Review: Qatar Airways Old First Class 777-300 Doha-Cairo
Intro
The next portion of my luxury tour of Asia around Asia would see me leaving Asia🥺. Spending the last month in Asia was one of the most amazing moments of my life. After visiting Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal, praying with the monks in Bhutan, and enjoying being alive, it was time to see the Pyramids of Giza.
To get there, I would be flying with Qatar Airways on their 777-300 from Doha over to Cairo. This flight was certainly an interesting one as it was supposed to be operated by a Q-Suites Aircraft, but it was switched hours before departure. Even if I was randomly assigned a middle seat, which was a tad frustrating, the onboard service was exceptional.
Let's get into it!
Route-Doha-Cairo
Seat- 5E
Flight Number- QR1303
Aircraft- Boeing 777-300ER
Date- January 23rd 2024
Flight Time: 3 Hours 35 Minutes
How I Booked
I have tried to help people out by letting you know the sweet spots on some of these programs, but this might be one of the greatest redemptions that any program has. Americans categorize Asia as one, so the price of flying from Bangkok to Doha is the same as flying from Denpasar-Doha-Cairo. For some odd reason, AA doesn't put Cairo in the Africa category.
I was able to find space to fly Q-Suites on the A350-1000 from Denpasar to Doha and then the 777-300 from Doha to Cairo in First Class, all for 40K Advantage Miles. This also included access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge in Doha. Talk about a bargain!
Something to note is that this specific hard product is marketed as Business Class on long-haul routes. However, certain routes on short hauls are marketed as "First Class," including certain more premium aspects, as well as access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge.
Boarding
Following a lovely time visiting the Al Safwa First Class Lounge and a very refreshing jacuzzi, it was time to head off to the gate.
Interestingly, we were boarding next to the QR flight heading off to Miami (with Q-Suites, might I add). It was a complete kerfuffle at the gate area with secondary screening going on and no line for business class customers (or if there was, I didn’t see it)
We ended up boarding behind schedule, but seeing as this flight is heavily padded schedule-wise, this wasn’t the end of the world.
I like that QR is pretty consistent about using two jetbridges on their widebodies. However, seeing as I was in the second business class (FC) cabin, I opted to board through the second jetbridge.
Once onboard, the Qatar Airways service came to light!
The Seat/Cabin
Most of the Qatar Airways 777-300 fleet features Q-Suites, which are prioritized on high-yield routes. However, a small sub-fleet features a dated business class product in a 2-2-2 configuration across 7 rows. Guess what we were on, one of the few aircraft to feature the dated product😅.
Here is a look around the mini cabin between doors 2 and 3, featuring 3 rows. The first cabin is 4 rows in a 2-2-2 configuration.
I quickly settled into my seat, 6E. Except I realized for the first time in my life I had sat in the wrong seat😅. I profusely apologized when I was told and changed the blanket from my seat. Seriously, my apologies if you are reading this ❤️.
There’s not much to the seat, with a light and tray table to the right of you. Alternatively, if we look left, I was able to find the seat controls on the armrest closest to the aisle.
However, the one thing I will say, is I found the legroom in the bulkhead to be a little bit smaller than alternative rows. I would personally choose row 4 next time.
IFE/Amenities
In the last report of the A350-1000, we touched on the IFE system extensively. All of the aircraft in Qatar offer the same selection, but the only difference is the quality of entertainment. The IFE screen pops out from the middle in the bulkhead rows, and for its age, it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. It was responsive and capable of streaming, although nowhere near the same quality as the A35K.
Free wifi was offered for an hour, while a full flight pass was 10$.
Amenities-wise, we received the infamous Qatar Airways blanket. In terms of short-haul Business/First Class products, this might be the most comfortable blanket in the sky. At least up there with Singapore Airlines. Additionally, a pair of ORYX headphones and a plush pillow were offered.
However, no amenity kits...
Departure
All the details are out of the way; let’s get into the flight!
Once onboard, I was warmly greeted by the flight attendant working my aisle. I forgot his name, which I was kicking myself for, but he introduced himself and asked if I would like something to drink. Naturally, I chose a mimosa.
Once the cabin door had been closed (10 minutes late), he came around to offer passengers Arabic Coffee. Now, this is a big differential between business and first, as passengers will only get Arabic coffee and dates offered on QR F.
For reasons unknown, we ended up pushing back about 23 minutes late at 7:58 am. However, it seemed to be a short taxi as we rocketed out of there with a light load at 8:10 am.
Meal Service
Seeing as this was a morning flight, breakfast was being served on this 3-hour flight to Cairo. Here is what the menu looked like:
I’ve made it very clear that I am not a breakfast person on this blog, so I simply asked if they had any spare meals loaded for the return. At this point, my body clock was so messed up that I had no idea what timezone I was in. The flight attendant came back and informed me that they had a lamb dish they could give me.
This wasn’t necessarily at all, but it shows just how kind the flight attendants in Qatar are. Wow!
The meal service ended up coming out about 35 minutes after takeoff. The lamb was divine, as most lamb dishes are😅. The croissants were on the better side of what I’ve had on airlines, and the cappuccinos were phenomenal. Combine that with a mimosa; life was fantastic in the air during this flight.
My mimosa was kept topped up throughout the flight by the wonderful flight attendants.
Rest Of The Flight
Being in the center seats, in a 2-2-2 configuration, meant that I had little privacy for the 3 hours over to Cairo. After eating, I ended up talking with the flight attendant for about 30 minutes about life and how he got into his career with Qatar Airways. A really fascinating and kind gentleman.
Other than that, I chilled out and enjoyed some more coffee and mimosas while watching the Moving Map (hashtag sort of raw dog).
Lavatories
As expected with Qatar Airways, the lavatories were kept immaculate during my time onboard. With 4 lavatories for the 30-odd people on board, there was a fantastic ratio.
Arrival
Even though we were about 25 minutes delayed leaving Doha, we somehow arrived 7 minutes early at our gate. It felt so exciting to be back in Egypt for the first time in 14 years. It’s a bit of a shame that I didn’t get some landing views🥺, but it is what it is, and everything is as it should be.
By 10:33 am local time, we had arrived at the gate in Cairo. The cabin crew bid us farewell, and it was off to baggage claim since I was actually flying with checked bags!
Within 20 minutes, I had cleared immigration, picked up my bags and was outsdie of the terminal. Seeing as I travel quite a bit, my barganing skills are quite decent😉, so managed to secure a ride to the Fairmont for 10$ hehe. Stay tuned for that review!
Final Thoughts
Look, even if we had an aircraft swap to an older 777-300ER and had my seat changed to the middle set of seats, I had a wonderful time with Qatar Airways on this 3.5-hour flight over to Cairo. The one thing you can count on with Qatar Airways (apart from my last report) is that Qatar Airways has some of the best services in the sky.
For a short time, I was impressed with the food offerings, the champagne, the dates/Arabic coffee, and the service. The seats/abeit old, remind me a lot of the Thai 777-200 in terms of history to aviation. Although I would rather fly the Q-Suites product, I am happy I tried it out for probably the last time in my life😉.
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