Just a few weeks ago it was Qatar Airways signing a strategic deal with the other Australian carrier Virgin Australia. Now it’s Qantas closing a deal, albeit not as significant, with another middle eastern carrier Oman Air. The largest Aussie carrier has just agreed on a partnership regarding the airlines‘ frequent flyer programs. Here’s what you need to know about it and how it can help with your future travels.
Qantas and Oman Air Frequent Flyer Programs Partnership Deal
It’s clearly not as big a deal as the one signed between Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways. There the Qatari airline will be investing in the Australian carrier and is looking to use it as a vehicle to expand its footprint down under. In the case of the Qantas Oman Air partnership it is much more of an alignment in preparation for future events.
What I mean is that Oman Air is soon to become the newest and latest member of the OneWorld airline alliance. Therefore, Qantas is looking to align itself with a tighter integration with what will be a future partner in just a few short months time. Oman Air should finally become part of OneWorld, alliance Qantas is also part of, by early 2025.
What the deal is all about is quite simple. It will allow travelers signed up to the respective frequent flyer programs to earn and redeem miles on each other’s flights. Oman Air Sindbad frequent flyers will be able to book and fly on Qantas flights and viceversa.
Only 3 Touch Points in The Two Airlines’ Networks
There might be some traveling to do in order to redeem award flights with Oman Air for QF frequent flyers. That is because the vast majority of Qantas’ Frequent Flyer program live in Australia and there are only 4 touch points between the airlines’ networks, with them being:
- Bangkok (BKK)
- Bengaluru (BLR)
- Manila (MNL)
- Jakarta (CGK)
Therefore to get on an Oman Air flight, even booking as a reward, you will first need to make your way to one of these airports meaning you might need to burn some extra miles or fork out some extra cash to do so.
Also, Oman Air’s network isn’t all that extensive, therefore, I do feel like this a bigger deal for Oman Air frequent flyers than Qantas’.