Welcome to Suite Life Traveler where we review airlines, hotels, restaurants, and more. Today we review the Qatar Airways old 777-300ER from Doha to Manila. Each airline review on Suite Life Traveler will be evaluated based on the following metrics: Check-in Experience, Lounge, Seat, Service, and Food & Drink. This will come out to a total score of 50.

Check out the video review on our TikTok.

CHECK-IN EXPERIENCE: 9/10

Doha’s Hamad International Airport has three separate check-in areas for Economy, Business, and First Class passengers. You’re required to use the check-in area of the cabin class you are flying in, regardless of your status with the airline or alliance. In this instance, even though I’m a platinum Privilege Club member and One World Emerald, I still need to use the business class check-in area. That being said, the business class check-in is a very pleasurable experience with ample space and never a wait for an agent. Once checked in, you immediately go through a separate immigration and security facility specifically for business class passengers, which is a breeze. I wish more airports had this for Business and First Class passengers.

LOUNGE: 10/10

As a Platinum Privilege Club member, I’m able to use the Al Safwa First Class Lounge. This in my opinion is the best lounge in the world. It’s incredibly spacious, with ceilings that feel at least 100 feet tall. It’s a peaceful oasis more akin to an art museum rather than an airport lounge. If you value privacy and exclusivity, this is the place for you as entry is limited to only Privilege Club Platinum and First Class Passengers on Qatar Airways.

The lounge features a world-class spa, its own duty free, casual dining featuring Japanese cuisine (sushi, etc), and a 250-seater a la carte restaurant and bar. If you want to rest during a long layover, you can leverage one of their excellent private rooms fit with a desk, bed, bathroom, and shower.

To top it off, the service is excellent and in the 3-4 times I’ve used this lounge, I can say the staff to guest ratio is about 4/1.

You can take a virtual tour of the lounge here.

SEAT: 4/10

While everything has been near perfect so far, this is where this review takes a turn. Thankfully, I knew before this flight that I was not going to be traveling in a Qsuite. That being said, I have heard of Qatar changing planes last minute and people who were expecting and paid for Qsuite getting this business class product instead.

I’m not sure what year this was released, but this feels like an early 2000 business-class product (and probably is). As an airline with such high standards, this product should have been retired long ago. While the seat lays flat (albeit at an angle), it is not the most comfortable, and you don’t have any privacy. If you’re sitting by the window, you’re going to have a very difficult time getting up to go to the bathroom and will likely have to wake up the passenger in the aisle so they can move their seat.

While I have been in worse business class seats, this certainly is a poor business class product for long haul travel. If you’re on a 2-3 hour flight, this is a great seat but for anything over 6-hours, it’s likely best to look an alternate option.

Service: 9.5/10

The service on this flight was excellent and slightly better than my last flight on the Qsuite. This Business Class configuration takes up less space, with fewer seats which means it is easier for the cabin crew to attend to their passengers promptly. Occasionally on the Qsuite, it can be quite frantic as the crew is trying to attend to all passengers in a short amount of time while carrying out other duties before takeoff. Qatar Airways also has a large portion of its crew from the Philippines, so these flights tend to have a lot of Filipino crew members and I find the Filipinos provide excellent service.

Food & Drink: 9/10

Qatar Airways is always on point with its food & drink and this flight was no exception. Dining is on demand and there are plenty of options to choose from. Having flown about 100,000 miles on Qatar Airways now, the food is incredibly consistent and always something I look forward to.

As this flight was between 7.5-8 hours, the menu is slightly smaller than what you get on a longer haul flight like to/from New York.

OVERALL: 41.5/50

If it wasn’t for the seat, this was near perfect travel experience. Departing through Doha’s Hamad International Airport is a dream, especially if you have access to the first class lounge. The service and food during the flight were second to none and I look forward to many more trips on Qatar Airways (just not in this Business Class seat).