The last hurrah of my big birthday trip was a two-flight return journey from Cape Town to Dallas via Doha on Qatar Airways Qsuites. I’d been wanting try Qsuites for awhile, but it just never worked into our plans. With American Airlines offering this pair of flights on partner Qatar Airways for a super-reasonable 70,000 miles, now was the time!
While the route might see ridiculously out-of-the-way on first glance, it was actually perfect and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The first flight was overnight, Cape Town to Doha, so I chose two interior seats (Qsuites are in a 1-2-1 configuration) so that David and I could merge our seat cubicles. We shared dinner, then had our seats reconfigured to have a private double bed in the sky. We loved it!
After a restful overnight, we landed early in Doha with enough time to check out Qatar Airways impressive Al Mourjan business class lounge. (It’s hard to believe Qsuites are only business class as they outstrip many a first class seat for comfort, excellent dining and pure luxury.) The lounge is immense with a huge reflecting pool running through a central, two-story space, touch pads at every seat, private rooms and cubicles and an upstairs dining room (do reserve). Signs advised that the number of persons allowed in the lounge was limited, but we were allowed in immediately and it’s hard to imagine how many people would make that vast space and seating capacity overcrowded.
The second leg of our journey was a 16-hour flight non-stop from Doha to Dallas, one of the longest flights in the world. After our first flight, we couldn’t wait to get back on a plane to check out the window seats I’d chosen for this leg of the journey. Would that I was always so eager to get back on a plane! Once again, we were offered White Company pajamas for the flight. When I told our attendant that we already had a pair from the previous flight, he urged us to take another so we got a couple of sets for my sons. They’re delightfully comfortable and we’ve all enjoyed wearing them back at home on tv nights.
Windows seats were ideal for this flight and we felt like we got a free tour of the planet from the sky. The weather was clear for the entire flight back and we got surprisingly clear views of Iraq and Euphrates, Romania, Turkey, Greenland and its melting glaciers… I took pictures out the window, comparing them to the flight map on my seat screen and adding labels. I’m a sucker for a little nerdy fun!
Qsuites dining really deserves a shout-out. It exceeded my (high) expectations. The lobster Thermador, in particular, rivaled any I’ve had in a restaurant. (See lead photo.) Wines and champagne were good, a final “lobster salad sandwich” boasted big lobster chunks and a full, shelled claw. Delicious!