We paid an extra 6 OMR for front row seats, even though I would have expected this to have come as part of our ticket. The diagram on the web page was quite confusing in terms of whether or not these were infant/family seats. Based on the fact that these seats costed extra and the seating plan showed a border break and space in front we assumed these were family seats. We decided to go ahead and make the payment in case we missed these seats later, and to call to confirm afterwards.
A few days before my flight, I called the Oman Air customer service number. After holding for a while, the agent checked with the supervisor and confirmed that I had a family seat, and also that a bassinet was reserved for me.
However, at the time of checking in online, this 6 OMR suddenly no longer showed up and we were prompted to pay again. We called customer service again, but all the agent we spoke to could advise was to “try again” and to email a complaint – we were not banking on a reply anytime soon and my journey was the next day.
At Muscat Airport, as expected, the queues were long as it was a busy flight. The lady at the counter was very polite and we confirmed with her again that I had a family seat with a bassinet.
It was a whole other story after boarding though.
CB and I walked passed the family seats, as I read the seat numbers one after the other, and tried not to pull a face when I realised what was happening. Our seat was at the far back, past the family seats, past all the other seats, and even past the windows.
When I told the flight attendant I had been expecting a family seat he told me that the flight was full. I said I was told that my seat was of that type – this had both been confirmed on the phone and at the counter, and we had even paid extra. All his response was was “they always do that”. Excuse me?? What struck me as particularly irritating was how confident everyone had been when confirming. This was what had given me reassurance, because I already had fears to begin with about the chance of running into inconsistencies (if you live in Muscat you will know what I am referring to).
So after muttering “this is unacceptable”, I had to, of course, accept the situation, and we sat down. On the journey, I felt a little like we were sardines squished in a tin. The passenger next to me was in my space, and his elbow kept knocking into mine. This made me feel even more uncomfortable when I was trying cover up whilst breastfeeding. The whole thing almost felt like a flight simulation as I could not see anything outside for the entire duration of the journey.
On board, a soft toy turtle (turtle watching is a popular activity in Oman) is gifted to babies, and a Sinbad Junior activity pack in a string bag is offered to children. CB was given the turtle to begin with. After the plane had landed, I waited until all the other passengers had left so I could leave at my own pace. At this point, I asked the flight attendant for a pack and he kindly went and found me one.
Thankfully, the return journey was less stressful and we were seated on a front row family seat, as we had originally reserved. However, every time I attempted to call a flight attendant for help via the call button, the call was cancelled. I needed help for bringing down my bag for a nappy change and I wanted to request an activity pack for CB, which we seemed to have missed during a nap. Eventually I gave up pressing the button. I know sometimes children press these buttons by accident, but they cannot assume that this is the case every time.
Although Oman Air did not tick a lot of the boxes, I did have a more or less seamless experience at Muscat International Airport. The readily-available, free-of-charge strollers made life a lot easier. The baby room, which I don’t remember visiting last time, was very well-equipped, spacious and clean.
Now, after a short pit stop in Muscat, we are preparing for our next trip to Sydney, Australia. That’s a far longer journey, so here’s hoping it goes well!
Mumma in Muscat 