Flying from Auckland to Doha with Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways Boeing 777. Photo / 123RF

Stephanie Holmes flies QR921 — the world's longest flight

Plane: Qatar Airways Boeing 777.

Class: Economy

Price: From $1715, Auckland to Doha return.

Luggage: A generous 30kg allowance for checked baggage and standard 7kg for cabin bags.

Check-in: I checked in online (qatarairways.com), which was quick and easy, allowing me to select a seat and meaning I didn't need to get to the airport until one hour before my flight.

Airport experience: Auckland International Airport was pretty quiet for a Saturday afternoon. It was good to see the progress in the new security screening area and expanded duty free offering once you're through to departures. When it's all finished, the airport is going to be top class. What wasn't a treat was the toilets on level one of departures. It seemed they hadn't been cleaned for a good while — all bins were overflowing.

Flight time: 17 hours 15 minutes — currently the world's longest flight. It's an intimidating marathon of a journey.

On time: Yes.

Seat: 30H, an economy aisle seat in the last cabin. It had decent leg room and was comfortable enough, made even more so because there was an empty seat between me and the guy in the window. The armrests only elevate to about 70° though, so if you were lucky enough to have a whole row to yourself, you'd have to do some good contortions to spread out comfortably. Armrests have USB ports for charging devices and the headrests are adjustable and comfortable.

How full: About 85 per cent — a good amount of spare seats meant passengers could spread out. Invaluable when you're going to be in close quarters for so long.

Entertainment: The Oryx One system, which has a large selection of movies, TV shows, music and audiobooks to choose from. I must be picky though, as I struggled to find much I wanted to watch. I mean, I could have chosen to watch every single Fast and Furious movie, but I'd rather stick pins in my eyes.

Food and drink: Lunch was served not long after take off — I had a satisfying chicken in Catalan sauce with yellow rice. The dessert berry torte was so sweet I feared diabetes.

After lunch was cleared away, we were given snack boxes — I assume these were for if we got hungry midway through the flight, but quite a lot of passengers ate them immediately. Although the menu had stated three breakfast options would be available, only the white chocolate bread pudding was left by the time the trolley got to my row.

Service: There was a large team of cabin crew working the flight, which ensured speedy service. They were friendly and looked after passengers well, dealing efficiently and discreetly with a vomiting woman and passenger with a nosebleed.

Fellow passengers: A range of nationalities and ages, which is to be expected as Hamad International Airport is Qatar Airways' hub, with flights to more than 150 destinations.

Toilets: Generally clean and well-stocked throughout the flight.

Would I fly again: Yes. It's a long flight, sure, but I feel if you can cope with a 12-hour flight, you can do 17 hours without noticing much difference.