We try the new Qatar Airways business class caviar service!

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• The Original David says:

  5 Nov5 November 08:01

  “A pure flavor that takes you on a nutty and briny journey”

  Can anyone explain what this means?

  • Andy says:

    5 Nov5 November 08:47

    It means it tastes disgusting, but you pretend otherwise.

    • Andy says:

      5 Nov5 November 09:22

      Indeed who the hell wants to eat raw fish eggs?

    • pbcold says:

      5 Nov5 November 17:22

      It is very much a matter of taste which not everyone has.

  • Lumma says:

    5 Nov5 November 09:16

    It comes from a very expensive fish’s bottom

    • No longer Entitled says:

      5 Nov5 November 09:22

      It’s not their bottom.

      • Brian says:

        5 Nov5 November 16:40

        Thought a lot of people would miss the Bottom reference…’It’s fish poo, your highness!’

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      5 Nov5 November 11:32

      Ask your Mum where you emerged from!

  • Max says:

    5 Nov5 November 10:40

    I ‘ve had tried it twice,, It was nice.
    But just for your Info: The caviar served on QR is actually sourced from famed Beluga Farms in Italy ….

  • Dubious says:

    6 Nov6 November 01:26

    Do they still serve a dish of nuts after airborne?

• jj says:

  5 Nov5 November 08:10

  Not sure how I feel about consciously choosing to engage commercially with Iran.

  Actually, on reflection, I’m very sure how I feel.

  • Jay says:

    5 Nov5 November 08:21

    I’ve had to unfortunately engage with America commercially everyday, but what can I do.

    • ianM says:

      5 Nov5 November 08:29

      Give up your iPhone or quit whining

    • jj says:

      5 Nov5 November 08:30

      @Jay, that’s your choice. I didn’t mention my attitude to America, but I would note that the USA doesn’t execute gay people, doesn’t execute religious concerts, doesn’t systemically oppress women, and doesn’t (openly, at least) execute internal political opponents.

      That’s why I’m personally uncomfortable with engaging with the Iranian regime.

      • Paul says:

        5 Nov5 November 08:41

        But may be on the cusp of electing a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist.
        It also keeps people on death row for decades before killing them. America is no beacon of hope for the world

      • JDB says:

        5 Nov5 November 08:50

        I’m not sure how people make these sweeping decisions to avoid certain regimes whilst probably knowing very little about them. Having just returned from our twelfth visit to China, I’m amazed to read so much sinophobia here. Based on what? I’m sure those people nevertheless visit Chinese restaurants. Yet people eulogise about Vietnam and happily travel to the US where if you are black and poor or a woman you might not think you have a lot of human rights. And of course people travel to Dubai in their droves where the population does suffer the appalling injustices and executions referenced in these comments. Basically, people are making it up to suit their books.

        @jj in shunning Persian food, you are missing out on one of the great cuisines of the world.

        • Andy says:

          5 Nov5 November 09:03

          It’s not really a ‘sweeping decision to avoid a regime’ – it’s declining the offer of caviar on an aeroplane.

        • John says:

          5 Nov5 November 11:15

          As a half-Chinese person I am often able to discern the political leanings of the owners of Chinese restaurants and can therefore choose to spend my money with businesses who do not support the persecutors of my grandparents.

          Persian food in western countries is frequently offered by those who have escaped from or are critical of the Iranian regime too, although since my sole Persian friend, a woman who has been arrested for not covering her hair properly in Iran, moved to Dubai (where she does not cover her hair) it is harder for me to work out what is good and what is less so.

        • ken says:

          5 Nov5 November 13:13

          “I’m sure those people nevertheless visit Chinese restaurants”

          Utterly bizarre false equivalence.

          Thers’s been chinese people in Liverpool for twice as long as People’s Republic of China has existed.
          I’m not sure I’ll be blaming them for a repressive regime or the cultural revolution.

          Most people from Hong Kong in the UK would also describe themselves first as Hongkongers rather than Chinese – certainly the younger ones and ones who have fled here in last 5 years.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        5 Nov5 November 09:05

        “doesn’t systemically oppress women,”

        Where have you been?

        Many states within the US do indeed opress women when it comes to their right to control their own bodies.

      • Charlie says:

        5 Nov5 November 17:42

        I can consciously live with at least one of those issues in return for Iranian caviar! Especially if the missus is downgraded to the back of the plane. Cake and eat it. Or rather, caviar and eat it 🙂

  • tony says:

    5 Nov5 November 08:23

    Genuine question – so do you fly QR and refuse the caviar, avoid QR on these routes, avoid QR altogether, or avoid IAG on the basis Qatar owns a whole slug of the business?

    I’ve made a conscious decision to not fly with Chinese airlines for a couple of reasons, one being the Russian overflight payment, but that decision feels a lot easier to rationalise in my head.

    • jj says:

      5 Nov5 November 08:38

      @Tony, how far does the contagion spread? It’s a good question, and not a simple one. But, given Iran’s human rights record, I would look at Iranian food with the same feeling of disgust that a vegetarian has when presented with a steak. I’m sure that same vegetarian would happily drink a pint down the pub with the local butcher, though. There is a line between the two, but it’s not easy to draw

      • L Allen says:

        5 Nov5 November 10:31

        So irrespective of where the ingredients are sourced, and where the dish is made, all Iranian food triggers disgust? That sounds like my attitude towards onions.

        • jj says:

          5 Nov5 November 10:59

          @L Allen, I mean that I wouldn’t eat food sourced from Iran in collaboration with its regime. I thought it was obvious that I would (and do) happily eat Iranian dishes where the ingredients are sourced appropriately.

    • Paul says:

      5 Nov5 November 08:38

      None of the above. It’s a role for governments to ensure that sanctions are so extensive, so comprehensive; and the fines for breaking the rules so eyewateringly high, that companies take every possible step comply with both the spirit and letter of the law. In this instance it is a matter the EU, the USA, Singapore and the U.K. As a consumer I cannot possible know if it is sanction busting. Most won’t even know QR own a chunk of BA via IAG.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        5 Nov5 November 09:24

        And 10% in LATAM and the same in Cathay (2020 figures)

        Air China owns 30% of Cathay. Air China is majority owned by the Chinese Government.

        Are people going to start boycotting CX?

  • Edward says:

    5 Nov5 November 08:45

    Like Qatar is any better.

  • Charlie says:

    5 Nov5 November 17:45

    I can consciously live with at least one of those issues in return for Iranian caviar! Especially if the missus is downgraded to the back of the plane. Cake and eat it. Or rather, caviar and eat it 🙂

• HughM says:

  5 Nov5 November 08:45

  Presumably Iranair carry a few tins of it.

  • Damien says:

    5 Nov5 November 08:53

    Feck. Missed it. Had pre-booked lobster last week and didn’t think of the starters. Just asked for soup without looking at the menu.

• Mike says:

  5 Nov5 November 08:51

  I flew QR the other day to London on a night flight and they told me that caviar was only available for day flights.

  • Rhys says:

    5 Nov5 November 08:57

    Will include in article.

• Mark Janes says:

  5 Nov5 November 09:06

  “It also puts Brunchgate in perspective.”
  You can say that again!

• r* says:

  5 Nov5 November 09:15

  I bet what you really wanted was a single serving of brunch 😀

• MTS says:

  5 Nov5 November 10:26

  Thank you Rhys . Enjoy reading about all new experiences and choices available using points . That’s one of the reasons I subscribe to the site . Also love reading all the comments . Who knew that a serving of caviar ( which I personally don’t care for ) would create such a stirring debate ?

  • JDB says:

    5 Nov5 November 10:51

    @MTS I wouldn’t glorify some of the above comments by referring to them as “stirring debate” as it implies a degree of knowledge rather than simple prejudice. People buy an iPad or a myriad of other products made in China but ooh no I won’t fly on a Chinese airline. They rail against the actions of a certain warring country but their avocado toast is more important than not buying produce from there. They holiday in countries with oppressive regimes because it’s popular and easy do high principles can be temporarily parked. The faux outrage and hypocrisy is breathtaking.

    • Novice says:

      5 Nov5 November 10:57

      Totally agree @JDB.

    • Timerichmoneypoor says:

      5 Nov5 November 11:22

      quite right. They also discuss the cheapest ways to get comfortable/cheapest seats on flights to Malaga, or free fish eggs on long-haul flights whilst climate change is demonstrably killing Spanish people.

      • NorthernLass says:

        5 Nov5 November 17:21

        It’s rather more that misconceived attempts to protect the environment killed them, like removing dams. There have always been seasonal storms, but the traditional protections have been severely eroded in recent decades.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      5 Nov5 November 11:36

      There was an analysis a few years ago that it would add $5 to the cost of an iPhone if it was made in the USA.

      As part of that work a poll was done basically asking “would you pay $5 extra for that to happen and have US workers make it instead of Chinese ones”

      People weren’t prepared to do that.

      Now you could posit that Apple could easily take that hit in its profits but that wasn’t going to happen either,

      • Ken says:

        5 Nov5 November 14:37

        $5 more to make an iPhone in the USA ?

        Seems implausible to say the least.
        Even if it was just assembled rather than every part being made there.

        Also seems utterly implausible that Americans wouldn’t say in a poll that they wouldn’t pay $5 more.
        Contradicts almost all similar surveys.
        Saying in a poll and doing are 2 separate things though.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

          5 Nov5 November 19:08

          Americans aren’t always logical.

          Ask them If they’d prefer to pay $ 100 a month in tax for free healthcare instead of spending multi hundreds a month on health insurance they’d still refuse.

    • MTS says:

      5 Nov5 November 12:23

      @JDB the point I was really trying to make was that I subscribe to HfP to read about traveling and maximizing my points to do so . The comments thereafter are also appreciated as often gives you a different perspective on the increasingly complex geopolitical /social issues around the world . Please accept my apology if you thought I was glorifying any of the comments or have a great degree of knowledge on the issues raised . I would always leave that to the experts such as yourself .

      • Andy says:

        5 Nov5 November 14:13

        I haven’t sensed any ‘outrage’ in the comments, and given most of us here know nothing of each other beyond a few (anonymous) comments, suggesting hypocrisy is at play ‘implies a degree of knowledge’ about ‘people’ @JDB does not have.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        5 Nov5 November 19:23

        But aren’t comments about the government regimes in other countries travel related?

        Surely how they treat visitors let alone their own citizens and guest workers a valid consideration of choosing where to go on holiday?

        My decisions on where to spend my money are often driven by those even if they are illogical at times such as I’ll happily visit liberal New York, Illinois and California but won’t visit conservative Texas and Florida.

        And there are some very conservative parts of the first three states I listed and some very liberal parts of the 2nd set.

    • Scott says:

      5 Nov5 November 12:47

      Bogus argument. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing – its nigh on possible to avoid owning an eletric device where any component was made in China. It’s very easy to choose not to holiday in the country.
      As far the folk who shout “ah but, what about the US/UK, etc.”… deflection again. Even the worst elements of western countries’ policies pale to almost nothing when compared with rights abuses in China, middle east, etc.

    • tony says:

      5 Nov5 November 13:09

      I think you miss my point. Not flying on a Chinese airline is for a number of factors including perceived quality (which I may be willing to overlook if the price is good enough), but if a chunk of my airfare is going to be paid on to Russia because of the significant overflight fees, then that’s the red line for me. Pre-pandemic, $1.7bn was collected annually by Russia from these charges.

      The Iran debate – and indeed the one surrounding Qatar – feels far more nuanced, but still worthy of consideration, as some here have said in not eating caviar or not flying Qatar.

    • jj says:

      5 Nov5 November 13:55

      Wowsers, @JDB, can’t we all rub along together? I started the ‘faux outrage and hypocrisy’, and I simply said that I personally wouldn’t eat food from the Iranian regime, a comment that I thought was germane. I haven’t and wouldn’t pass judgement on anyone who thinks otherwise.

      You’re free to make you decisions, and I’ll take mine. There’s no need to hate or insult me because I reach different conclusions from you.

      • JDB says:

        5 Nov5 November 14:22

        Actually @jj – you only got mentioned in respect of missing out on Persian food. You will change your mind if you look at the Persiana cookery book.

        My point was more that many posters get all excited about certain regimes probably because they have read about them somewhere but don’t have any real knowledge. I highlighted Vietnam that’s very popular here but I imagine that people know very little about the regime (or why Vietnamese people are the single biggest nationality arriving on illegal boats) nor noticed Putin’s recent visit to the country. There’s a huge much nearer country very matey with Putin that’s had lots of forum threads/questions recently. If someone is serious about this rather than just making woke comments there are so many places they shouldn’t visit but the reality is that it’s all noise and that in the end they will suit themselves and visit places without a second thought.

        • Andy says:

          5 Nov5 November 18:48

          All noise. All of it!

• gabe says:

  5 Nov5 November 11:38

  Off topic. Is there likely to be an amex platinum increased sign up bonus in the near future?

  • Rob says:

    5 Nov5 November 13:46

    Might be 🙂

    Possibly sooner than you think.

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