Bits: fewer Malaysia Airlines Avios options, win with IHG’s Advent competition

News in brief:

Malaysia Airlines culls European routes in restructuring

It has, of course, been a torrid time for Malaysia Airlines over the last couple of years.

It seems like only yesterday when I was writing articles like this one on Head for Points, where they were celebrating their entry into the oneworld alliance and their A380 service to Heathrow.  The carrier was also opening up other routes to Europe which offered interesting low tax redemption options for your Avios points.

The events of the last year changed all that.  The carrier was forced into a massive restructuring which led to the announcement yesterday.

Malaysia Airlines is effectively handing over all of its long-haul routes to Emirates.  In what is effectively a carbon copy of the Qantas relationship, Malaysia will be dropping its Paris and Amsterdam routes after Christmas, with Frankfurt having already gone.  London will be the only direct service remaining to Europe.

At the same time, Malaysia will codeshare with Emirates on the vast majority of Emirates routes.  Malaysia will now focus on sending passengers to Dubai and then hand them over to Emirates to deliver to their final destination.

As with Qantas, this might lead to the position where a Malaysia Airlines codeshare, operated by Emirates, would allow you to earn British Airways tier points and Avios.  It will not be possible to redeem Avios for the Malaysia Airlines codeshare services flown by Emirates.

This is good news for Malaysia Airlines, allowing it to cut costs and refocus on its routes around Asia.  Given that British Airways has recently launched a Kuala Lumpur service I was a little surprised to see that route reprieved.

As far as I know, Malaysia has still drawn a blank in its plans to sell or lease its fleet of six A380 planes.  With the oil price low, the fuel efficiency benefits of flying such a large aircraft no longer seem to justify – unless you are Emirates – the downside of having to sell so many seats each day.   Malaysia would presumably have tried to get Emirates to take the planes as part of this codeshare deal but seemingly there was no interest.

More details on the restructuring can be found here.

Win daily prizes with IHG’s Advent competition

IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn / Crowne Plaza / InterContinental etc scheme, has launched an Advent competition which runs until 24th December.

Each day, five people will win a prize from IHG’s merchandise catalogue.

You may not know that IHG has a merchandise catalogue.  You’ll find it here, it is called Exclusively Yours.  The reason I don’t discuss it is that, apart from rare promotions, it is terrible value for your points.

Of course, if they are giving the stuff away, it is a different matter!  You will find the competition here.  You will need to click back to the catalogue as each day you need to look up the price of that particular prize in points.

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IHG One Rewards update – April 2025:

Get bonus points: IHG is not currently running a global promotion.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

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