1022
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The Sultanate of Oman has been on the bucket list for quite some time, but never quite reached the top of places to visit … until now. As a tourist destination it offers incredible landscapes from coral reefs, beaches and fjords to rugged mountains and desert sands as well as cities with rich culture, history and architecture from ancient ruins to the contemporary Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat. I’m looking forward to sharing some of the highlights with AFF readers.
Collage of Oman highlights from the web
Booking
Several months ago 1022+1 and I decided to block much of April 2025 in our calendars for an overseas trip given the favourable placement of public holidays vis-a-vis annual leave required for a decent trip. I then promptly cobbled together flights for us from SYD-MNL in early April on QF points (him) and redeemed VA points on SQ for me due to lack of 2 seat availability on any flights on suitable dates. I was able to secure two seats on QF20 for our return flight to Sydney at the end of the month.
The plan was then to use to Manila as a inexpensive jumping off point for relatively affordable paid J flights to yet-to-be-determined far-flung places.
So then, where to from Manila? We looked at Portugal thanks to decent cash fares in J on EY to Lisbon, though it didn’t fully grab me for an April trip as the weather might still be a bit cool for beaches and swimming. We also considered Montenegro because it’s a country neither of us knew much about but once we did a bit of research, realised it has a huge amount of appeal. That would have entailed a ME3 flight to Rome or Milan then connection by land or LCC to Podgorica. Though in the meantime we spent a fair bit of money on another trip at the end of 2024 plus a few other expenses, so the “cheap” circa $4k return fares from Manila to Europe weren’t quite so appealing.
Then in October 2024, Oman Air redemptions became available on QFF. Curiosity led me to look at availability between Manila and Muscat. Despite a few QF website glitches, there were plenty of flights with 2 J seats on days that fit our plans. Slight problem was that we didn’t have quite enough QFF points between us for MNL-MCT return for two. I booked us together on MNL-MCT and +1 on MCT-MNL using up almost all our combined Qantas points at the time. Fortunately our booking coincided with with an AC Aeroplan points sale, so I bought 50-odd thousand points and booked for myself via the Air Canada website (painless) for the MCT-MNL leg, on the same flight as +1’s QFF redemption.
Itinerary Snapshot
All flights are in J, including domestic flights in Oman, apart from my final SYD-MEL which is in Y with a classic upgrade request pending.
Initial Outbound:
Me: MEL-SIN-MNL (SQ218 A350-900 Longhaul config and SQ910 A350-900 Regional Config)
1022+1: SYD-MNL (QF19 A332)
Remainder all together:
Manila: 5 nights at Fairmont Makati
MNL-MCT (WY844 787-9)
Muscat: 5 nights at Movenpick
Jabal Akhdar: 1 night Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort
Nizwa: 3 nights House 76
Jebel Shams: 2 nights Sama Al-Khutaim Heritage House
Muscat: 1 night Novotel MCT Airport Hotel
MCT-KHS (WY 737-800)
Khasab: 3 nights Atana Musandam
KHS-MCT (WY 737-800)
Muscat: 1 night Novotel Airport Hotel
MCY-MNL (WY843 787-9). *edit: MCT-MNL
Manila: 1 night Fairmont Makati
MNL-SYD (QF20 A332)
GCM overview
In true AvGeek form, our initial flights aren't together due to redemption availability. But 1022+1 these days is totally on board with the proposition that occasionally flying a day apart is worth it for champagne and flat beds rather than the whY alternative. There’s also the added complication that we split our time between Melbourne and Sydney at the moment and so MEL is my start and end point for this trip and SYD is his.
Some of the things I’m looking forward to on the trip (in no particular order) include:
So buckle up and prepare for departure in less than a week on my second AFF TR
Collage of Oman highlights from the web
Booking
Several months ago 1022+1 and I decided to block much of April 2025 in our calendars for an overseas trip given the favourable placement of public holidays vis-a-vis annual leave required for a decent trip. I then promptly cobbled together flights for us from SYD-MNL in early April on QF points (him) and redeemed VA points on SQ for me due to lack of 2 seat availability on any flights on suitable dates. I was able to secure two seats on QF20 for our return flight to Sydney at the end of the month.
The plan was then to use to Manila as a inexpensive jumping off point for relatively affordable paid J flights to yet-to-be-determined far-flung places.
So then, where to from Manila? We looked at Portugal thanks to decent cash fares in J on EY to Lisbon, though it didn’t fully grab me for an April trip as the weather might still be a bit cool for beaches and swimming. We also considered Montenegro because it’s a country neither of us knew much about but once we did a bit of research, realised it has a huge amount of appeal. That would have entailed a ME3 flight to Rome or Milan then connection by land or LCC to Podgorica. Though in the meantime we spent a fair bit of money on another trip at the end of 2024 plus a few other expenses, so the “cheap” circa $4k return fares from Manila to Europe weren’t quite so appealing.
Then in October 2024, Oman Air redemptions became available on QFF. Curiosity led me to look at availability between Manila and Muscat. Despite a few QF website glitches, there were plenty of flights with 2 J seats on days that fit our plans. Slight problem was that we didn’t have quite enough QFF points between us for MNL-MCT return for two. I booked us together on MNL-MCT and +1 on MCT-MNL using up almost all our combined Qantas points at the time. Fortunately our booking coincided with with an AC Aeroplan points sale, so I bought 50-odd thousand points and booked for myself via the Air Canada website (painless) for the MCT-MNL leg, on the same flight as +1’s QFF redemption.
Itinerary Snapshot
All flights are in J, including domestic flights in Oman, apart from my final SYD-MEL which is in Y with a classic upgrade request pending.
Initial Outbound:
Me: MEL-SIN-MNL (SQ218 A350-900 Longhaul config and SQ910 A350-900 Regional Config)
1022+1: SYD-MNL (QF19 A332)
Remainder all together:
Manila: 5 nights at Fairmont Makati
MNL-MCT (WY844 787-9)
Muscat: 5 nights at Movenpick
Jabal Akhdar: 1 night Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort
Nizwa: 3 nights House 76
Jebel Shams: 2 nights Sama Al-Khutaim Heritage House
Muscat: 1 night Novotel MCT Airport Hotel
MCT-KHS (WY 737-800)
Khasab: 3 nights Atana Musandam
KHS-MCT (WY 737-800)
Muscat: 1 night Novotel Airport Hotel
MCY-MNL (WY843 787-9). *edit: MCT-MNL
Manila: 1 night Fairmont Makati
MNL-SYD (QF20 A332)
GCM overview
In true AvGeek form, our initial flights aren't together due to redemption availability. But 1022+1 these days is totally on board with the proposition that occasionally flying a day apart is worth it for champagne and flat beds rather than the whY alternative. There’s also the added complication that we split our time between Melbourne and Sydney at the moment and so MEL is my start and end point for this trip and SYD is his.
Some of the things I’m looking forward to on the trip (in no particular order) include:
- My first time on SQ J in more than 15 years (last time was upper deck on a 747-400!)
- Scrambling and swimming in wadis (deep gorges/waterholes)
- Hikes in the mountains
- Dhow cruising in the “Fjords” of the Musandam Peninsula
- Souks in Muscat
- Pinto Art Museum in Manila
- The Oman Air J lounge in Muscat
- A night in the spectacular looking Alila Resort in the mountains
- Middle Eastern food and hospitality
- Snorkelling and/or diving in the Persian Gulf
So buckle up and prepare for departure in less than a week on my second AFF TR
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