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Oman Air to ditch first for new business suite
Oman Air recently said it is due to fully join Oneworld by the end of 2024. This is great news, as I really rate Oman Air. You can read my review here. Unfortunately, it has suffered a few issues recently and announced plans to ditch its A330s, which is a substantial fleet reduction.
However, the good news is that there is a new business class premium suite coming which is called the Business Studio. The new cabin will replace the airline’s First Class product, so if you want to try First, you’d better be quick!
The new product will be cheaper than the old first but still be more than standard business class. This is a current trend with airlines like Virgin, Air France and Jet Blue all offering a premium business class suite.
The new seats will have a spacious cabin layout, classic lie-flat seats, and Wi-Fi connectivity, but with more affordable fares. The cabin is expected to be predominantly on its London and Bangkok services.
“Inspired by valuable guest feedback and to adapt and evolve in line with global market trends, we have strategically refined our premium offering to deliver greater value and appeal. The traditional First Class experience has seen diminished demand, and after careful analysis and benchmarking against industry standards, we decided to retire the product. This decision allows us to focus on delivering an exceptional Business Class experience that better meets modern traveller expectations and is more closely aligned with the demographics targeted by the national tourism objectives, such as such as wellness, adventure and MICE. Moreover, we’re offering it all at a more competitive price point,” said Con Korfiatis, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air.
Oman Air’s new Business Studio will offer one of the world’s most generous pitches at 82”, privacy walls for every seat, 23-inch personal screen, free Wi-Fi connectivity, and à la carte dining.
You will be able to book Business Studio from 9 September 2024 at www.omanair.com. It will be interesting to see how BA will handle pricing for Oman Air business studio when it joins oneworld and you can use Avios on them. Currently, I’m not aware of any oneworld airline that does a similar product other than Malaysia Airlines.
Virgin Atlantic launches new sale
The bank holiday sale for Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays sale kicks off today and runs until 30 September 2024 and you can travel between 23 August 2024 and 18 July 2025.
There is one decent bargain in Upper Class, with New York being only £1540. The rest of the US is £2100-£2400. One of their new routes for summer 2025 ,Toronto, is £1750. In the Caribbean, Montego Bay is £2060, and Providenciales, which ends soon, is £2173.
You can find the sale page here.
Qatar offers – new sale and easier status with 50% QPoint bonus
Easier status with 50% QPoint bonus
If you are planning to book some flights and don’t yet have oneworld status, you may want to take a look at Qatar Airways’ 50% extra Q Points deal. QPoints are the equivalent BA tier points and vary by the ticket fare bucket. For example, a long-haul flight from Europe to Australia would get around 60 points, one way in the lowest fare bucket. Qatar also allows you to buy QPoints up to a certain amount per year, so it could be an easy, if pricey, way to get status. It’s worth knowing that the tiers do not align with BA, so Qatar Silver is only oneworld Ruby etc.
The Booking period is 21 August 2024 – 27 August 2024 and the travel period is 22 August 2024 – 10 December 2024.
Bonus Qpoints will be credited after the flight, provided the membership number is updated in the booking. The catch is that tickets issued before the offer start date and existing tickets re-issued do not count for the offer.
You can find the offer page here.
New sale
Qatar also has a new sale until 27 August, with Business Class from the UK starting at £1,861. The UK fares aren’t great, but it is worth looking at ex-Europe flights as there are some better fares. You can travel from 22 Aug—06 Dec 2024.
You can find the sale page here.
2 comments
Do you have examples ares of Qatar ex uk deals? Particularly to Asia and Sydney
Thank you
The first and most important reason for following your wonderful advice is the lists of ex-EU flights with departure countries, destinations and prices.
Appreciate this requires significant effort on your side, however it separates you from all the other noise. Please kindly consider creating a list, as you have done previously.
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