Booked my ticket NOT! going direct for the 1st time in 18 years! will i regret it?!

[marleyboy 140]

Well as per title really!

 

I booked my ticket (yesterday). For my next trip, for the end of January.

For the last 18 years, Ive always gone direct (from Heathrow that is) using mainly Thai Airways or Eva Air. I "prefer" Thai, purely because their departure times, for me anyway! , are better than Evas.

 

I went in Jan. this year on Thai. As I was going for over a month (6 weeks), the cheapest fare I could get was £720 ish................I could have got Eva for about £150 cheaper...........but I chose Thai for their departure times.

 

I have managed to book off from work the time I want. I wanted to go with Thai but I know the cheapest I will get will be over £700!........so I thought I would try another airline. I ended up using Qatar. I booked through their own website (I realise, I could have got it a few quid cheaper using other places). I paid £482. The departure times are great (for me!). 3 in the afternoon from Heathrow. More or less (I think an hour and a half ish , frpm arr. and dep. in Doha airport). Arrival into Bangers at mid-day.

 

Coming back.....20.45 from Bangers, again an hour and a half ish in Doha, then arrival at 6 in morning in Heathrow. I joined their frequent flyers club (I realise I wont get much benefit from this until I retire......the I will go 2 or 3 times per year......so could come in useful then!). They gave me an option to "change" the seats they booked me on.......but in fairness.......I didn't bother as they look good (well as "good" as you can for economy anyway!).

 

I did a little research online........It seemed wise to book flights using the 777 the new super big one or I think the a330? The 787 had crap reviews.so I looked for flights which didn't use that particular aircraft. Its the 777 from Heathrow to Doah, then the new a380 for the other 3 legs.

 

An added bonus? Apparently they go from terminal 4. I have always used terminal 3 before........but now Thai and Eva (and presumably lots of others?) use terminal 2.......which I thought was shite! Terminal 4 may well be "shite"! in my opinion too....but hey ho!

 

I always used to go "non direct"! for years...until as I say 18 years ago............I started flying direct. Obviously, flying direct.......you only need to board once and your bags have "less chance" of getting lost! As I can never sleep on planes anyway.......and I get bored........"maybe"! this way will be better for me? We shall wait and see! Anyway I will save at least 12 or more thousand baht (see! you can tell Im getting excited! Im working out my "savings"! into bahts and not sterling!). So that will be fine.

 

Anybody used Qatar recently and care to share experiences/horror stories?! Thanks for reading this rambling post...................cant you tell Im getting excited!!!

 

ps. I realise the "passengers" may well be "different" to Thai and Eva air passengers!

Edited September 9, 2015 by marleyboy

[TheFiend 1,181]

Well as per title really!

 

I booked my ticket (yesterday). For my next trip, for the end of January.

For the last 18 years, Ive always gone direct (from Heathrow that is) using mainly Thai Airways or Eva Air. I "prefer" Thai, purely because their departure times, for me anyway! , are better than Evas.

 

I went in Jan. this year on Thai. As I was going for over a month (6 weeks), the cheapest fare I could get was £720 ish................I could have got Eva for about £150 cheaper...........but I chose Thai for their departure times.

 

I have managed to book off from work the time I want. I wanted to go with Thai........but I thought I would try another airline. I ended up using Qatar. I booked through their own website (I realise, I could have got it a few quid cheaper using other places). I paid £482. The departure times are great (for me!). 3 in the afternoon from Heathrow. More or less (I think an hour and a half ish , frpm arr. and dep. in Doha airport). Arrival into Bangers at mid-day.

 

Coming back.....20.45 from Bangers, again an hour and a half ish in Doha, then arrival at 6 in morning in Heathrow. I joined their frequent flyers club (I realise I wont get much benefit from this until I retire......the I will go 2 or 3 times per year......so could come in useful then!). They gave me an option to "change" the seats they booked me on.......but in fairness.......I didn't bother as they look good (well as "good" as you can for economy anyway!).

 

I did a little research online........It seemed wise to book flights using the 777 the new super big one or I think the a330? The 787 had crap reviews.so I looked for flights which didn't use that particular aircraft. Its the 777 from Heathrow to Doah, then the new a380 for the other 3 legs.

 

An added bonus? Apparently they go from terminal 4. I have always used terminal 3 before........but now Thai and Eva (and presumably lots of others?) use terminal 2.......which I thought was shite! Terminal 4 may well be "shite"! in my opinion too....but hey ho!

 

I always used to go "non direct"! for years...until as I say 18 years ago............I started flying direct. Obviously, flying direct.......you only need to board once and your bags have "less chance" of getting lost! As I can never sleep on planes anyway.......and I get bored........"maybe"! this way will be better for me? We shall wait and see! Anyway I will save at least 12 or more thousand baht (see! you can tell Im getting excited! Im working out my "savings"! into bahts and not sterling!). So that will be fine.

 

Anybody used Qatar recently and care to share experiences/horror stories?! Thanks for reading this rambling post...................cant you tell Im getting excited!!!

 

ps. I realise the "passengers" may well be "different" to Thai and Eva air passengers!

 

I flew with Qatar in June from Manchester, was impressed by the A380 Doha-BKK, but I wasn't impressed by the other 3 sectors - they were 777 MAN-Doha and Doha-MAN and an A330 BKK-Doha.

 

My next trip I'm booked with Etihad, but they've recently dropped the luggage allowance for base level Etihad Guest members so I doubt I'll book with them again...

 

My preference is Emirates, but Qatar and Etihad have been beating them on price when I've been booking flights.

[marleyboy 140]

Cheers for that. I have got the 777 for one leg only. The others all use the a380. Reading reports, some flights use the 787? That gets a big thumbs down! I may even get to like stopping........I mean its about 6 ish hours and then stop then about 7 ish hours onto Bangkok......so it may be less boring?! I assume, the "transit" in Doha airport is painless and easy?!

 

With Eva it was only 20kgs too....its 30kgs with Qatar............

 

Cheers.

[TheFiend 1,181]

Cheers for that. I have got the 777 for one leg only. The others all use the a380. Reading reports, some flights use the 787? That gets a big thumbs down! I may even get to like stopping........I mean its about 6 ish hours and then stop then about 7 ish hours onto Bangkok......so it may be less boring?! I assume, the "transit" in Doha airport is painless and easy?!

 

With Eva it was only 20kgs too....its 30kgs with Qatar............

 

Cheers.

 

Yep, the stopover in Doha was quite painless, didn't have a long wait in both directions. When the Manchester flights get upgraded to the new generation aircraft I might give them a try again. Would love to fly on one of Qatar's A350s, managed to see one on the stands at Doha as we were departing both times.

 

We need the 30Kg allowance, Mrs Fiend crams loads of Thai foodstuffs into our baggage for the return to the UK.

[jacko 8,815]

Cheers for that. I have got the 777 for one leg only. The others all use the a380. Reading reports, some flights use the 787? That gets a big thumbs down! I may even get to like stopping........I mean its about 6 ish hours and then stop then about 7 ish hours onto Bangkok......so it may be less boring?! I assume, the "transit" in Doha airport is painless and easy?!

 

With Eva it was only 20kgs too....its 30kgs with Qatar............

 

Cheers.

Well transits in airports are never really painless and easy.

You have to queue somewhat for security checks, but they aren't as stringent as London.

The new airport in Doha is rather impressive but big, you can walk around and look in shops until your hearts content if that is your thing. Personally for me it isn't, I want a bathroom and then a comfy place to wait out the transit.

 

I flew Biz Class with them and was very pleased with the BKK-DOH/ A380 legs, but as The Fiend stated, the leg to/from Manchester is a big step down.

I have no choice but to transit somewhere, so mid-flight works best for me, a chance to wake the limbs up. I would never transit in LHR as it is just too horrible (memories of T4-T1 and the Connections Centre, we almost needed sheepdogs) I expect a T5 -T5 transit in LHR would be much better. I used to use KLM but the transit and crappy flight to Manchester after the long-long BKK-Schiphol leg was unpleasant, I was in a fog amidst all these crowds.

 

We look forward to your comments on Qatar in Economy, Biz is just too much more money!

Edited September 9, 2015 by jacko

[marleyboy 140]

Ive only gone biz class 3 times.

 

Once over 2o odd years ago, I got "upgraded!" at Gatwick, on Phillipine airlines....................ended up getting pissed on 12 or 13 glasses of champers! (that stopped at Frankfurt and Karachi I think).

 

Also got upgraded twice, about 14 -15 years ago, from Heathrow using Thai. In those days, I went usually twice a year.Then you would have "equal mileage!" on all your tickets, regardless of how much they cost.....(unlike now! where you only get maybe a quarter of qualifying "points" on their lower priced econ. tickets...............Eva do the same).

 

Obviously, Biz class is wayyyyyy! better than economy, but personally I cant justify (to myself that is!) me spending up to 3 times more on Biz class! I think I just think what I could do with the extra money!!! I "convert" it into baht, in my mind............and its a lot of baht!

 

Thinking about it, Im pretty sure I only have an hour and a half ish, in both directions at Doha.............so will have to get a move on! Quick visit to the toilets will probably be my limit!

[jimmac 66]

I don't understand the problem with the 787. Is it just Qatar's 787? I've flown a 787 in premium economy and business on 2 airlines and I find it an excellent airplane. On a long flight you feel much better when you arrive because of the lower effective altitude inside created by higher cabin pressure and by higher relative humidity in the cabin. I'd fly a 787 any day over other aircraft unless of a course a specific airline had a specific 787 seating problem.

[izzyg 37]

I don't understand the problem with the 787. Is it just Qatar's 787? I've flown a 787 in premium economy and business on 2 airlines and I find it an excellent airplane. On a long flight you feel much better when you arrive because of the lower effective altitude inside created by higher cabin pressure and by higher relative humidity in the cabin. I'd fly a 787 any day over other aircraft unless of a course a specific airline had a specific 787 seating problem.

The 787 is a great aeroplane. The problem is the airlines. Whenever they get a new plane the pack more people into economy by reducing seat pitch. I think Qatar have 31 inch pitch in their 787s.

[Fireman Sam 336]

I actually prefered the stop over in the Middle East, always seemed to make the journey shorter in my mind, don't know why just seemed that way.

 

I'm a Gold card member of Qatar's frequent flyer program, on your 777 leg try and book either 24 a,b,h or k seats, that is the last row of seats in the first economy section of the aircraft. The seats are just in front of the bulkhead and recline just like any other seat in the aircraft, only slight drawback is the proximity of the toilets, although I always saw that as a plus, I could see when they were empty so no queueing.

 

Qatar's A380 is an excellent aircraft. I was always seated upstairs in the small rear economy section which is reserved for their frequent flyers only, so can't really recommend a economy class seat on the A380.

 

Upstairs in business class on the A380 really is the business, ah, those were the days.

 

I always tried to avoid booking their 787 in economy class due to bad reports I had heard about it, but due to an aircraft swap one day from Doha to London I ended up on it. I wasn't impressed at all, biggest draw back definitely the legroom when compared to the 777 and A380. I never noticed any difference to any other aircraft reference the air quality or humidity on the aircraft.

 

One and a half hours is plenty of time to transit the new Airport in Doha. Going through security again on arrival in Doha is hit and miss, sometimes you have to and sometimes not I think it depends on your embarkation airport.

 

 

Regards

[marleyboy 140]

Thanks for that firemansam.

 

I was booked on 17J on the one 777 leg. It "looks" like a decent ish seat. Sure its near the toilets........Suits me..I can never sleep anyway, and can go when there are no queues! Only drawback is if they don't clean the cubicles often! lol! According to the seat layout....24 is in the middle? 17 J is an aisle seat of 2.....so maybe I can stretch my little legs towards the aisle! lol!

 

On the A380 im booked aisle seats (my preference) in rows 41 and 44. There are seats upstairs in economy....but on the "map" on my booking....Im not given the option of changing seats to the "upstairs"? Probably they "keep" them and give them out at thei discretion?

 

Also, as you say, it could well "break up " the trip by stopping half way...............ish!

[Fireman Sam 336]

Thanks for that firemansam.

 

I was booked on 17J on the one 777 leg. It "looks" like a decent ish seat. Sure its near the toilets........Suits me..I can never sleep anyway, and can go when there are no queues! Only drawback is if they don't clean the cubicles often! lol! According to the seat layout....24 is in the middle? 17 J is an aisle seat of 2.....so maybe I can stretch my little legs towards the aisle! lol! !

Sorry for that my bad, Qatar had two layouts on their 777's one has more business class seats at the front therefore impacting the seat row numbers. I thought they had all been converted to the layout with more economy seats, especially on the Bangkok route which is not high demand for business class.

 

Yes, stick with row 17 where there are only two seats on each side of the cabin. Keep checking nearer to your departure date that they don't switch the plane to the other layout.

 

Regards

Edited September 12, 2015 by Fireman Sam

[Fatboyfat 361]

I've done Qatar's 787 in Biz. I thought it a really good product, close to 1st on a lot of airlines, and is same design as on their A380s. To be honest the "cattle class" seating looked no worse than any other airline, but actual users of the seating would be better judges.

[Brown1950 67]

Be careful on the Doha-Bangkok route Qatar Airways are introducing B777-300ER 3-4-3 in economy.- just like

EY & EK.

 

Over the next 18 months QR will be introducing the 10 abreast concept on all their 777-300ER planes.