Review: Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport

Ben Schlappig
March 3, 2016
5

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Oman Air offers a chauffeur service in Bangkok, so I requested to be picked up at Le Meridien at 5:30AM. I know that was extremely early for my 9AM flight, though I wanted to be sure I had plenty of time to grab pictures of the Oman Air Lounge and take care of some work before my flight.

The driver showed up right on-time, this time in an older Mercedes E200. On the way out my driver showed up in a Toyota, so I’d say this was a nice upgrade.

Oman Air chauffeur service Bangkok

The drive to the airport took about 25 minutes, and I was dropped off at the main terminal. Suvarnabhumi Airport has a gorgeous check-in hall with high ceilings, though it’s almost always crowded, in my experience.

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi check-in hall

I checked the departures board to see where Oman Air’s check-in counters were. They were using the “T” counters, which were towards the far right of the terminal.

Oman Air check-in Bangkok Airport

The associate checking me in was friendly, and had my boarding passes, lounge invitations, and fast track security/immigration cards ready within a minute. It’s sort of interesting how even the fast track cards have your name on them nowadays. I guess they were having issues with people reselling them?

Oman Air lounge invitation Bangkok Airport

Oman Air operates their own lounge in Bangkok, making it the only airport other than Muscat where they have a lounge. I noticed on the counter there was a sign indicating that you could buy access to the Oman Air Lounge for 1500THB (~$42).

Oman Air check-in Bangkok Airport

I headed towards the dedicated fast track channel, where there was no queue. This is something Bangkok Airport does so much better than virtually all the other airports in the region. They have dedicated fast track lanes for both security and immigration, and they can save a significant amount of time.

I was through security & immigration by shortly after 6AM, and turned right towards concourses “E” & “G,” in the direction of the Oman Air Lounge.

Bangkok Airport departures hall

Bangkok Airport is airy and fairly nice (if not a bit sterile to the point it almost feels unfinished), though isn’t very practically designed. The concourses are all pretty spread out, and there isn’t a train system, or even many moving walkways, for that matter.

I love walking through airports, though, so it doesn’t bother me much.

Bangkok Airport departures hall

I kept walking for maybe five minutes, at which point I found myself at the below gazebo, where I turned right.

Bangkok Airport departures hall

There I took the escalator down a level, which is where many of the airline lounges are located.

Walking to Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport

Once on the lower level, the Oman Air Lounge was just a short walk away. The exterior was modern, with a glass wall and huge Oman Air logo.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport exterior

Upon entering the lounge I presented my boarding pass and lounge invitation, and was informed that boarding for the flight would be called in the lounge.

The lounge is open to Oman Air business class passengers and elite members in Oman Air’s Sinbad program, and you can also buy access (per the sign at check-in). But beyond that it’s also worth noting that the Oman Air Lounge Bangkok is a Priority Pass lounge, so you can access it if you have a membership. This is a situation where a credit card with lounge access could come in very handy, and is often a better value than paying for a membership outright.

The lounge consisted of two main rooms. There was a room to the right, which featured tons of seating. Tons. I’m not sure how many airlines Oman Air contracts their lounge out to (other than also allowing in Priority Pass guests), but there was a lot of furniture.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport seating

In the very back of the lounge was a cushioned bench spanning the length of the room, with lounge chairs facing it.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport seating

Then there were sets of 3-4 chairs facing one another along both walls of the room.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport seating

In the back corner of the room were two partitioned off daybeds, which were a nice place to relax.

Oman Air Lounge rest area Bangkok Airport

The room to the left was the lounge’s main room, and featured the buffet, business center, shower rooms, etc.

The seating in this room was also rather tight. That wasn’t actually an issue since the lounge was basically empty, but I could imagine it would be a tight fit if the lounge were ever full.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport seating

Along one wall of the room was elevated seating with a couple of iMacs.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport business center

Along the other wall of the lounge were more benches.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport seating

On another wall were the drinks, which had their own display area.

Oman Air Lounge buffet Bangkok Airport

On the left was a Nespresso machine, tea, Arabic coffee, etc.

Oman Air Lounge coffee & tea Bangkok Airport

Then on the right was the liquor selection, with almost two dozen brands to choose from.

Oman Air Lounge liquor Bangkok Airport

Then there was white wine, sparkling wine, and rose.

Oman Air Lounge wine & champagne Bangkok Airport

The food spread was along the other wall, and was fairly good.

Oman Air Lounge breakfast buffet Bangkok Airport

There were several hot items, including biryani rice, spinach cutlets, tomato onion quiche, kingfish kebab, and chicken tikka.

Oman Air Lounge breakfast buffet Bangkok Airport

Then there was cereal, cheese, crackers, hummus, and moutabbel.

Oman Air Lounge breakfast buffet Bangkok Airport

Then there were several types of smoothies, finger sandwiches, packages pastries, croissants, and muffins.

Oman Air Lounge breakfast buffet Bangkok Airport

There were also rather stale cupcakes (yeah, I couldn’t help but try one).

Oman Air Lounge breakfast buffet Bangkok Airport

I didn’t have breakfast, so made myself a plate of snacks.

Oman Air Lounge breakfast Bangkok Airport

Two funny things about the buffet. When I first arrived at the lounge there was one other American in the lounge, and he saw me taking pictures, probably assuming I was really impressed by the food. He said “isn’t this selection amazing?” The selection certainly wasn’t bad, but something tells me he has been spending too much time in US airline lounges. 😉

The other thing was that there were two servers working in the lounge, and they were extremely attentive whenever anyone was at the buffet. They’d sort of hover when someone went up there, and seemed rather alarmed when I took pictures, as if I had spotted something wrong.

In the back corner of the lounge was a shower room, which looked functional. There was also a prayer room, though I didn’t snap a picture of it.

Bangkok Airport Oman Air Lounge shower

The Wi-Fi in the lounge was on the slow side, though not unusably so. The lounge stayed pretty empty the entire time I was there, which I guess shouldn’t come as a surprise since the business class seatmap was showing four seats occupied the night before my flight .There were at most 10 or so people in the lounge.

I decided to leave the lounge at around 7:45AM to wander the terminal a bit. I walked towards my departure gate, E7, which was about a 10 minute walk away.

Walking to Oman Air departure gate Bangkok Airport

The individual concourses at Bangkok Airport are perpendicular to the main stretch connecting them. So after a short walk I turned left towards the “E” Concourse. There I took the escalator down a level.

Bangkok Airport E Concourse

This concourse was pretty neat, because there were five planes parked at this end of the concourse, all from the Middle East — Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air, Oman Air, and Qatar.

Bangkok Airport E Concourse

The Oman Air flight was departing from gate E7, which was about two thirds of the way down the concourse and to the left.

Bangkok Airport departure gate to Muscat

The actual gates are located a level down from the main concourse, so I took the ramp down, and then had my boarding pass scanned and passport checked.

At that point I was already considered to be on the plane, since there’s no further boarding pass verification.

Oman Air departure gate Bangkok Airport

I had a look at the beautiful Oman Air A330, and was excited for yet another flight with one of my new favorite airlines.

Oman Air A330

At 8:10AM boarding was called, starting with business class. I was the first passenger onboard.

Oman Air Lounge Bangkok bottom line

I appreciated Oman Air’s chauffeur service in Bangkok, and generally find departing Bangkok Airport as a premium passenger to be a pleasant experience, thanks to the fast track security & immigration.

Oman Air’s lounge was perfectly pleasant — it was empty, had nice enough decor, and a fairly good food spread. While the lounge is unmemorable, I will say that I think it’s an excellent option if you’re accessing it through Priority Pass, as it’s one of the nicer Priority Pass lounges at the airport, in my opinion. And it’s not half bad if you’re flying Oman Air, either!

Have you been to the Oman Air Lounge in Bangkok?

Conversations (5)

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Aaron Diamond
March 4, 2016, 10:17 am

"I love walking through airports, though, so it doesn’t bother me much."

Well, as long as it isn't a long walk like the recent one if Madrid. Or a sterile one, like having to schlepp from check-in to the First Class lounge in DXB. Or not minding at all avoiding the terminals in FRA or CDG when you travel first class on Lufthansa or Air France (ok, in those last 2 cases, the terminals suck,...
"I love walking through airports, though, so it doesn’t bother me much."

Well, as long as it isn't a long walk like the recent one if Madrid. Or a sterile one, like having to schlepp from check-in to the First Class lounge in DXB. Or not minding at all avoiding the terminals in FRA or CDG when you travel first class on Lufthansa or Air France (ok, in those last 2 cases, the terminals suck, so it's ok to avoid them). But honestly, after reading some of your TRs, hearing you say you love walking through terminals is a bit of a surprise.

Maybe we should just call you GoldiLucky? "But the third airport was juuuuuust right..."

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Daniel Guest
March 4, 2016, 12:33 am

Just reading it in Bangkok Thai lounge and I concur with comments regarding fast tracks. Really great. One point for savvy travelers just flew in from Chiang Mai and the plane is B777-300ER featuring fully flat bed in J. Nice to know if you are travelling through Thailand especially for morning departures which gets you an hour long sleep as the food is edible at best. The plane continuous to Oslo afterwards. So the morning run looks like a warm up ;)

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Credit Guest
March 3, 2016, 2:25 pm

The good life comes with a lot of fat. We should remove the trains and automatic walkways in American airports. All the walking will trim fat Americans.

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Garland Guest
March 3, 2016, 1:45 pm

Great review but it's sparkling wine and not champagne.

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Santastico Diamond
March 3, 2016, 1:44 pm

After Changi in Singapore, the Bangkok airport is my favorite in the region. It is gorgeous.

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Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

Aaron Diamond

March 4, 2016, 10:17 am

"I love walking through airports, though, so it doesn’t bother me much." Well, as long as it isn't a long walk like the recent one if Madrid. Or a sterile one, like having to schlepp from check-in to the First Class lounge in DXB. Or not minding at all avoiding the terminals in FRA or CDG when you travel first class on Lufthansa or Air France (ok, in those last 2 cases, the terminals suck, so it's ok to avoid them). But honestly, after reading some of your TRs, hearing you say you love walking through terminals is a bit of a surprise. Maybe we should just call you GoldiLucky? "But the third airport was juuuuuust right..."

Daniel Guest

March 4, 2016, 12:33 am

Just reading it in Bangkok Thai lounge and I concur with comments regarding fast tracks. Really great. One point for savvy travelers just flew in from Chiang Mai and the plane is B777-300ER featuring fully flat bed in J. Nice to know if you are travelling through Thailand especially for morning departures which gets you an hour long sleep as the food is edible at best. The plane continuous to Oslo afterwards. So the morning run looks like a warm up ;)

Credit Guest

March 3, 2016, 2:25 pm

The good life comes with a lot of fat. We should remove the trains and automatic walkways in American airports. All the walking will trim fat Americans.