My 2nd trip report: Flying home with Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER

Welcome to my 2nd trip report: Return flight on Qatar Airways 77W!

*Aircraft photos are credited to the respective photographers from Airliners.net 

I hope you enjoyed my first part, as this trip report was done in 2009. I would try to update as much information as I can on this report. Photos are from airliners.net and of course credit goes to the respective photographers!

Click here for part 1. 

Flight route: CGK-SIN

Miles: 546

Photos of my aircraft! (Like A6-BAB, this aircraft is now painted in the Oneworld livery - July 2014)

A7-BAA in the airline's livery

31st Oct 2009
Airline: Qatar Airways
Flight number: QR639
Aircraft Type: Boeing 777-300ER
Registration: A7-BAA
Routing: CGK-SIN
Time of departure: 2225 hrs
Actually time of departure 2230
Seat number: 7A (business)
Duration: 1 hr 15 mins
POB: 90% full economy 40% full business
Departing gate: D2
Runway used: 25R
FL: 380
Arrival time: 1300 (Early arrival)
Arrival gate: A10 (SIN)

(Sorry for the lack of photos)

My stay in Jakarta was short, as my main purpose was to try out Qatar and do some plane spotting. My friend was supposed to meet up with me, but he had to make a business trip elsewhere, so I was left alone to do the spotting. 

I checked out of the hotel at 1120, I made my way to the domestic terminal. It was chaos with lots of people hanging around everywhere, and some were sleeping along the passage leading to the viewing deck. There were around 5 viewing decks which you can see different airlines like Batavia, Lion Airlines, Srivajava and the cargo planes! The photography was not easy as I had to use my 75-300mm lens and poke in between the holes just to take photos. I managed to catch the 737-200s of Srivajava and Lion Airlines's Boeing 737-900ER Dreamliner livery!

After spotting for 3-4 hours, I made my way to the international terminal. On my way, I realized that my camera bag with camera and passport was missing, and I realized I left it on a bench in a cafe. I ran back as fast as possible and fortunately for me, it was still there! How careless I was, being furious with myself for that short period of time. After that episode, I took the free shuttle to the international terminal which was quite a distance away from the domestic. Jakarta Airport Authorities can certainly upgrade their facilities!

Anyway, I spend the next 2 hours resting before checking in. I made my way to the lounge and had dinner there, catching the Arsenal vs Tottenham game before making my way to the gate. 
                           

   Business Class  

Economy Class

I was hoping to experience better service on this return flight but was once again disappointed.

 When I reached my seat, I quickly settled down and took some photos. Once again, I asked for champaign which came, this time with some smiles. Once again, a few black sheep (crew) on board. Those 2 had no smiles on their faces and didn't seem happy to see me. Later on, I requested for some postcards of QR's fleet from one of them, and he said would get back to me later on, but only did so when I was leaving the plane. 

As for the in-flight meal, I had a choice between Chicken and Seafood, I chose the chicken. The Chicken tasted better than my previous meal 'Nasi Lamek', but once again the side dish contains Sushi. A weird combination if you ask me.

I had a good chat with Miss Chng, a Malaysia crew after the meal, about Qatar and her future. To be honest, she and another crew were the only approachable crew. According to her, the airline will stop flying to Jakarta via Singapore but instead fly to DPS, that's an interesting move. Judging from the load, their economy class load to CGK seems healthy, but I understand from their point of view as this route is simply too competitive.

My Rating:

On ground service (CGK): 7/10
CGK Airport experience: 4/10
Lounge: 6/10
In-flight Service: 5/10
In-flight meal: 5/10
IFE: 7/10
Aircraft: 10/10
Cleanliness: 10/10
Punctuality: 10/10
Comfort: 10/10
Overall rating: 74/100

Conclusion

I like the product offered by Qatar Airways, business class seats are comfortable for my liking. However, with the service that I had experienced, I wasn't sure whether I would fly with the airline on J class again. I need to fly the Y class to experience for myself. I have plans to fly the airline's Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 in the near future, so by then, I would do another write up on this airline.

Thank you for reading this trip report! Please feel free to ask me any questions.

Cheers,
Charles