oneworld

Review: American Airlines Flagship Business / 777-300ER / Hong Kong to Los Angeles

February 28, 2020 by boltonpoints

AIRCRAFT: 77W / 777-300ER
ROUTE: HKG – LAX
SEAT: 8D and 8G (Business)
COST: CASH + SYSTEMWIDE UPGRADE (SWU)

We’d found reasonable fares to get from Hong Kong back to San Francisco, so this seemed like the perfect way to use my last two SWU’s (systemwide upgrades), which Executive Platinums get four of when they qualify/re-qualify. The SWU’s themselves have become increasingly harder to use over the years, and finding confirmable space at booking is almost non-existent. Nevertheless, our upgrades cleared a couple of weeks out, however I didn’t receive a notification from American. The way I found out is Chase – where I booked the flights – notified me to say that my fare class had changed. Minor details considering Hong Kong to LAX is about 13 hours.

*Singapore Airlines A380 views from the bus!*

Check-in

We arrived into Hong Kong on a separate VietJet flight from Phu Quoc around 3:00 in the afternoon. The American flight didn’t leave until nearly 8pm, so although it can be risky booking separate flights on an international itinerary, I felt comfortable with the 5 hour window. The downside is that because our itineraries were separate, we needed to get our bags and clear immigration.

We then headed back to the departures hall, where there was an American check-in desk but no agents. We were told by another couple who had just done this flight several weeks prior, that they wouldn’t open check-in until 3 hours out. Since I was Executive Platinum at the time, I was able to wait in the Flagship check-in line. At about 3.5 hours before departure, an agent arrived and checked our bags.

The Lounge (The Pier)

*I want my house decorated like this lounge*

We made it through immigration and security in about 10 minutes. Once through, we beelined for The Pier – Cathay Pacific’s first class lounge – which I had access to thanks to my Executive Platinum status (oneworld Emerald). We’ve been to Hong Kong’s airport many times, and normally we’d lounge hop, but given that we only had about 2-2.5 hours to play with, we decided to stay put. We were able to take much needed showers, followed by a complimentary foot massage at the spa! Tip: put your name on the spa list the second you arrive, as the queue can be long.

Cathay has been in financial troubles for the last couple of years, and the political unrest in Hong Kong has only exacerbated the problems. The airline has begun to cut some services, including first class from many Asian routes. We also noticed that the champagne options in lounge had changed from Vueve Clicquot to Perrier-Jouet, a small, but noticeable downgrade.

After showering and foot massages, we dined in the sit-down dining room. As we always do, we ordered signature dan dan noodles, followed by our server’s recommendation to get the pork ribs. Both were excellent. We left the lounge with 45 minutes before our flight.

The flight

*33 min before departure is apparently final call*

We arrived at our gate where boarding had already begun. We entered the plane through the middle door, where we were greeted by smiling flight attendants.

American’s cabin is a 1-2-1 configuration, with them middle seats in a reverse-herringbone setup, making them great for those traveling together. Overall, these are my favorite business class seats that American offers, which makes sense since the 77W is their flagship aircraft.

At our seats was Casper bedding, Bang and Olufsen headphones, and an amenity kit and slippers. I had my own pair of Bose headphones with me, but decided to give the new B&O headphones a try and they were excellent, and definitely an improvement over the Bose headphones offered for the last few years, though either would probably be considered industry leading since most airlines skimp here. Now if only American didn’t collect them 45-60 minutes prior to the end of the flight…

Hong Kong is one of the few routes where American offers pajamas, which are also by Casper and come in two sizes: S/M and L/XL. The route also features a mattress pad, which you won’t find on most European routes in business. American First Class (international) on the 77W will always provide PJ’s and mattress pads, regardless of route.

As for the bedding, I really do find the combination of Casper’s bedding with the seat to be almost unrivaled for business class. I consistently get 7+ hours of sleep on American flights, something I can’t even say with other airlines. To be fair, I’ve flown long haul American more than any other airline.

Shortly after stowing our bags, a flight attendant came around offering water, orange juice, or champagne (which was actually prosecco) in plastic cups. She seemed annoyed about something, although she did take the plastic wrappers from the bedding and threw them away. As of last week, American stopped wrapping bedding in plastic (yay for less plastic!), however prior, I always found it frustrating that FA’s almost never proactively clear the garbage from seats, even though every single person in business has it.

The amenity kits were well stocked with a brand I haven’t heard of, but can certainly get behind the name for a 13 hour flight with recycled air: Allies of Skin.

Menus were also at our seats:

The same flight attendant came by to confirm my order, which was “you ordered the seafood, right? Still want it?”. There was no greeting or addressing me by name, but just a quick interaction so he could move on. I find this so frustrating with many US flight attendants because it literally takes no additional effort. In this case, he was holding the manifest, which has my name on it!

We pushed back a few minutes prior to our scheduled 7:55pm departure and were airborne by 8:03.

*Business class bathrooms are stocked with CO Bigelow products*

Within about 20 minutes, flight attendants began rolling the drink cart through the cabin. I changed into my pajama’s as soon as the seatbelt sign was off.

I ordered a glass of champagne, but it turned out to be terrible. The next time the flight attendant walked by, I asked if I could switch to a Woodford Reserve, which he was happy to do. One thing to note if you’re a bourbon drinker, for whatever reason (*cough* cheap *cough*) American only caters a handful of Woodford’s for the entire plane, which seats close to 300 people. Order early and ask for a second one because they’ll likely be out after the initial beverage service.

About 30 minutes later, the meal service started. First up was a salad with a sweet potato, carrot, couscous, and feta appetizer. The appetizer was fresh, however it didn’t taste like much of anything and I couldn’t really differentiate between the sweet potato and carrot. The Chinese salad dressing was very good and went well with the chosen greens.

Next up was the main, prawns with polenta and a provencal sauce. The prawns were cooked perfectly, however the meal was kind of bland with a forgettable sauce. That said, it was a pretty good meal by AA standards, so I’ll call it a win.

Leigh ordered the cauliflower “crab” cake and it was excellent to the point of this would be something I would order in a restaurant.

For dessert, I had the cheese plate.

After my meal, I continued to watch movies. American’s entertainment options are robust, however they play about 90 seconds of ads before every selection, which gets old really quickly. Between the dishonest in-flight credit card pitches and the ads, American: stop soliciting your customers!

I decided to connect to the wifi to get caught up on some work. Prices for the entire flight are reasonable, however the speeds were spotty and do not allow streaming like AA’s domestic high speed wifi.

After desert service, the lights were turned down. At this point, proactive drink refills mostly stopped, so if you needed water or something, your best bet was to visit the galley, which has a self-service snack bar setup.

After getting about 7 hours of sleep, I woke up to the flight attendants getting the cabin ready for breakfast service. At this point, we were almost the San Francisco area, heading down the coast to LAX.

I’d pre-ordered the American breakfast and the omelette turned out to be one of the best egg dishes I’ve every been served on a flight. The omelette perfectly cooked; still light and fluffy. Prior to service, I quickly made my way to the lavatory to change back into my clothes before the eventual logjam ensued.

About 30 minutes from arrival, the crew began getting the cabin ready for arrival. We touched down a few minutes early, however the captain let us know we’d be parking in a remote stand. If you’ve never had to do this at LAX, keep that lucky rabbit’s foot with you, because it’s a massive pain in the ass. Passengers are forced to deplane by ramp, only to be loaded into a bus and be driven to Tom Bradly International Terminal to clear immigration and gather bags.

*The only positive to deplaning at a remote stand is the view of this monster!*

Once at baggage claim, we wait a good 40 minutes for our bags, watching every single non-priority tag bag come out ahead of ours. Bags are an area where American does not do well and I consistently notice that most works simply must ignore the orange priority tags.

Overall thoughts

For most of the last decade, American has been the leader in international business class hard product in the US (Delta and United have now caught up), and they’re the only US airline still offering international first class. The seats, lounges, wifi, and bedding all make for a “hard to screw up” combination. Our flight from Hong Kong was no different: we got plenty of rest, which is really the whole point of business class. The food and the service are always the x-factors when it comes to US airlines, and you really just don’t know what you’re in for until you’re in it.

Our crew was mostly friendly, but they certainly didn’t go out of their way for anything or even address me by name. I’ve had crews on both the low end and the high-end of the spectrum; this crew was about average, so no complaints from my end (it’s all about expectations!). I would (and probably will) fly American Flagship Business again, especially on the 77W. That said, if I’m given the option of flying say Cathay Pacific, then I’m going to fly Cathay 10/10 times because I can expect excellent service, whereas American is a dice roll.

Make no mistake, there are some incredible American flight attendants out there, I just believe that American should do more to invest in the soft product, which could make them a global leader in business class. Of course you’ll need to disregard what management is doing to their domestic experience.

Have you flown American Flagship Business? If so, what was your experience?

From left field! Alaska Airlines to join oneworld, renewing partnership with American

February 13, 2020 by boltonpoints

Talk about things I didn’t see coming this morning! Alaska Airlines – who has toyed with becoming a oneworld connect partner in the past – is now officially joining oneworld as a full member.

According to Alaska’s press release, they’ll be joining the alliance in summer 2021. With joining oneworld, Alaska and American will be renewing their left for dead partnership. The final cuts to the partnership – which effectively gutted everything except for reciprocal lounge access – were set to kick in March 1. Alaska and American are calling their renewed partnership a “West Coast international alliance”, which means:

the ability to earn and use miles on both Alaska and American
full elite status reciprocity
lounge access to nearly 50 American Admirals Clubs worldwide and seven Alaska Lounges in the U.S.
continued domestic codeshare and expanded international travel from Los Angeles and Seattle for hassle-free booking and travel between Alaska and American Airlines

But wait, there’s more!

In what might be an even more unexpected move, American is launching two new long haul flights from Seattle!

Bangalore, India, which begins October 2020 (tickets on sale next month) using a 787-9
London, England, which begins March 2021 using a 777-200

Both flights will feature 3 class cabins (economy, premium economy, and lie-flat business). Personally, American’s 787-9 is my second favorite aircraft in their fleet (behind the 777-300ER) and features the B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat in business. The Bangalore flight will clock in 8,078 miles – making it American’s second longest flight (DFW-Hong Kong is currently) The Seattle-London is 4,800 miles, and will add further capacity from Seattle, as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic already operate a daily flights (increasing to 2x/daily each during warmer months).

What does oneworld mean for Mileage Plan Members?

For those unfamiliar with airline alliances, the purpose of them is to provide a more seamless experience for customers when traveling internationally. Eventually, Alaska elites will get the perks that American elites have enjoyed for a long time, including priority seating, access to business and first class lounges, and priority baggage handling. Alaska will need to map its current status levels to the different tiers of oneworld, which if they stay as they are (which might be a big if), will probably look something like this:

Mileage Plan MVP = oneworld Ruby
Mileage Plan MVP Gold = oneworld Sapphire
Mileage Plan MVP 75k = oneworld Emerald

The benefits of each tier are outlined below:

Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald
-Access to Business Class priority check-in -Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating* -Priority on waitlists and when on standby*	-Access to Business Class lounges -Access to Business Class priority check-in -Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating* -Priority on waitlists and when on standby* – Priority boarding -Extra baggage allowance -Priority baggage handling	-Access to First and Business Class lounges -Access to First Class priority check-in -Fast track at select security lanes -Priority baggage handling -Extra baggage allowance* -Priority boarding -Priority on waitlists and when on standby -Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating

What’s next

Joining oneworld won’t happen overnight, so Alaska has provided a timetable as to when members can expect changes:

Effective immediately:

Redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles on all American Airlines flights and continue to earn miles on American flights with an Alaska flight number.
Access any of American’s 50 Admirals Club locations worldwide with an Alaska Lounge membership.
Continue to earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles on our current portfolio of 16 Global Partners.

Starting spring 2020:

Earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles on any American Airlines flights, domestically and internationally.

Starting summer 2021:

Earn and redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles on all oneworld airlines.
Alaska elites will enjoy privileges, including priority boarding, premium seating, baggage benefits and more when you fly on American Airlines or any oneworld airline.
Access 650 lounges within the oneworld network as an MVP Gold or Gold 75K member.

My take

Alaska

This is great news overall, with some caveats. On the one hand, Alaska – Seattle’s hometown airline – joining forces with American to take on Delta is a bit of a feel good story, since Delta has really bullied their way into the market. On the other, I’m afraid Alaska may end up losing its competitive advantage with its MileagePlan program.

Currently, Alaska has individual agreements with more than a dozen international airlines that allows MileagePlan members to redeem on airlines such as Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and others. What’s always made Alaska’s program even more alluring is that they charge comparatively low redemption rates for premium cabins redemptions. For instance, redeeming American miles for Cathay Pacific first class will cost you 110k AAdvantage miles, while using Alaska miles, the same flight cost 67.5k.

Alaska has unique partners that are either aren’t apart of an alliance, like Emirates, or in the case of Singapore and Korean Airlines, belong to other alliances. My fear is that the individual agreements they’ve set with each airline may dissipate in order to be more aligned with American/oneworld. With that said, if you’re eyeing one of those sweet spot redemptions, I’d book it sooner than later. Again, my hope is that those partnerships remain in tact, but only time will tell.

American

As for the American side of the announcement, there’s nothing not to be happy about (’bout damn time!). American is restoring its partnership with Alaska, and by next summer, will offer reciprocal benefits to both airlines’ elites. The fact that they’re calling this a West Coast Alliance just goes to show how symbiotic this relationship. Currently, American has almost no capacity on the west coast unless you’re originating or ending in LA or Phoenix. Alaska on the other hand has a robust network all throughout the west coast, including smaller destinations.

American has offered some codeshares with Alaska, but booking the codeshare has typically cost a considerable amount more than booking directly with Alaska for the same flight. With the restart of the partnership, the two airlines will immediately begin offering more codeshares from LAX and SEA. Eventually, you’ll be able to book any Alaska flight, enter your AAdvantage number, and earn miles. This is where I’ll get the biggest benefit, as lack of west coast capacity is one of the primary reasons I broke up with AA.

As for the new flights out of Seattle are really the gravy on the announcements today. Increased capacity is always a good thing, and the additional American “metal” on the west coast gives AA elites another option to redeem systemwide upgrades, though I’m sure the Bangalore flight will be a hard one to clear. The Bangalore flight represents American’s first flights to India since 2012, and the only US airline flying to Bangalore. It’s also interesting since the initial rumor was that the flight would be out of Dallas, but at over 9,200 miles, was probably too much for a conservative airline like American to take on (unlike United is very aggressive at ultra long haul flying).

Lastly, this development might make me think about keeping my American Airlines Executive World Elite MasterCard (which comes with Admirals Club access), depending on how quickly other codeshares are rolled out. In November, American announced that it would copy Delta and United, allowing only those traveling same day on American, oneworld, or Alaska flights eligible for entry, regardless of whether you have a membership. You read my write up the American card as well the other cards in my wallet here.

Are you excited for Alaska to join oneworld? Will you be flying either of American’s new flights out of SEA?

A Suite Honeymoon: Qatar Q-Suite review

November 8, 2019 by boltonpoints

Aircraft: 77W / 777-300ER
Route: Chicago (ORD) – Doha (DOH)
Seat: 9E and 9F
Cost per person: 75K AAdvantage miles

Africa is not an easy place to get to from North America. Though we’re starting to see more direct flights to Africa from the US, most still seem to connect in Europe, which is exacerbated by airline alliance loyalty/miles. For instance, most oneworld routings take you through London on British Airways, and many Star Alliance flights will take you through Frankfurt, and most SkyTeam routings will take you through Paris or Amsterdam. None of which are exactly “on the way”, depending on how far south you’re going.

Well, one of the best ways to get from North America to Africa on points is on Qatar, connecting in the Middle East. American charges 70k miles for business class from the US to the Middle East, and another 5k to get to Africa (American has some pretty poor routing rules, but they do permit connecting to Africa and the Indian subcontinent via Qatar, breaking the third region rule).

This flight was for our honeymoon, and our routing was Savannah – Seychelles. Initially, we were routing through Philadelphia, but that was on the A350-900, which didn’t have the Q-Suites. Since American allows unlimited changes to awards, I kept looking using British Airways website for one of the Q Suite routes, which at the time included:

Chicago
Houston
New York JFK
Washington Dulles
Los Angeles

Low and behold, space opened up on the Chicago route. I called the Executive Platinum Desk, who was able to rebook my flight in about 15 minutes.

Tip: For couples, you’ll want to select odd numbered (rear-facing) seats in order to take advantage of the double bed feature. For those traveling solo, stick with odd numbered window seats or even numbered rows in the middle.

Day of travel experience

Our entire itinerary was going from Savannah, where our wedding took place, to Charlotte, the onto Chicago – Doha – Seychelles. Sadly, American doesn’t offer a direct flight to Savannah/Hilton Head Airport (SAV), so we were forced to do the Charlotte connection.

Savannah’s airport is quaint and easy to navigate, and is only about 20 minutes from downtown. After some initial drama getting the house car at our hotel to take us, we ended up in the worst Uber we’ve ever had (it did NOT include seatbelts). Anyway, we arrived with plenty of time, but exhausted from celebrating our marriage with my parents the night before. My parents honestly party harder than we do (and we’re not exactly slouches)!

Lucky for us, Charlotte had a Minute Suites, and we were able to use Priority Pass to enter for free (for an hour). I can’t tell you how much of a lifesaver this was. We wanted to be fresh for our Qatar flight, so the nap really hit the spot. It also happens to be next to a Chick-Fil-A. 😉

After another uneventful flight, we arrived in Chicago. We came into concourse H/K, where American has a Flagship Lounge. Having flown through Chicago dozens of times over the last several years and taken the elevator past the Flagship Lounge (the regular Admiral’s Club is on 3, and the FS Lounge is on 2), I was excited to finally see the space.

The views are essentially the same as the regular lounge, but they do have much better food and drink options. I didn’t take many pictures, but there are plenty of reviews out there. Like here.

The way the Chicago O’Hare is divided is really not the easiest to navigate if you’re connecting onward via the international terminal. For American connections, that means taking a bus from the end of concourse H. The bus schedule is kind of, sort of fixed, so you really do need to allow yourself some extra time in the event you miss it and need to take the next one. You’ll need to show the agent at the podium your boarding pass, after which they’ll give you lamented “ticket”, which they’ll collect from you after you get off the bus at the terminal. We just barely missed the one we wanted to take, so we waited around for another 15 minutes. The bus ride itself took about 10 minutes. All-in-all, the process of getting from the American terminal to the international one took about 30-45 minutes.

Once in the international terminal, we actually still had some time to kill, so we headed to the British Airways First Class lounge, where we were turned away due to capacity. As a oneworld Emerald, I’m entitled access to oneworld first class lounges with one guest (who also must be flying on a oneworld flight). Disappointed, we walked over to the Air France lounge where Priority Pass would again come in handy (thanks to my Chase Sapphire Reserve and/or American Express Platinum cards). The lounge was forgettable, but did have some pretty good wine options, along with a cooler full of ice cream! My only complaint about the lounge isn’t about the food or drink, but rather the fact that it faces west, and in the afternoon, essentially becomes a sun room. The temperature must’ve been 80+ degrees! The ice cream treats managed to cool us down!

Onboard experience

The boarding process was chaotic. We checked in with the gate prior to walking to the lounge, and they said boarding would start in 45 minutes. Well, it started much earlier than that, and there was a long queue to search and approve carry-on bags. Each passenger was required to get a Qatar bag pass in order to board. We were frustrated since we’d just been at the gate 45 minutes prior and they made no mention of it.

We finally boarded, and we were still one of the first business class customers on board. Upon entering the plane, I was speechless. I’ve never been so blown away by an airline product than I was entering the business class cabin. The finishes were modern and sleek, but tasteful. The Q Suites were just gorgeous. I remember telling Leigh “I can’t believe this is BUSINESS class!”

With each seat being a fully enclosed suite, it clearly offers a lot of privacy. The seat also offers more than ample storage, power outlets, and USB chargers.

At each seat was a pillow and the softest blanket I’ve ever used. Seriously – this is the kind of blanket you want on your couch at home! I was also impressed by the amenity kit, which included Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio products (lip balm, face mist, lotion), an eye mask, socks, and ear plugs. Toothbrushes and mouthwash were not included since those are well-stocked in the lavortories, which I came to appreciate mid-flight. Normally I’m searching for the amenity kit or I forget it and need to go back to my seat, so having a toothbrush there without needing to think about it was great.

Within a few minutes, we were both warmly greeted by the Qatar staff, offered a menu and a drink. We both chose the sparkling rose (Dappier Brut Rosé de Saignée), which hit the spot (for our tastes, that means not too sweet).

The Q Suite

I’d always heard how good Qatar’s soft product is, and boy, this flight didn’t disappoint. Every interaction was genuine, hospitable, and friendly. I never felt like I was bothering them, which I do many time on US-based airlines, even in premium cabin. Case in point, there was an incident where all of the power stopped working at my seat (yes, everything except the TV), and the FA working (Jamie), couldn’t have been more helpful or apologetic. The power failure meant my seat needed to be reclined and lifted manually, which he did without hesitation. He offered to move us, but we would then lose our connecting seats. Since I was just lounging at this point anyway, I had the seat adjusted for it and just opted to stay put. Plus Leigh was very comfortable and I couldn’t justify having to move ourselves and our belongings.

The food was the best I’ve had on a plane to that point. I had the steak and it was cooked perfectly, while Leigh had the salmon. She really enjoyed her dish as well. I didn’t get pictures of the mains because I was too busy enjoying everything.

Of course we couldn’t resist ordering snacks throughout the flight. We had the lobster mac and cheese, octopus, and the panini. All were really good, but the mac and cheese was the star. Shocker, I know!

The pictures of the food aren’t great, but trust me, it was good.

Somewhere over eastern Europe, Jamie came out with a beautiful dessert, and the plate had “Enjoy Your Honeymoon” written in chocolate. Wow!

Of the 15-hour flight, Leigh and I both slept about 7 hours, which was prefect, because we wanted to do the Doha city tour when we arrived.

Doha Airport and city tour

We arrived into Doha, and within about 15 minutes, were off the plane and into the main terminal. With Doha being the only airport in the country, there are no domestic flights, so you basically just walk off the plane. The airport is model airport of efficiency, and of course there’s the giant teddy bear!

One of the unique things about Qatar is that they offer city tours since a lot of people end up with long layovers. We knew we wanted to do the tour since we’d never been to the Middle East. After deplaning, we went straight to the city tour desk, which is located in the main atrium. The tours cost about $10 USD and leave every few hours.

After killing some time walking the airport, we met at the tour desk about 15 minutes before scheduled departure. They then led us through immigration, which took a surprisingly long amount of time, thanks to yours truly. For some reason, my passport would not scan, and I ended up holding up the tour group of 40 people. Finally, I was through and we stepped outside into the Middle East sauna, which hit me like a hot blanket. Thankfully, the bus was ice cold and we were off shortly thereafter. Our first stop was a market where we could buy pretty much whatever you might want. While much of it was very interesting – fruits, spices, coffee, tea – there was a dark side. There was a fairly large contingency of men selling animals, many of which I’m sure came from poachers.

We made a couple of additional stops, then headed back to the airport.

As soon as we got back to the airport, we went straight to the Al Mourjan Business Class lounge to take showers to wash off the sweat from the heat. Although I’m oneworld Emerald, I was not given access to the first class lounge due to Qatar Airways’ policy. While I think Qatar adds more to oneworld than it takes (and the airline industry in general), it’s frustrating that they’ve created a “faux first class lounge” in order to skirt oneworld’s rules. Qatar CEO Al Baker has a history of railing against US carriers, and this is probably just another shot at them. With that said, since our trip, Qatar has started selling access to the first-class Al Safwa Lounge for $165/pp, regardless of cabin, which can be a good deal if your layover is long enough. For two people, $330 is hard to justify.

Having had some Arabaic coffee on our tour, followed by a shower in the lounge, we were wide awake. We decided to have some wine and food. The lounge is a little confusing, as there’s a “deli” on the main level, which is where we were immediately drawn. The food turned out to be lackluster, and it wasn’t until asking someone, that we learned that there was an entire restaurant upstairs!

The buffet was certainly not the most impressive that I’ve ever had, but overall it was tasty, albeit a bit heavy. I wish they had lighter options beyond just curries and stews, but I suppose when in Rome…

We finished eating and set out for our gate a little more before our flight (which left at 3am!). We ended up buying some rum at duty free with the leftover change we had from our tour, which ended up being a nice to have in Seychelles.

Overall Thoughts

In summary, our Qatar experience was next level. Although my seat broke, I appreciated the effort that Jamie put towards mitigating the issue. The individual touches, including the custom desert for our honeymoon, took the Qatar business class soft product to a level I’ve not even experienced in international first class. For 75k Aadvantage miles, Qatar is undoubtably the best way to get to Africa, especially for the price. My primary advice is to ensure that you’re on a Q Suites flight, which you can double check via the list above or by looking at the seat map.