Category: Updates

Introduction: Home QSuite Home

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: Home QSuite Home
Plaza Premium First Lounge Hong Kong Airport
Qatar Airways 777 QSuite Business Class Hong Kong to Doha
The Sad State of Transit at Doha Airport
Qatar Airways 777 QSuite Business Class Doha to Amsterdam
Hilton The Hague Family Suite
The Hotel Brussels Panorama Suite/Superior Twin Room
British Airways Galleries Lounge Brussels Airport
Qatar Airways 777 Old Business Class Brussels to Doha
Qatar Airways 777 QSuite Business Class Doha to Hong Kong

This trip report will cover my Qatar Airways itinerary that I flew during our trip this summer. Our objective was to visit various cities in the Netherlands and Belgium, and I booked flights on Qatar Airways specifically to try out the new QSuite, which they introduced in 2017.

Qatar Airways Boeing 777 QSuite Business Class

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Qatar Airways’ Disappointing Non-Refurbished 777 Business Class

~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

I’m currently flying over the Persian Gulf, on my way to Doha so I can return home. Between the derogatory customs department at Brussels Airport, keeping myself updated on Hong Kong’s depressing state, and a general deprivation of natural light/company, it’s been an exhausting day.

Assuming my Doha to Hong Kong flight doesn’t get swapped out, my Brussels to Doha flight is the only flight that I have scheduled in Qatar Airways’ non-refurbished 777 business class cabin (the remaining flights are all in their QSuite, which I love). While I’ve flown the leased LATAM A350 aircraft that Qatar occasionally flies, which features a similar configuration, this is my first time in Qatar Airways’ non-refurbished 777 business class product. It’s weird to think that Qatar Airways came to prominence as one of the world’s best airlines while flying most of their ultra-longhaul routes with this seat.

Qatar Airways Boeing 777 Brussels Airport

The reason I say that is that, as much as I love Qatar’s soft product, I can’t overlook how disappointing this hard product is even on a six-hour night flight from Brussels to Doha.

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Why Are EU Tax Refund Counters So Rude To Asians?

~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

Hello from Brussels Airport! I’m currently sitting down with a beer at the British Airways lounge waiting for my Qatar Airways flight to Doha. And I’m not going to lie – I’m pretty mad.

Two years ago, at the tax refund counter at Munich Airport, I had a borderline traumatic experience where we were mocked and laughed at since we didn’t have our goods out. Following experiences at Zurich and Geneva we assumed we didn’t actually need to take our goods out to show customs, and that backfired on us big-time – not only were we mocked, but we also almost missed our flight, as they were deliberately trying to waste our time by making fun of our inability to read the German on our receipts.

Mentally prepared to face something similar at Brussels Airport, we had prepared everything to show the man at the counter. So instead of leaving traumatised, I was just left…ticked off.

Either way, I’m concerned about the blatant discrimination of Asian-looking people at tax refund counters.

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China’s Next Retaliatory Act On Hong Kong Involves Cathay Pacific

~ Alvin

Hong Kong is going through a bit of a rough patch right now (to put it lightly), and China is largely displeased with the way Hong Kongers are rioting against them. In my last post where I described how this weekend’s airport protests would affect those flying in and out of the airport, I talked about how I was in no way a supporter of any violence that was going on, though at the same time agreed that Hong Kong was facing high stakes.

I know that protesters overestimate their ability to overturn the government and lead Hong Kong autonomously, and they think they’re starting some sort of cutting-edge revolution. What they fail to realise is that China has the ability to wipe the entirety of Hong Kong out in a second. As of now, Hong Kong phones are already getting cleared when getting into China, to stop any footage of the protests from getting into the country.

Well, the first of China’s retaliations have hit, and it targets Cathay Pacific. From now on, crewmembers involved in protests will no longer be allowed to operate Cathay Pacific flights overflying Chinese airspace.

Now, how does this work?

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Hong Kong Airport Protests: What Should This Mean For Your Flight?

~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Update: The protests will start at 1 PM local time on Friday, August 9, and more or less continue until Sunday night.

Update: The allegations of boarding pass checks are correct, and there’s currently a bottleneck at the departures area as most staff are busy manning the arrivals area; those travelling out of Hong Kong this weekend are advised to get to the airport at least 3 hours before departure.

That being said, YTHK is happy to report that most departing travellers have reported that the process lasted under a minute, and posed no risk of missing your flight.

Photo credit: Danny Lee, my friend from SCMP

In this post:

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Qatar Airways’ QSuite Is As Good As I Hoped It To Be

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

WOW! Hello from 34,000 feet somewhere over Iran. I’m currently trying out Qatar Airways’ QSuite between Doha and Amsterdam. I flew to Doha this morning, where I managed to sample QSuites for the first time; I believed that a review of the “world’s best business class product” was long overdue.

Qatar Airways Boeing 777 QSuite Business Class 

Mainly I was looking forward to playing some sort of devil’s advocate, since I’ve heard unanimous praise from various trusted bloggers. It all seemed too good to be true.

It wasn’t. Obviously I’ve tried enough business class products so that I can come up with a couple of (nitpicky) criticisms with regards to the seat, though there’s no question that this business class product blows any other that I’ve flown out of the water.

This is as close to perfection as business class gets.

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Cathay Pacific Retires 777-200s

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Cathay Pacific has been introducing some new aircraft lately. Last year Cathay Pacific introduced their newest variant of the A350, the A350-1000. The airline took the opportunity to introduce new economy class seats when introducing the A350-1000, and although I was swapped out when booked in their economy class, I did manage to fly their business class on a short flight.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000 Hong Kong Airport

Obviously, as with any company that has moving parts, the arrival of new planes means it’s time to say goodbye to some old ones. Cathay Pacific is retiring their last 777-200 out of service on August 7, 2019.

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How Good is British Airways’ New Club World and Club Europe Dining?

~ j ~ Leave a comment

In my last post, I talked about my experience with British Airways’ Club World and Club Europe hard product. To my surprise, I found that the seats weren’t quite as bad as most people have made it out to be. With that in mind, I wanted to follow up on that post by sharing some of my thoughts about British Airways’ new Club World and Club Europe soft product offerings, especially considering the recent upgrades that have been made.

IMG_3374.jpgBritish Airways Boeing 777-200ER Club World Cabin

Last year, British Airways rolled out a new service style for their Club World cabins, which was created in collaboration with Do&Co. While the service initially included an elaborate trolley service, this was cut back in favour of a simpler hand-delivered tray service for convenience. In the meantime, British Airways have also rolled out improvements to their Club Europe dining. Having heard quite good things about both of these meal service enhancements, I was excited to give it a go for myself.

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British Airways’ Club World Seat Is NOT THAT BAD!

~ j ~ Leave a comment

British Airways’ “Club” business class cabins are some of the most extensively reviewed products out there, and the consensus seems pretty simple: it’s not that great. The current “dorm-style” Club World cabin has been panned by everyone and their mother and their Club Europe product is little more than an economy seat with a blocked middle seat and free food.

IMG_3374.jpgBritish Airways Boeing 777-200ER Club World Cabin

However, on a recent trip, British Airways offered some really compelling fares to Europe from Bangkok, so I decided to bite the bullet and try the product out for myself to see how the product fared, especially when compared to some more highly regarded competitors such as Cathay Pacific and Finnair.

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ANA’s Stunning New 777 Cabins

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While economy class seats get tighter and tighter, business class seats have gradually gotten more and more luxurious. Qatar Airways revolutionised the industry by introducing their QSuite back in 2017, and since then we’ve seen an increasing number of carriers introduce business class seats with doors.

ANA introduced their last-generation business class products in 2013. I’ve heard good things about their soft product, though honestly their hard product is somewhere near the middle of the pack lately. The seat colours are drab, and I’ve tried similarly configured products (such as EVA Air’s 787), which are nice but can’t compete with the latest and greatest out there.

ANA Boeing 777 Tokyo Haneda Airport

Well, that changed all of a sudden.

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