Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

NEW: Get BA Silver-equivalent status from Malaysia Airlines in one trip

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Malaysia Airlines is the latest carrier to make a play for dissaffected British Airways Club members.

The difference here, of course, is that Malaysia Airlines is a sister airline of BA in the oneworld airline alliance.

The status you will get from Malaysia Airlines will get you benefits on your future British Airways flights.

Malaysia Airlines status promotion

What is the deal?

Take a look at this page of the Malaysia Airlines website.

You will receive Gold status in the Malaysia Airlines Enrich programme if you book:

  • a ‘full fare’ (not defined) business class or Business Suite cash ticket on Malaysia Airlines
  • for travel from London Heathrow
  • for travel to anywhere in Asia (Malaysia excluded), Australia or New Zealand

If you are flying to Kuala Lumpur or elsewhere in Malaysia:

  • you will get a bonus of 20% additional Enrich Points – but you won’t get status

What are the dates?

You must book AND travel by 30th June 2025.

Existing bookings must have been made from 7th April 2025.

What is Enrich Gold status worth?

Gold status with Malaysia Airlines is NOT equivalent to British Airways Gold status.

Enrich Gold is the mid-tier status level, so you get the same benefits as a British Airways Club Silver card.

Malaysia Airlines A350 throne seat business class

Your Malaysia Airlines Enrich Gold card would get you these benefits when flying BA:

  • lounge access
  • free seat selection at the time of booking
  • fast track security
  • priority boarding

What happens if you already have Malaysia Airlines status?

Existing elite members are not forgotten about.

A Gold member who flies in business class or Business Suite from London Heathrow to a non-Malaysian destination will automtaically get their membership renewed for another year.

A Platinum member who flies in business class or Business Suite from London Heathrow to a non-Malaysian destination will be able to gift Silver status to a friend.

What is Malaysia Airlines like?

We like it.

Here is our 2022 review of Malaysia Airlines business class on the Airbus A350-900, between Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur. A seat photo from that review is above.

The official web page outlining the business class and Business Suite (the old, renamed, First Class) products is here.

Find out more

Remember that you will need to open a Malaysia Airlines Enrich account if you don’t already have one and ensure that this number is in your qualifying Malaysia Airlines flight booking.

Remember that the miles from your qualifying flight will go into your Enrich account so you will not receive any Avios, although your Enrich miles can be used for British Airways flight redemptions.

You can find out more about this offer on the Malaysia Airlines website here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Category

oneworld alliance partners

Comments (37)

  • Throwawayname says:
    12 Apr12 April 14:20

    Do they offer good deals to anywhere? I can’t remember the last time I saw an attractive business class deal from any SE Asian airline- Chinese and Middle Eastern carriers are consistently cheaper (GF have just published some ex-CAI fares for under €1000 all in!), and there are reasonably frequent offers by TK, LH, and others (e.g. LOT).

    Reply
  • Garethgerry says:
    12 Apr12 April 15:49

    If there’s only 200, I presume there is no way of knowing before you buy if you qualify. Then it’s a bit of a lottery. 21 flights a week so we’ll over 10000 potential passengers and 200 upgrades.

    Reply
  • Francis Osakonor says:
    12 Apr12 April 15:58

    Love HfP

    Reply
  • KS says:
    12 Apr12 April 17:35

    Bit surprised the article doesn’t mention the 200 cap, seems quite a small number even if the offer excludes journeys ending in Malaysia.

    Doesn’t really feel like they’re giving much away here to be honest.

    Reply
  • Paul says:
    12 Apr12 April 19:11

    Not being dramatic, or harsh but what is the real benefit of BA silver or equivalent. I have several hundred thousand Avios and 3 two for one certs. I see no value in BA status – the boarding is a fiasco so I prefer to board last and disembark last. I only ever carry a small bag for under seat , and actively avoid exit rows. The food and beverages available in any and all LHR T5 restaurants and food vendors is vastly superior to BA lounges. The 20, 30 or 40 pounds to buy proper food is insignificant in comparison with cost of achieving status. I have never ever told anyone “I’m Emirites x” or “BA x” and don’t intend to start. If I fly with family I’ll pay for J or F. BA acutally did well creating this imaginary status, and to be fair to a lot of Flyertalk members, the fun seemed more in the achievement of securing Silver, Gold, etc. I’d not cross the road to get BA lifetime gold. I’d rather fly Easyjet than eat semi frozen salad from BA lounge while waiting for a shower in a shower cubicle that seems to have been bought in one piece for £20. I actually think flight experience is ok of I board last, disembark first and don’t eat or drink anything onboard. Well done BA, your status is actually a negative. As for seat selection, I fly ever week alone and do not care where I sit.

    Reply
    • Captain Haddock says:
      12 Apr12 April 20:18

      Paul, I feel that the BAEC (or now BAC) might not be the best choice for you. The article was demonstrating how one could achieve the equivalent of BA Silver through a flight with a different airline to BA – this doesn’t seem to fit your requirements.

      You say you’ve never told anyone “I’m Emirates X” or “BA x” – That is quite normal behaviour. Are you living somewhere where airline status is regularly brought up by others?

      Your opinion of the benefits, whilst obviously valid, entirely misses the point of the article.

      Paul, you are free to fly Easyjet – no drama. Also, relax, you don’t need to get excited if other folk want to do take a different walk through life, and all Rob has done is to demonstrate one of those routes.

      (Also, no idea why one would actively avoid exit rows – please come back and explain.)

      Reply
    • Will says:
      12 Apr12 April 21:28

      Not sure you’re the target audience for this website with what you’ve written there.

      Reply
      • kevin86 says:
        12 Apr12 April 22:49

        Well he is if he has several hundred thousand of avios

        Reply
        • Will says:
          13 Apr13 April 21:20

          Several hundred thousand avios but would rather fly easy jet.
          Not bothered about where he sits but embarks last and disembarks first.

          There’s a lot here that makes no sense at all.

          Reply
      • JDB says:
        12 Apr12 April 23:24

        Actually, I think he is exactly the right audience and, in the outside HfP/travel site world, in the majority. The value of status is de minimis. If someone genuinely values it, they would be willing to pay for the additional services. But they won’t. I shall lose my BA status soon but that’s of no concern whatsoever and I shall continue to fly BA for cash whenever convenient and for Avios a lot.

        I don’t need to have a BA Gold card or a Range Rover status symbol.

        Reply
        • RC says:
          13 Apr13 April 01:25

          Might the Range Rover comment betray a degree of wider reverse snobbery?
          The same as the BA manager types who view customers as an annoyance or ‘self loading cargo’?

          Reply
    • Ash says:
      12 Apr12 April 23:01

      I agree with you on this. You can pay for all the perks that status get you, and the food is better in the nicer restaurants in LHR than any of the lounges bar certain ones like Cathay.

      Not to mention that the quality of one world lounges is massively variable. Just flown back from Sevilla and the lounge was substandard, food from a school canteen vibes.

      I think it’s fine to have status if you achieve it naturally through flying but those engineering it or chasing it, time is better spent elsewhere

      Reply
      • Throwawayname says:
        13 Apr13 April 00:28

        That’s a rather simplistic view. Often the difference between renewing or not renewing my *G status boils down to paying Lufthansa €20 extra to book myself on a couple of economy sectors in S or W instead of T or Lima, and another €50 for a couple of business ones from P to Z. This doesn’t involve taking any extra trips or engineering weird routings, but it does ensure that I have somewhere to go, and when needed work from, during all those long and boring connections. Not only do €8 coffees at ZRH and airport restaurant prices [even] in Spain quickly add up, but metal seating and the need to carry around lots of possessions every time one goes to the toilet get old really quickly. Yes, it is possible to buy that type of access with a ticket, but do you really want to spend £600 of your hard earned cash (a grand’s worth of gross income) on a ticket to PRG and back?

        (Connecting is unavoidable for me as there aren’t daily direct flights to many places from BHX, MAN can also be surprisingly spotty for frequencies, and London is to be avoided at all costs as there’s no reasonable public transport option if travelling with luggage and driving on the motorway means being somebody else’s accident away from missing your flight)

        Reply
  • blue_wolf says:
    12 Apr12 April 20:09

    As someone who travels for work to Europe a couple of times a month in economy, and long-haul flights in premium economy – per company policy – it isn’t as simple as “just book business class”. Similarly, I’m loathe to spend my own money on lounges and fast track. Business class doesn’t seem to policy at any company I’ve worked at in my industry. So OWS/OWE benefits are greatly appreciated.

    Reply
    • Throwawayname says:
      12 Apr12 April 22:19

      It’s certainly cheaper, if not massively easier, to achieve FB Gold than to buy OWS through an overpriced ‘full-fare’ (or whatever) Malaysia ticket.

      Reply
  • Garethgerry says:
    12 Apr12 April 22:17

    Why has this become a bash BA fest.

    No-one is complaining about Malaysia airlines and the fact that this only is valid for first 200 is hidden in detailed t&Cs. Against UK advertising standards and I expect consumer law.

    Reply
    • Throwawayname says:
      12 Apr12 April 22:20

      They’d have to be pretty daft to stick to that limit and face the ill will, and maybe the odd County Court claim, associated with such a decision.

      Reply
  • Flyoff says:
    13 Apr13 April 04:17

    MH in my experience are difficult to trust. Additional luggage when you have OneWorld status – no-one knows. Earning points – it’s a lottery due to many fare buckets don’t earn and if you don’t get the points you expect it’s a challenge to get them. Assume you won’t get anything and be delighted when you do.

    Reply

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please click here to read our data protection policy before submitting your comment

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!