Qatar Airways Business Class QSuites Review

I’m not sure there is a better way to start off a honeymoon than hopping on Qatar Airways Business Class QSuites, or what most regard as the world’s very best business class, and whisking off to your far flung destination.  In our case, this was the Maldives, but my goodness, QSuites is such an experience. One, I experience a couple years ago with my family on the 77W, but this time it was completely different.  One thing in particular that makes Qatar Airways Business Class QSuites so special for honeymoon couples is the ability for two seats to make into one bed. Aside from the requirement of masks, etc this was as fantastic a flight as I had the first time I flew QSuites a couple of years ago.

We were incredibly fortunate to not only fly these to start off our honeymoon to the Maldives, but to do it for an incredibly attractive rate of 150k Amex Points roundtrip. I have to give a shout out to Spencer Howard and Premium Flights for making me aware of this deal that has populated throughout 2021 and one I booked just 3 weeks before our departure.

If you’ve been following the blog over the years then you already know I’m a huge fan of surprise trips, and this honeymoon was a complete surprise to my wife. Yes, she knew we were going somewhere, but it wasn’t until we arrived at the airport that she actually discovered we were headed to the Maldives, but even then didn’t know the resort, or that we planned on visiting two: Six Senses Maldives and St Regis Maldives. Let’s get into the full review of Qatar Airways Business Class QSuites including flight details, booking, choosing a seat, dining, and the whole she-bang.

@zacharyburrabel Surprise Honeymoon Part 2 ( booked with points obviously ) @elizabeth_henstridge #travel #travelhacks #traveltips #creditcards #sixsenseslaamu #qsuite ♬ Paradise – Bazzi

Flight Details:

• When: August 2021
• Where: Chicago ORD to Maldives via Doha
  • The first leg was on 77W and the second was on a 772LR
• Seats: 7 E/F and 11E/F
• • You’ll see pics of both
• Flight Time:
  • ORD to DOH 13h 30 mins
  • DOH to MLE 4h 25 mins
• Cost: 150k American Express Membership Rewards
  • We booked these via Amex Travel via an Amex Business Platinum with a 35% rebate
• Loyalty: Alaska Airlines
  • Mileage earned each way – 25k miles

Why I Booked via Amex Travel instead of transferring

The ticket was pricing at $2300. You could book it via Chase Travel or Amex Travel, and since I carry an Amex Business Platinum and it gives me a 35% rebate on premium cabin travel, I opted to book it that way. This requires you having the full 233k points in your account, and then a few weeks later, you’ll receive the rebate. In this case…roughly 80k points.

Why? 150k Amex points roundtrip is a screaming good deal to fly like this

On top of that it netted 25k Alaska Miles each way ( we are both MVP members, so if you’re Gold or 75k you’d earn a hefty amount more ) and secured elite status for me in 2022.  I’d easily value Alaska miles at about 2 cents a pop, so that’s like earning $1k back on the trip.

To put things in perspective if there was award space to the Maldives here are the roundtrip prices on several award programs:

• Aeroplan
  • 150k  ( likely on Etihad but perhaps Star Alliance )
• Alaska Airlines
  • 140k and 165k
• American
  • 140k roundtrip
• ANA
  • 136k roundtrip with high surcharges
• Asia Miles
  • 170k roundtrip
• Emirates
  • 235k roundtrip
• Singapore
  • 244k roundtrip
• Avianca LifeMiles
  • 156k roundtrip
• United
  • 170k roundtrip
• Qantas
  • 244 roundtrip

As you can see…150k roundtrip AND earning 50k Alaska Miles AND getting elite status AND no surcharges was BY FAR the best deal.

Choosing Seats

All of QSuites are extremely private with closing doors, tons of storage, plush bedding, massive tvs, and dine on demand food. However…Qatar Airways divides their business class fares into 4 categories and most of them don’t allow you to choose seats ahead of time.

4 categories of Qatar Airways business class

• Lite
  • no lounge or advanced seat selection
• Classic
  • includes lounge access but no advanced seat selection.
• Comfort
  • includes lounge and advance seat selection
• Elite
  • includes lounge and advance seat selection

In the month since taking our honeymoon Qatar Airways has changed their lounge access to what is listed up above and goes into effect 10/1/21. Unfortunately, our Amex Travel tickets didn’t include lounge access or advanced seat selection. I believe that if you were to purchase the same fare class as we did via Amex Travel you’d have access to the Al Mourjan lounge in Doha which is fantastic.

The Qatar Airways Business Class QSuites cabin on the 777-200LR is broken into two sections which will populate like this on their website. If you see seats with an X in them, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are occupied, but instead, blocked. If you have an expertflyer account you can see the difference, and for our flight at least, it’s why I chose not to select any seats.

• The odds seats in the center make into a bed.

If you’re traveling alone

Undoubtedly, choosing a window seat is tops if you’re traveling by yourself. My favorites would be either the A or K line since they sit away from the aisle providing more privacy and light.

If you’re traveling as a couple

As I mentioned, we didn’t select seats ahead of time and still managed to land a honeymoon seat. The entire cabin was practically blocked not occupied, and I figured we could probably land the honeymoon seats without paying in advance. It can cost over $100 per seat assignment ahead of time, and honestly I just had a gut feeling. It worked out, and roughly 24 hours ahead of departure I could select my seats online and I did just that on both legs

As I mentioned up above, the odd rows make into a single bed. Super cool.

If you’re traveling as a family

QSuites has a feature that allows you to join 4 seats together In the middle of the aircraft. It’s not often you see 4 award tickets in QSuites, but I lucked out in 2019 and did just that…booked a Quad. You’ll need to call Qatar Airways to secure this configuration, and it may just be worth paying the fee to enjoy something as unique as the quad.

• 1/2
• 3/4
• 5/6
• 7/8
• 9/10

Arrival and check-in at the airport

I want to apologize in advance but I’d just told my fiancee, now wife, where we were going and completely forgot to take a picture at check-in. You can see her reaction below. I’ve flown internationally out of O’Hare 3 times since July and this was by far the smoothest. If this is new to you, airline staff are completely overwhelmed verifying information regarding where you’ve been, where you’re ultimately going to, the transit rules, your vaccination status, your Covid test status, etc. We were second in line and they processed us very quickly, but we also had everything out and ready to go.

@elizabeth_henstridge well that was a nice way to find out 😂 @zacharyburrabel #honeymoon #onetakewonder #actorsoftiktok ♬ The Magic Bomb (Questions I Get Asked) [Extended Mix] – Hoàng Read

The Lounge – absolutely underwhelming

Ordinarily, if you’re flying in One World business class, you’d be able to access the British Airways business class lounge in the international terminal ( or I presume the AA lounge if you wanted to change terminals ), but it was closed. The only thing open was Air France/KLM lounge and it was depressing. The food was sad. The drinks were sad. Everyone sitting in it looked sad. So we left and headed to wait at the gate.

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Boarding

Not going to lie. It was a bit hectic and disorganized, but then, again this seems to be par for the course at O’Hare during the pandemic. We boarded between the two business class cabins, turned right, and it was at this very moment that I realized my wife had absolutely no idea what she was in for…I often forget that I’m a mega nerd and she loves to fly premium cabins but doesn’t geek out like I do. Here is a shot of the cabin in the light and it’s really impressive. You can see where the dividers are closed between the Quads, but should you wish to open them, it’s no problem. You can see in row 10 where the center divider is still raised.

A shot of 7E/F with the divider down. They promptly asked us if we’d like it lowered, which we did, and you can see how it really cozies you up to your travel mate.

You can also see what these seats look like with the divider up

Pre-departure champagne. This is something that was exciting, but expected if you were accustomed to flying business or first. However,  with the pandemic, I’ve found it few and far between.

The Seat

We’ve gone over seat choices, but every seat comes with a door, ample and private storage, a massive tv, international plugs, and a completely lie flat bed. Currently Qatar also provides each seat with a face mask, hand sanitizer, and gloves. You’ll also get White Company pajamas and Bric’s amenity kit. All very plush.

You’ll notice a smaller amenity kit…this was from the shorter flight into the Maldives, which was still overnight, but only 4.5 hours long. It didn’t offer pajamas, but did give mini amenity kits and full dining service.

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The coolest part of this seat, by far, is the fact that it can make into a single bed. The pic is a bit fuzzy, but you get the picture lol.

Food

Qatar Airways QSuites offers dining on demand. That means you can order food whenever you want it, and as long as they have it, as much as you want. They were also serving Lallier champagne and Charles Heidsieck Rose.

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When I first boarded I wasn’t hungry at all since it was after 1am. After sleeping a few hours I ended up ordering Chicken Masboos and the Arabic Mezze. Both were fantastic and delivered within 15 to 20 mints. It’s order on demand so it requires a short wait for them to heat it up. Also note the presentation of cutlery, etc. No plastic silverware, etc. Also, if you notice in the mezze picture the drink – it’s their classic mint and lime soda and it is highly addictive. You’ve been warned. I also had breakfast just prior to landing and a lot of coffee. Truth be told, I only had half the breakfast offering, as they do eggs as well, but my wife had them and said they were quite good.

On the second flight I had the following which was also tremendous.

Overall

Another outstanding showing for Qatar Airways QSuites and a tremendous way to start off the honeymoon.