qatar airways

Qatar Airways is nice. Before getting on the plane (and since I had an extra 24 hours to burn before leaving), I looked up some reviews. Although some of them gave the company good ratings, the reality was far better than I expected.

1. Entertainment. This category was by the far what stood out the most. I could choose from 75 films (which ranged from the 1969 Italian Job to Juno or Jumper of this year; countless TV shows (including our favorite "Flight of the Conchords"); endless games varying from speed racer to backgammon, from virtual golf to battleship; a huge database of music with a special "100 Greatest Singles" list; and other sections which I failed to explore such as live satellite TV.

2. Food. Perhaps not ideal for vegetarians, but the food was quite gourmet. Dinner consisted of lamb or chicken; delicious mashed potatoes; green beans with coconut; turkey, apple, golden raisin, and romaine salad; and strawberry cheesecake and Godiva chocolates for dessert. And as expected of a quality airline, we were provided with hot damp towels to wash our hands with before eating.

3. Comfort. The chairs were quite nice for economy, and on the second leg from Doha to Bangkok I had three seats to myself. Perfect.

In conclusion: Qatar Airways deserves the 5 star rating they advertise.

PS I had several discussions before leaving about how to pronounce Qatar. In the airplane they didn't really put an emphasis on either syllable. However, it is definitely not pronounced like "cutter" where the "t" sounds more like a "d".