Oman Air, the kings of delaying their entry to the Oneworld alliance, finally set a specific date. After initially planning on joining the alliance in 2024, then the second half of 2024, and then in the second quarter of 2025, they now decided to stick to June 30, 2025.
Apparently, one of the main issues that is taking so long is the alignment of fare classes. Not only did Oman Air introduce new fare types, such as Super Saver, Comfort, and Flex, but also still has to take care of mapping each fare class to the corresponding fare class of each other airline.
Not only do the fares have to be aligned to the Oneworld alliance, but so does Oman Air’s frequent flyer program, Sindbad. Currently, the program only has two status tiers: Silver and Gold. Oneworld, however, has three tiers: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. Oman Air is planning on introducing a new top-tier that would be an Oneworld Emerald status. This status would then e.g. grant access to Oman Air’s flagship first-class lounge in Muscat.
However, the airline is still uncertain of what to do with its Gold status until this new status is introduced. Apparently, the airline is considering mapping Gold to Emerald initially but also says that some members would have their tier downgraded in that case. The other (and probably better) option is mapping it to Sapphire.
Bottom Line
While some airlines, such as ITA, have rushed their entry into an alliance and had to solve problems later (some of which are still unsolved), Oman Air seems to be taking its time to have everything properly figured out before joining Oneworld. On the other hand, it seems that many questions are still open. Why, for instance, the airline won’t introduce the new top-tier status before joining, is a mystery to me.
Sources: Executive Traveller and LoyaltyLobby – Thanks!
Cover Picture: © Oman Air