Bits: No1 and Clubrooms Heathrow T3 open, Lyft buys FREENOW, Oman Air goes double daily

News in brief:

No1 and Clubrooms lounges open at Heathrow Terminal 3

Late last year, we covered a major shake-up coming to the independent lounge scene at Heathrow’s Terminal 3.

If you’re a regular HfP reader then you’ll know Terminal 3 has the best selection of airline lounges of any airport terminal in the UK. Perhaps less known is its network of independent lounges, which includes the American Express Centurion lounge, Club Aspire and No1.

As we wrote in November, there were plans to fully refurbish both the Club Aspire and No1 lounges:

• the existing Club Aspire lounge would be totally refurbished to become a Scandi-inspired My Lounge
• the No1 Lounge would shrink marginally, mainly by losing the now-closed shower, spa and bedroom area
• a new premium Clubrooms lounge would be built in the space given up by No1 Lounge

The No1 Lounge has been closed for redevelopment for around three months and reopened yesterday, transformed into two spaces: the No1 Lounge and a brand new Clubrooms space which features a la carte service.

Initial photographs look impressive, with some very Mediterranean-inspired interiors and a large, central olive tree (see below).

Fortuitously I am at Terminal 3 today as I head away for the Easter break and will stick my head into both. Stay tuned for reviews following the Bank Holiday.

You can book both on the No1 website. The Clubrooms (which requires a £15 supplement if using Priority Pass) is currently running an opening offer of 15% off when you book on the website and use the code CRLHR3-15. The offer runs until 16th May.

Lyft buys FREENOW – miles and points deals likely

Mercedes-Benz and BMW have given up on their attempt to make money in rideshare with the sale of taxi-booking app FREENOW to US group Lyft.

FREENOW operates in more than 150 cities across nine European countries. In the UK it is primarily used in London for black cab bookings. It is well behind Uber and Bolt in the rideshare market.

Lyft is picking up the business for €175 million which is peanuts given the valuation of Uber and indeed FREENOW’s earlier valuations.

What is interesting for HfP readers is that Lyft has partnerships with some miles and points programmes, including Hilton Honors. (We covered the Lyft / Hilton Honors partnership here for anyone heading to the US.) It would be good to see these extended to Europe in due course.

Oman Air goes double daily from Heathrow

Oman Air, which is soon to join the oneworld alliance, will resume double-daily flights to London later this year. It is also set to launch flights to Amsterdam with a 4x weekly service.

The airline currently flies once a day between London and Muscat, although it did previously offer a double daily service pre-covid.

The second service will begin in October 2025, initially on four days a week (Mondays, Fridays, Satudays and Sundays) before increasing to seven days by next summer. The two daily flights will operate approximately 12 hours apart, offering both day and night departures in each direction. Here are the timings for the second flight:

• WY104 departs London Heathrow at 8:25am and arrives in Muscat at 7:35pm
• WY103 departs Muscat at 1:40am and arrives in London at 5:55am (same day)

Here is the existing flight:

• WY102 departs Heathrow at 8:50pm and arrives in Muscat at 7:00am the following morning
• WY101 departs Muscat at 2:05pm and arrives in London at 7:10pm.

Oman Air is the only airline operating direct flights between London and Oman; British Airways has not returned since the pandemic.

Both flights will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft which Rob reviewed here. First Class has since been dropped, with the cabin now being sold as a ‘Business Studio’ upgrade akin to Malaysia Airlines.

Oman Air’s march towards oneworld membership continues and appears on target for a mid-summer accession. Its Amsterdam to Muscat flights will launch on the 1st July. Once it joins oneworld these should be a good option for picking up a redemption to the Middle East using Avios, even if the Heathrow flights have sold out.

Joining oneworld is only the latest stage of a major transformation program at the airline. You can read more about the project in my interview with Oman Air CEO Con Korfiatis here.