Around the World in 100 Hours: Qatar Airways First Class Doha to Dubai

Introduction
United Club San Francisco, International Terminal
United Business Class San Francisco to Seoul
Asiana Airlines Business Class Lounge Seoul
Korean Air Lounge and Singapore SilverKris Lounge Seoul
Singapore Business Class Seoul to Singapore
Ambassador Transit Lounge Singapore
Singapore SilverKris Lounge Singapore
Changi Airport Free Singapore Tour
Singapore Business Class Singapore to Colombo
Transiting Colombo
Lotus and Araliya Lounges Colombo
Qatar Airways Business Class Colombo to Doha
Qatar Airways First Class Premium Terminal Doha
Qatar Airways First Class Doha to Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates First Class Dubai to London Heathrow
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways Galleries First Lounge and Club World Lounge London Heathrow
British Airways First Class London Heathrow to San Francisco

---

Qatar 106
Doha (DOH) to Dubai (DXB)
Monday, May 27th, 2013
Depart: 8:20am
Arrive: 10:30am
Duration: 1h 10m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Seat: 4K

I was super excited for this flight, being that it was my first time on a Boeing 787.

The 787 is a two-cabin plane for Qatar, but they sell the premium cabin as First Class instead of Business. I’m not entirely sure what this will mean for redemptions once Qatar joins OneWorld, but it does mean that you get access to the First Class Lounge in the Premium Terminal, and the service (although maybe not the hard product) was what I would expect from a First Class product.

My first impression of the cabin was that it was quite spacious. There are no overhead bins over the center seats, and the other overhead bins close up at a steep angle, so it just felt like there was a lot of space.

The seats are arranged in a reverse herringbone position, similar to the US Airways Envoy cabin or Cathay Pacific’s new business class. While they’re not incredibly private seats, everyone gets direct aisle access, and all seats recline fully flat, so it’s a pretty darn comfortable way to travel.

If there’s one flaw that I saw, it’s that the entertainment screen and part of the tray table were immobile, which meant that it felt slightly constrained for my legs when fully reclined.

As part of the cabin, there are also two seats in the very back by themselves. I could see it as being somewhat novel if you’re traveling with someone else to get those two seats, as it does feel like a little bit like your own mini-cabin.

The service on the flight was amazing, and I’m amazed by how much they did on such a short flight. The flight was only booked for a little over an hour, which meant that the actual flight time was more like 40 minutes.

Prior to departure, the main flight attendant serving my aisle went around and introduced herself to each passenger in her section. She noticed that I was taking so many pictures, so we had a nice chat about our excitement at flying the 787 (it was only her second time).

We started off with dates and coffee. Although I don’t drink coffee, I felt obliged to take some, which made me feel a little guilty when the flight attendant looked a little sad that I didn’t finish my small cup prior to takeoff.

After takeoff, the flight attendants went into high gear, as there was a full breakfast service during our very short flight.

While I loved the service and the fact that I could order Krug for breakfast, I didn’t actually like the food that much. The makdous was incredibly salty, and I’m not a huge dairy person, so I ended up mostly picking at my plate.

Before I knew it, we were making our descent into Dubai, and I had to bid adieu this awesome plane and crew. I would definitely like the chance to fly the 787 on one of Qatar’s longer routes, which are many of the routes to Europe.