Using Avios to Muscat with Oman Air – some interesting quirks worth knowing

Oman Air joined the oneworld airline alliance on 1st July, which means that you can earn and redeem Avios, and earn British Airways Club tier points, on its flights.

Oman Air is an excellent carrier. We’ve reviewed it in the past, albeit pre-covid, and we hope to get another trip in the diary soon. A press event in Muscat to celebrate oneworld entry was unfortunately cancelled due to the political situation in the region.

Whilst Oman Air flights were not loaded onto ba.com on 1st July, they are now bookable.

They are also, I have to say, being ignored by a lot people, to your benefit.

Redeeming Avios for Oman Air flights

Oman Air releases two business class seats per flight and availability remains excellent. It is pretty open to Muscat during the peak season (seats seem to be most common 2-3 months in advance).

There are two flights per day from Heathrow, so a family of four could potentially split themselves.

If you can’t get the direct flight from London, you won’t have any trouble from one of the other European gateways – Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome or Zurich.

What does it cost for business class seats?

You can’t use British Airways American Express 2-4-1 Companion Vouchers on Oman Air.

Between Heathrow and Muscat, a business class return flight is (via ba.com) 124,000 Avios + £391 per person.

For comparison, with no vouchers, Heathrow to Dubai flying in British Airways Club World is 180,000 Avios + £375 per person on a peak date.

Compared to this, Oman Air is great value – and British Airways isn’t Oman Air by a long way.

Are flights any cheaper booked via Avios partners?

It is NOT cheaper to book this flight via Qatar Airways Privilege Club. It would require 138,000 Avios and, bizarrely, £531 of taxes and charges.

Not only do you need 14,000 more Avios than booking via ba.com, but Qatar Airways is adding an extra £140 of surcharges for no good reason.

Similarly, Finnair Plus wants 130,000 Avios return in business class which is 6,000 Avios more than British Airways.

Finnair Plus lets you book Business Studio with Avios

Here’s an interesting one …. the Finnair Plus award chart says that you can book Business Studio on Oman Air between London and Muscat for 165,000 Avios return.

Business Studio is the old First Class Suite. It was downgraded to offer business class food and service, albeit with the bigger and better seat. British Airways cannot book Business Studio for you using Avios.

Finnair does not allow online Avios booking for Oman Air.

If you want to book Business Studio, I suspect you need to use the Oman Air website to search for frequent flyer seats in Business Studio made available to its own members and then call Finnair to book, after moving Avios into Finnair Plus.

A tip to make a saving

Oman Air flies between Rome and Muscat.

Rome to Muscat is under 3,000 miles which drops it into a lower pricing zone for Avios redemptions made via ba.com.

A business class return flight from Rome to Muscat is just 77,500 Avios + £159 in taxes and charges.

This is a Boeing 737 single aisle aircraft on some flights BUT you still get a flat bed seat in a 2×2 layout.

Istanbul to Muscat is also 77,500 Avios return if that is more convenient or interesting as a starting point.

Oman Air flies beyond Muscat

Whilst outside the scope of this article, you can connect in Muscat to another Oman Air flight to Bangkok, Dar es Salaam, Dubai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Phuket, Riyadh and Zanzibar.

Links to HfP flight and hotel reviews

Back in 2019 we reviewed Oman Air business class (click here) and Oman Air’s First Class Suite, now renamed Business Studio (click here).

Ignore the F&B part of the First Class Studio review because, now it is sold as Business Studio, you will now get the same food and drink as other business class passengers.

Here is our 2023 review of Jumeirah Muscat Bay if you want a beach resort in the capital, and here is our 2023 review of Alila Jabal Akhdar for a luxury resort in the mountains.

Hat-tip to Mainly Miles for the Rome idea!