QATAR AIRWAYS - Updated September 2024 - 70 Photos & 40 Reviews - 780 McDonnell Rd, San Francisco, California - Airlines - Phone Number - Yelp

40 reviews and 70 photos of QATAR AIRWAYS "Flew SJC to Male (Maldives) via LAX and back to SFO over Xmas. During COVID, it's very important that Qatar makes the experience as safe as possible, which they did.

On the LAX to Doha leg, we flew in Business. In Business, face shields and coverings were only mandatory during boarding and de-planing (though I believe face shields are no longer provided or mandatory). Face shields are nice as I found it useful when using the bathroom for an extra layer of safety. Otherwise, the QSuite configuration is pretty social distancing friendly. The Qsuite is an individual suite with a sliding door, so there's some space between each suite. Although there's a door, the wall and door is only about five feet tall so it's not totally enclosed. Seats stagger between forward and rear-facing in a 1-2-1 configuration, so everyone has direct aisle access. The rear-facing seats on the window side are closer to the window; forward-facing ones are farther, so rear-facing ones have a little more privacy when the doors are open. In the center, you can open it up into a Quad-suite if you are in a party of 4 - you can open the front and side walls to face your party in front and to your side; this is only possible since they stagger between forward and rear-facing. If you're a party of 2, you can just open the side wall to "share" your suite with your companion (you don't have to open to four); otherwise, you're also welcome to shun your own party by keeping all walls closed. And no, you will not notice much if you sit backwards except taxiing, taking off, and landing. Despite COVID, meal services were almost the same as that of pre-COVID, except the dishes are covered and served on a single tray. There were two hot meals and hot snacks on this flight. In business, it was on dine-on-demand, though you can order before take off. The food was good, as I had a chicken rice & Arabic Mezze for dinner. For breakfast, I had eggs, cereal, and smoothie. For a snack, I had a shrimp gumbo, which was a fantastic snack. Otherwise, the most important thing about business during COVID is that you get more space. Of course, you get the standard lie flat seat and large TV. There was an extensive list of movies to enjoy, which weren't censured I believe, so I was able to enjoy the original Die Hard in its full glory.

In all the other legs, I sat in coach - the front row bulkhead. Face shields and coverings were mandatory here for the entire flight except during meals. The coverings were mostly enforced, as I understand it's impossible to enforce 100% unless they're watching like a hawk. Despite the mandatory coverings and shields, it wasn't that bad. I didn't feel like I was suffocating, but your experience may vary. It is a little bit of an inconvenience to sleep with them, but I would gladly sacrifice comfort for safety. It would be nice if they served meals in a more staggered manner, so that not everyone in your area is eating simultaneously without coverings. The food was passable, but nothing to write a Yelp review about, which is a good thing when it comes to coach food. Most importantly though, they serve a full meal service - one hot meal on the Maldives legs; two hot meals and a hot snack on the SFO leg. The Male legs were pretty full. The SFO leg was pretty empty, so my party of three was each able to enjoy a whole row. That was when it was more difficult to enforce the coverings. Some people just lied flat across three seats without their coverings so I guess it's harder to catch that; otherwise it's much more obvious when you have to sleep normally in a more upright manner.

The Al Mourjan lounge was great. I had an 8 hour layover both ways, but stayed in the hotel on the return. I would recommend staying at the hotel if you have an overnight transit, as it's safer to have a private space to sleep during COVID. It's pricey but worth the comfort and safety. Just be sure to pre-book, as people without a reservation got turned away. At the lounge, I went to the restaurant and used the private shower suites. The restaurant is a la carte with a modified buffet service. They had sushi, which was nice. At the lounge, coverings are mandatory (except when eating). The Doha airport is huge, so plan accordingly. Gates open one hour before takeoff. Gates are secured, so don't forget to take your bathroom break before you go to the gate. Definitely arrange wheelchairs if you need it, because the Doha airport is huge. You could walk about half a mile from the plane to transit security and then another half mile back to the gate. And that's excluding all the extra walking if you want to roam around during a long layover.

Overall, Qatar is a good option if you need to travel during COVID. The network is still pretty extensive so you probably don't need to worry about cancellations, unless it's forced upon by the government. COVID protocols are also pretty solid as I noticed that they do clean the bathrooms. The crew also wear PPE."
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