Oman Air Business Class

[yermanee]

Am considering fly Oman Air for business class BKK/FRA/BKK in near future.

Experiences anyone ?

[Peshay]

I flew with oman air to BKK in march,altho not business class,i would have to say it's by far the best airline i have flew with...We where due to fly back on april 20th but flight got cancelled due to ash cloud,i was amazed that the airline put us up in the 4 start fortune hotel in central bangkok for a week!! Not only that,they flew us to munich on april 27th coz the london flight was full,they then paid lufthansa to fly us back to london..Now that's what i call service!!

Even the flight itself was a good experience,free beer-exellent staff and nice food for an airline.

I paid £399 for my return flight :-) BARGAIN! Even if our flights back home ran as normal i would still recommend this airline to anyone going to BKK from the UK

[doctormann]

Hi

Just been looking at the Oman Air site for flights from BKK to UK in September. Prices are very attractive at about 30,000 Baht - only to LHR though. The stop over times are not too good - 11 hours on the return journey - so what is Muscat airport like if you need to spend quite a long time there?

DM

[shaunoro]

Muscat airport was not that good last time i went through about 6 years ago.

It seemed to be under renovation when i was there.

Every time i went through Muscat i was told i could get a beer in the restaurant.

Each time i tried to get a beer i was told it was a holiday and they could not serve beer.

I was doing a two month on two month off job in Saudi for a year, hence the need for beer.

It may have changed by now, and would be interested to know what it is like now.

[yermanee]

OK thank you for the information.

The reason I'm considering Oman Air, is because of a raving review on airliners.net : http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/167162/

According to this the airport is small but adequate and very clean.

No alcohol is no problem for me.

Thank you again

yermanee

[fredob43]

Hi

Just been looking at the Oman Air site for flights from BKK to UK in September. Prices are very attractive at about 30,000 Baht - only to LHR though. The stop over times are not too good - 11 hours on the return journey - so what is Muscat airport like if you need to spend quite a long time there?

DM

Muscat air port is the worst air port in the world maybe!!! Small, root beer, not good on the food side, 11 hour's there, Id sooner spend 24 in a loo, as the seats would be more comfortable. On a plus side if you can call it that, duty free isnt bad, not good but not bad. Use an airline that doesn't go there.

[Max2010]

I flew with Oman Air three times and I found their service quite good in general. They are not strong in customer care (no reply to inquiries via email) but the price for their E-tickets were quite good. I managed to get BKK-Dar-es-Salaam-BKK for 900 dollars through their website. They also use new planes and free booze in the flights is a bonus indeed.

Muscat Airport is a mess. They do not inform passengers that EU and Americans/Canadians citizens must first buy their visa at the foreing exchange counter before you see Immigration. It cost 20 USD. You wait for 30 minutes at the immigration line only to be told to go and buy the visa first at the exchange desk next to them. If you have next day connection, Oman Air gives you free accomodation but the process is chaotic. They make no distinction between economy and business class passengers and if you arrive like me at midnight, you have to wait two hours for the Oman Air staff to be awaken up to sign you the hotel coupon. As for the beers in the airport, they are deliberately made expensive by the government ($6 for a bottle of heineken) to discourage Muslims from drinking. All kinds of alcohol is was widely available at the bar counter. Beer and pork was also served in my free hotel even though it was the holy month of ramadhan.

Omani Rial is artificially strong, It's nearly 3 dollars to a Rial! The exchange rates are the same everywhere so don't bother to look. Rial is not a popular currency outside the Middle East, I couldn't change Rial for Baht in Bangkok. The country is safe, reasonably clean and most western products and companies can be found in Oman. Their Sultan is highly respected as is with Thailand's King, but I would stay away from local politics while there.

Overall, I would still recommend Oman Air simply because it is a new airline and they have good prices for my destinations although their customer service needs a huge improvement.

Max2010

[yermanee]

Muscat Airport is a mess. They do not inform passengers that EU and Americans/Canadians citizens must first buy their visa at the foreing exchange counter before you see Immigration. It cost 20 USD. You wait for 30 minutes at the immigration line only to be told to go and buy the visa first at the exchange desk next to them.

Overall, I would still recommend Oman Air simply because it is a new airline and they have good prices for my destinations although their customer service needs a huge improvement.

Max2010

Dear Max2010

Do you mean even transit passengers have to get this visa ?

Thanks beforehand

yermanee

[Max2010]

No Yermanee. If you are on transit, you don't need a visa. However, if you have enough time, i recommend that you buy the visa so that you can go out to relax by the beach.

Muscat Airport (also known as Seeb International Airport) is not traveller-friendly. There are many hotels 10 minutes away by cab from the airport. I like to go to the ones near the beach to relax and refreshen before heading back if i am on transit for few hours. The hotels usually let you use their bathroom facilities even if you are not a guest.

Park Inn Muscat and Seeb Novotel are the hotels I usually use for an overnight stay. Under $100, pool, good food and near the airport. Park inn is near the beach.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/om/park-inn-muscat.en.html (reviews for park inn)

Max2010