with people all awaiting boarding.

Boarding finally started 12:45AM, and was incredibly disorganized. While there were numbered signs signifying the zone numbers, our boarding passes didn’t actually have a zone printed on them. It then turned out that business class passengers were boarding together with all other priority groups, which includes people in wheel chairs and families. Unfortunately we were in the zone 1 line, since that’s what business class passengers would usually board with, so we had to squeeze our way through the packed gate area to the priority line. Put this doen to never having flown Qatar Airways before, but we’ll know for next time.

We ultimately made it to the jetway, where the attendant from check-in ripped off the small card off the boarding pass and handed back the large part – which is not something I’d seen done for many years as usually the passes are scanned and handed back in full. Regardless, we made it into the jetway and were ready to embark on this flight.

Qsuite: one of the top business class seats out there

We boarded the A350 at the second set of doors and the friendly flight attendants greeting us invited us to the turn left into the business class cabin. Qatar Airways’ A350 Qsuite cabin has a spacious and airy feel, due to the lack of overhead bins over the center seats. This is something JAL’s A350-1000 also has, but also Ethiopian Airlines’ A350-900. I really like the color scheme, mixing faux wood elements and Qatar Airways’ signature grey and burgundy. They match well for an elegant and elevated aesthetic.

The Qsuite buisness class seats come in four types. Along the windows there’s the seats that are closest to the windows, but they are reversed, facing backwards. Then there’s the window seats where you sit closer to the aisle, and are forward-facing. All seats have doors, so being closer to the aisle isn’t an issue – it just depends on whether you prioritize being closer to the window. If I had to pick one, I would have picked the seat closest to the window, despite them being back-facing. A unique feature is that the entertainment screen on the forward-facing seats can be slid to the side, so you can communicate over dinner with the passenger seated in front. Overall, the window seats looked comfortable, spacious and private, thanks to high walls and doors.

However, we didn’t get window seats this time: we got a pair of the center seats, and that’s for good reason. In the center there are two kinds of seats as well: there are the seats that are closer together, pictured below, but also seats that are further away from one another and closer to each of the aisles. My husband and I paid $98 each to assign ourselves the seats closer together: 7E and F.

Note that since November 2025, the cheapest cash or (saver) award business class tickets do not get free seat assignments. Although we booked our flights in May 2025, because we had to rebook our flights after the cancelation in late March as a consequence of the situaiton in the Middle East, Qatar Airways wouldn’t let us re-assign for free.

Why would we pay to assign these seats? That’s because the center honeymoon seats are pretty special. You may notice there is a partition between the two seats. During flight, this partition can be completely retracted to make a double suite where the seats are truly side-by-side. And then, for sleeping, they go fully flat to become a double bed: flight attendants are happy to provide turndown service, during which they will provide extenders that fill the gaps between the two seats, then layer on mattresses and covers to really make these into as much of a double bed as you can get in a contemporary business class suite. A truly remarkable option that we were excited to experience first-hand!

The seat as such struck me as a lot bigger and spacious than I had imagined. The walls (and doors) are also tall. This extends to the actual seat itself, which feels big: the seat surface is wide and the backrest is tall, with a big head rest. I liked how everything made me feel ‘enveloped’, which is what you’d hope to feel when seated in a suite. It’s a similar feeling as in JAL’s A350 business class suite, though I’d say Qsuite felt more spacious to me.

Beside the seat itself, where several items of bedding (pillows and blanket) had been left for me, there was an ottoman/storage box just beside the seat, the entertainment screen right in front with the foldable tray table just under it, and then a console with seat controls right beside it. That’s also where the amenity kit was waiting for me.

The 21.5″ entertainment screen is big, and while it’s certainly not the biggest you can find on current business class seats, it’s actually bigger than you’ll find on many business class seats and suites currently in service. The screen is a bright HD screen that was responsive to touch and easy to use. The lower rim of the screen has a number of buttons that include a crew call button, an overhead light on/off button, buttons to control sound and brightness levels, and a button to turn the screen off, as well as buttons to go back or to the home screen.

Right below the entertainment screen is the tray table. The tray table can be pulled out by squeezing a button at the front of the table. Once fully extended you can open the folded table, which is big and feels very sturdy. The below that is the ottoman, which is a very nice size.

Beside the seat you will find an ottoman that double as a storage container. In here you will find your headphones, a bottle of water, and a sick bag. However, besides for those items it isn’t a functional storage solution. The bronze/golden top you see when the box is open makes it impossible to store larger items. For example, this would have been a good place to store some of the bedding, or your clothing after slipping into Qatar Airways’ pajamas (‘lounge wear’). But as it is, none of that fits in there.

Above the storage box you’ll also find a reading light which has different levels of brightness to cycle through, as well as a coat hook. I initially hung my coat there, but the flight attendant was quick to offer that she store it in their wardrobe and I agreed.

Then beside the entertainment monitor is the console. On top of it is a table where the crew will be placing any drinks, but upon boarding this is where the amenity kit was placed, as well as a packaged wet towel. Below that is a shelf where the menus were placed. Along the rim of that shelf are all the seat controls, and below those are also a (wired) remote control for the entertainment system, a universal power plug, the headphone plug, and a contactless payment pad for credit card payments.

I thought the placement of the seat controls was smart: being a little further away from the seat surface or your arms, you won’t accidentally bump into them. These controls include presets for fully upright, lounging, and full-flat. You can hold these and stop the motion at any time for in-between modes. However, buttons are also provided to control individual elements of the seat, such as the angle of the backrest, and moving the entire seat forward or backward. The latter was especially useful during dinner, to get closer to the tray table.

The entertainment control can be removed from its slot by pressing the button to the right of it. It’s wired, so you have to pull on the wire, which can then ‘click’ into place without immediately retracting. Placing it back in its slot was a little more cumbersome as the button didn’t seem to hold it in place all that well. It took a few tries before it finally stuck.

Qatar Airways actually does have air vents at its business class seats, but because the middle seats don’t have the overhead bins, they also lack the vents. I felt this was one downside of selecting these seats. The window seats do have the air vents. As nice as the walls and doors are, these suites can have an airflow problem, so that the suites can get quite warm in bed mode. The vent allows you to regulate the temperature more easily.

As we were settling in, we asked the flight attendant to bring down the partition. However, during taxi, takeoff and landing, they are not allowed to be all the way down, rather only half-way. Below is what that looks like. Even if still halfway up, we already got a preview of what the seats would feel like with the partition all the way down: a true double suite that feels incredibly spacious, with comfortable seats and thoughtful aesthetic design.

Overall, Qatar Airways Qsuite is a very impressive business class seat. Despite these seats being something like 7 or 8 years old, the seat’s design and technological features feel modern and well thought-out, for a functional, comfortable and spacious seat with stylish finishes. Although I’d normally pick a window seat, the middle ‘honeymoon’ seats, which are those closest together, are truly on a different level of comfort. Because once the partition comes down, these seats ‘evolve’ into a true double suite that’s spacious unlike any other suite out there, allowing you to experience the flight together with your partner in a way we’ve never been able to. It was worth the $196 we paid to assign the seat!

Qatar Airways amenities

Qatar Airways provides an impressive array of amenities, most of which ar ready for you at your seat when you board the flight. There were noise-cancelling head phones with Qatar Airways branding, which felt a bit small for my ears and were not all that comfortable unfortunately (but the sound was fine), a wet towel; and the amenity kit. I was surprised that a hot towel wasn’t provided by the crew, and instead was a cold, packaged one. But, I gotta say, the towel had a very nice, refreshing scent, so even if it felt a little cheap, it was still nice.

The amenity kit is in collaboration with French perfumer Dyptique, famous for its scents, candles and soaps. It’s a gorgeous and well-stocked kit, from the faux-leather pouch to the contents, which includes hand lotion, lip balm, perfume, socks and eye shades.

And as it turns out, Qatar Airways has different designs for men and women, and they will place the amenity kit at the seat depending on the sex of the passenger as noted on the passenger manifest, which I thought was an impressive attention to detail. The green pouch (above) is for men, whereas the white pouch (below) is for women. I actually think the women’s kit is prettier, but note that the contents is more or less the same. The only difference is the perfume.

There was also a selection of bedding. This included a smaller, colorful pillow, as wella s a bigger, substantial one. There was also a thick and velvety blanket that was very soft and lovely to the touch. Note that there’s also a mattress and mattress cover, but these are brought out by the crew only when they make up the bed for you.

Finally, during boarding, the crew came by to offer Qatar Airways Formula 1-branded loungewear. That’s just a fancy word for a pajama, but I thought it was very nice that this was offered. Qatar Airways is absolutely not alone in offering a pajama in business class, but I thought this was a particularly cool design. These come in various sizes, including small, medium and large. I now wear these pajamas at home!

At the seat were also menus, one detailing wines and the other the full dinner menu in English and in Arabic.

Overall, Qatar Airways provides an impressive array of amenities. While the headphones were not the most comfortable, the bedding waiting at the seat is substantial and of good quality, and the amenity kits, which feature pretty designs, are well-stocked with some excellent and useful Dyptique products. Not many airlines can boast of having such a high-quality lineup of items.

Departure from New York-JFK

While I was making pictures of every single thing in the cabin, boarding of the business class passengers more or less finished. As everybody was getting settled, the flight attendants started their pre-departure service. Quite quickly, a flight attendant came by to introduce herself as the attendant working my part of the business class cabin (though unfortunately I don’t remember her name). She said she’d come by a little later to take meal orders, pointing out that the menus were available on the shelf under the console table, but she offered to bring a pre-departure drink, and so I ordered champagne.

Soon after another flight attendant distributed the lounge wear I mentioned above, and another 10 minuted later the former flight attendant arrived with the champagne. The champagne was served in a proper champagne flute, and was delicious! The champagne being poured was Henriot Blanc de Blancs, which seems to retail for about $80 a bottle.

Soon after the cabin manager (or purser), Tenzing, passed by, who welcomed us as well and offered her service during the flight, encouraging us to let her know if we need anything. She made a great impression, and seemed friendly and engaging. Soon after we asked another flight attendant how to bring down the partition further, which she promptly did for us. You simply push it down, though it requires some force. However, for taxi, takeoff and landing it was not allowed to be lowered all the way. She promised she’d return after takeoff to bring it down all the way, though.

I took the time to look over the menu. My husband and I had both put in pre-orders for the meals, since Qatar Airways allows you to do that for the main dishes. The startes and desserts can’t be pre-ordered, but you can provide your preferences for all the meals when the flight attendant comes to get those orders. As you can see, there’s two meal services: a dinner and a breakfast service. The menu is printed in both English and Arabic, which you can see below:

And below you can see the wine menu:

About ten minutes later the flight attendant passed by to take meal and drink orders. Qatar Airways’ meal services are ‘dine on demand’, meaning you can have your meals in whatever order, at whatever time you want. I asked what’s the usual flow, and she admitted that most passengers will opt for dinner right after takeoff, and if I’d like breakfast she can wake me up closer to landing. I opted to make breakfast decisions later on in the flight, and only provided my choices for dinner. She also asked if I wanted anything to drink and I asked for a glass of red wine, but admittedly I misunderstood: she meant after takeoff, whereas I thought she meant during dinner.

My husband took a different approach and ordered everything in advance, from the various courses, to the drinks, down to the tea he wanted after breakfast. Everything was written down, and I was very curious to see if everything would come as ordered (spoiler: it did!).

At 1:26AM we pushed back from the gate and started our taxi. At this time the safety video, starring Kevin Hart, was also screened. The crew were doing their final departure checks, and they also came by to take the glasses and any trash rolling around the suite, from unpacking the amenities.

At 1:35 we started our taxi and the lights were dimmed, bathing the cabin in a purplish hue that’s fitting for Qatar Airways (but made it hard to make good pictures). As we were taxiing I started to play around with the the entertainment system (more about that later), but it wasn’t until much later that I figured out where to find the onboard cameras. So, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the outside as we made it to the runway or even during takeoff and flying out, what with being in the center of the cabin and all. I was also able to login to Starlink, which was pretty painless and provides free, high-speed WiFi connectivity (more about that later as well).

At 1:41 I could hear the engines spooling up, and that’s when I was suddenly reminded that I was facing backwards: usually upon takeoff you’re pressed into your seat, but this time I was pushed out of it. It was a genuinely strange sensation, but wasn’t uncomfortable or anything.

By 1:48 the seatbelt signs were extinguished and the crew immediately sprung into action. They closed the curtains between the cabin and the galleys, and then passed through the cabin to unlock the doors. The door operation is easy and smooth. It’s a little heavy so you may need to put a little force. I gotta say though, it really provides a sense of privacy and seclusion when closed, and though this may sound weird, it’s a pretty door to look at. Sometimes, such doors are a little ugly to look at, since it may reveal the sliding mechanics. This door looks the same whether inside or outside the suite, and I appreciate that attention to detail.

I took the opportunity after takeoff to head for the lavatory and change into pajamas (more on that in a moment). When I came back the red wine had been delivered, as well as some warm mixed nuts. These were unsalted, which I suppose is healthier, but also was not so tasty, quite frankly (at least the unsalted cashews were a little tasteless).

Since we had taken off now, we wanted the partition down all the way. We tried to push it down ourselves, similar to what the flight attendant had previously shown us, but I guess we were doing it wrong since it wouldn’t stick in the bottom position. I pressed the call button, and we did have to wait a bit for somebody to show up as the crew was prepping for the meal service. After something like 5 minutes, the attendant that helped previously showed up, and immediately realized what we wanted and suggested to help. It seems we hadn’t pushed the partition down forcefully enough, because when she did it, it went down, and stayed down. See below:

I had mentioned this already, but I really can’t understate how awesome it is to have the partition down, the suite doors closed, and find yourself in this spacious double suite, just you and your partner. The funny thing is that in theory the double suite is twice as big as a single suite, but it feels more spacious than that. To also be able to sit right next to your partner and experience this flight together in each other’s intimacy is something quite special that many business class seats just can’t provide. So, kudos Qatar Airways!

A350-1000 Business Class Lavatories

I mentioned I had slipped into the lavatory to change into my lounge wear (pajamas). This was at the start of the flight so the lavatory was still quite clean. I could see there had been some water splashed around so I imagine I wasn’t the first to switch into pajamas.

There are at three lavatories on Qatar Airways’ A350-1000 business class, with two in the front and one on the back-left. The first time I went to the one toward the back, which was definitely a little tight, but had some very fancy finished. With a faux marble top and faux wood finished on all the cabinets and drwers, this didn’t look like an airplane lavatory aside of the obvious giveaways.

The lavatory was also well-stocked with amenities, including a drawer with denbtal kits (which was nearly empty when I came in), as well as handlotion, facial mist and hand soap by Dyptique (in line with the amenity kit). these all had fantastic scents and smells to them. I realize that this collab with Dyptique is in part to come across as more luxurious, elevated and fancy, but I find Dyptique’s scents to be genuinely pleasant. So to be able to use these while in the lavatory really does allow you to come back to your seat smelling better than when you left it!

Note that the lavatories to the front of the plane are absolutely the preferred ones on this aircraft. These are probably 50% bigger than the lavatory in the back and even have a window! Now you can do your business while looking out over the world at 35000 feet. How lovely! Otherwise, the amenities and facilities are about the same.

One great thing is how the lavatory in Qatar Airways is kept clean and tidy throughout the flight. You’d be able to enter the lavatory in the middle or at the end of the flight and still find a nice and clean lavatory that smells pleasant thanks to the efforts of the crew to keep things clean. Overall, a great setup on this Qatar Airways A350-1000!

Qatar Airways’ Oryx One Entertainment System

While still on the ground, I had played around with the entertainment system to get a feel for its operation. Tap the screen to select a language and you’ll enter the system proper. Initially, you’ll find 4 ’tiles’ of sorts with the main categories of content the system provides, but you cna press the arrow all the way on the right to see additional categories.

If you tap the upper left corner’s ‘menu’ icon, you can open a list of all the categories as well. You can scroll down to reveal more of these, and you can tap these to open subcategories. Then, on the upper right corner, is a small settings pane to control system volume and screen brightness. The ‘privacy’ toggle will show up as a light on the door to alert the crew to whether you’re okay being disturbed or not.

If you enter one of the main categories, you’ll b confronted with another screen that allows you to drill down further within that category, showing different genres or options depending on what you picked. Picking the ‘entertainment’ category will show movies, TV shows etc, and you can pick those subcategories you show all the movies of that entertainment type, such as movies shown below.

All the other categories follow the same sort of pattern, for the most part. See below for example the TV shows, audio and games categories. As you can see, categories include different genres, but also languages, as is especially common with non-US carriers.

The console to the front and side of the seat has a controller which miror the functions of the main touch screen. The controller itself is a nifty little thing with a high definition screen and bright colors, making for an above average experience with such a controller. You can control the same kind of settings and select all kinds of entertainment from here. While generally the touchscreen is absolutely fine by itself, when reclining your seat you may find the main screen to be too far away Int hat case this controller is a handy addition, allowing you to stay reclined while you control the system.

It took me a while to find but ultimately I realzied that if you go into the menu and scroll all the way down, you’ll find the ‘camera views’ category. Choose that to reveal the ‘A350 Camera Views’, which allows you to get the direct camera feed. While three camera views are programmed into the system, only the downward and forward cameras actually seemed to work. These camera views are also high-res, which was a welcome surprise.

Overall, the system is easy to use, with a responsive touchscreen and fluid animations. There are tons of movies, TV shows and audio, including recent releases that encompass both Hollywood blockbusters and lesser known content. It should provide anybody with enough material to be entertained for a good amount of time.

Starlink WiFi Connectivity

Qatar Airways was one of the first airlines to announce, install and bring online Starlink WiFi. In collaboration with SDpaceX, Starlink bring fast internet to aircraft that is purported to be just as good as WiFi you’d get on the ground. I was skeptical, but boy was I wrong. Starlink actually provides what it promises, and while I wouldn’t say it competes favorably with top-of-the-line internet access on the ground, it’s definitely as good as your average, mid-range home internet.

Loggin into the system was easy. If you have any issues, the entertainment system has a WiFi category with instructions.

After turning on flight mode, turn on WiFi on your device, and select the ‘OryxComms’ network. After connecting, a window should automatically pop-up, loading a page prompting you to either log in or sign up for a Qatar Airways Privilege Club, or otherwise provide a promo code for free internet. I logged in with my Privilege Club account, and.. that’s it! As soon as I did that I was immediately connected, as evidenced by the bright green checkmark and the ‘you re connected’ status message.

Now that I was connected on my phone I tested the internet speeds with a variety of activities. Simple things, such as reading my email, reading articles in the app of the Dutch news agency NOS, or reading online blogs or other written material was easy, with content loading quickly. I then tried loading content in Facebook as well as Instagram, and was pleasantly surprised that I could view videos with audio without any real issues and very little (if any) buffering, evidencing the quality of Starlink WiFi.

As it turns out, Starlink is somewhat of a leap in aerial connectivity, and while I wouldn’t make much use of it on a night flight like this, if I had my laptop with me and this were a day flight, you bet I’d be using it heavily. It’s fantastic that we can start to expect these sorts of speeds while in the air!

Main Meal Service (Dinner)

While my husband and I were sitting in the privacy of the suite, we had both started watching the second part of Wicked. At 2:24AM, the door of our suites were opened, and the flight attendants announced dinner would be served soon. She helped to extend the tray table, and placed a while table cloth down. The tray table is extended forward from under the screen, and is then folded open to reveal the full extent of the table. The pictures don’t really do justice to the size and sturdiness of this table. I love how big it is!

A few minutes later the flight attendant returned to set the table, placing a glass, a faux candle (with flickering) in a holder, a bread basket with warm rolls, salt and pepper grinders and some butter. I was also offered a choice of olive oil in one of four flavors, with or without infusions. I gotta say, I find this a lovely and very appealing setup. The faux candle is a cute touch and I really appreciate how everything is placed directly on the table, mimicking a ‘normal’ restaurant service.

Within a few minutes an amuse bouche consisting of crab tarter and avocado was presented, which was a delicious bite to start the meal, and also beautiful to look at:

The dishes were cleared and by 2:40 my start arrived. I opted for the signature Qatari Mezze, which is a trio of Middle Eastern/Arabic dips or salads, served with flat (pita) bread. My understanding is that this trie rotates, so you can expect to get different dips on different flights. In my case I was served hummus, baba ganoush (a roasted eggplant dip) and a tomato and parsley salad. This was delicious and beautifully presented, as it’s exactly the kind of dish that what I like – but I understand not everybody might be a fan of some of these dips.

The dish was cleared soon after I finished it and not much later the main course arrived. I had chosen the braised beef with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables, while my husband h=took the lobster. Both dishes were excellent. I have generally found that braised beef works well on airplanes, as I’ve never had a bad one on a plane, and that’s across Scandinavian, Singapore, and now Qatar Airways. The beef was tender, deliciously moist and the potatoes creamy and flavorful. Only the vegetables were perhaps a bit dry.

As good as my dish was, my husband’s lobster dish was probably a lot more impressive. First of, it was presented in a beautiful and thoughtful manner: the segments of the body had been cut apart, so that there was no need to peel. Rather, you could take a segment, pop it out of the shell, and eat it without fuss. Given that we’re on a plane, where you really don’t want things to get messy, that is a token of care and thought that is much appreciated, and I think reveals the sort of eye for detail that makes Qatar Airways business class a world apart from other airlines.

These dishes were cleared soon after we were done. At this point I was already very full, given also that it was close to 3AM and I’d normally be fast asleep. But, there was still dessert to come. I don’t really eat cheesecake so, even though that sounded like the more appealing option, I went with the ice cream. The ice cream was presented in a glass coupe with fruits and a wafer, and was a refreshing end to the meal.

But, the cheese cake that my husband selected was definitely the star of the show. The presentation is top notch: this photo could have easily been taken in a restaurant. Keep in mind we’re in a plane, and is further testament to the care the crew takes in the preparation and plating of the meal. What a phenomal job!

The desserts were all cleared by 3:25AM. I was offered some tea or coffee, so I ordered a chamomile tea after inquiring what would help me go to sleep. I was also offered a chocolate, which was nice. The chamomile tea arrived promptly, and was tasty.

Thus the dinner came to an end. It was fantastic experience, start to finish. I’m very impressed with essentially every facet of the service. From the dinner setup, with the faux candle and bread basket, to the delicious food that is also plated in such a lovely and thoughtful way, this is an aerial dining experience that is at the very top of airplane business class dinners that I have experienced.

Qsuite Fully Flat: Privacy and Comfort in a Double Bed

Following dinner, it was time to get some shut-eye. After going to the lavatory one last time, I called the crew at 3:45AM to ask for turndown service, and this was promptly provided for both myself and my husband.

For those that aren’t sure what that is, the crew will essentially make your bed, with the middle seats in this double suite turning into a double bed. They will fully recline your bed, put pillow cases around your pillows, place a mattress and also a mattress cover. Finally, they will install a mattress piece in-between the seats on top of the divider, to ensure it doesn’t poke you while sleeping. I appreciate that, because they try to set this up to be as close to a double bed as they can within the limitations of it actually being two reclined business class seats. Below you can see what this double bed looks like after reclining the seats in the double suite:

I dare say, lying down on this double bed, knowing you’re in business class on an aircraft, is something of a surreal experience. And it’s awesome. Your feet are still in the footwell, and that’s one of the few reminder that this is a business class seat. Fortunately the footwell is spacious and doesn’t feel restrictive. Otherwise, the bed is generally comfortable with the mattress pad they put down, the pillow is soft and the blanket is quite warm and velvety in its feel. However, the headrest does pop up a bit, though I didn’t find that too disturbing.

Because of the malaria pills I was taking, sleep didn’t come fast and didn’t feel particularly restful (it’s a known but not particularly common side effect). Still, assuming I went to bed around 4AM or so, it wasn’t until 9:40AM when I checked the time on my phone, which suggests I must have slept for at least 4 hours or so. That’s not great but definitely passable. Apparently, we were cruising over Greece with about 3:16hrs still to go until Doha.

I checked some emails and any new messages on Facebook etc, enjoying the greta WiFi speeds, courtesy of Starlink. I then went to the lavatory to brush my teeth using one of the provided dental kits, returned to my seat.

Pre-Landing Meal Service (Breakfast)

The flight attendant had noticed I was awake and arrived at my seat around 10AM to ask if I wanted to put in an order for breakfast, and I did. Breakfast starts with a juice of choice, and for that I picked the ‘green juice’, consisting of apple, mango, kiwi, spinach and kale, to be followed by the a selection of fresh fruit, and then the mango smoothie bowl. Since I asked if there was any milk in the smoothie bowl, it turned out that it did.

After some back and forth, it turned out that actually all breakfast dishes had milk allergens in them (aside of the fruit plate), which I think is unfortunate. I’d have expected Qatar Airways to be more thoughtful about that. Ultimately I decided to go with the smoothie bowl after the flight attendant said she could separate out the milk part and I could decide whether to add it in later. Then to conclude, I did also order the Qatari Karak tea, to see what that’s all about.

The green juice arrived first, at 10:24AM (still in NYC local time), and a minute later the flight attendant pulled out the tray table and placed the white table cloth.

Bakery items, butter and ja, the faux candle and Karak tea arrived soon after. I couldn’t resist and started with the croissant before any other dish arrived, which I had with the jam. This ws without the doubt the best airplane croissant I’d had, probably topping Air France’s croissant as well. I also had the Karak tea but this clearly was milk-based, so I didn’t drink much of it (it was also super sweet).

The fruit plate then arrived around 10:35AM, which was a nicely presented selection of cut fruit.

The mango smoothie bowl arrived around 10:45AM, and was nicely presented with pieces of fresh mango on top. The milk part was indeed separated and on the side. I took a bite and immediately recognized it as yoghurt, which is not something I otherwise take for dietary reasons. So, I had the toppings, and a few more bites because the sour mango-flavored taste was quite refreshing after waking up, but then I left the rest.

The flight attendant took everything away around 11AM, asking how the smoothie bowl was. We briefly chatted about it and she was a bit apologetic. At this point I went to the restroom to change back into my ‘normal’ clothing, as we were starting to close in on Doha. When I came back Tenzing passed by to ask how the flight had been so far, and whether she could help with anything, so I ordered a cup of tea and she offered some cookies, which I gladly accepted. The tea arrived a few minutes later:

With that the pre-landing meal came to an end. I will never tire of the presentation, with the table cloth, faux candle, delicious baked good, and the nice plating of the food. I do think its a little weak that all dishes seem to have milk allergens in them as per the flight attendant, though in hindsight I don’t think there’s actually diary in everything: the mushroom omelette definitely had no cheese in it (my husband had it, so I thought its contents). It’s possible of course that butter or milks are used in some part of the meal, so perhaps there should be better instructions provided to crew as to the ingredients used, to give more conclusive advice to passengers on what they can/should have or avoid. I do appreciate the patience and care of the flight attendant as we were discussing all this!

Arrival in Doha

At this point we were about 1.5hr away from Doha, which I spent watching the Second Best Marigold Hotel. Cabin arrival preparations were alreqady starting to be made at this time, and around 11:56 I was given a wet towel, which was refreshing. Strangely though, my husband got his 15 minutes earlier, and I did notice there wasn’t always much synchronization between what different flight attendants were doing.

It was at this point in time that my husband realized that women received a different amenity kit from the men, so he asked the flight attendant about it. To our surprise, she immediately asked not only if he wanted one, but also if I’d be interested in one – to which he happily said yes. And so. we ended up with both variants of the amenity kit, for which I showed the photographs above, but here they are again:

Around 12:15PM it was announced we’d be landing in Doha in another 50 minutes and we’d be starting the descent soon. The flight attendants promptly arrived to remove all the bedding in preparation for landing, so we had to briefly get out of our seats for them to be able to do that. The descent started soon after, and round 12:30PM we were asked to put our seats straight up, and the partition between us was raised to the halfway point.

Here’s what was nice: Tenzing stopped by to ask how we enjoyed the flight (again), but then asked what our final destination was, so we said we were connecting with a final destination of Johannesburg. To my surprise she seemed to know how long of a connection we had so she must have seen everybody’s full itineraries, but maybe wasn’t necessarily aware who had which itinerary exactly. We spent maybe 5 minutes talking about what we could do during the layover and she suggested to go to the Al Mourjan Business lounge (which was indeed our plan), but that 6-7 hours would also be plenty time to leave the airport and go see some sites in Doha. We thanked her for the tip (though we had no intention on leaving the airport at all, also because it was the middle of the night in Doha), but we thought it was very nice that she offered advice at all. She also gave us a Qatar Airways pen as an additional souvenir.

At 12:44PM we were closing in and the pilots prepped everything for landing. We were no crossing over Doha and starting our final approach into Hamad Intl:

We had a smooth touchdown at 12:56PM and a short taxi of several minutes. We parked at the gate at 8:10PM local time, which was about an hour ahead of schedule, which I thought was quite amazing. I don’t think I ever arrived at my destination this early before. I did note that not all trash had been cleared before landing, though all glassware and such was.

We disembarked not long after, and as we turned left and up an escalator four our international transfer, I looked back at the A350 one last time. After this we cleared transfer security through the Business Fast Track lane, and made our way through the empty terminal to visit both the Al Mourjan Business Lounge – The Garden, for which I also published a review, as well as the Al Mourjan Business Lounge – South, which I also reviewed.

Qatar Airways Inflight Service: One of the Best

I want to conclude this review with a summary on the service. In 2025 I flew Singapore Airlines Business Class and titled that review ‘Best Service in the Sky‘. How does Qatar Airways compare?

It’s evident that Qatar Airways has an incredibly high service standard. The crew is very international, with flight attendants hailing from pretty much all over the world. But, everybody was equally kind, helpful, generous and professional. I was struck by how well orchestrated the onboard service was: crew made notes of orders and delivered exactly on those orders. Orders and promises were rarely, if ever, forgotten. Service was also delivered promptly, and always kindly.

I think the service shines especially brightly during the meal service, with the wonderful table layout. The attention to detail on the plating is just fantastic. The flow of the service was also good: plates were cleared without too much delay, and the next course brought at a good pace. I also love how the meals are customizable in that (some) ingredients can be left out or placed on the side. The experience is very restaurant-like, and I think that’s pretty amazing.

I do have two comments on the service:

• I sometimes left that there was some difference in the service level provided by the flight attendants. Some flight attendants provided service of just a little bit higher service level. Just a little bit more proactive and helpful. For example, the flight attendant working my husband’s aisle had a thorough conversation with him on the meals, asking questions about his preferences that the crew member serving my aisle did not. It’s not a big deal, but a little bit more consistency would be nice (and for that matter the attendant serving me on the leg to Johannesburg was a level above the one serving me on this flight).
• the second point is that, while all crew I interacted with our indeed attentive, kind and generous in the service they provided, I found that they are not the most personably cabin crew. In that sense I hsve to come back to my experience in Singapore Airlines Business Class: that cbain crew was really a step above in that sense: always providing not just proactive and attentive service, but always with a broad smile and personality that wasn’t as evdient as with Qatar Airways.

But let me be clear: it feels like I’m splitting hairs, because both Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines cabin crew provide excellent service. They are both kind, attentive, helpful, generous, courteous and endlessly professional. But if I had to pick, the personable approach of the Singapore Airlines crew is still the winner for me.

Summary

So there you have it: my husband and I had been excited for this flight for a year, and the while such anticipation can easily be met with disappoint, we disembarked thoroughly impressed and vowing to relive the experience. It was a fantastic flight, through and through, and we enjoyed every moment.

Let me be clear: Qatar Airways has great food that’s beautifully presented; a generous and endlessly professional cabin crew, even if not the most personable; great amenities that include good bedding and the lovely Dyptique amenity kit; the lavatory was kept clean and sanitized and was well-stocked with Dyptique amenities; but I think what truly elevated this flight to the next level was the awesome Qsuite business class honey moon seats. I’m positive that even if we had chosen the window seats, we would have also had a great flight. But those honeymoon seats, where you can put down the partition, close the doors and turn the seats into a double bed, brings this to a next-level business class experience that is hard to beat. It’s absolutely true that there are better beds in the sky, but by and large that’s in first class – keep in mind we are talking business class in this case.

I can’t recommend Qatar Airways Business Class enough, especially flying in Qsuite, and selecting the honeymoon seats in the center of the business class cabin. Qatar Airways Qsuite is the best business class experience I’ve had the privilege to experience, and I’d say it’s worthwhile going out of your way for. In my mind, the slogan ‘first in business’ is true and all the hype is rightfully earned.

On the leg to Johannesburg we would experience Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787-9 without Qsuite: would the experience still be the best in the sky? Stay tuned…