Review: Qatar Airways Business Class (787-8)

My flight on Qatar Airways business class on the Boeing 787-8 was booked as part of my journey to Montreal. Having been on Qatar Airways QSuites before, I was looking forward to trying other products on offer at Qatar Airways. A 2-hour layover at Doha also gave me the option of trying out the Al-Mourjan Garden Lounge, which is in a league of its own.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at my experience in Qatar Airways business class on the Boeing 787-8.

Booking Qatar Airways Business Class on Boeing 787-8

Business Class	Aircraft	Route	Flight Duration
Qatar Airways (QR) 541	Boeing 787-8	Kolkata (CCU) to Doha (DOH)	4 Hours 45 Minutes

This itinerary was booked as an Avios redemption for 102,000 Avios + fees for Kolkata to Montreal via Doha. Since this was a high-season redemption, it would take fewer Avios for the same route in the off-season.

Avios can be easily earned by Canadians, mostly thanks to RBC Avion points. One of the best cards worth adding to your wallet is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, which comes with a welcome bonus of up to 55,000 Avion points. Avion points transfer to Avios at a rate of 1:1, and Avios can also be transferred freely between partnered loyalty programs.

If you are interested in seeing what other points currencies can transfer to Avios, check out Frugal Flyer’s Miles & Points Transfer Partner tool.

Ground Experience

Kolkata & Travel Club Lounge

Qatar Airways in Kolkata has outsourced ground handling to Air India. Check-in counters were well-staffed with 2 dedicated for business class passengers and 5 for economy passengers. The flight was scheduled to depart at 03:50 in the wee hours of the morning.

Check-in was effortless, and I was handed a lounge pass for the Travel Club Lounge at CCU.

I had very little time, so I did not end up spending much time at the lounge prior to departure. Overall, the lounge felt mediocre with rather underwhelming food options.

Boarding was executed very well, with each J cabin passenger being greeted with their last name – adding that little personal touch from the get-go.

This itinerary had me connecting with a few hours in Doha, and the Al Mourjan Garden Lounge was the one I was really looking forward to. And boy oh boy, it did not disappoint.

Doha & Al Mourjan Business Lounge – The Garden

I had about two hours of connection time in Doha, and after landing, I decided to head to the Al-Mourjan Garden Lounge. Even the check-in area is striking as you enter.

Upon entry, patrons have the option of visiting the Louis Vuitton Lounge located inside the Garden Lounge. Business Class passengers pay for services within the Louis Vuitton Lounge.

The Garden Lounge itself is absolutely splendid and offers indulgence that has become a Qatar Airways trademark. One of the most striking features of this lounge is its architecture – a garden in the middle of the lounge, incredibly high ceilings, and marble and wood accents.

The lounge has lots of different seating options, relaxation areas, a spa, a prayer room, and showers.

When I got to the lounge, the showers were occupied, and I added myself to a waitlist. It took about 30 mins for a shower to become available, which I found reasonable given it was around 7 in the morning. 

The food on offer is a mix of à la carte and buffet menus. I found the menu to be way too expansive to get into, so I personally stuck to a rather simple breakfast after my shower. Beverages of all kinds and varieties were on offer – wines, juices, whiskeys, champagnes – you name it.

After this short trip to the lounge, I headed to board my flight to Montreal.

Cabin Arrangement

This route is operated by a combination of the B787-8 and A350-900 aircraft, operating 3 and 4 days a week, respectively. Qatar has a total of 31 Boeing 787-8’s in the fleet, which have a cabin configuration of 22 business class seats in a 1-2-1 layout and 232 economy class seats in a 3-3-3 layout.

The main J cabin has seats in the 1-2-1 arrangement for 5 rows, a galley thereafter, and has two J seats 6E and 6F placed in a bulkhead behind the galley, between washrooms. These two seats have slightly more privacy from the rest of the cabin.

Travelling alone, I decided to opt for a seat in the last row, 5K.

Seat

The business class seats on Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787-8s are Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, which are a common type seen across many airlines, including on WestJet Business class and Air Canada Signature class. On Qatar Airways, the seat itself is burgundy and features grey accents.

The seat pitch and width are 48 and 22 inches, respectively. Each business class seat includes a 17” entertainment console, with an extendable tray table stored underneath.

Manual seat control buttons are located to the right of the seat.

These seats lack the privacy shell, which can be found on the same product on the likes of WestJet and Air Canada. While the seat does not have a privacy door, privacy doors on a flight this long are, in my opinion, a ‘nice to have’ more than a ‘need to have’. 

The seat has plenty of storage – 2 storage compartments and space on the side of the seat.

The seat is equipped with a universal AC port and USB-A socket. USB Type-C was not a common feature when this machine was delivered around 12 years ago.

The seat is also fitted with individual fan vents. For the aircraft’s age, the seats and cabins were in very good condition.

Bed

The seat extends to a lie-flat bed with a total pitch of 80 inches. Because this flight wasn’t that long, we were not provided with mattress toppers. The pillow and blanket were soft and felt comfortable.

I personally found the footwell to be rather cramped and had difficulty changing sides.

Amenity Kit

The amenity kit provided was a standard Qatar Airways branded kit containing an eyemask, socks, earplugs, and more. Note that this is not the standard Diptyque amenity kit usually provided on long-haul flights.

Dining

Upon boarding, the welcome drink offered was an option between the popular Lemon Mint or Orange Juice. I chose the former, and it tasted fantastic.

Menus were also passed out upon boarding. The food menu was as follows:

A beverage menu was also provided. The cellar menu had all the standard offerings of wine, whiskey, cocktails, mocktails, and more. There were also two kinds of champagne on offer, both from France – the Alfred Gratien Brut and the Devaux Rosee. However, I skipped alcoholic beverages on this flight.

We departed Kolkata at 0400 hrs local time and were served with breakfast. Breakfast started off with fresh seasonal fruits, which tasted okay. I didn’t find them particularly fresh.

For the main course, I opted for a spinach omelet with grilled chicken. Other options were the braised mutton with pumpkin or the south indian specials – masala dosa and idli-vada. 

However, upon ordering, the steward informed me they were out of grilled chicken and replaced it with mushrooms. The taste and texture of the omelet were perfect.

I closed the breakfast with an iced coffee. Without a doubt, this was the best coffee in the sky.

Entertainment

Entertainment Console

The entertainment console screen is 17 inches with very low latency.

The in-flight entertainment (IFE) had a good selection of movies, shows, and music. I personally prefer the map. The flight was also equipped with a streaming service for personal phones and iPads.

Noise-cancelling Phi-Tek headphones were provided for all business class passengers.

WiFi

No in-flight wifi is available on the B787-8 fleet at Qatar Airways yet.

Conclusion

Overall, my time in Qatar Airways business class was a very pleasant experience, with the Al-Mourjan Garden Lounge in Doha being a definite highlight. The Qsuite still reigns supreme; however, this product in this use case is great. A few small gripes – in-flight wifi should be standard, and I found service to be slightly on the slower side. This could be due to a variety of reasons, the god forsaken departure time probably being one. 

In my personal opinion, what gives Qatar Airways the edge over other carriers is its ability to consistently deliver a solid product. This ensures a returning customer has a high probability of being satisfied with the product.