Episode Transcript
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Josh Bogle (00:29):
Hey everyone and
welcome back to another episode
of Trad Tables and Time Zones.
Presents the Ramble.
I'm your host, josh Bogle.
Today we're going to do a quickreview of what is currently my
favorite airline forinternational travel, and that
is Qatar Airways.
So, as of present day, I haveflown Qatar Airways eight legs
(00:51):
and of those eight legs, sevenof them have been in business
class and one time in economy.
Now, of those seven businessclass trips, four of those have
been in Qsuites, which is QatarAirways' premier business class
product, and three of the legswere in an older style business
(01:12):
class seat that Qatar maintainson some of its 787 aircraft.
So I'm going to break thisreview up into four parts.
The first will be economy class, the second will be the older
business class, third will be Qsuites and fourth will be the
experience at HamadInternational Airport when
(01:32):
transiting the airport as abusiness class passenger.
So my lone experience ineconomy class was a flight
between Kathmandu and Doha on a787-800.
Now, this was a perfectlyacceptable flight in economy
class.
The seats were pretty much anormal major airline economy
class seat, although it did haveaccess to the Oryx One
(01:57):
in-flight entertainment system,which is a great IFE, but for
the most part the seat was aneconomy class seat and the food
was, while elevated above othereconomy class food, it was still
economy class right, and so thefood was fine, it tasted fine,
it was perfectly acceptable.
Now I will say that I am a bitjaded when it comes to this
(02:20):
economy class flight and it'sbecause, if you've listened to
the podcast before episode one,misery at 40,000 feet well, that
flight where I got the horriblecase of food poisoning or where
the food poisoning actuallykicked in, was on this economy
class flight between Kathmanduand Doha.
And so, while I enjoyed myexperience up to the point to
(02:44):
where the food poisoning hit me,it kind of jaded my view.
But from my experience thatI've had, the in-flight staff of
Qatar Airways was fantastic,very attentive, very
professional service, friendlybut certainly professional, and
it was an enjoyable flight.
I mean, it's a five-hour flight, so perfectly doable in economy
(03:06):
.
But I've had some other issuesthat kind of glossed over any
enjoyment I had of that flight.
So, as I mentioned, three ofthese flight legs were in
business class but in an olderbusiness class, and they all
happened to be on the same exactplane as I flew on in economy
and that is the 787 out of Dohato Kathmandu and then Kathmandu
(03:30):
back to Doha.
Now, as I've mentioned, this isa five-hour flight, so perfectly
easy to do it in economy.
But having the opportunity tofly it in business class, have a
lie-flat bed and the elevatedservice that Qatar offers,
certainly makes that a moreenjoyable flight.
And while this is an olderstyle business class, it's a lot
(03:53):
more exposed, there's lessprivacy.
It does have the good IFE, abigger TV, certainly a lie-flat
bed and the elevated dining thatcomes with business class on
Qatar Airways.
So, while it may not be thenewest product out there, it's
certainly acceptable andenjoyable on a flight of this
(04:15):
length especially.
So I would not hesitate, giventhe opportunity, to fly this
product again, but it iscertainly overshadowed by
probably what is my favoritebusiness class product at the
present time and that is QatarAirways Qsuites.
Now, before I talk aboutQsuites that I've experienced, I
will mention that Qatar Airwayshas announced a new version of
(04:40):
the Qsuites that will be rollingout, and while this is
certainly exciting news, I willsay the existing Q-suite that is
being used currently is afantastic product.
I've had the opportunity to flyQsuites in both the A350 and
the 777-300.
Both were fantastic experiences, although my favorite
(05:02):
commercial aircraft is the A350.
So I'm a little biased towardthe Qsuites on that plane, just
because I enjoy flying the A350so much.
Most of you that are listeningto this are probably well aware
of what the Q suite is and it'sbasically a one-two-one.
But it's not a traditionalone-two-one in that you're
(05:22):
basically in your own littlesuite, so the seats that are
against the windows are one seatsuites.
It's just a fantastic product.
It's extremely comfortable.
It has the Oryx One.
It has the on-demand dining,which is probably my favorite
feature out of everything.
Having the freedom to orderdinner or meals or snacks or
(05:46):
drinks whenever I want them andnot have to adhere to any set
time.
It's just a fantastic option tohave when flying, especially on
these really long distance, longhaul flights, such as the
flight from Houston to Doha,which is around 16 hours.
So having that option ofwhenever I want to eat is such a
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great, great option and QatarAirways executes it flawlessly.
There's been many times when Ihave deferred having any type of
meal until later on in theflight and each time, you know,
I've pushed the call button forthe flight attendant.
They've come over, taken myorder and you know they said
it'll be, you know, 20 to 30minutes and we'll have it all
(06:29):
ready for you, and that's how itworks out.
After about 20 minutes yourcourses start coming out and
it's a lovely meal that's madefresh for you.
When you order it, they do somenice little touches, like the
little tea light, so it's sortof like candlelight, and their
Arabic mezze appetizer is reallyreally good.
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Actually, all the food I've hadon Qatar Airways has been
really good, including thedesserts.
And so having that ability tohave a private space to eat, to
sleep, to watch movies, to doall of those things, to do all
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of those things, and then, ontop of that, have the dream high
level of service that you getwith Qatar Airways in-flight
staff, it makes it just anabsolute joy to fly, and if you
can find a way to experience it,it is absolutely worth it.
Now, not only is flying on QatarAirways, especially in business
class, a really fantasticexperience, but if you're flying
(07:33):
on them long haul and you'retransiting through Hamad
International Airport in Doha,which is Qatar Airways' home,
then you're in for a really goodtreat, because Hamad
International is a fantasticairport.
It's got everything you couldever imagine for an airport.
It's got tons of places to eat,tons of places to shop.
(07:58):
It's also got the brand newaddition of the Orchard Garden,
which is, if you've ever been toSingapore and Changi Airport
and seen the Jewel, well, theOrchard is a lot like that,
almost like an indoor garden,slash forest.
That is a beautiful, sereneplace to kind of hang out.
(08:20):
When you're stuck inside of aterminal building it's really
nice to be able to go and walkamong some trees and flowers and
plants and it's just abeautiful space and it's huge,
beautiful architecture around itwith the roof and everything.
So it's a fantastic airport allthe way around.
And it only gets better ifyou're flying business class on
(08:41):
Qatar Airways, because then youwill have access to the business
class lounges that QatarAirways offers.
In Doha there's two of those.
So if you've ever seen picturesof Hamad International, you'll
recognize the giant yellow teddybear that sits kind of in this
main hall area of the terminal.
(09:03):
So near that teddy bear is theoriginal Al Morjan business
class lounge, and this lounge isfor Qatar Airways business
class passengers and let me justtell you, this thing is huge.
So when you walk in to yourleft.
(09:27):
Basically it's just seating ofall types, for as far as you can
see, and kind of in front ofyou, is this really pretty water
feature, reflecting pool kindof thing and then to your right
is a set of stairs that willtake you up to an a la carte sit
down restaurant.
So you have several diningoptions in this lounge,
including hot and cold buffets,the a la carte sit downdown
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restaurant and then, of course,multiple refreshment stations.
The lounge also has some quietareas for you to rest, showers
and those types of things thatyou would expect in a business
class lounge.
So this is a great option,especially if you're staying
down in the southern part of theairport, southern part of the
(10:09):
terminal, and you really don'thave a reason to go to the north
terminal.
But if you've got the time oryou're already in the north
terminal area, which is up nearthe orchard, then you're.
I would recommend that you goto the new North Almorjan
Business Class Lounge.
(10:29):
So this lounge has been opennow for, I think, about a year,
maybe just slightly under a year.
I got the opportunity toexperience it last time I flew
through Doha, and boy it's anice lounge.
So, like the older version inthe southern part of the
terminal, this new lounge ismassive, but it offers basically
(10:53):
the same exact things.
It has hot and cold buffets, asit-down, a la carte restaurant,
refreshment stations, but italso has some private rooms that
you can use to rest in and itoverlooks the orchard, so a
whole section of it.
You can sit there and you'relooking over into this garden
(11:15):
forested area and it's a reallynice relaxing place to spend
some time.
And another nice feature aboutit is connected to the regular
lounge is the Louis Vuittonlounge.
Now, this is what you wouldexpect from a lounge being
curated by Louis Vuitton, soit's certainly got all of the
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flair of a Louis Vuitton bag.
It has a bar and a restaurant,but those will cost you extra.
So it's not like in the regularbusiness class lounge where
it's all included.
If you go into the LouisVuitton section, if you want to
have something to drink orsomething to eat, you can do
that, but it will cost you extra.
(11:59):
But it's a nice option to haveif you want to go experience
that.
So, all in all, the productthat Qatar Airways offers in the
air and on the ground is topnotch, some of the best you'll
ever find.
But I will say that what reallymakes a good airline great is
(12:20):
the staff.
Whether it's ground staff,whether it's the in-air staff,
it all matters right, and theexperiences you have with those
folks will make a bad trip goodor a good trip bad.
And I will say that some of thebest interactions I have ever
had with any airline staff hasbeen with Qatar Airways.
(12:43):
Their flight attendants havebeen amazing.
It is an extremely wide-ranginginternational crew.
Their flight staff are from allover the world.
They're engaging, they'refriendly, but they're
professional and they're alwaysthere to help.
If they can make somethingbetter for you, they will go out
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of their way to do that and,frankly, I've had that same
experience on the ground.
Qatar Airways has people allover the place that are willing
to help.
You know whether it's justdirections in the airport,
whether it's help you knowchanging your flight or changing
a seat on a flight or whatever.
I haven't had a bad interactionwith any of them.
They've all been extremelyhelpful and extremely nice, and
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that's probably the thing thathas sold me on the airline the
most.
Yes, the Qs uites are fantasticand there is nothing like a
really good meal and a nicelie-flat bed and to be pampered
and taken care of on a long-haulinternational flight.
Those are all great things andit's a really fun experience and
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it makes your flight and youroverall trip so much better.
But what really sets it off isthe staff and, like I said, they
have been nothing but firstrate to me.
I'm sure there are some peoplethat have had bad experiences it
always happens but 99 times outof 100, you will have a
(14:14):
enjoyable, first-rate experiencewhen it comes to dealing with
the staff of Qatar Airways, andso I can't compliment them
enough.
So then really, the bigquestion becomes would I
recommend them?
And, as you can probably tell,yeah, I'll recommend them.
I think they're a top rateairline.
I think they have a top ratestaff with top rate products and
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they just make flying long haulinternational an absolute joy
and, given a choice, I wouldlikely pick them over most other
airlines.
So if you have any upcominginternational travel and you
have the option or theopportunity to give Qatar
Airways a try whether that be ineconomy or whether that be in
(14:59):
Qsuites I would absolutelyrecommend that you do so,
because, more than likely,you're going to have a really
great experience and it's justgoing to enhance your trip.
So give Qsuites, give QatarAirways a try.
They're definitely worth it.
All right, everyone that willwrap up this episode of the
(15:22):
Ramble.
I really appreciate everybodytaking the time to listen and I
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(15:44):
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(16:06):
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So I really appreciate all thelistens and the kind words I've
received.
They mean the world to me and Ireally appreciate it.
(16:26):
So until the next time, happytravels and I'll see you on the
next episode of Trade Tables andTime Zones.
Outro Music.