How to save Avios flying to Asia with Malaysia Airlines

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• darrenf says:

  9 May9 May 07:03

  and if you really have the time and inclination, it’s worth nothing that SIN-SYD is 3908 miles, just inside a lower band as KUL-SYD is 4088. I flew CDG-KUL / SIN-SYD on with avios just this February!

  • Richie says:

    9 May9 May 07:48

    I can greatly recommend the night sleeper train between kul and sin . First class is about £30pp which includes a twin cabin, shower and food. See seat61.com for details.

• Anon says:

  9 May9 May 07:06

  Sheraton Langkawi is 1/2 decent too, good 1 night stopover on way to Ko Lipe via 1hr fast ferry.

  The routes via Amsterdam are very interesting, esp. for us north of Watford…

• Phillip says:

  9 May9 May 07:23

  It’s also worth noting that, if you include a Thai stop over with Malaysian, the return flight via Kuala Lumpur can benefit from minimal charges. For example Phuket-Kuala Lumpur-London one way in business is 79,000 and £12, compared to the direct flight from Kuala Lumpur at 70,000 Avios and £128. This is similar to flights with Sri Lankan from India to London via Colombo, where the fees are as low as £3, compared to flying directly out of Colombo with higher taxes. If only there was any availability.

• Phil says:

  9 May9 May 07:46

  I did LGW-AMS-KUL in business only last month and took advantage of the low taxes and sweet spot. Connections on BA were fine to catch the Malaysia leg. I was flying on to Cambodia with Air Asia for an extra £50. I think the new KLIA 2 opens shortly so the hour bus or taxi journey to the low cost terminal should make it even easier

  • TTT says:

    9 May9 May 21:29

    KLIA 2 is opened (new LCC terminal). It takes only 3 mins by KLIA Ekspres from the Main Terminal building where MH flies into (and pretty much all other airlines). Otherwise you could grab a sort taxi ride. You could practically see KLIA 2 from Main Terminal but you could definitely not walk there.

• Waribai says:

  9 May9 May 08:05

  Thanks for this. There is the slight elephant in the room regarding safety of the airline!
  Haven’t stayed at FS but did stay at the Danna a couple of years ago and that is a great property too and the marina next to the hotel had some good restaurants. I think it also has the best stretch of beach on Langkawi but even then it’s not great compared to some of the beaches on the East coast or on Borneo.

  • Bsuije says:

    9 May9 May 09:54

    Update on The Danna from a couple of weeks ago – there’s now a building site nearby (for a butterfly park, I think) which ruins the peace and quiet you might have been looking for when you booked this hotel. It’s a real shame to be honest, because the hotel itself is absolutely wonderful!

    • Worzel says:

      9 May9 May 16:45

      I’m not surprised to learn this Bsuije- there appeared to be quite a bit of construction going on generally when we visited Langkawi 18 months ago.
      Waribai, you mention a comparison with beaches on the East Coast and I wonder whether you might give a couple of brief “pointers” – I appreciate that I might be straying slightly OT but hope others won’t object.

• JK says:

  9 May9 May 08:23

  We’re off to KUL next year, but only for 3 nights before we head off to Bali (DPS). The MH flights from KUL to DPS cost only £23 in taxes, for 2 people in business!! So I’d highly recommend this for people going to Bali (think it was 20k Avios each too).

  We happen to have chosen a slightly crazy routing to get there. LHR-AMS on BA, then AMS-HKG-KUL on CX. Then MH from KUL-DPS. And finally, DPS-DOH-LHR. All to save Avios and taxes!

  Why didn’t we fly MH all the way from LHR, or even AMS? Especially considering the new A380 on the LHR route? Because they freaking installed angled-beds on it!!!! WHY??? I just don’t understand the logic, on a brand new plane. Totally unbelievable. I’d have been happy to pay the additional taxes if it was a proper lie-flat seat, and avoid all the connections. But my wife just wasn’t keen on not having the proper bed on such a long flight. Plus, I’ve never flown CX and am very keen to – so MH’s loss! And I’m sure I’m not the only one who would avoid their A380 for this reason (along with the elephant in the room that Waribai mentions – although I can deal with that).

  • Phillip says:

    9 May9 May 08:53

    I would agree that CX offers the much superior product. And, B787 on Qatar on your return from Bali.

    MH’s business class on the A380 is a bit “strange” in that it is designed and marketed as 180 degree flat bed, but there is definitely a “kink” to it. That said, I wouldn’t call it an angled bed!

  • darrenf says:

    9 May9 May 10:03

    I flew MH’s A380 in J – having read all the reports of the seat being angled – and found it very comfortable and any kink barely noticeable. I certainly didn’t slide down.

• Richie says:

  9 May9 May 08:30

  Is there a similar trick for hkg on cathey? I guess it’s more miles?

  • Rob says:

    9 May9 May 09:34

    Use Great Circle Mapper and input, say fra-hkg in the box. It will pull up the distance. Then try other starting points for Cathay.

• Froggitt says:

  9 May9 May 08:37

  OT I know, but how about a post next week on what I could do with all my VS FC Miles. Or is a VS flight all I can do 😀

  • CV says:

    9 May9 May 08:45

    Ironically, you can book MAS flights! Other airlines are listed on the FC website. You need to call to make the booking, others have posted be about it, so may better contribute.

  • Rob says:

    9 May9 May 09:38

    Virgin has their list of partner airlines online. Booking is painful by all accounts. Best bargain BY FAR is Air China in First or Business to Beijing for very few miles.

    Can also move to Hilton at 2 to 3 or IHG at 1 to 1.

    Virgin gift vouchers are £50 for 12,500, valid against lots of Virgin companies.

    Space trips via Virgin Galactic are also available!

    • Jon says:

      9 May9 May 10:33

      I’ve booked MAS three times now via Virgin, using FC miles. No problem at all – call centre is very helpful, got exactly the dates I wanted (first trip all done on the first call, second and third trips took a couple of calls to firm up (they had to request it then confirm 24 hours later), third trip couldn’t get First but no problem getting Business instead). 145k VS miles for LHR-KUL-LHR in First, 115k for Business. (Another sweet spot for VS miles looks like Air New Zealand LHR-LAX return for 70k miles in Business, incidentally).

      As an aside, I would say that MAS A380 economy is one of the best there is – very comfortable seat, decent IFE, good service and pretty decent food by economy standards. And competitive prices for a direct flight.

      No qualms whatsoever re safety.

      Raffles – don’t know whether this might make for an article, but it would be interesting to know whether there are any ways for those of us in the UK to collect MAS Enrich miles, other than by flying with them, especially as once a year or so they do a half-price redemption sale…

      • Rob says:

        9 May9 May 12:16

        Malaysia is a partner with the International Dollar (or Euro) Cards issued by Amex. Their MR scheme has different partners and MAS is in there. And, even better, at 1:1. More here – https://headforpoints.com/2013/07/16/50-bonus-on-your-entire-amex-membership-rewards-balance-when-you-get-an-amex-idc-card/

        MAS is not an SPG partner which is the obvious one to try.

        • Jon says:

          9 May9 May 12:39

          Bingo! 😉

          Thank you Raffles!

        • Alan says:

          9 May9 May 15:08

          Although just to highlight (as you do in your article) that SQ are also an ICC partner – 1:1 ratio for them made a Suites class redemption a no-brainer compared to flying BA!

      • Alan says:

        9 May9 May 15:06

        Re. NZ LHR-LAX That’s great value on a very nice product – sadly I’m assuming the availability is as poor as it was when previously booking them via bmi?

        • Jon says:

          9 May9 May 15:46

          I haven’t actually booked the NZ option so far – but I did enquire a month or so back. They had one seat available for my dates, but I needed two… :-/

      • TTT says:

        9 May9 May 21:44

        145K sounds good to me. Am surprised and will look into it. I think Malaysia (MH) is all about service. Casual friendly but professional enough, typical of Malaysians. Some may not like it, but they did win Skytrax’s World’s Best Crew probably 6 times..more than any other airline… Average hard product compared to EY, EK, QR, CX or SQ. I may seem bias as a Malaysian, but I’m all EY for a very long time 😉

        Another thing – MH A380 is really different to 777’s in nearly all aspects. Everything is better. So it’s probably worth flying through Paris instead..

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