Qatar Airlines flight to Bali (Wed night to Thursday late afternoon) (written 2/3)

Cool pictures at the bottom if you don't feel like reading. 

Okay, first off, yes, there really is a difference between the American Airlines overseas flight service and Qatar Airlines. I have never experienced a flight that lovely. Still uncomfortable, don't get me wrong. Allow me to elucidate. 

Right off the bat, it's clear that Qatar prizes beauty and youth, and does not encourage familiarity. The flights attendants were all model-quality women with amazing makeup, perfect uniforms, and unmoving hats over controlled but lovely hairstyles. While they were gorgeous, I did prefer the American Airlines flight attendants as they were more helpful, personable, and fun. 

The plane seemed brand new. It was immaculate. Every seat had a pillow, blanket, headphones, and a little surprise package that contained earplugs, a mask, socks, and a toothbrush/toothpaste combo. The lighting - yes, the lighting - was gorgeous. It was a sort of pink/magenta and orange glow. There was soft, calming music. They even had lavender essential oil somehow circulating through the plane at a subtle level. And it all worked. The passengers were calm, pleasant, and did what they were told. The noise level of the airplane was even quieter in the cabin. Oh, and there was more leg room! The seats were the same width, so shoulder to shoulder with no way to even type. But since I wasn't sitting in a special seat, I did appreciate the added room for my knees. I really hope that I fly Qatar planes on the two long trips when I return home. Really, really hope. 

One other difference was the food. While American Airlines food was good, Qatar's was even better. And prettier. Presentation. Clearly Qatar is selling an image. It was remarkably tasty, unusual (to a foreigner, anyway), and beautifully presented. 

Both planes were really cold, and I had a hoodie as well as a blanket. Lesson learned - warmer shirt under the hoodie, not just a t-shirt. 

So comparing my first flight on American to my second on Qatar, I must admit that Qatar was far more comfortable and luxurious, but American was more pleasant in a warm/fuzzy, approachable way. 

My seat was in the middle of the center section of three seats. So the configuration was 3/3/3 across with two aisles. And I was in the very middle. The woman to my left was already settled in her seat when I arrived. Apparently, I am invisible because she never acknowledged or reacted to me at all. I got comfortable and kept to myself. The seat to my right was empty, and remained empty as the plane filled up. Hope rose in my chest that it would remain empty and I could move over and we'd have a little extra space, so I asked... nope, completely full flight, that seat would be filled soon.

Of course, we all wonder who is going to land next to us. Well, lucky me! Along came a handsome man in his mid-fifties I'd guess, and he actually spoke to me. I wasn't invisible after all. What a lovely treat, this personable, fit, silver-haired man with a trim beard was going to sit next to me for the following ten or more hours. And he spoke English, too! Winner-winner, chicken dinner! 

But then... along came a flight attendant who commanded the woman to my left to move to another seat so a husband could sit across the aisle from his wife. She was sitting on the aisle seat of the left section. Well, never mind the details. The young woman next to me was pretty miffed, but she did as she was told. When I realized that the husband and wife would still be separated by an aisle for the duration of that long flight, I offered to trade places with the wife so she could sit right next to her husband. They were surprised and accepted my offer. So I gathered my goodies, cried silent tears, and left the handsome man behind as we played seat-shuffle again. I ended up next to a couple who - what's wrong with people these days, or is something wrong with me? - never spoke to me or acknowledged my existence, either. Has something changed in the world and I missed out on it? Or does no one like old people?

I don't want to become someone's next best friend, nor do I want to be bothered unnecessarily during the course of a long flight, but I at least acknowledge the human being next to me. I do. Apparently I'm weird. 

That flight left at about midnight, so after a meal, all lights went out and most people seemed to go right to sleep. Although I was tired, I was also too uncomfortable to be able to sleep sitting up. I couldn't read because my little book light would surely bother those who were sleeping. And I couldn't type because my elbow would hit the woman next to me. So the only option left to pass the interminable time was to try and lose myself in some movies on the little screen on the seatback in front of me. 

I spent quite some time looking at not just the movies available, but all the other information they provide, including a GPS of the trip. I'll get into that in a moment. I did end up watching a really fascinating movie made in Africa. Only a few movies had close captioning or subtitles and that was one. I'm glad I found it. It was brilliant. Don't ask me the name. I'm not good at that stuff. Sorry! If I find it on the way home, I'll watch it again. It was that good. That unusual. 

So I didn't sleep much. I didn't get to stretch my legs much, I didn't offer massages to that crew. Even after daybreak, all the windows remained covered so I had no sense of time other than it never passing. Although that flight was two hours shorter than the first, it felt longer. I was just exhausted and sick of sitting still. Lesson - two long flights in a row should have at least a day or two of fun on the ground between them. 

But... here is the very, VERY cool part. The GPS and flight information available on the screen. Not only could I follow the flight itself, including stats and so forth, but I could watch what the cameras on the outside of the plane were filming! I watched us taxi and take off from the camera under the belly of the plane where I could see the lines painted on the tarmac, watch us gain speed, lift off, then finally see the landing gear tuck away. So cool. As it was night, all that was visible then were the blinking lights on the plane. 

Eventually, someone opened a window blind and I realized it was day time, so I looked at the camera views again. We were, of course, flying above the clouds. What an amazing sight. Clouds. Stunning. Miraculous. But completely blocked our view of the ocean or land, whatever we were flying over at the time. Sometime later when the cockpit announced we were beginning our decent, I went back to watching the cameras. Allow me to share our landing with you here. By the way, on the images where the earth looks tilted, that was the plane banking as it changed direction.