A last-minute aircraft swap meant my Boeing 777-300ER with Qsuites became an Airbus A330 with a far inferior “first” class seat, but my short flight from Doha to Amman still proved to be excellent.
Qatar Airways A330 First Class – My First Impressions
After arriving from Tokyo I enjoyed a breakfast feast in the Al Safwa Lounge…it has been a few years since I’ve been in this lounge and it felt like it had not changed at all. I’ll update my review, but was quite happy with the food, service, and even utilized the spa area.
Qatar Airways is pretty bad about last-minute aircraft swaps and I fell victim to one on this 2 hour, 50 minute flight. My 777 with a 1-2-1 seating became an A330 with 2-2-2 seating up front (no direct aisle access for window seat passengers).
I put first class in quotation marks because Qatar Airways markets it regional flights within the Middle East as “first class” which I’ve never fully understood, but note that it does provide access to the Al Safwa Lounge, which is a nice step up over the Al Mourjan Lounge for business class passengers.
Onboard, Nour took care of me and provided excellent service throughout the flight. The seat next to me stay opened, which helped.
One first class distinctive on Qatar Airways, versus business class, is Arabic coffee and dates prior to the flight.
Having just indulged in a feast in the Al Safwa Lounge, I did not eat until before landing. Perhaps this was a mistake, because I found the catering lackluster and it may be that my omelet was just left in the oven too long. It was served with lamb sambousek and halloumi cheese and frankly better than most meals I would receive on a flight of that length within the USA (especially considering the fresh orange juice and berry smoothie), but not a particularly memorable meal.
We landed to a pleasant day in Amman and I was soon off and on my way through passport control.
CONCLUSION
It’s always nice when you can be “let down” to find yourself on an A330 with lie-flat seating, a large menu of food, and great service on a flight less than three hours. The flight was fine in the sense that after an 11-hour flight on JAL followed by a 12-hour flight on Qatar Airways, I was just ready to seep some more…but Qatar Airways impresses on both the short- and longhaul sectors.
Oh, and a question for you aircraft experts out there. Was this an A330-200 or A330-300? Without the registration number, how can you tell?
Based on you having a 5 row business class, with no first class, looks like you were on a A330-300?
Loved the review! I agree- this is an A330-300 based on the stretched forward cabin in the photo (number of windows). The 332 has around 10 between doors 1 and 2 and the 333 has around 15 between doors 1 and 2.
I guess the same question for US airlines marketing their domestic first class seats?
Yep. Beyond tradition, why?
What’s wrong with identifying the plane by the registration number? Picture shows A7-AEJ, that’s a A330-300.
Am I blind? Where do you see that?
Look at the front wheel doors. The last two letters of the registration are written there.
That’s where I looked – nose gear doors. And just the length of that fuselage tells me it’s a -300.
QR only has 6 -200’s, with 5 currently in service. A7-ACK hasn’t flown since a test flight on May 18th.
So interesting the short haul ‘first’ class gets the nicer lounge even though there is no business class to buy on those short routes
Gerg..they have to compete against EK/EY. That is what it’s all about.
I had the same last week, 4 777 Q Suite legs became 2 with one A380 and finally the 330 from DOH-CPT and my initial disappointment was quickly overcome by the much better sleeping position, no cubby hole for your feet!!! Admittedly the seat next to me was the only open one in the cabin but the Qatar service remained undiminished.
SeatGuru says that Qatar Airways has precisely one configuration of a A330 that has 30 business class seats and that configuration is for an A330-300. Since you were downgraded from a first class seat to a business class seat, will you get anything back? Or were the dates and coffee enough?
I’ve had that swap hit me too – instead of Qsuites to LAX, it was 17 hours of angle lie flat in a 2-2-2 config. That was a huge disappointment.
I just had a mammoth trip around South Asia, mainly business class. Overall the trip was enjoyable and Qatar was great – right up ro the time my luggage went missing in Doha. Two weeks later they don’t even answer calls. 🙁
For those of us who have nutrition requirements, and can’t sleep on aircraft regardless of the seat position, I don’t know why we should read any more of your quaint reviews.
Yep. I guess you’re visiting the wrong website. Bye.
Ha! You can tell from the safety instruction card that it’s A330-300. Only Type A Doors. A330-200 has type A and type I.
But then why wouldn’t the safety card just say A330-300?
Qatar Airways marks First Class flights around Middle East and Cairo to give better experience to local passengers that usually pays high fares although in end flying in usual business class and only extra benefits are check in at First Class counters, extra weight baggage and access to Al Safwa lounge
Hi Well Looks like it is the best time for Australia and Over seas states that people can do it. And it more freedom to do what everyone could n’t do before for while. So see friends or family to see for while what ever for them.
Hi Matthew-
Have used the e gates at hamad international airport? Was the sign up time truly 2 minutes? Was it worth it?
I’m seeing articles from July 2 2022 that e gates are now available for foreigners above 18. Families need to go to the immigration counter to complete the process.
It’s a 333! The reg is Alpha Echo and all AE* are 333 opposed to Alpha Charlies and Alpha Foxtrots which are 332s. and AF* also includes few 333s. But you flew on A7-AEJ and that can only be A333. Then you should look at windows and fuselage and configuration (row 5 business class/means 30J 275Y, so definitely another point for 333). Windows and fuselage also longer than 332, it has 15 in the front, so it’s a 333. And also you should look at the parking strip at the gate, if you look closely it says A333 on the ground/at the gate in AMM jordan. Hope it clears it up for you. Bye bye!