All the benefits of being a social member of the MRFC

A few weeks ago I blogged about how I've been busy with Muscat Rugby Football Club (MRFC) stuff, and that every now and then I'd mutter about it here. I'll try not to talk about them too much here, but I felt that this post was worth while to share with you all.

You see, since being asked to help out at the rugby club, we (the committee) have been very busy. And a major result from some of our activities came in yesterday as MRFC have now signed a Contract with Oman Air for its annual travel requirements around the GCC - but the real interesting bit for those of you reading this is quite simple: Members of the MRFC can get a 10% discount on bookings when flying from Muscat to Europe, Asia (but not the GCC) and the Pacific.

Which I think is pretty awesome.

But then again, did you know all of the current benefits for members of the MRFC? The list is growing every week, but here is a current (14th September 2017) list of the benefits of being a member of the MRFC:

1. 10% discount at Grand Hyatt: Safari Pub (including complimentary entry) & Safari Grill House
2. 20% discount at Grand Hyatt: Tuscany, Mohka Café, Sirj Tea Lounge, John Barry Bar, Marjan Restaurant & Pool Bar, Habana (after the happy hour ends)
3. 30% discount on Club Olympus gym membership at Grand Hyatt
4. 75% discount on pool access at the Grand Hyatt 1st Sept 2017 – 31st May 2018, 100% discount on pool access at the Grand Hyatt 1st June 2018 – 31st August 2018 (the current charge for people to visit the pool at the Grand Hyatt is RO 10 per person - so a 75% discount is RO 7.5 off). Kids 12 and under (who are MRFC members) get complimentary use of the pool year round. There are some black out dates - see MRFC website for full details.
5. Special rate of RO 65 including breakfast at the Grand Hyatt
6. 30% off in O'Malley's Pub in the Radisson Blu
7. 20% off in O Sole Mio in the Radisson Blu
8. 15% off in Grind Floor, Olivios Restaurant & Terrace, The Lazy Lizard and Casa Di Bacco in the Radisson Blu
9. 20% off food and drink at the Le Petit Belge (awesome looking new Belgian beer bar) in the new Crowne Plaza at Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (due to open in early November). Deal extends up to 3 additional people from the card holder.
10. 15% off food and drink at Mosaic, Connexions and Wadi Bar in the new Crowne Plaza at Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (due to open in early November). Deal extends up to 3 additional people from the card holder.
11. 10% off in Tomato, Musandam Cafe & Terrace, Al Ghazal Pub, Majlis al Shams and the Tiki bar in the InterContinental Hotel
12. Up to 10% discount on bookings with British Airways
13. 10% discount on bookings to Europe, Asia (not GCC) and Pacific on Oman Air
14. 10% discount at The Bank
15. 15% discount on Food & Drink at On The Rocks before 11pm daily
16. 25% off Massage and Hamman treatments at Six Senses Spa – Al Bustan Palace before September 31, 2017
17. Rumba Lattina, Monks Tap House and Bait Al Shams: Four people pay, 5th person eats free. 1 free drink for every main course purchased. Unlimited selected drinks if more than RO 9 spent. 20% discount on weekends.
18. Up to 29% discount on green fees at Ghala Golf Course
19. 10% off green fees at PDO Golf Course
20. 10% off on all vaccinations, consultations and routine surgeries (such as neutering and spaying) at Al Qurum Veterinary Clinic (Azaiba). 5% off on all pet shop items (food, treats and accessories).
21. 20% off at Casper & Gambini's, Eatalian and Bab Idris in the Avenues Mall
22. 10% off at Falafel & more and From the Tree in the Avenues Mall
23. 10% off at Ayana Spa
24. 10% off food and soft drinks at Mumtaz Mahal
25. Special annual rate of RO 89 for all locations at Horizon Fitness
26. Free entry to Paintball (just buy your balls) and a 25% off Lazer tag at Paintball Oman

And more discounts are being negotiated which will be reflected on the MRFC discounts page here: http://muscatrugby.net/offers-2/ 

So - as you can see from above, I think the benefits of being a social member of the rugby club are pretty significant. There is no requirement to want to play, or watch rugby for social members, but if you wouldn't mind a spot of rugby then players are welcome to get in touch. Even our veterans players (over 35) are growing - they play touch rugby every Tuesday evening. And that is before the extraordinarily success of the kids rugby, the Muscat Pirates.

Now, the hard sell. Keeping grass green, playing rugby in a country where 99.9% of grass pitches are for football, and travelling to fulfil fixtures costs money. Which is why the MRFC work so hard to deliver solid benefits to those of you who choose to spend your hard earned money on a social membership of the club.

The cost of a single person annual membership is RO 50 per year, and a family (2 adults and up to 3 kids) is RO 100 per year. You can sign up simply by visiting the website here and in the online form selecting Social Member - Single, or Social Member - Family (whichever is applicable). You simply fill in your details, attach the required photos (they do not need to be passport photo's, they just need to be photo's showing your face clearly) and then hit submit. Someone will be in touch with you after a day or 2.

If you'd like your kid(s) to play rugby, then you need to register them with the Muscat Pirates who charge RO 60 per child per season. If you are a parent of a Muscat Pirate, a family membership to MRFC (and access to all of the discounts above) is discounted to RO 50 per family (2 adults and up to 3 kids). Muscat Pirates members who do not join the MRFC do not get access to the benefits listed above.

Now, if you have a liquor license, you can always head into OUA, ONAS or SCS before the end of this month and buy your adult beverages, where, in exchange for buying specific products in the adult soda store, you'll get little vouchers for RO 2 each (depending on how much you spend). These are called Rugby Bucks, and you can treat them like cash when paying for your MRFC membership - so if you get RO 20 worth of Rugby Bucks, and you're buying a family membership, you pay RO 80 cash and then hand in the RO 20 worth of Rugby Bucks.

You can MRFC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and their website to see the latest news and events with the club.

le fin.