Oman Air’s oneworld alliance entry date is confirmed
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We have been waiting a long time for Oman Air to join the oneworld airline alliance.
This will allow you to redeem (and earn) Avios on Oman Air flights. With British Airways no longer flying to Muscat, and Oman Air offering a high quality product, this is worth a look.
Whilst there has been no media release, various documents sent to travel agents in recent days confirm what I was told by the UK team a couple of months ago and, indeed, had been reported since last year. Oman Air will join oneworld on 30th June.
I suspect that a lot of Avios availability will be showing on Day 1, but that it will quickly be snapped up.
We ran two hotel reviews in 2023 after my last visit – the beach resort of Jumeirah Muscat Bay and the mountain resort of Alila Jabal Akhdar. An older review of The Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz Carlton Hotel, is here.
New openings this year have included a Hotel Indigo in the mountains near Alila and a St Regis resort in Muscat.
We will try to do a fresh flight review before the end of the year.
PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.
How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (May 2025)
Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.
Booking flights on any airline?
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.
The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.
You can apply here.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
Buying flights on British Airways?
The British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.
The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.
You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express credit card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.
You can apply here.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card
30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review
Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?
Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.
This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.
There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.
You can apply for either of the cards here.
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Iain 
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