Business class vs economy on a Qatar Airways Boeing 777

Qatar Airways is the undisputed best airline in the world, having been named the No.1 carrier on the planet for the sixth year running at the ‘Oscars of Aviation’, the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2021, and scooping the gold medal in the ‘best business class’ category.

But how has it earned these accolades and are the standards kept up at the back of the cabin, too? Travel experts from The Points Guy UK set about finding out.

Two of them boarded one of the carrier’s flagship Boeing 777s in Doha for a flight to London Heathrow with video cameras in tow to compare the business and economy class experiences. Was the posh end perfection? Nearly.

Qatar Airways is the undisputed best airline in the world, having been named the No.1 carrier on the planet for the sixth year running at the ‘Oscars of Aviation’

The lucky Points Guy flier at the front in Qatar Airways’ lauded Qsuite berth was Liam Spencer, with the tips site managing to save a whopping 52 per cent on the cost of his ticket by routing the journey from Abu Dhabi with an overnight stop in Doha.

The site explains: ‘Qsuite prices started at a hefty £2,275, however, there are many short connecting flights around the Gulf and we had already planned to be in nearby countries before Qatar anyway. We searched various departure points to see if this dropped the price, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

‘To our joy, flying out of the latter with an overnight stop in Doha lowered the price by a whopping 52 per cent to just £1,091! 

Liam from The Points Guy UK is impressed with the extras in Qatar’s Qsuite

And Liam’s verdict? He said: ‘The best business-class product I’ve ever experienced. The seat itself was incredibly comfy and had a ton of privacy thanks to the fully closing sliding door.

‘The food was absolutely delicious and wouldn’t have looked out of place in a fancy London restaurant.

‘The sleeping experience was perfect. The seat turned into a fully-flat bed with White Company bedding and pyjamas. Once I was tucked in it felt like I was in a bedroom in the sky.’

For his main meal, Liam opted for an Arabic mezze, pictured

Liam’s main course was pan-fried veal and mashed pumpkin

However, it wasn’t quite 10 out of 10.

He added: ‘It took the cabin crew over 10 minutes to come to my seat after I pressed the call bell.

‘[Also] a lot of my fellow business-class passengers were not adhering to mask-wearing rules, and the cabin crew made no effort to enforce them.’

Nicky Kelvin, Head of The Points Guy UK, documented the Qatar Airways 777 economy offering, paying £228 for seat 28K.

And he liked it very much indeed.

Nicky Kelvin, Head of The Points Guy UK, documented the Qatar Airways 777 economy offering, paying £228 for seat 28K

Nicky is here demonstrating the ‘poor man’s business class’

Nicky approved of the food in economy – ‘tasty and substantial’

He said it was an ‘incredibly comfortable and spacious seat for an economy product’ and that ‘it was a bonus that the cabin was so empty allowing me to make a “poor-man’s business class”, spreading out across multiple seats’.

He also approved of the food – ‘tasty and substantial’ – and the service from the ‘very attentive crew’, which was ‘fast and friendly’.

Any downsides? Just the pudding – ‘some kind of take on a cheesecake base topped with Angel Delight-style “pudding”, which wasn’t great’.

For more from TPG UK visit thepointsguy.co.uk/mailing-list and watch the full-length video by clicking here. 

Nicky’s main course was lightly curried rice and chicken, which he says is ‘my kind of vibe’

A Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300 – the type that The Points Guy UK flew on from Doha