World Traveller 73 
Today’s visit to the Western Cape Wine Region was a trip to an often overlooked region of Paarl. Paarl is home to several major wineries and is a neighbour to the more popular Stellenbosch and Franschoek regions. Our visit to Paarl had us casually visiting several wineries as we enjoyed the region’s attractions and scenery.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Activity: Wine Tasting in Paarl, Western Cape Winelands, South Africa
“Our visit to low key Paarl Wine Region took us away from the mega heavyweights of Stellenbosch and Franschoek, but allowed us to discover a few hidden gems”
On our first day, we had a bit of a sleep in at The Westin Cape Town. We hit the morning breakfast for last call and drove to wine area of Paarl. It was Sunday so many of the tasting rooms were closed or had reduced hours. MrsWT73 had us booked in for a shark dive in Gansbaai the next day that started at 7 AM with an easy 2 1/2 hour drive away so if there was ever time for an easy day after our international arrival, it was this one.
About Paarl Wine Region:
Paarl is one of South Africa’s most famous wine-producing areas. It’s conveniently located about 60 kilometers inland from Cape Town and just north of Stellenbosch. Paarl is home to some of the Western Cape’s best-known wineries.
The Paarl Wine Region is known for producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage, Chenin Blanc and occasionally Chardonnay are all important grape varieties in the region. Paarl’s huge variation of terroir gives wine farms opportunities to experiment with many different grape varieties and blends. The red wines are rich and robust, with a great intensity of fruit. The white wines are fruit driven and tropical.
Visiting Simonsig Winery:
After driving ourselves to the area, we headed up to Simonsig. The tasting room was a small area with a nice tasting room. There was a small 35 ZAR ($2.40 USD) charge for 5 wines. We ended up outside on the patio once space opened up and enjoyed the fine weather and setting.
The ambience was nice and for a medium scale winery.
Visiting Glen Carlou:
After that flight, we headed up towards Glen Carlou, which is owned and managed by the Hess Collection group of wineries. The setting here was particularly beautiful with a tasting room and restaurant on the hill overlooking the valley.
The tasting room was medium sized scale and occupied a third of the space. We had a nice leisurely chat with the wine host about apartheid and its effects on modern business.
Returning to Nederberg:
We left Glen Carlou and headed on to nearby Nederberg. It was our second visit here and we’ve always been treated well given that it’s a large scale winery. Despite this, we were again the only ones here. We enjoyed an executive tasting on the patio. It’s another beautiful setting right on the vineyard with no traffic or highway noise.
After Nederberg, we headed back towards Cape Town. We tried to get in for a tasting at Fairview but they had stopped serving by the time that we arrived.
We headed back for a freshen up, a cocktail reception in the lounge, then onto dinner at Quay 4 at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. MrsWT73 was still really upset about her bag, which hadn’t arrived at of end of day 1. The phrase: “Thank you Qatar for ruining my happiness” became quite familiar to me over the next few days. Despite this, she was keen to get onto the shark dive the next day which was a bright spot on the trip.
Our visit to Paarl Wine Region:
Our visit to the Paarl Wine Region was a new experience for us and a first time that we were able to focus on visiting this particular location of the Western Cape Wine Regions. Our casual day visiting Paarl had us visit Simonsig, Glen Carlou and our old favourite Nederberg. The Western Cape Wine Region is always a treat to visit and we enjoyed our experience on this visit just as much as our last ones.
If you’ve visited the Paarl Wine Region, did you enjoy the experience?
We had a five day stay in Cape Town and centred ourselves in the modern Westin Cape Town hotel. We had a terrific stay at this property, and really enjoyed our suite, the Executive Lounge, along with the central location of the property.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Westin Cape Town – Guest room 1 King, Cape Town, South Africa
“Still one of my favourite modern chain hotels in Cape Town, it continues with it’s world class Executive Lounge that offers a great Eggs Benedict breakfast, over interesting & inspiring city views ”
We’ve previously stayed at the Westin Cape Town, South Africa and had a terrific stay. If you want to see more about our time there, I recommend that you read our earlier review on the hotel. In this post, I will just cover off what is different and new about the property.
How we Booked:
Last time we stayed at this property, we redeemed Starwood Preferred Guest points to stay for a free stay. This time, we ended up on a paid rate of 1,800 ZAR ($127 USD) for 5 nights with a total of 9,000 ZAR ($635 USD) for the entire stay. I felt that we couldn’t go wrong with this paid rate for a four star hotel that was well situated in the Cape Town downtown area.
If you’re considering an award stay, the hotel today remains a reasonable deal as a Marriott Rewards Category 5 Program under the new Marriott Bonvoy regime. The rooms remain available for 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points (or the equivalent of 11,666 Starwood Preferred Guest points by today’s 1:3 value), with the fifth night free on reward stays of 5 nights. At an approximately value of 0.005 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point, if you can get a room rate under $175 USD, you’d be better off paying cash. If the room is over $175 USD, you’re likely better off redeeming points if you’re okay with the lost opportunity earning cost. Thanks to Marriott / Starwood merger, there are also lots of Protea Hotels in the Cape Town area that are of lower category points that may also provide other redemption opportunities.
Getting to the Westin Cape Town:
While we’ve previously used the hotel car service in order to get from the Cape town International Airport to the Westin Cape Town, this time, we were splitting our time between Cape Town and the Winelands. We were also getting in a shark diving trip in Gansbaai so it made sense to have our own transportation. I booked a care rental for the duration of our stay with Hertz Gold Counter. When I arrived to collect the car at Cape Town International Airport, when I declined the Hertz Collision Damage Waiver insurance, Hertz decided to place a 70,000 South African Rand ($4,900 USD) Charge (not a pre-authorization) on my American Express card. This was not a negotiable arrangement. It seems that the pre-authorization concept hasn’t hit the car rental market in Southern Africa yet as we had a similar experience in Namibia. I was of course told that this would be cancelled shortly after the car was returned but I made a note to ourselves to get to the airport early to take care of the cancellation.
We self drove to the Westin Cape Town. It was centrally located near the end of downtown and is in reasonable proximity to all Cape Town attractions.
We really enjoyed the rooms. We had been upgraded to an Executive Suite the last time and enjoyed the Executive Lounge for brunch as well. I was able to locate a great paid rate and as a result, it was a no-brainer for us to stay there again.
Checking into to the Westin Cape Town:
At check in, we had our loyalty status recognized. Unfortunately, we missed out on the Platinum upgrade with lots of apologies from the front desk. This was likely due to a convention in the hotel at the time.
The hotel continued to participate in the now discontinued program “Make a Green Choice”, where you could waive housekeeping in exchange for 500 Starwood Preferred Guest points. The hotel also now participates in the SMS service request feature.
A first for me, we received a SPG voucher good for 300 ZAR Rand ($20 USD) of Food and Beverage as a result of missing the upgrade.
The Room: Guest Room, 1King
The Standard Room is a Guest Room with One King. While it’s a lot less exciting than an Executive Suite, it’s still pretty comfortable and was of great value for the price paid. It’s a bit of a standard sized compact space, although admittedly with all the sightseeing, we didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the room itself.
The room had a lot of storage space in the form of shelving and armoires, and included a small desk for working.
With the smaller standard room, the initial impressions were not as good as our past Executive Suite. The room was a bit dark and worn. Despite full windows, we were on the north side of the building away from any direct sunlight. However, the place warmed up to us and its clear everyone is making an effort.
The hotel offered the convenient What’s App Chat Feature, allowing access to many service related items.
The rooms are looking a bit worn, and we some stains in the carpet. with some maintenance issues (coffee machine inoperative, showers scalding hot no matter what temperature you set the dial). Despite this, the Executive Lounge Breakfast is excellent and without any additional payment for SPG / Marriott Platinums, and the concierge desk did an excellent job of resolving the issue of MrsWT73’s lost luggage by confirming an arrival time and location of the bag when we failed to get a proper and working reference number from the carrier.
Around the Hotel:
The Executive Lounge:
We had several breakfasts in the Westin Executive Lounge, which is situated on the 19th floor of the Westin Cape Town. The Executive Lounge had spectacular views. Since our last visit, the Westin had re=purposed this space and it now doubles as “On 19”, meaning that part of the space is open to the public as a restaurant for lunch and dinner. The platinum breakfast is still available here with the usual Cap Classique sparking on offer at breakfast.
The Bottom Line on the Westin Cape Town:
All in all, the Westin Cape Town is still my go to property in Cape Town, even with the Marriott acquisition of Protea Hotels in the Southern African area. In addition, the concierge here were super helpful in assisting with the return of our luggage, and that’s worth it’s weight in gold.
If you’ve stayed at the Westin Cape Town, did it meet your needs for your stay in Cape Town, South Africa?
Comair Limited is an airline based in South Africa that operates a British Airways franchise in the Southern Saharan African Belt. Under the British Airways brand, they offer services to many key cities in South Africa and the Southern part of the African Continent and are affiliated with One World Airline Network Alliance. They also operate low cost carrier Kuala, which operates to many of the same destinations. Today’ flight would be on their mainline British Airways carrier in Business “Club” class.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: British Airways Comair Club Business Class B737-4, O.R. Tambo International Airport Johannesburg – Cape Town International
“Our British Airways Comair Flight was a straight forward business class lite with slightly more comfortable seating, a proper meal, a pre-departure beverage and lounge access”
After a visit to The Slow Lounge Johannesburg Domestic O.R Tambo International Airport, we headed down to the gate and boarded the flight using the priority lanes. Today’s gates were hard wired into the ground like at an amusement park or a movie theatre. That’s one way of controlling the gate queues. The only mishap is that they weren’t marked today so you had to ask around.
British Airways
DBA Comair
Business Class
JNB-CPT (OR Tambo International Airport – Cape Town International Airport)
BA 6429
April 16, 2016
Booked: Boeing 737-400
Flown: Boeing 737-400
Departure: 5:00 PM
Arrival: 7:10 PM
On Board British Airways Club Business Class:
As most probably know, the British Airways Comair Club Business Class seating on board is really compact and tight. It is identical to an economy seat with the middle seat blocked. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why one would choose this carrier over the wide body jets of South African Airways on this same route for their domestic selections. Well, aside from the attractive BA Avios points program and the fact that Comair has apparently turned a profit for 51 consecutive years while their South African Airways competition has consistently run out of money. . .
Pre Departure Services:
There was a pre-departure beverage of South Africa Cap Classique sparkling to start this short hop down to the mother city. It was served in a proper glass, which was a nice upgrade from the usual North American carriers that usually serve it in a plastic cup.
Departing O.R. Tambo International Airport:
We had a scenic departure out of flat Johannesburg with some peek a boo views of the mining activity around the town and their excellent highway systems. The clouds thickened as we headed down towards Cape Town and a nice airborne sunset.
The Meal: A Full Hot Supper
We were served a second pre-supper drink with a full bar available to enjoy.
Surprisingly, we were served a full hot meal for the short domestic trip. This isn’t something I was expecting for a short domestic flight of 790 miles, but it was very much welcomed.
For the like of me, after thirty hours of travelling over 3 days, I can’t recall what this main course was. It doesn’t look half bad though for an airline meal… No menus were provided on this short hop.
The main course was followed by dessert (chocolate cakes) / wrapped cheese, which we passed on.
On Short Final to Cape Town:
Terrific Drop Cloth Views over Table Mountain
We had a great sunset views on the way down with a tablecloth view of Table Mountain on arrival into the sunset Cape Town the mother city. There is nothing like a seeing a major landmark from the air in an unusual, unique way. When the sun lines up with the clouds, it’s just magic like nothing else.
Landing at Cape Town:
We arrived to a non gate position and we were out on the apron before we knew it. It had been raining quite a bit thanks to some stormy clouds. Red shirt man was entertained by the descent no doubt!
Our Experience on British Airways Comair Club Class:
The British Airways Comair experience was a reasonable alternative to South African Airways. I didn’t find the alternative to be all that much better, but it provided a means of getting around within South Africa on the One World Network when the most direct route didn’t have reward space. The Slow Lounge before the flight was comfortable, although small, and the flight offered straight forward service without being too exciting. The main drawback was the lack of a proper business class seat as the seats were economy class styled with a blocked middle. Overall, it was a reasonable flight but nothing to get too overly excited about.
If you’ve flown British Airways Comair between Johannesburg and Cape Town, did you find it to be enough “business class” for your needs ?
The Slow Lounge in the Domestic Terminal of the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa is the lounge associated with British Airways Comair franchise that operates in South Africa. The lounge offered a reasonable place to relax before a domestic South African flight and offered great views prior to our flight.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: The Slow Lounge, Domestic, O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa
“The Slow Lounge provided a Boutique Styled Business Lounge featuring great South African Wines, Terrific Views and a Wide Variety of Food in a Somewhat Compact Space”
This review is of The Slow Lounge Domestic at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. For another lounge in Johannesburg Domestic, please see our review of the South African Airways Domestic O.R. Tambo International Airport Johannesburg.
Checking into British Airways Business Class:
After arriving on Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Johannesburg, and dealing with our misplaced / lost baggage issues, we headed land side and were directed upstairs to bag drop. Although there was a manned British Airways connection desk in the usual international arrivals hall, it was not working and we were directed to proceed upstairs.
There was a bit of a line with the usual BA Travellers, Bag Drop and Club check in lines. I dropped my bag and we headed through security screening to the departures concourse.
Locating The Slow Lounge:
The Slow Lounge is advertised as the “lounge for extremely busy people”. Well, that certainly was us after we wasted three quarters of an hour dealing with ground handlers chasing after lost baggage who wanted nothing to do with us. The Lounge for Extremely Busy People is a bit of a funny tag line as most of everything in Africa runs quite slowly compared to fast paced North America.
The Slow Lounge is located upstairs next to all the usual lounges. It is near the South African Airways Baobab Domestic Lounge Johannesburg, where we visited on a previous visit. After taking the small lift up to the upper level, we arrived to the lounge reception.
Map Provided Courtesy of the Airports Company South Africa Website
Accessing The Slow Lounge:
The Slow Lounge is accessed through partnerships between British Airways, Comair Limited VIP, and the First National Bank (FNB) and RMB. As the premium lounge for British Airways’ franchise Comair, this is your most likely route to get in.
The SLOW Lounge welcomes the following guests travelling with any British Airways flight operated by Comair Limited:
- British Airways Executive Club Gold and Silver cardholders
- oneworld® qualifying cardholders
- British Airways Credit Card lounge access cardholders
- Qantas Club Card
- British Airways Club (Business Class) customers
The above guests may invite one travel companion to the lounge, subject to capacity and provided that they are travelling on the same flight.
If you happen to be premium bank card holder for First National Bank FNB Premier or FNB Private accounts makes you eligible for exclusive access to the SLOW Lounges when travelling on any flight:
- FNB Premier Cheque account or Credit Card
- FNB Private Clients Cheque account or Credit Card
- FNB Private Wealth Cheque account or Credit Card
- FNB Business Platinum
- FNB Business Black
Clients of RMB Private Bank may access the SLOW Lounges when travelling on any flight if they are in possession of their RMB Private Bank Cheque or Credit Card.
The lounge is also affiliated with Skyteam alliance members Air France, Alitalita, KLM and Delta Airlines and is likely accessible based on business class code share flights purchased through their respective ticket agencies.
Access today was granted courtesy of our British Airways Club Business Class Johannesburg – Cape Town flight.
Inside The Slow Lounge Domestic O.R. Tambo Johannesburg:
After we were admitted, we entered into The Slow Lounge. Entering inside, The Slow Lounge was a nice small space. There were lots of loungers around with several places to sit. The loungers were set up in several banks of seating facing the windows.
The Slow Lounge, like many Johannesburg lounges, was located on the upper levels of the airport. As a result, there were fantastic views of the apron and aircraft around it.
Food and Beverage: The Farmer’s Bounty
There was a surprising amount of food available for a domestic lounge. The food was all spread out on a buffet table. The food looked pleasant but really tired. It was almost as if it had been sitting out all day or 4+ hours and had a bit of a stale look to it. Still, it would have looked impressive based when it would have been initially presented.
South Africa is a large wine producing country. It seems only fitting that South African wines be properly showcased at every opportunity. In The Slow Lounge, there were wine purifier machines where you could get a pour of several South African wines just by helping yourself to a glass.
There was also a barman and fully stocked bar where several Gin and Tonic’s were being mixed by the British clientele that were visiting. The Bar was a nice focal point for the lounge itself.
We didn’t get too much time in The Slow Lounge thanks to the bag fracas situation. It was a nice place overall and a place I’d be interested in returning to at some point if I was ever back in the area. I’d almost say that you can’t really go wrong with most lounges in South Africa as they are all reasonably well appointed. We had a quick drink and a check of email over the wifi which was strong and easy to connect to.
We spent a little time here before heading onwards to our British Airways Comair Club Johannesburg – Cape Town flight down to the Mother City.
My Thoughts of The Slow Lounge at OR Tambo International Airport Domestic:
The Slow Lounge Johannesburg at O.R. Tambo International Airport is a small intimate space. The lounge offers a full bar, including a wide variety of South African wines by the glass showcasing the South African Wine Regions. The lounge also features great views of the O.R. Tambo Domestic apron where there are great plane spotting opportunities.
If you regularly between Johannesburg and Cape Town, do you have a preferred choice between British Airways Comair, versus South African Airways?
Our next Qatar Airways flight on the World’ Five Star Airline was on Qatar Airways’ newest aircraft in the Qatar Airways fleet at the time in the form of a Boeing 787-8. Flying on a Boeing 787-8 is always a treat thanks to it’s better cabin pressure, larger windows and generally bright and airy ambience. Qatar Airways was able to make it all that more special thanks to it’s terrific business class seat, fantastic wine list and excellent service.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class B787-8, Doha Hamad International Airport – O.R. Tambo International Airport Johannesburg
“Qatar Airways lived up to its expectations as the world’s five star airline with terrific food and beverage, pyjamas, mattress pads and a wine list that rivals many casual dining restaurants”
After a very relaxing time in the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge Doha, we headed down towards the gate to get ready for our international departure. In our experience, Qatar Airways likes to board its flights quite early. With a posted boarding time of 45 minutes prior to departure on our boarding cards, at about T-40 we headed down to the concourse to locate the gate.
Our flight was leaving from Gate E1 today, which was at the far end of the “Y” shaped Doha Hamad International airport. We had to walk the entire length of the “C” Concourse in order to get to the “D” and “E” split. It took about 10 minutes to walk there through the busy and somewhat narrow walkways that were filled with families and golf carts trying to get through the area. The airport didn’t have any of those quiet spaces on the concourse that were featured in the airport authority advertisements for Doha Hamad International airport.
On arrival to the gate, almost all of the gate area had already boarded. We walked on board with no waits through a dedicated fast track check in lane and settled into the beautiful Boeing 787 cabin.
Qatar Airways
Business Class
DOH-JNB (Doha Hamad International Airport – OR Tambo International Airport Johannesburg)
QR 1367
April 16, 2016
Booked: Boeing 787-800
Flown: Boeing 787-800
Departure: 7:10 AM
Arrival: 2:40 PM
On Board Qatar Business Class:
Qatar Airways has installed reverse herringbone seating in its 787 cabins. It is set up like most others in a 1-2-1 configuration. Its much more private than the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 seating configurations but it also comes at the expense of a bit of space as the seating footprint is much more compact.
The cabin is bright and airy with the large B787 windows and a lack of centre overhead bins which makes for a higher ceiling in the middle. First impressions, like our last flight, were very favourable. Qatar has taken great efforts in making this cabin appear sleek and contemporary.
The seat itself has a variety of comfort functions and, like any decent lounger, you can position it almost any way to your liking. The Oryx AVOD controller resembles a smart phone more than a typical aircraft wired remote control. With movies and descriptions clearly visible on the remote, it made for exceptionally easy navigation.
The cabin was very elegantly appointed. There was an on board bar stand in the middle, accented with freshly cut red roses. A magazine rack was discreetly inlaid into the bar. It was one of the first business class cabins that I had been in that had an integrated bar area that wasn’t attached to a kitchen or galley.
The first and general impressions of the Qatar Airways Business Class cabin were terrific and set the tone for a great flight.
Pre – Departure Services:
While we were waiting on the ground, a pre-departure beverage order was taken. Qatar opens the good stuff on the ground so I had a glass of proper Billecart Salmon champagne. For the uninitiated, the Billecart Salmon is actually coloured like regular champagne, and not a pink colour like it’s name might suggest.
While we were enjoying our pre – departure champagne, business menus were also passed out.
The Amenity Kits – Giorgio Armani
In the pre-departure services, a Giorgio Armani Amenity Kit was passed out. It was similar to the Amenity Kit on our Qatar Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Doha light. Unlike that overnight flight, there were no pajamas offered on this day time flight.
As we got underway, we had great views of other Qatar Airways aircraft parked at Doha Hamad International Airport. I took in the last views of Qatar and the apron as we rolled away.
Getting back to the flight, it was time for the safety video. Qatar has an entertaining soccer themed safety video that includes kicking a soccer ball at passengers in the brace position. It was one of the more entertaining demonstrations that I had seen lately.
While we were waiting to take off, we were introduced to our cabin attendant Raj who took excellent care of us. Raj noticed MrsWT73 looking closely at the roses at the start of the flight. He approached me and offered me a red rose to present to her. It was a charming and unique experience to be able to present something so simple during the flight.
Departing Doha, Qatar:
There were some terrific views of Doha Central Business District and its skyline as we departed Doha Hamad International Airport off the left side of the aircraft.
As we had eaten breakfast in the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge Doha Hamad International Airport, we opted to eat a bit later in flight. I enjoyed a glass of Ruilly Premier Cru Gresigny White Burgundy Chardonnay with some warmed nuts as we got underway. I also had a smoothie with it. Why? Because they offered… I know those two don’t pair, but hey – I was on vacation (laughing).
Our departure track took us over Saudi Arabia and Oman, giving Yemen a very wide birth. For the first part of the flight, I bypassed the entertainment and stuck to views of the African coast, particularly of Somalia and Scotra as we headed along downwards towards J’Berg. I enjoyed these views paired with a glass of Mantlerhof Gruner Veltliner from Noederosterreich, Austria (white wine).
There were miles of nothingness around. There’s nothing like the appeal of flying over exotic and far away lands than flying down the East Coast of North Africa. It’s an area that I’d likely not get to fly over again in my life.
The on board wifi was fired up as we got to cruising altitude. The prices were reasonable and much cheaper than our North American counterparts.
The Meal: A Lunch A La Carte Service
As I had indicated earlier, the menus were presented shortly after boarding while we were still on the ground.
As in our previous flight, Qatar offers an extensive and interesting wine list full of items that were of interest to us. I can’t think of many other carriers that would load 10 wines for a 7 hour flight.
I started off with the greek yogurt with berry compote and toasted granola with nuts.
I had the main course of a buckwheat crepe with spinach and herb. It was more of a lunch dish and not really what I was expecting for a flight that left at 7:10 AM. It was one of the few times I had ordered something while flying that I really didn’t care to much for.
I had a little nap at this point. I was still a bit jet lagged from the time zone change. A note for others flying to Africa via the middle east- it’s definitely the long way around. I’d suggest bringing extra pillows.
We had a quick and straight in landing at OR Tambo. As we were one of the first ones off the plane, we had no lines at immigration.
Our pair of Qatar flights were mostly great. I am hesitant to give them an excellent recommendation since once we landed, we learned MrsWT73’s bags were lost and eventually learned that they had been broken into and had large number of items stolen after they had arrived.
The Loss of a Checked Bag on Qatar:
When you arrive in South Africa, you collect your bags at your first point of entry, clear immigration and customs and re-check them onward to the final destination. As luck would have it, somewhere between Vancouver and Johannesburg, Qatar (or American) lost MrsWT73’s checked bag. My checked bag turned up on the conveyor belt with the new QR tag (printed and originating in LAX) but MrsWT73’s did not. Although we checked our bags in with American in Vancouver, I am highly confident that the cock up’s with the bags started when Qatar in Los Angeles attempted to change our baggage tagging from Doha to Cape Town.
We had a 2 hour and 45 minute connection on Jo’berg, most of which was burnt up standing in line making a claim with the ground agents at a slow baggage claim desk. There happened to be about 10 others from our Qatar Airways flight with lost bags for what it was worth. We were all attempting to get the attention of one agent who wasn’t too interested in moving quickly.
Unfortunately, this baggage story ends with two interesting chapters. The bag was delivered in Cape Town 72 hours later. However, someone had defeated the TSA lock and had taken, or “liberated” depending on your view, about 1/3 of the contents of the bag. Somehow, the TSA lock was intact (although a bit bent). Someone is now running around with MrsWT73’s lightly used royal blue BCBG Max Azaria dresses, a Kathmandu day pack purchased in Sydney Australia, and a black Ralph Lauren floppy sun hat purchased in Florida. MrsWT73 wasn’t all to happy about this since all her cocktail dresses for the trip went missing. She announced to me, several times, “We’re never flying THAT carrier again”.
The last chapter of the baggage story involves us attempting to file a theft claim with Qatar. The short version was that Qatar never advanced our claim, nor gave us any access to the on line case management platform used to manage their lost property. The file number that they scrawled on a piece of paper that was provided to us in JNB was non-existent when we attempted to verify the claim. We sent several emails, (upwards of five) to both the Johannesburg ground handlers and to Qatar in Doha themselves; all of which went unanswered and ignored. Later on in the trip, about 10 days after our initial loss claim, we happened to be back through the Johannesburg International Arrivals baggage claim area as we were arriving back from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. We paid another visit to the baggage claim desk. Without getting any further results, this situation prompted a massive freak out by MrsWT73 on the baggage claim agent in the Johannesburg International Arrivals hall. Even I was impressed with the size and scale of this eruption! This prompted “an invitation” for us to visit the Qatar station manager upstairs in Terminal One departures. After about 45 minutes of bureaucratic paperwork, the station manager approved a 3,000 ZAR ($210 USD) immediate clothing replacement cash payout “to be deducted from your final claim”.
We took the money, signed off and left pretty disappointed. It’s a good thing that we did take the money because we never heard from Qatar about our claim again. We could have followed up with credit card insurance but frankly, we are both busy people and probably got more than we would have had with Qatar. I left it with MrsWT73 to follow up and she never did. Thinking this situation through, our bags had 6 hours on the ground in LAX and 13 hours on the ground in Doha. I can’t imagine this stuff going missing in Los Angeles and strongly believe that the theft likely occurred in Doha. Ultimately, it soured our Qatar experience quite a bit as most of the work that they put into their product was clearly non existent when it came to addressing any after the fact problems.
My Thoughts on Qatar Airways Business Class Long Haul:
All in all, the “World’s Five Star Airline” mostly lived up to its promise and execution. The Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge at Doha Hamad International Airport in Doha was a highlight of the departure experience. The flight was mostly comfortable, and the Boeing 787 pods are wonderful and comfortable to relax in. The experience was a bit soured with pretty lousy treatment when dealing with a lost checked bag at the end of the flight. As a result of this experience, I’m a little hesitant to give them a full endorsement. Flyers please beware…
If you’ve flown Qatar Airways Business Class, did it live up to being “The World’s Five Star Airline ?
The Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge at Doha Hamad International Airport is the flagship business lounge in the Qatar Airways network. Qatar Airways has built it’s airline network on connecting traffic through it’s airport in Doha. In order to pamper it’s business travelers, it’s has to maintain a competitive space. Thankfully, the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge is among the best business lounges worldwide. Read on to see how it excels at what it does…
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha Hamad International Airport, Qatar
“Qatar Airways’ Al Mourjan Business Lounge at Doha Hamad is one of the world’ s best business lounges and arguably the best business lounge of the Middle East Three”
Getting to Doha Hamad International Airport:
We were up nice and early for our onward journey. With a one night stay at the Westin Doha Hotel and Spa, having traveled across 12 time zones, it’s not like we had a restful, deep sleep. At about 4:45 AM, we took the hotel car again and headed back to the airport. We had some challenges finding taxi’s the last time we were in Doha so we just opted for convenience with the hotel car.
The Doha Hamad International Airport is truly impressive and rivals the best airport facilities anywhere in the world. It reminded me of the Beijing Capital International Airport for its grand spaces, with slightly more style and chic-ness.
Checking into Qatar Airways Business Class:
When we arrived to the airport, we proceeded through the separate First and Business Class check in area near door number 1. The check in is situated to the right most part of the airport on approach by car. It seems many travellers that pass through here are connecting and don’t actually get into the city. We were headed off today on our Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Johannesburg flight. I was impressed at how large and spacious this place actually was. Similar to Etihad’s First and business Class check in area, porter service was made available for us curb side. Since we only had our carry on’s, we didn’t have any need. There were full leather couches available across from the Business Class check in desks, which were completely deserted at this early hour.
Locating the Lamp Bear:
As we already had our next boarding cards issued in Los Angeles, we quickly passed through the deserted and dedicated Premium Class immigration departure checkpoint. We underwent security screening and headed on towards the giant teddy bear in the main concourse. The Lamp Bear by Swiss artist Urs Fischer occupies centre stage in the grand foyer. It is a 23-foot canary yellow teddy bear sculpted from bronze, that sits peacefully inside a lamp. It is supposed to be a playful piece that reminds travellers of childhood or precious objects from home. It was my first time seeing this thing, not counting the peek – a – boo view we had on arrival. The bear is slightly morbid if you take a look at the fact that it is pierced in the back with the light that it is seated underneath.
Locating The Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge:
The Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge is conveniently located up one level from the main concourse. It’s accessible via a bank of escalators just off the main concourse. It you locate the Yellow Lamp Bear you are just steps away.
Map Courtesy of Doha Hamad International Website
We headed over to the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge. Surprisingly, there was even a crowd at the bottom of the escalators to access the lounge as the eligibility check was at the bottom of the escalators. It seemed as though there were a lot of people asking the lounge attendants for general airport directions. As a result, it took a moment or two to navigate through the throng of people.
Accessing the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge:
The Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge is the primary Qatar Airways Business Lounge in Doha Hamad International Airport.
Qatar Airways First Class and Business Class (Elite, Comfort) and One World First Class and Business Class passengers can access this lounge on a complimentary basis. Qatar Airways has recently started unbundling some of their fares and as a result some Qatar Business Class Fares do not automatically offer access. Fortunately, these basic business class passenger and Economy Class passengers throughout the network can purchase lounge access on line, at the check-in counters, preferred travel agents, or Qatar Airways’ sales offices.
We were scanned in at reception and granted lounge access. Today’s access was courtesy of our Qatar Airways Business Class Ticket.
Inside the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge:
As we entered into the lounge, it was a tremendously impressive space. Qatar has obviously spared no expense with this facility, even dedicating several hundred square feet to a large fountain lake that occupies a featured area in the lounge. It is easily the most impressive Business Lounge in the One World network that I’ve ever had the experience of visiting. I personally found it much more impressive than the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge Istanbul which is among the best business lounges around in the competing Star Alliance network.
The lounge was a large rectangular shape that occupied two levels. The main floor had most of the seating, and the second floor had a sit down table buffet restaurant. Walking around the main floor, there were ample places to sit surrounding the elegant floor fountain.
A well designed space allowed for several pods of seating. The seating was close enough for two travelling together, but not so intrusive for those travelling by themselves if they had to join another pod.
The Lounge area also featured a raised upper level. During our visit, it contained rattan styled chairs. I’m personally not so keen on the wicker look in the elevated area but perhaps some like this style.
There were lots of varied seating areas with almost endless seating options and combinations.
The varied seating areas and the fact that travellers were not compacted into any one small space made this place much more comfortable than other lounges that tend to squeeze in their passengers.
Food and Beverage: A Full Buffet Restaurant
As it was 5:00 AM on our visit, we headed up to the restaurant for some breakfast snacks. The restaurant area is quite large and features a double buffet and a full bar. The buffet is self service, but there is ample materials there to keep any diner engaged and interested in eating.
The restaurant floor wrapped around the circular staircase and provided seating throughout the second floor. We ended up taking one of the booths away from the primary food service area.
MrsWT73 was incredibly impressed with the place. With thoughts of caged market kittens from Souq Wahif long gone, “I’m in heaven” she pronounced. Indeed, it was pretty easy to please her with all of her favourites available: Grilled Halloumi cheese, hummus, pita breads and cold cuts, paired with Rose Champagne. She was happy all around, proclaiming that this had surpassed her favourite Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge Istanbul as her new favourite business class lounge space.
During our visit, we were able to enjoy a full english breakfast from the buffet. Unfortunately, the Krug over the counter prescription (need to ask for it) champagne free flow tap that used to be on has now been switched off permanently, but there was still regular champagne available on request from the bar. It’s aways impressive to get champagne from a Business Class Lounge and this place was no exception.
Surprisingly, at 6 AM when we left the breakfast area, the place was at or near capacity with few places to sit. This was obviously a reflection on how popular this place was.
Additional Downstairs Seating:
Heading back downstairs, we eventually decided on a spot prior to our flight. Qatar has iPad’s at many seats, replacing the large monitors that are in some lounges. Rose Champagne and a blackberry anyone?
We also found a dining area that was smaller in size (on the main floor) that had a small, and somewhat cramped, bar. They were serving made to order panini sandwiches. Interestingly, there are no bar spaces throughout the lounge itself, although there are drink stations.
We really enjoyed our time here before heading off to our Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Johannesburg flight.
My Thoughts the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge at Doha Hamad International Airport:
In summary, the Qatar Al Mourjan Business Class lounge is a truly impressive facility that is at the top of its game for a business class lounge. It offered a great lounge space, terrific food and beverage, and a restaurant area that worked well. The lounge was spacious, peaceful and relaxing. I would easily consider returning through Doha for a stop over at the lounge.
If you’ve regularly on one of the Middle Eastern Three carriers, is the Qatar Airways Al Moujan Lounge your preferred lounge between Qatar, Emirates or Etihad ?
The City of Doha, Qatar has one of the most approachable souq markets. It’s a clean and welcoming place that allows locals and tourists to intermingle while shopping for a souvenir, getting in some entertainment or visiting a local restaurant. We made the most of our short stopover by coming back for a visit and walking the streets of the market.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Activity: Strolliing the Night Market of Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
“The Night Market of Souq Wahif is a must visit attraction, even if on a short stopover like us for any visit to Doha, Qatar”
About Souq Wahif:
We had visited Souq Wahif on our previous stopover in Doha in 2012. The story goes that a Souq has been on this site for over 100 years. Most of the older buildings were torn town and reconstructed. It now appears to be a bit artificial, commercial and less authentic. Despite this, I was keen to return since it’s nothing like the shopping or night life experience back home. It remains one of the main attractions in Doha and is easily worth a visit when you are in town.
Getting There:
We only had 14 hours in Doha, Qatar including a sleep. Being young at heart, we went out and took in a visit to Souq Wahif. We used Uber X from the Westin Doha Hotel and Spa up to the Souq. Our driver didn’t speak any English, but that was okay. We had no problems getting an Uber X and the only issues were the amount of traffic thanks to the road construction of the Doha subway that was causing some general traffic re-routing problems. Only 15 QAR ($4.11 USD) later and we were at the back of the Souq.
Visiting Souq Wahif:
It was Friday night (the equivalent of Saturday night in the Middle East) and the place was packed. We wandered the alley ways and streets taking in the smells of water pipes and downs of families out at the market.
There were quite a few restaurants but not a lot of english menus. I’d bring your translator with you or be prepared for some food surprises.
Near the Corniche, there happened to be a stage set up for a concert related to the Spring Festival. We happened to get some free entertainment in the form of a concert. We also took in the views.
Walking the Animal Kingdom:
We headed back towards the hotel side of the Souq through the “Animal Kingdom”. The Souq sells lots of animals and if you visit during daytime trading hours, you can even see the falcons for sale that are used in falconry. Tonight, it was mostly household animals in small cages. The cages were quite cramped compared to MrsWT73’s cat at home whom is afforded every luxury living in a three level house. There have been reports of some attempts to change the living conditions of the animals here. An animal lover at heart, it made MrsWT73 a bit sad and I only include the photo to show the amount of cages out and around in the “Animal Kingdom”.
We caught an Uber X back to the hotel and bedded down for the evening. Otherwise it was a nice visit and fun to take in a bit of culture at crossroads where I never actually thought that I would ever return to.
Our trip to Souq Wahif:
It’s always great when you can sneak in a visit to an attraction on a stop over. Our visit back to Souq Wahif was a neat experience to walk down memory lane. It was packed on our visit making it a very vibrant experience. I’d highly recommend a trip to Souq Wahif while in Doha, Qatar.
If you’ve visited the Doqu Wahif, did you come away with any local treasures?
Our short stay in Doha had us coming in to check out the brand new Westin Doha Hotel and Spa in Doha, Qatar. As a brand new property, the Westin Doha Hotel offered sleek and contemporary furnishings in a nicely equipped room that was a steal on award points. I’d easily stay here again if I was passing through the city for a short or longer stay.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
“The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa marked Westin’s Entrance into the Business Hotel Scene in Qatar with a contemporary, comfortable and modern stay”
Booking and Getting There:
We ended up staying at the Westin Doha Hotel and Spa as it was the closest Starwood / Marriott property to the airport. Most of the other Doha properties (namely the Sheraton and the W) are on the other side of town closer to the water. The St Regis Doha was a bit beyond what we needed for a shower and a quick snooze on a fourteen hour stopover. The Westin was much better than the tired Marriott Doha Hotel that we stayed at last time in Ras Abboud, Doha. It’s also worth noting that the Westin Doha was a brand new property having opened in April 2016, a mere few weeks before our stay.
Our stay arrangements were courtesy of a Free Weekend Night Award from the Canadian SPG American Express card (now Marriott Bonvoy American Express) as a result of meeting a minimum amount of spend. It was also a great value as regular rates were at the time over 1,200 Qatari Riyal’s a night ($330 USD). The average daily rate seems to have come down after the initial opening frenzy and is hovering in off season around $180 USD. Having completed a stay here, I can easily report that this place is a steal as a Category 4 hotel in the Middle East, whereas most of the other properties are Category 5 or 6 that require a substantially higher amount of points. At the time of this post, it’s down to a Marriott Category 3, with free nights coming in at 15,000 to 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.
I arranged a hotel car through the concierge. After coming off our Qatar Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Doha flight, our driver, met us land side and led us through the parking garage to the car. It was a short 35 minute drive up to the property on the new highways outside of the new Doha Hamad International Airport.
Arriving to the Westin Doha:
Salwa Road, Fereej Bin Mahmoud, Zone 23, PO Box 39474, Doha, Qatar
The Westin Doha is located immediately across from the Radisson Hotel. It is situated on a major ring road of 3 lanes in each direction, so there isn’t much in the way of ambience in the neighbourhood surrounding the property. There are however, supermarkets, a Dairy Queen and a Chili’s restaurant that are within 5-7 minute walk from the front doors of the property.
The hotel appears to have been completely constructed from scratch as a new build and is not a re-flagging of an older hotel. The décor of the property is more Le Meridien “contemporary” than the usual Westin urban business conservative. They have spared no costs in making this place a sharp looking property. The lobby started with a great first impression with an upscale impression with a massive circular glass display in the atrium of the lobby. There was a great first arrival impression with fresh flowers in the entrance lobby.
There was no one at the check in desks when we arrived. Despite this, we were checked in promptly and given room #512. As an SPG Platinum (Marriott Bonvoy Platinum level), we were upgraded from a Deluxe City View (base level room in the award pool) to an Executive City View. The difference between the two is that the executive room is about 10% larger. I believe this is a soft internal upgrade as I happened to note that these larger rooms weren’t actually listed as a bookable room category on the hotel website.
We wandered ourselves up wide and plush hallways to Executive Room 512. Our room was at the end of a bank of rooms without actually being on the corner of the hotel. The room was also on a high floor.
The Room: An Executive King
The room was modern, well appointed with all the comforts one could ask for. It makes a really noticeable difference when you are staying in a brand new property that has nice design as opposed to a property that has had a “soft” or partial upgrade over the years. Everything here just fit nicely and with each other in a cosmetic sense.
The room featured a small singular desk which was more suitable for charging cell phones than completing any actual work. There was also a television which was viewable from the bed.
Inside the armoire, there was a small mini fridge which contained soft drinks and beer. Threre were no spirits like a regular mini bar. There was also a Nepresso Coffee maker and an individual kettle. There were also included glassware, which was a nice touch.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom had an open concept pass through to the main sleeping area. I don’t personally mind this, but some may find the lack of ultimate privacy annoying. The bathroom featured a nice rain shower and separate toilet area.
The Bathroom was spacious and featured a soaker tub and double vanity sinks. There was a lot more space than expected.
Around the Hotel:
The Outdoor Pool:
We left the room and explored the property a little bit. There was a nice outdoor pool, which wasn’t very large, but larger than a city hotel pool. It wasn’t very resort like, but it would most certainly do for a quick dip if you happened to be staying here on business travel and needed a quick cool off after a long work day.
The Luxe Lounge:
There was also a coffee bar in the lobby, which substituted as the usual licensed premise lobby lounge. I didn’t see anyone drinking anything other than coffee here.
Casual Connections / Seasonal Tastes:
We had a small snack at the hotel restaurant terrace “Casual Connections”. We were able to sit outside in the cooling evening as we were a bit snacky after the flight. We ordered a small mezze platter. The hotel prices are a bit steep with as they wanted 70 QAR ($20 USD) for a small mezze platter and almost 100 QAR ($35 USD) for most main courses. All in all, it was pretty standard hotel food – a reasonable quantity but nothing outstanding to write home about.
My Thoughts about the Westin Doha:
All in all, the Westin Doha and Spa was a worthwhile stay that was all too short with our brief layover. The rooms were in great condition being new and the hotel is reasonably situated close to the airport. The only real minus is that there isn’t much immediately around the hotel in terms of easily accessible restaurants. I’d rate this property as “highly recommended” for a Westin overnight stay.
If you’ve stayed at the Westin Doha, did you enjoy this new property?
Our Qatar Airways flight on the World’ Five Star Airline lived up to it’s expectations. We had a comfortable business class seat, great amenities in the form of a fabulous wine list, mattress pad and pyjamas made available for business class travellers. We also had terrific food and beverage on this flight, making it easy to choose Qatar Airways as a carrier of choice to and from the middle east.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class B777-2, Los Angeles International Airport – Doha Hamad International Airport
“Qatar Airways lived up to its expectations as the world’s five star airline with terrific food and beverage, pyjamas, mattress pads and a wine list that rivals casual dining restaurants “
Qatar Airways
Business Class
LAX-DOH (Los Angeles Airport Terminal 2 – Doha Hamad International Airport)
QR 740
Flown:
Departure: 4:05 PM
Arrival: 6:10 PM + 1
April 14, 2016
Booked: Boeing 777-200
Flown: Boeing 777-200
The booking experience for this flight was super easy. Qatar Airways was releasing up to 4 reward business class seats per flight on this route when we booked and it was easy to find dates that worked with our connection to South Africa. We were able to transit the middle east region thanks to the QR exemption on American Airlines AAdvantage reward rules that allows flights on Qatar to pass through Doha (provided that you are flying on QR in and out of Doha).
At about T-50, boarding was announced in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Los Angeles by a Qatar airways ground representative who made the rounds. After that lounge experience, we were looking forward to getting onto the 7th longest flight in the world on “The World’s Five Star Airline”.
We headed down to the terminal where there was a proper business class boarding lane, that was maintained throughout the boarding process. We were able to walk up about 10 minutes after the initial lounge boarding announcement and get on without getting stuck.
On Board Qatar Business Class:
It was single jet bridge boarding today with boarding through 1L. On board, we turned right into the business class seat configuration of 2-2-2. As there was single jet bridge boarding, all the passengers streamed through the business class cabin as we settled in.
The seats are quite dated, but they are exceptionally comfortable for traveling as a couple. There is quite a bit of space between the seats, with only 4 rows of business in the front cabin, and 3 rows of business in the second cabin. There was so much space, I couldn’t even reach the foot rest with my feet!
The seat had a multi adjustment to almost every angle. The chair is more comfortable for lounging. As a side sleeper, without the mattress pad, the seat material can be quite firm. It was not impossibly comfortable, but it was no hotel mattress by any means.
There was a mattress pad and blanket available on the seat, in addition to wrapped pillows.
As we settled into our seat, Felix came to personally introduce himself to us as our server for the day. The lead purser also came around to introduce himself, inviting us to call on them at any time.
There was a bottle of water at each seat in the compartment.
Pre – Departure Beverages:
There was a prompt pre-departure beverage of water, lemon mint or champagne was offered. Of course, with any international flight, we went with champagne today in a proper elongated flute along with a towel service.
It’s a great way to start with champagne in proper stemware like this.
The Amenity Kits: Giorgio Armani & Pyjamas
Keeping with the great start, amenity kits and pyjamas were also presented.
There were separate men and women’s Giorgio Armani kits in sleek black pouches. The contents were not super useful, (as in, there were not a lot of items inside), but it was better than nothing. The kits were also classy looking.
Departing Los Angeles:
As we headed out on taxi, I caught my first glimpse of the British Airways A380 that would eventually seasonally serve Vancouver. We’d later get the opportunity to fly on British Airways First Class London – Vancouver in the Airbus 380.
We took off to altitude from Los Angeles. I played around with the entertainment system Oryx One and located the flight take off screen, which simulated a cockpit view.
As per usual, there were always great views taking off out of Los Angeles.
I also toyed around with the flight map, which showed our track from North America to the Middle East.
The Meal: A Full A La Carte Dinner Service
The menus were presented shortly after boarding. The menus were in a nicely bound paper with subtle textures to the cover.
There was also an outstanding business class wine list, featuring two types of champagne (regular and rose), Premier Cru Burgundies, Grand Cru Classe’ French Bordeaux, sweet chenin’s and port.
Needless to say, the wine list was super impressive and much better than expected from other business class carriers.
The meal service was offered immediately after take off, or almost 40 minutes into the flight. The dining was a la carte – literally I asked for the beef and got the beef served right away. I should have ordered the appetizers as well, in that order. Instead, I had the entire meal in reverse sequence.
The dinner service started with a mixed nuts accompaniment, paired with Drappier Rose Champagne. Table set up was done with a proper napkin presentation at each opportunity.
So, in reverse order, Grilled Fillet of Beef with horseradish jus, parsley mashed potatoes. Maple glazed carrots and baby onions, paired with Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classe.
This was followed with Roast Butternut Squash Soup with lemon and herb crème fraiche with a cheese twist
Lastly, the Smoked salmon with pea and potato salad, paired with Rully Premier Cru Gresigny Burgundy.
MrsWT73, usually a harsh food critic, particularly enjoyed the menu items on Qatar, and the general availability of items that appealed to her. She really liked the Dine on Demand option, although found the seats a little firm for her liking as well.
I started into the James Bond movie Spectre but didn’t get too far. I crashed out pretty quickly, and didn’t even bother to change into pyjamas or set up the mattress pad. The plane offered noise-canceling headphones. The cabin was dark (shades drawn) for most of the flight. I must have been exhausted from that 3:30 AM early wake up, as I woke up about 6 hours later, a full 11 hours into the flight, as we were over Turkey.
Good thing I am not flying this thing, thanks to the Arabic map, I can’t even read where we are.
There were some beautiful mountains over what appeared to be Iraq as I got ready for the second service. The second service, as with other dining, is on demand. There was a polite explanation that the food takes a bit of time to cook or heat, as they placed the plate setting.
The Second Service: Breakfast
As I woke up, it was time for the second service. There was a variety of items for breakfast, with enough to chose from to keep anyone happy.
I went with the banana and coconut smoothie, two café lattes, and the cheddar cheese omelette with grilled chicken sausage. Qatar seemed to run out of smoothies as MrsWT73 asked for one after a taste test of mine and she was not able to get one at all as they had run out.
The cabin got prepared for landing as we headed towards the end of our fifteen hour flight.
There was not a lot in the way of cabin ambience. There were the typical soft blue lights in the roof of the plane, but nothing state of the art, or that contained a wow factor that you see on some of the other Middle Eastern “3” carriers.
Landing in Doha Hamad International Airport:
As the flight drew to a close, the cabin got ready for landing. At this time, a funny thing happened. As I was stowing my laptop in the overhead, I took a look around the cabin and happened to notice that about 50% of the cabin had changed into traditional Middle East attire (abbeyas and dishada’s). Throughout the flight, all the passengers were in flip flops and jogging pants so it was a little different to be almost completely surrounded by black robes, some with full niqab’s. It was a unique and fun experience that I had not had the opportunity to experience despite over 700,000 lifetime miles flown.
We had a nice approach into Doha at sunset, arriving to Doha Hamad International Airport next to an Emirates Boeing 777. I managed to spot the Qatar A380 which I hadn’t seen before.
We got off the plane and entered the fantastic Doha Hamad International Airport. Between the three Middle East Airports, I think this one is heads and tails above Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We happened to see the million dollar stuffed bear on our way through to customs.
Qatar Airways Business Class Arrival Lounge:
As we headed for the exit, we took advantage of the arrival lounge. Qatar offers its first and business class passengers a separate arrival processing facility. It contains couches, espresso machines and other small beverages. The immigration facilities are in this area and it’s a quiet and peaceful way to clear customs away from the long line ups of everywhere else. No one appeared to actually sit in the lounge, but I sure appreciated the non existent lines as we got our visa’s on arrival and we were stamped into the country for our 13 hour stay.
Given that our bags appeared to have been checked through to DOH per our claim stubs, we played it safe and waited for them at the baggage belt. They never turned up so we visited another baggage claim office in the hall. We had assurances that they were being checked through to “your final destination” – it wasn’t clear whether that was Johannesburg or Cape Town. Thankfully, we carried enough in our carry on to survive the night and then some. We headed off for a brief stay at the Westin Doha Hotel and Spa for a short stopver.
My Thoughts on Qatar Airways Business Class Long Haul:
All in all, the “World’s Five Star Airline” lived up to its promise and execution. It was a great flight despite being the 7th longest in the world at the time of writing. The wines were great, the seats were mostly comfortable and the food was more than enough to keep us satisfied for the 16+ hours we were on board. If they changed the departure terminal to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, you’d almost have a near perfect flight experience.
If you’ve flown Qatar Airways Business Class, did it live up to being “The World’s Five Star Airline ?
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Terminal Two was one of the largest outstation Maple Leaf Lounges in the United States and a far nicer version than it’s New York / New Jersey Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge counter parts. Unfortunately, the lounge had seen better days on our pass through and had suffered from the low rent touches before it transitioned completely over to Los Angeles Terminal Six.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Los Angeles Terminal Two, Los Angeles International Airport, California, United States of America
“Air Canada’s attempt at a Maple Leaf Lounge in the USA was eventually eclipsed by nicer offerings at the Star Alliance Business Lounge in the Tom Bradley International Terminal”
This review is for the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Terminal Two at Los Angeles International Airport. This lounge has since relocated to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Terminal Six Los Angeles, in a much smaller footprint. Today, this lounge is the space for the Delta Sky Club Terminal Two.
Checking into Qatar Airways Business Class:
For the first time ever, we took a miss on the LAX shuttle bus and walked over underneath the LAX spyder to Terminal 2 for Qatar. There is nothing like being outside and we knew we were about to be confined to a cabin for 15 hours for the next leg our our adventure.
We checked in at the Qatar Airways business class line. The check in at T-180 was almost completely deserted, except for a few families waiting around outside the mazes, presumably not wanting to confine themselves to the tiny terminal of Terminal 2.
This is where the outbound trip started to go a bit “pear shaped”. The Qatar check in agent attempted to “correct” our checked bags destination by cancelling the current checked bag assignment to Doha, and re-checking them through to Cape Town. We had a 13 hour layover and had hoped to have our bags with us, instead of sitting in the Doha airport hold unattended where they could be subjected to tampering or theft of contents.
I asked that they leave the checked bag assignment as is, but the check in agent wouldn’t have any of it. She assured us that they would be on the belt in Cape Town. Thankfully, we had carry on’s as well with a change of clothes for our overnight in Doha. Unfortunately, when she handed back our bag stubs, they were the original bag stubs indicating that the bags were to be checked to Doha. Regrettably, I didn’t realize this until we were on the plane and fully airborne away from LAX. I made the decision that we would check the bag claim belt on our arrival in Doha anyway, in case of any mix up.
Qatar doesn’t participate in TSA Pre-Check so we joined the regular queue for security screening. There wasn’t much of a line with only 3 people ahead of us.
Locating the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge:
The Los Angeles International Airport uses separate terminals for each area. At the time of our visit, the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge was in Terminal Two. It was located on the top floor mid concourse on the left hand side.
Map Courtesy of the LAX Website
Los Angeles Terminal Two is much brighter than it used to be. It’s undergone a slight re-fresh since the last time I passed through here, but it’s not a game changer with the same basic shape with the same plain amenities. There is not much here so there is no need to arrive early if you are leaving from this terminal.
Qatar uses the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Terminal Two. Air Canada has taken over what was previously the fabulous Air New Zealand Koru Club in the long upstairs space in the Northwest corner. Air New Zealand moved out to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, where they now operate the Star Alliance Business Lounge Tom Bradley International Terminal. The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge was very easy to find and the entrance can be seen from the main concourse.
Accessing the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge:
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Los Angeles is accessed through a variety of means.
The easiest way to gain access is to purchase an international ticket on any Star Alliance Carrier in Business Class. Air Canada allows access for Transborder passengers so a flight to Canada on Air Canada in Business Class is the easiest way to gain access.
Access is also available for Star Alliance Gold members departing in any class of service on Star Alliance Carriers. Aeroplan Top Tier members at Elite 50K and higher members are also able to access this lounge courtesy of Star Alliance Gold Status. The lounge does not belong to Priority Pass, although you may get an opportunity to purchase a day pass at your point of purchase if purchasing through Air Canada’s ticketing channels for $50 CAD.
Today’s access was based on a voucher for our Qatar Airlines Business Class Los Angeles – Doha flight as One World did not operate a lounge in this part of the terminal.
Inside the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge:
I’m sorry to report that the lounge has gone downhill in a very large way since it’s days as the Air New Zealand Koru Club. This probably used to be the top Star Alliance Lounge in North America when it was run by Air New Zealand. Although the lounge is featuring new furniture, without the past stylish Air NZ white couches, it’s unfortunately downhill in the quality of both food and beverage.
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge has a long rectangular shape that runs the length of the top floor of Los Angeles Terminal Two. The lounge space offers loungers along side partial windows that offer day light, but only restricted apron views.
Food and Beverage:
Like many other versions of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, there was a self serve buffet or snacks. The snacks are typical Air Canada Maple Leafe Lounge fare, and offer enough for a quick bite, although not generally enough as a meal substitute.
There were communal tables and chairs with power outlets near the buffet for eating. As this place was often high density with lots of travellers, they did well to design long tables instead of setting up individual tables and chairs which tend to take up more space.
The food is strictly Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge standard fare; couscous, pita chips, small sandwiches. They are okay and can fill out up in terms of a meal, but are nothing to really write home about.
In the lounge’s golden years of being an Air New Zealand Koru Club, these refrigerators used to be packed chock full of wonderful New Zealand Wines, and now they sit mostly empty with only a few tired discounted labels. Air New Zealand staff used to wander around acting as gracious reception hosts, chatting with families travelling. Now there are only a few dis interested cleaning staff that take away dishes.
Furthermore, setting the tone of the dreariness, I got yelled at by the lounge dragon for taking a photograph of the lobby reception area that she happened to be in while seated behind the counter; “You must delete that photograph at once!!!” She didn’t seem to mind photographs of the other areas of the lounge. Again, a sad sign of how hospitable this place has become. I couldn’t get the wifi to connect on my iPhone and I certainly wasn’t about to re-approach the host after that interaction with her.
My Thoughts the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge:
The visit ended with no power plug ins near the chairs, where I enjoyed a short glass of Proprietor’s White No Name wine as we killed time prior to our flight. Unfortunately, I had to conclude that this place has declined as compared what it was before, and most certainly compared to its flagship Star Alliance Business Lounge Los Angeles sister over in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. It seems Air New Zealand has gone onto bigger and better things by assuming operation of the new Star Alliance TBIT lounge, leaving it’s forgotten cousin abandoned on the curb where she found her. . .
Give me the Admirals Club in Terminal 4 any day.
Editors Note:
This Los Angeles Terminal Two lounge is now operating as the Delta Sky Club Terminal Two. The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Los Angeles has relocated and is now situated in Terminal Six
If you’ve regularly fly out of Los Angeles International Airport, what is your preferred lounge ?
The American Airlines Admirals Club at Los Angeles made the most of the space available, taking over the top floor of the Los Angeles Terminal Four concourse space. It offered a day light space in a pleasant and comforting atmosphere, along with a la carte food to order, available snacks and a full bar offering.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: American Airlines Admirals Club, Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 4, California, United States of America
“American Airlines Admirals Club offered among the better lounge spaces at Los Angeles International Airport, with excellent daylight windows overlooking the apron”
This review is of the American Airlines AAdmirals Club in Los Angeles International Airport Terminal Four. For another One World Lounge that you may have access to, please see our review of the Qantas International First Class Lounge Los Angeles International Airport Tom Bradley International Terminal.
As we got off our American Airlines First Class Vancouver – Los Angeles flight, I stopped by the AA customer service desk in Los Angeles Terminal 4 in efforts to see if I could get my Qatar Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Doha boarding passes printed so that we could get into the lounge in Terminal 2. We had a six hour connection and there was no way that the Qatar check in desks were open and I wasn’t able to check in online. Unfortunately, the staff there was unable to help out; “you don’t have a seat assignment” was what I was told. Honestly, I think sometimes these staff don’t know, or don’t have access to all in formation in the ticketing reservation systems. I struck out again and despite MrsWT73 having success at getting her boarding cards, I was out of luck.
Locating the American Airlines Admirals Club:
We headed over to the Admirals Club in Los Angeles Terminal 4. The American Airlines AAdmirals Club is located in the early portion of the concourse and is hard to miss. The entrance is on your right as you walk down the concourse.
Map Courtesy of LAX Website
Accessing the American Airlines Admirals Club:
Access to the American Airlines Admirals Club is a little complicated and generally the most restrictive out of the three airlines alliances of One World, Star Alliance and Skyteam.
The most likely way into the American Airlines Admirals Club is through a qualifying First or Business Class flight to an international destination. The qualifying destinations include:
Flights between the U.S. and:
- Asia
- Australia
- Canada (not always on the eligibility list)
- Caribbean (not always on the eligibility list)
- Central America
- Europe
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- South America
If you’re in international first, you are entitled to bring one guest under this category.
You can also get in with Qualifying transcontinental flights as flights with seats ticketed as Flagship®, including flights from Los Angeles to:
- New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX)
- JFK and San Francisco (SFO)
- JFK and Orange County (SNA)
- LAX and Miami (MIA)
Qualifying AAdvantage® Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro and Platinum, and qualifying One World Emerald and Sapphire level members to the above international destinations are also permitted access.
Admirals Club® members, including annual and lifetime members, Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® primary cardholders, ConciergeKeySM members and AirPassSM members with Admirals Club privileges. If you have a paid annual membership, this allows you access to:
- Domestic and international Admirals Club locations
- All Alaska Airlines Lounges (when departing on flights marketed and operated by American or Alaska Airlines)
- All Qantas Clubs (when departing on same-day flights operated by Qantas, or operated by American out of Auckland, New Zealand or Sydney, Australia)
- Select partner lounges operated by third parties (on same-day flights operated by American)
You can also purchase a day pass for a visit in advance or at the counter for $59 USD. The day passes sales are based on lounge capacity constraints.
Getting back to our story, I was without an International Boarding Card for our onward journey on fellow One World member Qatar Airlines Business Class Los Angeles – Doha. Arriving to the counter, I plead my access and entry case with the lounge dragon. I didn’t know whether they would let us in given that we were flying Qatar in another terminal and I didn’t have any onward boarding cards, just a printed itinerary as proof of onward travel. The only difference between MrsWT73’s booking and mine was the ticket number. Fortunately, the lounge reception host was an AAngel (as they say) as she looked my ITIN and confirmed that I was eligible for access. We also got 2 free premium drink chits stamped with our onward journey on Qatar.
Inside the American Airlines Admirals Club:
I haven’t come to expect too much from airlines lounges at the Los Angeles International Airport. Thanks to the airport space being configured into separate terminals, there is a remarkable lack of physical space available to host a lounge. Thankfully, the American Airlines Admirals Club does an excellent job of occupying the top floor of Terminal Four at LAX and provides a spacious experience compared to many lounges at Los Angeles International Airport.
After were granted access, we entered the lounge. The lounge occupies a large space over the top level of the Los Angeles Terminal Four Concourse. It’s an oddly shaped space which is highlighted with floor to ceiling windows with fantastic window views over the apron.
My first impressions were that the lounge was a nice space and pleasant. The lounge wasn’t the best in the world but my gosh, it’s miles ahead of what I had come to expect from my United Club Los Angeles friend. Although the lounge looks busy in the photographs, there was a substantial amount of passenger turn over, making it easy to find seating.
The lounge had a labyrinth footprint, with corridors leading towards various areas of the lounge. Exploring the lounge, there was small double television area in the back that didn’t appear to be too busy this morning.
The place went on an on with many more seating areas that didn’t have a direct window view. The lounge crosses over to the other side of the terminal with overhead passageways.
Overall, there were ample places to sit. The majority of them had daylight views, making this lounge space a pleasant one to be in.
Food and Beverage:
The American Airlines Admirals Club had a reasonable amount of snacks available. There was food available to order (at cost) and actual unwrapped cheese cubes, unlike those wrapped Tillamook cheeses next door in the United Club.
There was also a full bar area that was actually a pleasant space to hang out in, unlike the dark counters at the UA clubs.
The only minus was that the lounge was a little light on reading materials. There was only the Financial Times and a few other in house newspapers and magazines.
The lounge also featured some nice air side views at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Today’s views included an Air Tahiti Nui Airbus 340; one day!!
My Thoughts the American Airlines Admirals Club Los Angeles:
We were able to kill a few hours here before headed over to check in at Qatar in Terminal 2 in among the nicest environments one could hope for at the Los Angeles airport. The American Airlines Admirals Club was a beautiful day light space amid some tight concourse space at Los Angeles airport. The lounge made the best of its available space, and was a pleasant place to hang out for a few hours. Having food available to order, along with a decent amount of snacks along with a full bar didn’t hurt either.
If you’ve regularly fly out of Los Angeles International Airport, what is your preferred lounge ?
Our departing early morning flight from Vancouver International Airport was on American Airlines today. It was a contrast from our other experiences whom were on Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines while we flew on a transborder basis. Our experience on American Airlines was comfortable and pleasant, although not super memorable.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: American Airlines Compass Airlines dba as American Eagle, E175, Vancouver International Airport – Los Angeles Terminal Six
“American Airlines offered “lounge-less” no nonsense, but otherwise friendly First Class trans-border service from Vancouver – Los Angeles”
There is lots of competition on the Vancouver – Los Angeles route. The route has been serviced by previously independent Alaska, American Airlines (One World), Delta Airlines (Skyteam) and Air Canada and United Airlines (Star Alliance). This would be our “first in a while” effort with American on their regional transborder service.
American Airlines
Compass Airlines Operated as American Eagle
First Class
YVR-LAX (Vancouver International Airport – Los Angeles Airport Terminal 4)
AA 5987
April 14, 2016
Booked: Embraer RJ 175
Flown: Embraer RJ 175
Departure: 7:00 AM
Arrival: 10:06 AM
We had a not so wonderful 3:30 AM wake up to get to the airport today. It was about an hour to shower and button up the house and we were on our way to the Vancouver International Airport via the Aerocar Service.
It was not a great get away day today. The black Aerocar Lincoln Towncar that was sent to pick us up had a broken self levelling suspension so it rode like a low-rider all the way to the airport. This translated into two severely “shaken” travellers before we even got onto the plane. We only brought (or forgot) enough Gravol ginger for one for the trip, so I spent 15 minutes walking over to the other side of the Vancouver airport Pharmasave store looking for more, only to find it closed.
We were travelling on American Airlines First Class Vancouver – Los Angeles, followed by Qatar Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Doha, then Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Johannesburg, and lastly British Airways Club Business Class Johannesburg – Cape Town on today’s tickets. We attempted check in at the AA kiosks, but the Titmatic Visa check blocked any further progress. Our AAgent was further unable to print out all boarding cards. By a stroke of luck, WT73 was able to get all her boarding cards checked through to Cape Town, whereas I was only able to get my American flight to Los Angeles. I tried, but was unable to list her for an upgrade into the business class cabin, despite 4 seats showing as available and her being on a AAdvantage business award ticket. When we booked the ticket, someone else had already grabbed the other business class reward saver seat so we had a reservation of one in business and one in economy for this flight segment today.
Global Entry was kind to us today and without lines, we were through the US Pre-Clearance at YVR quickly and into the dark airport. There were bizarre Donald Duck collections on display on the secure side, along with the usual world class First Nations art that is always around the Vancouver International Airport.
It was quiet at the airport this morning. There is no set lounge for American Airlines First Class Transborder travellers at Vancouver International Airport. If you happen to hold certain credit cards, the Plaza Premium Vancouver Transborder Lounge may be available to you as the only contract lounge in the Vancouver Transborder area. However, it’s not included with any American Airlines First Class Ticket. Instead, we ended up hanging out in the otherwise deserted departures hall.
On Board American Airlines First Class:
When it came time to board, we eventually settled in on board the Embraer 175. The American Airlines Embraer 175 is set up like all others with a 1-2 seating configuration in First Class. The American flight featured a refreshed cabin with grey leather seating. Unfortunately, there was no in seat power, and as expected of the smaller aircraft, no video monitors.
Pre Departure Service:
A pre-departure beverage of water was provided, followed by an public address announcement that they had run out of drinking water on board.
We pushed back next to the Westjet “Frozen” themed aircraft. Our departure was on runway 08R today, which meant a fly over of the Lower Mainland district eastwards towards the Rockies (away from the ocean). We enjoyed a nice and cloudy view of the North Shore mountains on our way out of town.
The Meal: A Cold Breakfast
Starting off the meal service, there was the usual tired towel service. A cold breakfast was provided promptly about 40 minutes in the flight. There was only one choice today of granola and fruit, which was served plated all at once. By way of comparison, this is quite similar to the service on the Delta Airlines First Class Vancouver – Los Angeles route in the morning, with a cold cereal meal service on their morning flight.
It was pretty friendly service on the way down with a nice view of Mount Rainer peeking through the clouds.
Before we knew it, and a few winks later, we were in bound to LAX. We had views of the Coastal Mountains on our approach into Los Angeles International Airport. We also got great views of the Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building at the airport.
We landed in Los Angeles Terminal 4 outfield terminal. I still find it fascinating every time I come through here how many aircraft are on the ground. Sure- it’s less than a state of the art facility but still awesome none the less. We passed by the Asiana Airlines Boeing 747 which previously took us in Asiana Airlines First Class Los Angeles – Seoul Incheon.
We headed off to the American Airlines Admirals Lounge Los Angeles Terminal Four before continuing onward on our Qatar Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Doha flight.
My Thoughts on American Eagle Airlines Transborder Service:
Overall the flight was pretty consistent with what others (Alaska, Delta, American, Air Canada and United) are offering on this route. Even the Embraer configuration is comparable to Delta’s offering on this route. There isn’t much reason to pick American over Delta over Alaska on this route so perhaps it comes down to which lounge you favour leaving Los Angeles on your connecting flight since all 3 have access to none leaving Vancouver. Lounge hunters at Vancouver will have to stay on Star Alliance carriers of Air Canada and United.
World Traveller 73 
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