Review: Qatar Airways A380 First Class Bangkok – Doha

• August 2022
• Qatar Airways 831
• Bangkok (BKK) – Doha (DOH)
• Departure: 1952(BKK)
• Arrival: 2145(DOH)
• Duration: 5:54
• Aircraft: Airbus A380-861
• Registration: A7-APG
• Seat: 2A (First Class)

It’s another day for a First Class adventure on Qatar Airways A380; this time from Bangkok back to Doha. On this itinerary, I redeemed 106,875 Avios on a one-way first class all the way to Zurich.

Prior to departure, I spent some time at the Miracle First Class Lounge as the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge in Bangkok was still closed during my visit. Fortunately, the lounge is back operating starting September 2022.

I have reviewed most of Qatar Airways A380 First Class features in my previous two-part reviews. (You can check them out here: Part One and Part Two). So on this flight, I will mostly review my onboard experiences throughout the flight.

Qatar Airways A380 First Class Cabin

On my flight back to Doha from Bangkok, I flew on Qatar Airways A380 registered as A7-APG. This particular aircraft was the fifth A380 (Delivered in 2016) the airline has received so it is a couple of years younger than the first four deliveries.

The First Cabin has only 8 semi-private seats with an open cabin feeling having no overhead baggage bins installed.

To store your carry-on items, there is plenty of storage on the seat and in the cabin. Small items can be fit into the storage closet at the front of the seat while larger items can be stored in the compartment beside the lavatories.

Qatar Airways A380 First Class Seat

Just a day before departure, the first class cabin was only 1/4 full so I wanted to try seating on the center seats but during check-in, I found out the cabin was full from upgrading passengers so I quickly moved my seat to 2A.

There is almost no difference from seat 1A which I flew on an outbound flight, but the only thing is that seat 2A is near the galley area. Qatar Airways A380 has a large upper deck galley in between the first class and business cabin which is used to serve passengers in both cabins. It rarely bothers but from time to time there might be noises from the galley.

Seat adjusting controls are located around the seat from fixed setting options to customizable adjustments, this is to provide maximum comfort to first class passengers.

After taking off, I skipped dinner and requested the crew if she can make up the bed. With the rest of the passengers waiting for the dinner service, my bed was quickly set up. To be honest, the bed indeed is huge and comfortable but I still prefer the Qsuite double bed as it offers privacy and is much wider.

Qatar Airways First Class Amenity Kits

Amenity kits from Diptyque and a pajama set were offered by the crew as I get to my seat. I had too many male versions of the amenity kits so this time I requested the female ones. Its contents from Diptyque are similar but the female ones have a better pouch design.

Qatar Airways BKK-DOH First Class Welcome Drinks & Snacks

As a welcome drink once on board, the crew came and asked if I wanted any drinks before departure. Of course, I wanted to get a glass of Krug champagne but on this flight, I wanted to try something different.

I chose lemon mint juice which is another popular non-alcoholic beverage among Qatar Airways frequent flyers. With my request, the cabin crew brought me a glass of lemon mint with some olives and cheeses as snacks.

After some time, the cabin crew once again returned to me and offered me a cup of Arabic coffee with some dates. Since I flew with the same set of crew members, they all knew my meal preferences and constantly asked if I need anything else. This is the small attention from the crews that from a passenger’s perspective makes the flight more welcoming.

Qatar Airways A380 First Class After-Takeoff Drinks

My flight, QR831 took off from Bangkok at the scheduled departure time and about 20 minutes in the air, I was served my favorite drink on board: The Krug.

Champagne was poured in front of me with some warmly heated mixed nuts to pair with.

Qatar Airways A380 BKK-DOH First Class Dining

On Qatar Airways’ exclusive and popular routes such as Bangkok and Malaysia, the airline partnered with celebrity chef icons to create a unique meal for first and business-class passengers. And for destinations in Thailand, a famous Thai chef, Ian Kittichai, offered his specially created onboard menus.

His special menus are underlined on the side of the menu list.

Dinner was served one hour after take-off but I decided to get some sleep and requested the crew to wake me up two and a half hours before TOD into Doha.

Having a short sleep, the cabin crew woke me up and set up the dining table to start my dinner service. During this time, the remaining first-class passengers were asleep and the cabin was really dark so the photos might be a little darker.

To refresh, a hot towel was given before the dinner service.

Afterward the amuse-bouche which was mashed meat and vegetables wrapped in the egg was served. It is quite interesting how the chef wrapped the egg in such a way. It tasted like a meat dumpling with a pinch of herb with it.

Next, the Wild Mushroom Soup was served. The soup was a little bit heavy and oily but it was great when you consume it with artisan bread.

After the soup always follows the caviars. I think I had more caviars than any other food on board on this trip. Just to let you know, the drink on the glass is not cognac, but it is cranberry juice. Along with lemon mint juice, cranberry juice is also my favorite.

I tried an additional appetizer which was Foie gras with tiger prawns. This is my first foie gras on Qatar Airways so I was curious about how it was cooked and tasted.

And when I was about to get full, the main dish, the Braised beef short rib was prepared. The beef was really soft and light for someone who just woke up from sleep. Due to the darkness of the cabin, the picture looks a bit bland but in terms of display and plating, I would give two thumbs up.

With the main dish completed, it was time for dessert. Unfortunately, the dessert that I wanted was all finished so I chose Warm Thai-styled Chocolate Waffle which was also created by chef Ian Kittichai. As a person who loves sweet desserts, the chocolate waffle was not really sweet so I had to do some trial and error with the blueberry jams and shredded coconuts to create my own perfect taste.

Qatar Airways A380 First Class Inflight Entertainment

The noise canceling headphone is located under the right armrest compartment. It is initially wrapped inside a plastic wrap and placed inside the pouch.

The in-seat power outlet is located beside the screen behind the lamp. Again, it is quite a distance to reach and charge your electronic devices. If you do not mind charging your devices at a slower rate, there is a USB socket in the headphone stowage.

In-flight Wi-Fi was also available on this flight and First Class customers are entitled to have a free 200MB data plan.

I am still not a fan of the touch-style remote controller. Its lagging effect makes it annoying to navigate inflight entertainment content.

Qatar Airways A380 First Class Lavatory

In my previous review, I did not attach enough photos of what the lavatories look like. So here it is, I will explain further what kind of amenities and features the first-class lavatories have.

The lavatory is around 3sqm or 32sqft in size featuring a touchless sink and large mirror. On one side flower decoration is equipped adding more richness to the interior.

On the wooden wall shelf, facial mist and lotions from Diptyque are provided. There is also a hanger to hang clothing in case a change from pajama or clothing is needed.

Summary

I took a flight on Qatar Airways A380 First Class from Bangkok to Doha. Although the cabin and the service are similar to my outbound flight, I was more interested in the dining option as the Bangkok route has its one and only exclusive inflight dining menus prepared by a celebrity chef.

Qatar Airways’ real first-class hard products may fall behind compared to other competitors and its award-winning Qsuite is sometimes much better but the airline’s soft products are still top-notch.

I really had a great flight with the amazing crew members as they were on the same flight with me to Bangkok. Even though I slept half of the flight, the crews constantly pass through the cabin to check if I was awake and needed anything else.

It was a full flight in every cabin, but the cabin crews worked really hard throughout the flight providing a seamless experience for passengers.

My First Class experience will continue on the ground at the Al Safwa First Class Lounge as well as on my next flight on special Qatar Airways aircraft to Zurich.