Reader Question: Oman Air Business Error Fare Booked into Economy? Any Recourse?

A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question about Oman Air business class error fare that appears to be booking into economy, and what recourse they have.

Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll cover them here several times a week.

You can access Oman Air here.

Reader’s Question:

I know you stopped sharing error fares which makes sense.

Yesterday I couldn’t resist to book Rome-Phuket business class fare for August on Oman air for ~700EUR.

Later in the day, I received the booking with Amadeus TXT showing the class R – Business Yet when I checked Oman air website the ticket showed the booking as economy

I approached mytrip.com and they said they are checking with the airline.

From your experience, what can happen? If it is an economy ticket, what is my right? Can I cancel the ticket without charge due to change of class?

The reader is correct. We have decided not to cover “too-good-to-be-true” fares, as they tend to be more of a headache than anything else today.

In the past, we need to go back 10, 15, to 20 years, and these special deals were honored most of the time, like Alitalia’s Colombo to New York business fares that allowed you to bounce all over the Pacific, or Emirates first class fares from a city in Africa that allowed to travel to Toronto for about $200 in FIRST (return and I flew two of these).

But back then, most of these complex itineraries were printed on paper tickets that are far more complicated for airlines to invalidate than electronic ones that they can just mark “not-valid-for-travel” and you end with a “valid” ticket but with which you cannot travel.

Back To The Reader’s Question:

Yes. I was aware of this fare when it went live, but didn’t even look at it because the price was so off that the likelihood of it being honored in 2025, considering what Oman Air has previously done, was close to nil.

I just had a look at what may have caused this error with these R fares, and it probably has something to do with Oman Air’s joining the Oneworld Alliance and trying to align its fare classes with those of others.

It’s weird that if you pull up Oman Air’s fares, these R ones can be used for both economy and business.

Then, if you check flight availability, these R fares are considered business class.

It is probably the case that this is a fare mapping issue and not much what the reader can do than ask for a refund.

The ticket begins in Italy, a country that is part of the EU and where the EC 261/2004 Air Passenger Rights law also applies.

I would request that the OTA either rebook the ticket in business, as you bought it, or refund it promptly.

The airline likely doesn’t want to touch this at all, and it’s the agent’s responsibility to provide customer service regarding the ticket that is outside of the immediate departure, when the airline takes it over (they can take it over at any time, but tend not to).

Conclusion

These error fares always make rounds, and there is a reason for that. They are perfect for page views and engagement for websites and forums.

An excellent business class return fare from Europe to Bangkok is typically around 1,500 to 2,000 euros, and this Oman Air ticket is roughly one-third to half that price.

I don’t doubt that the reader will get a refund from the OTA, but the likelihood of actually flying this in business is close to zero.

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