Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Malaysia Airlines launches a special promotion for Visa cardholders

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Malaysia Airlines is running a special promotion with Visa this weekend.

You can save an additional 5% on all tickets in both Economy and Business as long as you travel by 6th May.  You can ONLY get the discount if you book via this page of the Malaysia Airlines website.

The offer will be running every weekend until the end of March, but this weekend it coincides with – and doubles up with – the January sale savings.  As well as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines has good connections to Australia and elsewhere in Asia.

Malaysia Airlines A350 business class

Remember that you earn Avios and British Airways tier points when you fly with Malaysia Airlines as both are members of the oneworld alliance.

Malaysia Airlines has recently taken delivery of new A350-900 aircraft and is now operating them on the Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route.  There are two daily departures from Terminal 4 at 10.25 and 21.25.

Full details of the new planes are on their website here.  The Business Class layout looks pretty good.  It is a staggered 1-2-1 or 1-2-2 layout, similar to Aer Lingus.  It even has two Aer Lingus-style ‘throne’ seats on the right-hand side.  On the left, one row has ‘table / seat’, the one behind ‘seat / table’ and so on, so that your feet slot under the table area of the seat in front.  The Qatar Qsuite works in a similar way.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

oneworld alliance partners

Comments (84)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • James says:
    19 Jan19 January 07:20

    Didn’t I read something somewhere about 20% off MH flights using a visa card recently ??

    I wonder if that would stack with this 5%

    Anyone know any already excellent fares on MH ?!

  • Waribai says:
    19 Jan19 January 07:25

    It seems that It only works for flights outbound from Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth), London and Auckland. I was hoping to do some South East Asia hopping on MAS for BA silver. Any other discounts around?

    • BJ says:
      19 Jan19 January 10:49

      MAS flights exThailand or Vietnam are steeply discounted from time to time. Better to find them on likes of Expedis than their own website.

    • Kevin says:
      19 Jan19 January 10:56

      Be aware, I flew with MAS economy that booked directly with It and credit the miles to BA, but BA only gave zero point to the flights (several Asia flights) which I end up lost all the points if credit to Enrich.

      Perhaps business class is difference

      • Rob says:
        19 Jan19 January 11:35

        You need to check the sub class against the list on BA.com of what they accept.

      • Alex Sm says:
        19 Jan19 January 11:37

        Try to check with wheretocredit.com before you assign a FF number to your booking. Some classes are not eligible for miles credit with partner airlines

  • Steve says:
    19 Jan19 January 08:26

    For the Regent Singapore, it is still showing up in IHG searches, with no mention of leaving the chain (when you click through to get details).

    • Rob says:
      19 Jan19 January 09:38

      Definitely off, because the hotel itself is owned by the same family which recently bought the Capella hotel brand and they want to integrate them. Was meant to be 1st January.

  • Roger says:
    19 Jan19 January 08:27

    OT_ If my friend or family has no interest in spending on a new card, can they cancel Amex on receipt of card with/without activating the card?
    They are happy for me to get the Amex Platinum sign up bonus but not to spend on new card.

    • Roger* says:
      19 Jan19 January 08:38

      You mean after they’ve applied, been accepted and their first annual fee has been charged, not to mention the ding on their credit report?

    • Anna says:
      19 Jan19 January 08:38

      If they cancel via chat they will need to pass the security screening so need to ensure they have all the details. It’s certainly possible to cancel without having spent, I assume there’s no actual requirement to activate. The other option is cancelling by letter, however this would take longer – they do it there and then via chat (though they will try and persuade you to keep the card!)

      • Anna says:
        19 Jan19 January 08:40

        Also taking the out card may affect your friend’s credit score but Roger* has beaten me to this. However Roger (no asterisk) does not specify if his friend has applied for a fee-charging card so this may not be an issue.

    • Grant says:
      19 Jan19 January 08:39

      IME the referral bonus normally lands in my account before the recipient has received their card, so that would suggest that spending is not a condition of receiving the referral bonus. No idea if there would be an attempt to clawback if the card was subsequently cancelled without being activated or used.

      • Anna says:
        19 Jan19 January 08:41

        Definitely not clawed back in the event of no spend. And spending is not required by the Ts and Cs anyway.

      • Lady London says:
        19 Jan19 January 16:08

        I’m not sure how many times I would want friends to do this though! Amex keeps very long records.

        • Doug M says:
          19 Jan19 January 16:41

          But do they care. They don’t use the records to block churners, so why would it matter?

    • Roger says:
      19 Jan19 January 08:44

      Thanks all for replies, it is a fee free card on which they have no interest to spend.
      Not too worried about credit score and hence the only reason to help.

      • Roger says:
        19 Jan19 January 08:53

        On credit score front, taking a 30/40 point ding on Credit Score, is that worth it when you have a family referral from Amex Platinum?

        • Roger says:
          19 Jan19 January 09:00

          Seriously Mrs Roger who has 3 Amex Application in last 3 or 4 months has seen her score drop from 999 to 960.
          I have only applied one card in last 6 months (cancelled a couple during this time though) and my score which was about 960 has gone up to 995.

        • Mr Dee says:
          19 Jan19 January 09:22

          I wouldn’t even think twice about a credit score

        • callum says:
          19 Jan19 January 10:57

          Your credit score means absolutely nothing. The only vaguely useful thing about them is they can distinguish between terrible/average/good+ reports for those unable to interpret their own.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        19 Jan19 January 12:03

        Why not spend for them and collect the points?

  • The Original Nick says:
    19 Jan19 January 08:30

    O;T, SPG points left my Amex account last night. When will they show at my SPG/MARRIOTT account?
    Thanks.

  • Roger says:
    19 Jan19 January 09:58

    e-Rewards to United MP -> Transfer seems instant.
    Just logged in to United MP account and I can see my miles credited plus my MP point expiry reset by 18 months. Sounds great result.

  • N says:
    19 Jan19 January 10:32

    Unfair to describe Montenegro as not prime tourism country. Yes, the capital Podgorica has almost nothing to entertain a tourist (other than a very good Hilton), but the country as a while is stunning, varied and the people so incredibly warm welcoming and proud of their small bit of the world. Spending two weeks driving around Montenegro and exploring the country has been one of my top 3 holidays in the past 5 years.

    • meta says:
      19 Jan19 January 16:07

      Agreed and there are some really luxurious hotels, like Aman Sveti Stefan. It is known as a high-class destination as nearby Croatia has become overcrowded. If you want a bit more peaceful summer holiday, head there as you can’t walk normally around Dubrovnik in July/August.

      • Alex Sm says:
        20 Jan20 January 16:10

        Who goes to Dubrovnik (and elsewhere) in July-August? Hot as hell, lots of noisy kids, crowds everywhere and prices exorbitant…

    • Alex Sm says:
      20 Jan20 January 16:12

      My partner and only spent a day there – just a day – but we managed to see Herzeg Novi, Kotor Bay, Perast island, and Budva. All nice places! My sister and her partner spend a week on a hiking holiday there in 2014 and were also very happy

  • Ceri Chaplin says:
    19 Jan19 January 10:47

    OT
    I suspect that I know the answer, but….

    Have just booked an ex-Europe Qatar flight to Singapore. I already have two qualifying flights on BA, but need two more for silver. I presume that if I booked reward flights for the connection flights in Europe, these would not count as ‘qualifying;?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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