I’ve flown with Qatar multiple times and the service has always been great. Very professional, organized, the food is delicious and plentiful, tons of entertainment.
The Achilles heel of the experience with Qatar Airways is the Doha Airport, especially for travellers arriving into Doha and not transiting. This airport suffers from being ambitiously big and the immigration into Qatar being overly time taking. At the end of my particular flight in which my travel was ending in Doha, the plane parked at a very remote terminal, from where it took me 30 minutes to arrive just at the immigration counter, with fast paced walking and the time on a train inside the airport. Then, at the immigration counter it takes up to a minute or more to process each tourist visitor,due to time taking face and finger scanning processes and langugage barriers if there are questions or information to be exchanged verbally with the officers. If several planes have landed at the same time, it is not unusual that one has to wait 45 to 60 minutes in the immigration queue. In short, the frustration of arriving at Doha takes away all positive vibe of the airline, as the airline and the airport are heavily intertwined and are marketed together.
The only thing that could have been better, is that the food trays get left way to long after a meal. We had a snack 8 hrs into the trip, and they left us with the boxes and cups for way too long. It is not fun being trapped in your seat unnecessarily
No difference between US airline and Qatar. Both cramp as many people. The airline seems to change planes without notice choice is seating when making reservations online doesn’t match the plane a passenger is on. Especially paying extra. Nothing special No different than US carriers.
riding in first class, you don't expect every time you order your dinner or breakfast that the first thing the stewardess says is Let me see if we have any left. Also, the food selection was not great: 3 of 4 entrees had mushrooms and I dont eat mushrooms, the 4th item was 'let me see if we have any left' and this was within 30 mins of entering the flight! Same experience level, it didn't feel first class this round.
Don't be afraid if you board an Oman Air Airbus A330 - it will take you to Colombo and not Muskat. The Aircraft is leased by Qatar Airways ;-)
I had first class service from them. A little late taking off, but no major problem
More facilities to transport to the gates......felt too much walking distance
No towels or tissue and chocolate and mint provided before arrival
They made us deliberate waste time by holding our passports and boarding passes making us miss the flight
