August 2023
Having flown London to Seoul, via Hong Kong, with Cathay, then Seoul to Tokyo with JAL, it was now time for my return leg back on Qatar; Tokyo to London, via Doha. Read about the rest of this journey here
Tokyo to Doha
The first flight was on a 777 and the second on an A380, all in Qatar’s business class. The start of my trip was from Tokyo’s Haneda airport which, unsurprisingly, was pretty high tech. Qatar have their own check-in area and a priority lane, which was pretty quiet for me to use. I asked at the desk about fast track and was told it didn’t exist, odd I thought, but I carried on. As I approached security there was a sign saying business class and first-class entrance, there was nobody there apart from a security guard by the automated gates. I thought I’d try it, so I walked down the deserted queue line (there were plenty of people in the main queue area) to the automatic gates, scanned my boarding pass and I was through. This led directly to a scanning machine with no queue. The best part, these were the new machines, like they have at London City, so no removing laptops, liquids etc, just drop and go. I was through in seconds.
After that I headed to the lounge, as this is a JAL hub, which is also a One World airline, Qatar use the JAL lounge here, called the “Sakura Lounge”. JAL also have a separate first-class lounge here, but not for me today. The lounge was big and had plenty of seating choices, from relaxed armchairs to seats at tables. They had snack and drink buffets available. If you wanted hot food, there were two counters where you could order that from. I was told the beef curry was worth a try. The thing I really liked was it was available in different portion sizes. You could have a small or a large, meaning you didn’t have to have a full meal. Another thing I liked about the lounge was they had pictures of older JAL aircraft on the wall, great for the AV geek like me!
When it came time to board, as you can imagine, it was very organised, and business class was segregated and led down their own airbridge to the aircraft. This time I had selected 3A, a rear facing Q-suite by the window. I’ve mentioned traveling on the Q-suite before, read it here, so I wont repeat myself, suffice to say it was as welcome as always. I did take plenty of photos, so you can see those here.
I really like their pink champagne, so I had a glass before take-off. Once in flight I was asked about food, as you can pick and choose what you have and when you have it, I went for the cheese course, just to nibble on before sleep. They provide “loungewear” as they call their pyjamas, and I went off to change as they made my bed up.
I had a good sleep in the comfy Q-suite bed, it was very comfy, and I slept well. I was woken (at my request) just before landing with a fruit and pancake breakfast. We landed in good time, and I was keen to get off as this was going to be my first full experience of the Qatar lounge in Doha, having never had enough transfer time before to properly use it.
Doha Airport
Al Mourjan Business Lounge – South
Wow, just wow! This lounge is on a whole different level from anything I’ve seen before. Until now, if you asked, what my favourite lounges around the world were, it would have been a Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong or maybe the Turkish lounge in Istanbul. This lounge was like nothing I had seen before. Just the sheer scale of the place was breathtaking. To get to the lounge there is an escalator (a very long escalator) from the main shopping concourse, they check your boarding pass at the bottom so you can walk straight in at the top, also keeping the counter free for people with flight enquiries. Upon walking in there are a few people there to greet you and offering information on where to go, and you need a guide with a lounge this big. The first thing you see is the water feature, a large rectangular flat area of water, which is bigger than some entire lounges I’ve been to. There are very large seating areas with different seating options, lots of power outlets and of course drinks everywhere to help yourself to. For eating there’s a sit down, table service restaurant up the stairs at the end. And two counter service areas at the opposite end. For snacks, there’s plenty of self-service areas to pick some bits up.
However, I wasn’t looking for sustenance, I needed a shower. I saw a sign for showers and headed there, upon arrival I overheard the person in front of me being told there was a queue, and he should try the bigger shower rooms at the other end. Not waiting around, I nipped out and headed straight to the shower rooms at the end. In this area I found you could book into a private quiet cubicle if you wanted some rest. I headed to the counter to be told there would be a queue, but then also told to go straight in. I was led to my own private shower room. This again was a much better facility than I’d ever seen before, way above what BA offer at Heathrow. The room had a toilet cubicle, a shower cubicle, sink and little storage area for luggage and clothes. Of course, there were towels and toiletries provided. I had a very pleasant shower, dressed and returned to the lounge. The one thing I think airlines miss out on, both in amenity kits and in places like these showers is they don’t provide any hair product, I don’t exactly have the longest hair, but it does look messy if I don’t put something in it. I wish airlines would start providing these things.
Once back in the lounge I found an area to go charge my phone, and I grabbed a drink and some cookies.
Then it was time to board once again, so I headed to the gate. Remembering from last time that business class is usually a separate part of the gate. This time it all went in through one gate, but separate queue lines. Upon arrival I was directed towards a lift. It turned out there’s a separate gate waiting area upstairs for business class. I had timed it perfectly, I didn’t even sit down, they called the flight as I walked in. This upper waiting area had direct access to the air bridge that went straight into the upper deck of the A380 where business class was located.
Doha to London
This leg was once again on an A380 with the older style business class seats, not Q-Suites. I have also talked about these seats when I first flew on them, read about that trip here.
Having settled into my seat, I took a bucks fizz (called Mimosa on Qatar) and relaxed for my final flight home. As with all Qatar business class flights, mealtimes are optional. I requested my meal to be served later in the flight, since that would be my lunch time. I took a nap first for a couple of hours. Being a day-flight, they don’t give you full loungewear etc, but you can ask for the bed to be made up if you want it. I was only taking a nap, so I opted for the blanket and pillow that was already in the seat.
After a couple of hours of sleep, I woke and headed back to the onboard lounge bar to stretch my legs and wake up before lunch. The lounge was empty, I really don’t know why more people don’t use this space. I grabbed a drink from the barman and relaxed here for about half an hour.
Then I headed back to my seat for my full 3 course lunch. Starting with the Arabic mezze, very nice dips with flat bread, I moved onto steak for my main. Finishing with a delicious chocolate dessert. The whole meal was amazing and of course served with plenty to drink. I stuck to coke zero as I didn’t feel like alcohol during the day.
After that I sat back, watched a movie and then switched the screen to external cameras to watch the landing.
Bottom line
Once again Qatar has impressed me, great service, great food and their lounge in Doha is out of this world. I will happily fly with them again for all long-haul trips, amazing.
