You can only be glad it was Qatar (not the other 5 letter airline starting with Q and residing across the ditch). They fly the oldest hulks up to Jakarta from Sydney- and thats only the crew I am talking about- you should see the planes. On a more serious note, I prefer Emirates or Etihad if flying through to the Middle East. Done a Qatar flight once- only Jakarta to Singapore. Business class was about the same I would have paid premium economy on SIA. It was pretty good- but was only a 1 hour 20 minute short haul

To Jamie #4

Singapore Air is a good benchmark for a five-star airline, and Singapore Changi is regarded as a five-star airport (refer to www.airlinequality.com for more information). Emirates is somewhere between 3* and 4*, Air New Zealand is regarded as 4*.

At the other end of the line, a good budget carrier (Easyjet) will get 3*. Ryanair manages 2*.

One of the Best Airlines for me is Sri Lankan Airlines.. The Service is Incredible and the CREW is so friendly and helpful.They all work with a smile.

This isn't where I parked my car!

It's a shame that they have a horrible maintenance record then and I would feel unsafe sending any family member to fly with them. It's so funny when jounalists talk about flying, which they obviously have no clue about, and mention how "incredibly smooth the take-off and landing was" as if this implies that the pilot is fantastic. lets remember, a smooth landing is not always a good one and qatar pilots are the rejects of Emirates and Ethiad.

i'm just curious... what country then would make you rate the service "5-stars"?

I flew Dubai/Doha/Athens economy return with Qatar a few months ago. It was a thoroughly disappointing experience. The checkin was third world (huge slow queues, and dreadfully old looking checkin counters), the food was terrible, and the airplane was elderly, with no individual inflight entertainment and faulty airconditioning. There was nothing even remotely "five star" about the experience. The only redeeming feature was the HOT flight atttendant guy they use in the preflight safety video. Qatar Airways neeeds a reality check: never over-sell and then under-deliver.

I will only fly Singapore Airlines overseas. The service is exceptional, the food is filling and tasty (the Kung Pao chicken is awesome) and the entertainment is varied. It was even better on the A380 to London.

Had a pretty horrid experience with these guys, wouldn't let me board in HK without presenting the credit card I'd paid for the flight with. Only issue was I'd lost it months ago and had a new replacement. They literally didn't care. 12 hours later, ASB helped me clear it up and I was able to fly.