Oman Air has introduced an awesome new stopover program for those laying over in Muscat for a night.
Part of the goal of the Gulf carriers
One of the primary goals of the Gulf carriers is to develop the infrastructure of their home countries and put them on the map. One has to wonder where Doha would be without Qatar Airways, or where Dubai would be without Emirates.
While these cities are known for being global hubs, the airlines are increasingly making an effort to have you actually visit, rather than just connect.
Oman Air is a lesser known airline, and has much more of a boutique feel than their Gulf rivals. I absolutely love Oman Air, and for that matter Oman is probably my favorite country in the region. It has so much natural beauty, and Muscat is both an approachable and exciting city.
Oman Air’s 787 business class
Oman Air adds a Ritz-Carlton stopover program
Sometimes we see Gulf carriers offer a free stopover hotel for those transiting at their hubs. In some context we’ve seen this offered from Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.
Well, you can now add Oman Air to the list, and they have one of the most luxurious offerings I’ve seen yet.
Oman Air is offering first & business class passengers a free night including breakfast at Al Bustan Palace, the Ritz-Carlton property in Muscat. There are some basic restrictions:
- You need to be traveling first or business class
- This is valid for travel between April 1 and August 31, 2019
- You need to be traveling between Europe and the Far East/India, or vice versa
- You can check availability and book your complimentary night here
- After booking your free hotel room, book your Oman Air flight (or you can do it the other way around, but booking the hotel first ensures there will be availability)
- Just show your first or business class boarding pass at check-in
Al Bustan Palace, Muscat
There are capacity controls in place, and there are no alternative accommodations in the event that this hotel isn’t available. Furthermore, there are no requirements to be on a full fare ticket, so even discounted and award tickets should qualify.
Availability appears to be good, and they make this really easy. Just follow this link, and if you see availability for 0OMR, you should be good to go.
Bottom line
This is an awesome promotion from Oman Air. Muscat is an incredible city, and Al Bustan Palace is one of the best hotels in the city. So to get a free night there with breakfast is an awesome perk, especially given how reasonable Oman Air’s business class fares often are.
Al Bustan Palace, Muscat
Anyone plan to take advantage of this great offer?
(Tip of the hat to YHBU)
We visited Oman last November and stayed at a newly built Intercontinental Hotel. Oman e-Visa is only valid for thirty days from the approval date, which was a bit a hassle to apply while we were on a five week overseas trips. We'd prefer to get everything lined up before leaving home. Also, it requires you to shrink the normal passport photo-size to fit into its website. It is an expensive country to visit with little to no historic sites to visit.
Great post, and I've always wanted to go to Oman, plus Oman Air has an increasing and well deserved reputation.
But I would nitpick your calling "you need to be traveling in First or Business" a basic restriction and one that you don't until several lines into the post. That's a pretty major one that eliminates 90% of the flying public right off the bat.
@mark3 -- Actually, the cheapest tourist visa (online) is 10 days for 5 OMR ($13). You are correct that the Ritz Carlton is quite inconvenient to the airport for a one-night stay. I honestly don't know why this hotel would be selected. That said, it's a nice hotel, and if no transport is included, you could easily rent a car (probably about $35/day) and drive yourself there, no problems. As far as Lucky saying Muscat...
@mark3 -- Actually, the cheapest tourist visa (online) is 10 days for 5 OMR ($13). You are correct that the Ritz Carlton is quite inconvenient to the airport for a one-night stay. I honestly don't know why this hotel would be selected. That said, it's a nice hotel, and if no transport is included, you could easily rent a car (probably about $35/day) and drive yourself there, no problems. As far as Lucky saying Muscat is "exciting," I would say that's a gross exaggeration. It's actually a pretty sleepy city! But easy and pleasant. Overall, Oman is a great country to visit, but you'll need a few days if you want to get out of Muscat. Nine or ten days is perfect to see the major sites.
1. 30 day tourist visa (nothing less) is USD 7.
2. Ritz Carlton is a 50 min drive from MCT. I don't see that transfer included, and is 80-100 each way.
What vpn is best for Oman
Shaun: the cost of eVisa for up to 10 days is 5 rials, about $13 , very easy to apply online, one day processing. I did it yesterday
Perfect timing! Just cancelled our other stopover accommodation for our flight from BKK-MCT-CDG in July and booked this. Thanks for sharing Ben.
Can't believe our flight to Oman lands in the morning (from IST/ISL) and then continues on to Malaysia in the evening. I guess we don't qualify for this offer. And not even sure if they would count ISL as Europe?
This looks like another good reason to fly Oman Air. The Al Bustan Palace is a great hotel and has recently undergone major refurbishment ( although I have yet to visit since it reopened).
What is the cost for a visa for the one day stopover for US citizen?
Oman is definitely my favorite GCC country to visit. It’s got great weather in the winter.
What happened to Oman's plans to fly to JFK? Dead?
With decent biz fares at times this will be a super goo deal! It should also be noted that the heat in Muscat summer is quite strong, in addition to high humidity. As long as staying indoor most of the time it'll be a good stay.