How to get fast track oneworld status with Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines is running a promotional campaign to encourage people to try out its impressive business class.

If you book a business class flight to Australia or selected destinations in South East Asia, excluding Kuala Lumpur, between now and Monday 16th September you will automatically achieve Enrich Gold status. This is the equivalent of British Airways Silver status and gives you the same benefits when flying with BA including lounge access across the oneworld network.

You must travel before 30th July 2020 and your status upgrade is only processed after your flight has taken place.  You will retain the status until March 2021.

If you are already an Enrich Gold member, you will receive 50,000 elite miles instead. Unfortunately you can’t pick which one you would rather have!  You can see details of the promotion, including qualifying routes and qualifying fare classes, on the special landing page on the Malaysia Airlines website here.

Malaysia Airlines flies its A350-900 aircraft to and from London Heathrow.  It is an excellent aircraft to be on and has the lower cabin altitude and higher humidity levels that make a noticeable difference on long haul sectors.

Malaysia Airlines’ A350s are outfitted with a business class product we reviewed here as well as the rebranded ‘Business Suite’, the former first class seat, here.  As you can see, it is very much a step above British Airways Club World.

However, whilst this is a decent offer, it is not as lucrative as you might first think.  Remember that an identical trip in Business Class on Qatar Airways to the same Asian destinations gets you 560 British Airways tier points, which is almost BA Silver, the equivalent of Enrich Gold.  (You are taking 4 x 140 tier point long-haul flights, with the change in Doha.) 

You may find this a more attractive proposition given the greater flexibility of British Airways Silver vs Enrich Gold and, importantly, the soft-landing down to British Airways Bronze that you would receive when your Silver membership period ends.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2023)

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:

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

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

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.

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.

EDIT: Applications for this card are temporarily suspended due to IT issues with the British Airways On Business SME loyalty scheme.

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.

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