It’s not common to find airline operated lounges on the list of those accessible with a Priority Pass but in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi there are a couple of exceptions – one of which is the Oman Air lounge. Having flown to Bangkok to review the new Singapore Airlines regional business class product the previous day we were passing through the airport for our second experience of the same aircraft – this time for our review of the middle couple seats on the way back to Singapore.
Since we had already recently reviewed both the Singapore Airlines SilverKris offering in Bangkok and the EVA Air lounge we decided to check out the Oman Air facility, having enjoyed it using Priority Pass a few times in the past, to check if it’s still up to scratch.
Location
The lounge is located on level 3 close to the junction of the E and G concourses at Suvarnabhumi airport, making it a good location for many flight departures including Singapore Airlines flights which usually depart from the nearby gates D6, D7 or occasionally E1.
Lounge Access
This lounge is available to passengers flying on an Oman Air flight:
- in First class or Business class; or
- in Economy class and holding Sindbad Gold or Silver status.
It is also available to accompanying guests of the above travelling on the same flight with a payment of THB 1,500 (approximately S$63). It’s not clear how many guests you can have thought it does mention that this is subject to space constraints.
You can also access the lounge through the Priority Pass scheme, or via cash payment of THB 1,648 (approximately S$69) for those aged 20 and above or THB 995 (approximately S$42) for 2-19 year olds.
One assumes this is also subject to capacity but if you avoid the busier times identified below there should be no issue.
General Details
Opening Times: 5.00am to 8.30pm
Showers: Yes
Bar: No
Wi-Fi: Yes
Multi-standard Power Sockets: No
USB Charging Sockets: No
Our Experience
We arrived at 8.20am to find the lounge quite busy – a surprise as on our previous visits it has almost always been very quiet. We soon realised the reason – there was an actual Oman Air flight to Muscat departing in about 1 hour. Nevertheless finding a seat wasn’t an issue and once boarding was called for the Muscat departure about 15 minutes later the lounge emptied out almost completely as you’d expect.
First thing to note then if you’re considering using this lounge with your Priority Pass or paying for access is what time Oman Air flights depart from Bangkok each day. Here’s the schedule:
- 9.10am (WY818)
- 2.35pm (WY812)
- 8.40pm (WY816)
From about 2 hours prior to those departure times up to about 40 minutes before expect the lounge to be quite busy. Outside those times it’s normally very quiet as we’ve experienced before.
Layout
The lounge is small and intimate by Bangkok standards and is separated into two primary seating sections – turn left for the ‘Living Area’ and right for the ‘Rest Area’. There are also ‘Daybeds’ at the back of the rest area. It’s worth noting that when the lounge is quiet the ‘Rest Area’ may be closed off, so you’ll need to ask at reception if you want to use one of the daybeds during those hours.
You’ll find the main food and beverage section in the ‘Living Area’ – seating options include low armchairs, sofas and barstool type seating along a counter facing out over the only windows featured in this lounge – in an area designed for working.
In the ‘Rest Area’ there are low armchairs, sofa seats and the ‘Daybeds’ at the back, with a small refreshment area for water and snacks.
Staff
The team members in the lounge were excellent and within five minutes of the Oman Air passengers leaving to board their flight all the empty plates, glasses and misplaced cushions, etc. had been tidied up. With only a handful of people then remaining it was the perfect time for us to take a few pictures.
Overview
The lounge is decorated mostly in neutral beige and grey tones, offset with bright turquoise feature points. It actually works quite well and overall the lounge has a quiet, calm ambiance.
Food
The Oman Air lounge serves a good food selection including some excellent Arabic options, especially when we have visited during lunch or dinner periods. This was our first morning visit and while the spread was less extensive than at other meal times there was still a decent selection.
Arabic choices included Hummus and Labneh with breads, dates and of course Arabic coffee is available.
There was also a cereal selection, sandwich rolls such as smoked salmon with cream cheese and both fresh eggs you can boil to your liking and scrambled eggs.
Other hot choices included lamb koftas and chicken and mushroom cream puffs.
The photos really don’t do the food choices justice – you won’t go hungry here.
Beverages
First thing missing in the Oman Air Bangkok lounge – Champagne. Luckily that’s where the bad news ends as they stock not only two varieties of good quality sparking wine, two red wines and two white wines but an extensive selection of premium spirits.
This is probably the best drinks selection we’ve seen in a Priority Pass lounge and with the SilverKris lounge just down the concourse also missing a Champagne (or even sparking wine) option we’d argue the choice you get in this lounge is actually superior, even though you’ll have to pour it yourself as there’s no manned bar.
The sparkling wines achieve the following scores out of 5 on Vivino:
- Chandon Brut – 3.4 stars
- Chandon Brut Rose – 3.6 stars
Here’s how the white wines rated:
- Mouton Cadet Bordeaux (2016) – 3.2 stars
- Altos Del Plata Chardonnay (2016) – 3.5 stars
Finally here are the scores for the red wines:
- Mouton Cadet Bordeaux (2014) – 3.4 stars
- Altos Del Plata Cabernet Sauvignon (2016) – 3.5 stars
Previously when we visited this lounge there was a Nespresso machine with capsules available but this has been replaced with an Illy coffee machine. It turned out a couple of pretty good cappuccinos for us.
Power Sockets
The Oman Air Bangkok lounge does not offer multi-standard ‘UNI’ sockets or USB charging, which is seen more commonly these days in newer lounges.
Instead the Thai 3-pin 200v sockets are installed, but these also accept the USA / Japan 2-pin flat prong plugs and round prong (Europe) style plugs which should be sufficient for most.
Another issue with this lounge, probably related to its age (7 years), is that there’s not an abundance of these sockets available. Unlike in newer lounges where it’s common to find a power outlet next to every seat you’ll have to hunt around a bit to find one in this lounge, or stick to the working area.
As we mentioned above provided you avoid the busy periods in this lounge you will find it nice and quiet and so should be able to have your device charging within sight even if you settled in to a seat without a nearby socket. A different story of course if the lounge is busy.
Wi-Fi
We tested the Wi-Fi speed shortly after entering the lounge while it was still busy with passengers for the Muscat flight (note in the screenshot below my phone is set to Singapore time, so this is at 8.31am Bangkok time shortly before boarding for the Muscat flight was called).
The connection was fast and consistent – close to the speed we experienced during our review of the new SilverKris lounge in this terminal and a bit better than we experienced at the nearby EVA lounge. Certainly adequate for getting some work done even with larger email attachments involved.
Other Facilities
The Oman Air lounge also features two private relaxation rooms located in a quiet screened off section at the back of the ‘Rest Area’. Each has a daybed (Chaise Lounge) and with the light off becomes sufficiently dark for a snooze, though you can see the person directly opposite in the other daybed if it is occupied so privacy may be an issue.
A single shower is provided and we found this clean and well-stocked with toiletries and fresh towels.