Qatar Business Class Review Doha (DOH) to Philadelphia (PHL) A350
After my flight on the Qatar Business Class 787 earlier this year from Doha to Windhoek, I was curious to try the Airbus A350 in business class.
The A350 is a fantastic new plane - wider than the Boeing 787 but with equally innovative features like higher cabin pressure, higher humidity, and an incredibly quiet ride. You can whisper on a flight and will have no trouble making yourself understood.
On the day of my flight, the US had just introduced 'enhanced passenger screenings' for US-bound travelers. In Doha, this would mean a few questions about my bags (I did not have any) and manual checks for electronics at the gate, plus a few more questions about my trip. I felt it was very simple, the gate agents seemingly much more nervous than I was.
Boarding was perfectly on time and the cabin was just beautiful on this A350. The 1-2-1 combination of seats fits perfectly into the frame. Everything was nice and shiny and everyone seemed genuinely friendly and excited to be a part of the 15-hour flight to Philadelphia.
All the window seats were taken but almost all middle seats were available, so I moved around until I found my perfect seat. The seat is very similar to the Cathay Pacific Business Class seat but it's newer and looks much better.It gives ample amount of privacy and goes into a fully-flat position (just the shoulder padding sticks out a bit).
It comes with a glorious, huge LCD display and I had no problems stretching out completely right after take-off.
Qatar Airways provides complimentary pajamas and I slipped into mine right after a post-take-off drink (there was a round of drinks before departure as well). It was almost 2.30AM at that point and I was looking forward to sleep.
I found sleeping in all positions to be a breeze with the Qatar Airways seat. It's wide enough and long enough for me to sleep comfortably. After about 10 hours of sleep, I woke up very well-rested.
We were on our way over the Western Atlantic when I decided to eat my way through breakfast and then later through the lunch entreés.
I usually like Qatar's selection of dishes and wasn't disappointed this time either. All the food seemed well-prepared and well presented. The flight attendants had no problem preparing the food with my special requests (though my requests were actually less sophisticated than this sounds!)
I refrained from drinking, since it felt like morning to me, so I never really tried any of the delicious wines on offer.
Arrival into Philadelphia was a breeze, with friendly immigration and customs and a completely empty immigration hall.
You can book your Qatar flight here.