I am considering flying business class on Qatar from Washington to Joberg. Their website mentions on board beverage service with mocktails, fruit juice, tea, etc. It does not mention alcoholic beverages. Being a Muslim based airline, does anyone know if they serve alcohol??

I just booked business class for April-May from ATL to WDH. Didn't think about the potential lack of alcohol...





Wonder how many pints of cough syrup they allow???


Damn, you scared me. They DO serve alcohol on international flights...

According to their website, you can purchase and bring on board up to 5 liters of duty free booze and travel through Doha with it with no problem.If they don't serve it onboard, i guess you can stock up and bring your own!! Gives a whole new meaning to the term BYOB

Well 5 liters will get me to DOH and I can restock there.

I think they were serving alcohol with meals in Business Class when I flew with them a few years ago.

Had a bit of laugh on Qatar Airways.

We were flying from Doha to Stockholm.

We boarded and the plane was pushed back, and started to taxi.

Then then it went back to parking again.

The captain announced that one of the doors was showing that it was not locking, and he wanted maintenance to have a look at it.

I was in Business Class, and there are two doors, one ahead of our cabin, and one behind it.

Maintenance dully arrive, and they were busy trying to fix the door in front of us. They were at it for quite sometime.

Suddenly the captain appears, and starts shouting at them.

"This door is fine! It is the other one you need top check! "

On another occasion, I asked for a coffee, and was brought one in a horribly designed cup. It was too flat, and had two funny looking handles. Really the wrong design for an airplane.

I asked the hostess why have they changed from their original mug, which was great.

She smiled and said "these are designer cups. We got them after we had won an award"

"I suggest you fire the bloody idiot who designed them. They are terrible for here"

She burst out laughing, and said "I agree with you"

On another flight, I got the same stewardess I had a few weeks earlier. She was a lovely girl, and was always very helpful and enjoyed a joke.

She kept coming back and asking me what I wanted, and I kept telling "thank you, nothing"

Eventually she came over and asked again. Adding "anything at all?"

I laughed and said to her, she better not ask a passenger that question, being such a pretty girl.

She burst out laughing.

I spent the rest of the flight telling the crew all sorts of non PC jokes, which they loved.

Needless to say, service was exceptional when you make friends with the crew.

I am looking forward to getting away from Delta. The 787 is going to be a joy compared to the 777 with its 10 year old interiors and 70 year old cabin crews. Plus the added bonus of not having to deal with the JNB bag thieves...

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
I am looking forward to getting away from Delta. The 787 is going to be a joy compared to the 777 with its 10 year old interiors and 70 year old cabin crews. Plus the added bonus of not having to deal with the JNB bag thieves...

Opus, If I go back to Namibia this year I want to bypass JNB as well. What route/airline partners are involved with these ATL-WDH flights? Thanks.

Really simple:

ATL - DOH - 13 hour flight on Qatar Air

9 hour layover at Doha Airport Hotel - located in the transit zone so you never have to clear customs in Doha.

DOH - WDH - 9 hour flight on Qatar Air

22 flight hours and 32 total trip hours.

On Delta from ATL to WDH though JNB is 18 hours of flight time and 32 total trip hours. So on Qatar you are in the air more, but the total trip time is the same. The real difference is the total cost. To fly Delta (steerage) and SAA (business class) to Windhoek is around $2,100. The total cost to fly Qatar business class on the 787 is $2,100 plus you can sleep in business class where as sleeping in coach is not so much fun.

So it is Qatar from ATL to DOH, and Qatar from DOH to WDH, straight shot? If so this is very welcome news to my ears.

Yep

Are you at all worried about the numerous bad reviews about service, etc of this airline? I just quickly googled a few and got a little gun shy.

I have read some of that too. Will just have to wait and see what happens, but I am more than willing to try as I am so over Delta/JNB/SAA. I am hoping that Business Class buys a little more clout and if not, I can at least sleep through it. I cannot see any flight delay issues as there are only two legs with plenty of time between.

Will keep you posted...

Now I have to brace for yet another Delta run.

Good deal. I'm not so pissed at Delta, but Air Namibia and JNB airport both suck big time.

Air Namibia Slogan - "We Fly When and How We Want To. Deal With It."

I was on an Qatar flight from Oslo to Doha in August and back again in September. Alcohol was served as any other company flying in Europe.

Morten

I have found that not drinking on long flights helps with jet lag issue.

Dave

What's the fun in that?

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Really simple:

ATL - DOH - 13 hour flight on Qatar Air

9 hour layover at Doha Airport Hotel - located in the transit zone so you never have to clear customs in Doha.

DOH - WDH - 9 hour flight on Qatar Air

22 flight hours and 32 total trip hours.

On Delta from ATL to WDH though JNB is 18 hours of flight time and 32 total trip hours. So on Qatar you are in the air more, but the total trip time is the same. The real difference is the total cost. To fly Delta (steerage) and SAA (business class) to Windhoek is around $2,100. The total cost to fly Qatar business class on the 787 is $2,100 plus you can sleep in business class where as sleeping in coach is not so much fun.

I just checked Qatar for July flights from Los Angeles to Windhoek. I'd have to go LA to London, London to Doha, Doha to Windhoek (53 hours of travel time). Economy was priced at $1480 and Business was $7936

Strange. I get Business Saver at $4,099.22 with no connection through London. The Business Promo drops off after June.

I must be doing somethig wrong too, as I got $4000+ on a Dallas-WDH business class ticket when I was checking on it.

It depends on the time of year if the Business promo rate is available. It drops off after June.

Still, $4,000 is better than Delta's $9K to $12K or 630,000 miles...

My flights are business from Talahassee to Washington to Doha to Joberg. Return is CApetpwn, Doha, Miami, TLH. EaCh way is about 32 hours. Cost me $150. plus 300,000 AA freq flier miles. Quite a bargain. A similar ticket via London on AA/BA was slightly shorter-and over $3000 in fees!!!!Those mileage costs and fees are for 2 business tickets

Just an anecdotal comment...

I was talking with Rene Vincent (Roy's wife, Alan's mom) earlier today and we got on the subject of airlines. They've flown both Qatar, and much more often, Emirates. Rene mentioned to me that Qatar Airways compares very poorly against Emirates. Said everything seemed to be cheap, and low quality on Qatar. Her advice to me was "Fly Emirates, you'll never regret it". Just wanted to share her comments to me.

I've flown long haul economy class On Qatar and emirates.
Both are fine. I'd rate emirates a little better in service etc.
Both fly the latest planes and are very comfortable as per economy class
can be.

Qatar is out with great deals as they are pushing for market share.
I'll be flying with them again in June with the family

Cheers

Nick

I had a bit of a weird experience on Qatar Airways.

I was travelling from Dubai to Doha, First Class.

I was travelling with only hand luggage - the standard 55CM carry on bag.

I was inside the airport, at the gate, and we were asked to board.

I was the first passenger on the way to the plane. And on that little walkway which ends at the plane, a Qatar Airways lady stopped me.

"Sir, I would like to check the weight of your carry on bag"

"You are not serious, are you?"

"Yes sir. I need to check the weight"

"Well, miss, you are not going to check my bag. It is the standard carry on bag, and what am I supposed to do now if it is too heavy for you?"

"We just need to check the weight please"

"Miss, whoever sent you to do this is a bloody idiot! Would you please inform your management to fire that person right away. He does not have enough brains to be working for an airline"

And I just left her there and went to the plane.

Well, I went ahead and confirmed the reservations I had on hold for Tallahassee to Joberg via Doha. Two business tickets for 300,000 miles and $162 beats the hell out
of anything out there. Even if the business service isn't as good as Emirates or Etihad its better than Delta. It's over double the miles on Delta( which sucks anyway) and has higher fees. Over $7000 in tickets in total.

Who code shares with Qatar? (300,000 miles)

Any one world partner, in this case, AA. AND QA flies out of ATL.

I have exactly 0 AA miles. Time to tank my AmEX Delta card.

I shit canned my Amex Delta card several years ago when Delts got so mileage expensive and put everything on AA MasterCard. I have the black World Elite version- high yearly fee but i can use it to get in all Admiral Clubs when i travel in coach on AA FOR NO CHARGE.

jdollar - Thanks for the info. Looks like Citi AAAdvantage Platinum will do what I need since the Admiral Club isn't a requirement for me.