Mar 03, 2013 09:01 PM
20624 Views
Recently travelled from London to Hanoi and then back from Bangkok to Heathrow. The outbound flight was delayed initially due to the late inbound aircraft and then further delayed after we were on board due to paperwork issues. This additional delay meant that we missed or connection to Hanoi and had to be re-routed via Hong Kong.
Eventually arrived in Hanoi 6 hours late and to make matters worse our luggage didn’t arrive on our flight. There were no Qatar ground staff to assist and we were left to try and sort the luggage issue with a local handling agent who told us we would need to come back to the airport the next day when the Qatar staff would be there.
Our luggage eventually arrived 24 hrs later, but we were not offered any compensation for buying essential toiletries or clothes.Besides the delay issues I have to say that, with the exception of the lounge at Heathrow which was very nice, the whole business class experience with Qatar is very poor when compared to the other Middle Eastern (Hub) airlines such as Emirates and Etihad.
The Boeing 777 is reasonably comfortable, but the Airbus A330 offered the most uncomfortable seat that I have ever experienced. It is very narrow, it has several pre-set positions which when selected are like a ride on a rodeo horse. Finally when extended into the bed it becomes an arch rather than a flat bed which makes it almost impossible to lie on. For single travellers there is no privacy from the next door seat and the entertainment system while comprehensive in terms of content is ridiculously difficult to navigate.
Food and service can only be described as okay, certainly not up to the standards of others.
Certainly an experience not to be remembered or repeated.