• Airlines like Qatar Airways offer a number of different business-class products across their fleet
• While the reasons for this are legitimate, enduring a seat you weren’t expecting can be a frustrating experience.
• Here’s why this happens and how we dealt with it when it happened to one of our own.

Qatar Airways has long led the industry pack regarding the high standards (and suitably high ticket prices) of their business class cabin. Seriously rivalled for many years by only one other carrier — Emirates, who have always prided themselves on their pointy-end offerings, especially first class — Qatar’s QSuite caused ripples through the sector when it launched in 2017 and has since become the veritable ‘top of the mountain’ for serious business travellers.

For many travellers, the QSuite really is a dream come true; boasting ‘pure privacy’, mood lighting, a lovely Diptyque dopp kit and tech coming out of your ears, it’s hardly a surprise that passengers go out of their way — and pay a sometimes eye-watering premium — to secure one of these precious seats. But picture this: you’ve booked your long-awaited QSuite, queued up the gate feeling like a dog with two carry-ons, then all of a sudden you board the plane and find a different, still lovely but undeniably inferior cabin awaiting you? Welcome to the world of ‘being Qatared’.

Qatar’s Business Class is a Mixed Bag

Rookie travellers would be forgiven that assuming that an airline would only offer one version of all its cabin classes — from economy through to first — across its entire fleet. And, of course, this would be the ideal situation for carriers and passengers alike. However, the reality of upgrading a fleet whilst keeping ample planes in the sky means that these upgrades often take years to complete (as one example, Qantas’ current upgrade is set to take 5 years end to end) with any number of older iterations in the sky at the same time as the shiny new stuff.

Qatar Airways currently operates four different business-class cabins, with variations of its seats on the airline’s A380s, A350s, 787s and 777s; while the QSuite is quite rightly considered by pretty much everyone to be the pinnacle of luxury, other aircraft feature older configurations. The 2-2-2 layout on the Boeing 777-200ER is, for this writer’s money, the least desirable of the bunch.

Our Experience of the Surprise Switch

On a recent flight from Doha to Denpasar, our founder Luc Weisman went out of his way to book a once-in-a-lifetime QSuite experience. After shelling out a hefty but undisclosed sum, he expected nothing less than Qatar’s best. However, soon after booking, he discovered that the aircraft had been changed to one with an older — and far less scintillating — cabin layout. There was no notification from Qatar Airways before this change was made, and he was only quick enough to notice when he went to choose his seats. Here’s what happened in Luc’s own words:

“When I checked my seat I noticed that it didn’t match the Q Suite cabin layout. After some quick digging, I realised I had been Qatar’d. Getting the previous generation Business Class was no big deal but the 2-2-2 was just rude.”

This bait-and-switch scenario is what we now refer to as ‘being Qatared’. The airline equivalent of being catfished by an online date, this is a classic case of reality and fantasy not aligning quite so well as anyone might like. While Luc was in the fortunate position of having some flexibility around his travel dates, meaning he could rebook and get that long-desired QSuite, many travellers will not have the luxury of time. Luc’s understandable upset at the change made us wonder whether there was a story in all this, and it turns out there is; a story that goes far beyond Qatar Airways alone…

Embracing Change: What You Can Do

Discovering you’ve been ‘Qatared’ can be frustrating, but there is a silver lining. Qatar Airways offers a smart solution — at least, it qualifies as smart if there’s enough time between your flight and the aircraft change for you to jump on it: they send an email notifying you of the change and offer one flight alteration free of charge.

If you’re flexible, this allows you to switch to a flight that does feature the QSuite. In Luc’s case, he changed to a flight six hours later and secured the QSuite. Here’s a screenshot of the email in question, provided by Mr Weisman himself:

However, it’s important to understand that not all travel agents are familiar with this policy. Luc’s agent was initially unhelpful, frankly making the process more complicated than it needed to be. Thus, if you booked through an agency, be sure to forward this notification email directly to them by way of proof that you know exactly what you’re talking about. Alternatively, if you’ve got a spare half hour on your hands, you can call Qatar Airways yourself to make the change directly.

The Industry Perspective

As it turns out, Qatar Airways isn’t alone in this practice. Thai Airways has long had a similar issue and, due to its business cabins being even more varied than Qatar’s — some of the older Thai seats feel practically ancient — the term ‘being TG’d’ is, according to Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller, David Flynn, common parlance among hardcore travellers, and for good reason:

“These airlines have expanded their fleet by adding aircraft formerly flown by other airlines […] The new ‘owner’ doesn’t bother to refit them with their own latest business class seats because of the expense – after all, these leased jets are a relatively short-term addition to the fleet, usually to help with rapid growth to tap into the post-pandemic travel surge.”

Indeed, Qatar has expanded its fleet rapidly by a mixture of leasing aircraft from other airlines and purchasing new jets. The result for Qatar and other airlines alike is a ‘mixed fleet’ of different planes with different business class seats. Singapore Airlines suffers from similar inconsistencies, operating three very different business class seats on its Airbus A380s, A350s, and Boeing 787s.

Airlines like Cathay Pacific and Qantas, on the other hand, have prioritised uniformity: Cathay Pacific uses just two types of business class seats across its long-range fleet, while Qantas has totally standardised its business class seats across the A330, A380, and Boeing 787.

Weighing Your Options

While Qatar does offer the option to change flights, it’s not always a practical solution. “Unless the flight with a superior business class is on the same day, you’re then looking at booking an additional night’s accommodation, and at very short notice,” Flynn points out:

“Most people also have a schedule to keep—in terms of getting back home and heading to work the next day.”

If you’re connecting to onward flights, rescheduling invariably becomes even more complicated. While the QSuite is, in many regards worth the wait, the effort, and the coin, it’s important to weigh the benefits of luxuriating in the QSuite against potentially massive disruptions to your travel plans.

Final Thoughts

Being ‘Qatared’, ‘TG’d’, or whatever else we care to call it can be a disappointing experience, especially when you’ve invested hard-won time and money into securing a premium product. To avoid surprises, here’s what we’d suggest:

• Monitor Your Booking: Regularly check your flight details and seat assignments leading up to your departure.
• Know Your Rights: If an aircraft change occurs, remember that you may be entitled to a free flight change.
• Communicate Directly: If you’re using a travel agent, ensure they’re up to speed on airline policies. Don’t take this for granted, and don’t hesitate to contact the airline directly if needed.

We all deserve to experience the best in field of any given product or service at least once in our lives. Don’t let the irritations and intimidation of airline bureaucracy stop you from enjoying your twelve hours of QSuite bliss; allow some wiggle room and stay across your emails; we’ll get you that Diptyque dopp kit if it’s the last thing we do…