After some time in Australia, it was time to fly from Sydney to Doha on the Qatar Airways Airbus A380. After an excellent flight in first class in the other direction, I was looking forward to doing it all again on the return.
Unfortunately, a few days before I was to leave I came down with some kind of virus. I wasn’t particularly well, so I was looking forward to sleeping most of the flight, which is what I ended up doing.
Qantas First Class Lounge in Sydney
The Qantas International First Class lounge is one of the best in the world. Once inside, I asked about a spa appointment, but there were none available. The Australian airline rightly prioritises its own frequent flyers, so that was not too surprising. I took a seat at a table and was soon served what I wanted.
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- Some of the menu.
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- Salt & Pepper Squid and the Gua Bao.
After eating a couple of light bits and pieces I sat and relaxed before heading down to the gate to board. We were on board soon enough and I turned left into the first class section on the upper deck.
QR909 – Sydney to Doha (SYD-DOH)
21 February 2024
Airbus A380 – A7-APF
Seat: First Class 1A
Departure: 21:45 Arrival: 04:50+1
This time I was seated in 1A, and watched to see how full the cabin became. To my surprise, it was a full load in first class today. I was surprised because even close in to travel, there were only three people with seat assignments.
The Beginning of the Flight
The late evening departure time meant it would be a good flight for sleeping. On the ground, I had a glass of Armand de Brignac Champagne, and it was served with a little ramekin of olives and cheese. Closer to departure, Arabic coffee is served with a flourish, but I didn’t get photos this time, as you can see that in detail in the review of my flight from Doha to Sydney.
A cold towel was offered and the free Wi-Fi cards handed out, before the safety demonstration and take-off. Once in the air, I elected for light items, and chose the caviar (of course!) and a soup.
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- Sitting pretty in 1A.
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- Pre-departure bubbles.
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- Cold towel.
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- Free Wi-Fi for me!
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- The table cloth.
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- Amuse bouche.
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- Caviar time!
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- It comes with blinis and what not.
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- Soup!
All of the food was quite delicious, and I was quite full by the end of it. I didn’t go for any main courses or desserts, as my appetite was quite meagre as I wasn’t well.
Once everything was cleared away, it was time for some shuteye. I asked a crew member to convert my seat into a bed, and they did that efficiently as usual.
Sleeping Sydney to Doha
I have to say I regretted selecting seat 1A, which I did just to say I’ve done it. Row two is easily the better option on the Qatar Airways Airbus A380 as it’s far more private. You also don’t get the light leakage from the curtain right in front of you, which leads to the toilets and cabin baggage storage.
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- Bed time!
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- The cabin is dark.
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- See the curtain and toilet door? Also, the passenger across the aisle was getting lots of work done!
Despite that little challenge, I did sleep fairly well, helped by the A380’s excellent sound proofing. It does keep the cabin quite quiet compared to the older aircraft like the 777.
Breakfast Time
Once I woke up, I decided to have breakfast and selected the Greek Yoghurt and French toast. Smaller items seemed like good choices since I wasn’t particularly starving.
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- Big tray, small choice.
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- Greek yoghurt.
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- French toast.
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- The end… with Chocolates, water and Champagne.
All of that was quite nice and I sat around relaxing until we landed in Doha. We were quickly off the plane and I headed off to the Al Safwa First Class lounge for some between flight R&R.
Overall Thoughts
I’m not usually one to be flying when unwell, but as it was an Avios redemption booking, I had to fly it or lose it really. Not to mention I was expected back at work and all of that kind of thing. You can tell I wasn’t well as I didn’t even venture down the back of the plane to the bar!
Flying Sydney to Doha in first class is a very comfortable experience. The efficient and well trained Qatar Airways crew always make the flight a decent experience and dine on demand honestly can’t be beat. My only recommendation would be to choose row two, otherwise it’s pretty faultless, even if the seat is now outdated.
Have you flown Qatar Airways first class before? What do you think of it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Great review!
Thank you!
My wife and I flew BKK-DOH in first class on the A380 in February. It was pretty much as you showed. Like you my wife was unwell so she didn’t get the most out of such a great flight but while the lounge experiences were a little iffy I thought the flight itself was lovely.
Yes, I would be much of a fan of the QR lounges – at all. Nice that you’ve also experienced it, it’s worth having done it!
Sorry to hear you weren’t well. Do Qatar Airways have any issues checking bags onto a separately booked flight or are they okay with it? Also do they give you boarding passes for the following leg as well even if it’s a separate booking?
Thanks
Thanks! They had no issues at all checking my bag all the way through, even though it was on separate bookings. Both boarding passes were issued in Sydney, so it meant I was straight into the Al Safwa lounge in Doha without any problems.
Seems almost similar experience as Qatar business class I took couple of time in recent year from DFW
Great to hear!