#947033 by gilly
18 Nov 2018, 06:42
The reason for this trip was that our son and his partner have recently moved back to Asia - KL - to teach at a brand new British International School, and we were going to see them and their new set up. We chose to fly QR because we like their product and the promotional fares from CWL were exceptionally good at £1500 return. Plus we live on the Gower Peninsula so it was a no brainer. It was to be our first flight on a Dreamliner.

Having an early flight, we had stayed the previous night at a very local, family run hotel, who had arranged a taxi to take us the 2 minute ride to the terminal, as part of the deal. Said taxi arrived an hour early, while we were still in bed! My husband went out to speak to him, and he told us not to rush, as he planned on sleeping until we were ready, but knowing he was there, we felt we had to rush so we were at check-in at 4.30 am! We were taking our son’s brand new, expensive golf clubs out to him and the check-in girl was somewhat at a loss to know how to deal with them. Several telephone calls later, she decided they were adequately packaged in a golf travel bag and no, they best not go through on the belt! We were given our lounge invitations and boarding passes for both flights and off we went to find the oversized baggage desk, where we were relieved of the golf clubs.

Security was busy and my hair straigheners seemed to be of great interest, so I was selected for extra screening, swabbing etc which took forever and my - ahem - upper body under garemt set off the alarm walking through the arch so a pat down was deemed necessary. All this took up a good 20 minutes, but eventually happy that I wasn’t carrying anything untoward we were dismissed and made our way to duty free and bought son his required bottles, and toblerones for the girlfriend. Then, bursting with excitement - not - we found ourselves in the lounge. It may be slightly better than before, but remains dismal, with nothing short of pathetic food offerings - a few cold and dried up croissants, some ok Welshcakes and that was about it! It was cold and draughty and the TV didn’t work. The toilets however, were clean. Why Qatar haven’t insisted on a better lounge experience, I don’t know, but I have written them about it and been told my comments will be noted! Yes!

Eventually we boarded the 787 and were suitably impressed with how spacious and clean it was. The seat area was spotless, the very nice Bric amenity kits, blanket, cushion, water and headphones in place, and within seconds our flight attendant introduced herself and brought some pink champagne. Boarding was quick and we were pushing back a few minutes early. I was surprised how quickly the aircraft was airborne, we seemed to use very little runway, whether loads were light or this is the 787 generally I have no idea. Seatbelt signs off the FSM was around with her tablet, introducing herself and using our names, telling us to ask for anything we wanted. This boded well for a good flight - and it was.

Soon more champagne arrived along with warm nuts, then, because we were hungry after the pathetic lounge, we ate straightaway. I had ordered an Asian veggie meal, usually the best veggie option, but it wasn’t really to my taste. The starter was nice, but the main a bit dry with no sauce. I skipped dessert and settled down to watch some movies. The crew were very visible throughout and the washrooms kept spotlessly clean - it is just me that loves an airline toilet with a window? The standing area was set up with wine, champagne, fruit bowl and a big basket of crisps, chocolate, cookies and chocolate coated fruit sweeties - they were delicious! Anyway, I dozed off having reclined myvery comfy seat and cosied up with my furry blanket and woke an hour or so later as our crew member was passing. She brought me an espresso and no fewer than three packs of cookies.

We were then offered a light snack 90 minutes from Doha, having had some cookies and sweets I declined but accepted their lovely lemon and mint drink which came with a small box of Godiva chocolates. The FSM and our crew nember came around and asked if we had enjoyed our flight, we had, and thanking us for our continued custom. Then the cabin was secured quite early I thought, about an hour before landing and we arrived at Doha just a few minutes late.

So first leg of our journey over, onto the lounge at Doha and then to KUL.

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