I always tend to kick off my summer vacations 
with a very big trip, last year I went out to the Maldives 
a country which if you look at a lot of travel blogs online certainly needs no introduction and it sure enough lived up to my high expectations. Iâd 100% return but that wonât happen for a while thanks to my bank account not appreciating it at all. This doesnât mean I wonât venture across the world 
because we definitely will. I have been planning to visit Thailand 
for some time and now that I saved up enough money and miles to pay for my flights and accommodations, itâs time to make that wish come true! Since I flew pretty far last year, I decided to go ultra long haul in a way as instead of connecting in Europe with British Airways or somebody else. I instead stopped in Dubai, UAE 
and flew on Emirates from my home in Miami, FL 
to the capital of Male via DXB of course. This year we will be trying out the OTHER Middle Eastern giant, Qatar Airways who will fly from MIA to their own hub in Qatari 
capital of Doha before connecting on another flight just after landing to the Thai capital of Bangkok. These flights while cheaper, still werenât all that cheap so that means itâll be regular economy class for me as always, Iâm not complaining as just like EK, I heard QR has a solid long haul economy class product which Iâll be trying on their Airbus A350-900 for this first leg, Iâm glad your joining me!
Unlike Emirates, Qatar uses the central terminal more specifically concourse E here in Miami International Airport along with its other one world partners like British Airways and Iberia. QRâs bag drop line was HORRENDOUSLY long with many people on this flight connecting onwards, it took me 30 minutes just to drop my 2 checked bags thankfully security was a different story thanks to my pre check! Now I love MIA in all as itâs my favorite American Airlines hub and as a big Latin American/Caribbean flyer itâs nice to see all these airlines from those countries, but one thing I will PROUDLY admit is that the central terminal which are concourses E, F and G just straight up SUCK! Luckily concourses E and D where AA operates out of, are connected within security so I wonât have to spend my entire time in this dump. I made my way to the Admirals Club and grabbed a few bites to eat and watched northern ramp as a few Spain 
bound AA flights started to show up. I soon left the lounge and made my way across to the E satellite terminal where our flight to Doha awaits!
FLIGHT INFO:
Origin: Miami Intl 
(MIA/KMIA)
Destination: Hamad Intl (DOH/OTHH)
Flight Time: 13:00
Airbus A350-900 (Qatar Airways)
Server: Expert
Waiting at gate E23 is my ride across to the Middle East this evening, A7-ALE an Airbus A350-900 delivered to Qatar Airways in October 2015 which means sheâs almost approaching her 10th birthday!
now I do not have any status with Qatar as this is my first time flying them but I was able to board somewhat early thanks to once again, my American Airlines status!
All go Qatarâs A359s have a total of 359 seats with 36 in business class and 247 in economy. Not all of their aircraft are created equally, ours are equipped with their special QSuites in a 1-2-1 configuration while others simply have Collins Aerospaceâs Super Diamonds. Economy class also is a bit different as our aircraft has Recaro 3710 slimlines while the others have Recaro 3620 slimlines but all in a 3-3-3 configuration. My seat will be 35A located in the rear section of economy class and like Iâd expert from a world class airline like Qatar, there was a water bottle, pillow and blanket waiting for me on my seat which is great, the seat itself is also fantastic and itâs pretty important it is due to QRâs pretty big long haul network. Despite all the people I saw in the bag drop line, my row remained empty which will definitely make this 13 hour flight across the Atlantic, Europe and Middle East much more comfortable! But for now itâs time to pushback and make our way to the longest runway at this airport, runway 09 for take off!
Using RWY 09 is such a weird feeling since it signifies in my eyes, the start of a LONG VOYAGE across the world as the only airlines that really use it for departure are the the 2 gulf carriers, Emirates and Qatar. But as I wave my final goodbyes to the 305
itâs time to look forward towards Doha and eventually Bangkok!
After a typical eastern departure out of MIA, we reached our cruising altitude of 33,000ft fairly quickly despite our weight.
The crew began the meal service when we were perfectly in between Bermuda 
and South Carolina. As typical with long haul flights, it was between a Chicken 
Meat 
or Pasta 
option which I went with the chicken which came along some rice, warm bread, a side salad, chocolate cake for dessert, water bottle and beverage of your choice which I went with a Coke. It was a pretty good meal, nothing they could really improve on except add more choices but itâs really not that big of a deal. The crew was also really friendly and hardworking wit one of them named Mickey even continuing on my flight to Bangkok which was pretty cool, 5 stars for them! 
I was about to try and get some rest until the crew came by with some caramel snacks and ANOTHER beverage choice but I just asked if I could have the snack and not a beverage as at this point, I wanted to get some rest.
I slept really well as I missed the mid flight snack which was handed out as we flew over Europe, luckily the crew still had some leftover and they were serving a vegetable marinara pastry which I accompanied with some apple juice
and the snack I got earlier before bed.
As we fly over the Black Sea approaching Turkey :tĂźrkiye: it was time to see what the IFE system has to offer, the Thales system is provided which works great and offers a good selection of movies and TV shows which I also had come to expect from an airline like Qatar and Emirates. Inmarsat global Xpress Ka-band satellite WiFi was also present but of course for a fee which I also avoided. I remember whining about not being able to watch Wicked on my American Airlines flight from Miami to New York JFK 
because of the short flight but since now that I have way more time available, I finally decided to give it a watch!
Soon enough, the desert landscape
of the Middle East started to appear out the window as we fly over Iraq 
looking into Iran 
It was also around this time that we were served the final meal of this flight which was breakfast oddly enough since itâs around the afternoon in Doha but it is around morning time back in Miami which I guess makes sense, it was a choice between a vegan and non vegan meal which I chose the latter containing eggs and bacon 
this also was accompanied with some vanilla Greek yogurt 
a warm croissant 
crackers, water bottle and another choice of beverage which I chose another coke as I didnât feel like having coffee 
in the afternoon. It was another solid meal service! If youâre scared about what to eat, donât be Qatar Airways definitely has you covered even on these longer flights!
After 12 hours and 40 minutes or so after leaving MIA, the captain FINALLY made the announcement that weâd soon begin our descent into Doha, weâd fly south over the Persian Gulf turning westward once we reach the city along the coast, weâd turn northwards to fly on the left downwind leg before turning base and coming to land on DOHs RWY 16R.
Soon enough, we were on the downwind leg and it provided and amazing view to those of us on the left side of the plane, not only did we see part of Hamad Airport but we even saw part of the city and The Pearl-Qatar which looked BEAUTIFUL 
sucks I wonât be able to leave for this layover but I will be able to on my way back home!
Before I knew it, this flight was almost over as we entered final for DOHs RWY 16R directly above The Pearl, imagine being an av geek and owning a house down there? Thatâs a dream come true especially with the amount of traffic that Hamad Airport sees!
TOUCHDOWN! Welcome to Doha, Qatar!
Qatar Airwayâs gateway to the world and while I only have a 2 hour layover between this flight and my next flight to Bangkok, Iâm really excited to see what this city has in store for me when I eventually return. For my first flight with Qatar Airways, I was very satisfied comfortable seats, nice and hardworking crew, great meals, sufficient IFE pretty much everything youâd want on an ultra long haul flight. I honestly have 0 complaints and as exhausted as I am after being in the hour for 13 hours straight, I canât wait to see what they have in store for me on my next flight to Thailand!
From a not so pretty concourse E in Miami
I now welcome you the STUNNING 
Hamad International Airport! I wonder if after all my arrival, departure and transit experiences here if itâll top Dubai International Airport? Seriously, Middle Eastern airport planners are DEFINITELY qualified for building large and beautiful facilities like these, since this isnât the United States I wonât have to clear any type of passport control 
as like I said, I wonât be leaving the airport today but just by looking at this place, Iâm really not bothered by it at all.
As I make my way to the central area of the terminal home to the famous Lamp Bear 
Iâm going to end the first part of this trip, thank you for joining me on this very long flight from Miami, FL to Doha, Qatar on Qatar Airwaysâs Airbus A350-900 in economy class. Stay tuned for the next flight from here in DOH out to Bangkok, Thailand also on QR but on their Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner this time around and as always between now and the next time, see you in the sky! 
