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I just saw a video on YouTube by someone called “Tim Lewis TCF” suggesting Malaysian airlines FF as a way to attain OWS or OWE status.
At first glance it does seem very reasonable. Calendar year tier point collection period. New status applies for remainder of current year, plus the following year, plus 3 months (I think). Not aware of any requirement to actually fly Malaysian. It seems they have a soft landing policy too.
Status based on mileage zones and cabin of travel. London to Madrid in *economy* is 2 points, business only bumps that to 3. 60 points for OWS and 100 for OWE.
That’s OWS for only 30 short haul flights around Europe (500-1200m) if I’m not mistaken (old BA option was 50 albeit domestics would count below 500m).
And in the mentioned video and example was LHR to Philadelphia for 6 points and then on to West coast for 4 points (that’s all in economy by the way – business earns marginally more). Do that return and you’re 33% OWS for not much spend.
Most of my premium travel is with Avios and vouchers, but I do significant short haul oneworld economy cash flying so this could work for me.
Any thoughts, have I missed anything? Not fussed about the earning rate as that’s now minimal from BA too. Only issue I see is trying to apply Malaysian status benefits (seat selection, extra baggage) to a reward ticket booked via BA with Avios. I know many OW airlines you can book a reward with them and then change FF number – is that easy/accepted with BA?
Does anyone know if all OWE can use the First Wing at LHR?
The problem I see here is your counterparty risk.
In my experience – and I know others have had the same – MAS are happy to act in ways that are outright fraudulent. During the pandemic, they cancelled flights and refused to give refunds, on the basis that customers had bought non-refundable tickets.
Yep granted. Although my plan would perhaps be just to credit primarily Iberia and BA flights to MAS in order to attain OW status. Any flight issues would be directed to the booking airline. I need to do more research but most of my trips are 4 short haul economy or biz sectors (return). So only one a month would be enough for Oneworld Emerald. Certainly food for thought.
I hope it’s not an issue to post the following link – please delete if it is. If you can organically achieve your desired status level without altering travel patterns or having to consider TP runs, that has to be preferable. This calculator lets you enter a series of flights you may typically take in a year, and shows you how close to a particular alliance tier you are across all the schemes. Entering 50 LHR to EU economy flights shows that MAS is the second easiest with RJ Royal Club marginally taking top spot, for Oneworld Emerald. Be interesting to hear from anyone with status or experience in either of them.
Hi, I’m a Enrich Platinum holder via complementary from dad. MAS have colab with Am Bank to release 2 credit cards (Free or Paid) that decreases the status treshold by 30%. So, it will be 42 elite miles for OWS, and 70 elite miles for OWE. And has come to my dad’s attetion that the First class lounge in KLIA is getting rammed recently. So, we might predict that something might change in the future (just us speculating from observation).
Because I am based in Liverpool, I don’t do One world flights around europe as often as i would like to, to make full use of my status. But, I did manage to achieve OWS status on my own just in case dad does not make it. I did consider crediting my OW flights to BAEC before all this shake up, because i collect Avios via Amex, but decided not to. I have found that flying home to Malaysia via Qatar allows me to rack up the most elite miles.
Example: MAS direct flight LHR-KLIA in economy gives you 8 elite miles per sector.
MAN-DOH-KLIA gives you 4 points for the first sector and 6 points for the second sector, that gives us 10 elite miles.Hopefully this helps in any consideration.
@PB2 I have recently redeemed a BA reward flight from HKG-MAN due to fly in february 2025 with companion voucher. I have managed to stick my Enrich OWE status in there to select seats for free, at the time, I’ve done it via Finnair website. But i reckon the recent advise is via Air Moroc/Royal jordanian (I forgotten which one)
@chowkit98 Thanks for the info. With regards changing FF number I’ve done similar with Iberia Plus reward bookings to add a BA FF number so sounds like it works the same way.
@PB2 additionally, the elite miles collection period is Jan -Dec. If you qualify for OWE in september 2025, you have status for the rest of 2025, the whole of 2026, and until March 2027 (i think). Another benefit is Elite Miles carry forward, for example, if by the end of 2025, you collected 110 elite miles, the excess 10 miles will be carried forward to 2026 to start you off, the maximum value u can carry forward is 50% of requalification requierment. So if you collected 160, you get 50 carried forward. hope that makes sense.
I too am looking at Enrich as a new home for my 2025 TP/Elite miles. I am already Gold Ba for 2025 post March but due to the uncertainty about soft landings- how can BA leave this in the air?- I think I need to find a new home for my new cash spend this year.
A concern with Enrich is that they won’t allow pre seat selection for OWE members on MAS metal,. so others may do the same in return( tho not BA it seems) and points earned on their flights that I have badged as BAEC have just gone missing twice now, call centre has a habit of just ringing off when it gets a bit complicated, no matter how nice you are to them. Sinking heart feeling. Who knows if QR is any better?Yep granted. Although my plan would perhaps be just to credit primarily Iberia and BA flights to MAS in order to attain OW status.
My point however was that you’re also going to build up a pool of miles that risk becoming useless overnight. Are you better having more confidence over the treatment of the miles or gaining the status benefits?
Definitely something to consider but for my case, my last two BA short haul European economy flights for example, had underlying fares of £16 and £12, so even as gold I earnt £1.44 and £1.17 of Avios, at 1p each. So since BA diminished the earn from flights I’m almost happy to write them off as the status brings much more value to my travel experience. I’m sitting on a rather foolishly large pot of Avios, not helped by having had 2 long haul family redemptions cancelled this winter due family reasons. Ironically I earnt £11.04 of avios at Paul Smith LHR before catching the flight that earnt £1.44…
So my potential relationship with MAS would likely be just gaining the OW status. Worst case they move the goalposts at short notice, or refuse to credit some missing points, but after recent BA events we’re not immune to that from European carriers either.
MH devalued recently, so cant be doing it again any time soon?
@chowkit98 is your complementary membership via your dad a benefit for all MAS members at a certain level of status/tier points? I see with (OW Emerald) Platinum Hawk at RJ you can nominate a OW Sapphire card for a partner which is decent – although may only be a one off, not every year? Have to say the RJ website (on a mobile at least) doesn’t exactly scream “quality”!
@PB2 Yes, it is via him reaching OWE Platinum with Enrich. I will keep the OWE as long as he maintains his Platinum status. No further requirements. When he got his Platinum status, he can nominate 1 person to share the benefit of OWE. (Spouse/Sibling/Children)
Great thanks – wonder if that’s still written anywhere officially on their site. Ideal for my partner as she will struggle to renew.
@PB2 The information regarding Enrich Plat benefits on here is still up to date, it’s the same description from my enrich app. Idk why is it so hard to navigate this info on MAS website.
Hmmm… It looks like Malaysia Airlines might allow you to credit flights not only on Oneworld partners (e.g., BA, AA), but also Air France and KLM.
If true, as I’m in Glasgow, where I find Flying Blue good for going east and Oneworld good for going west, MH Enrich might be an interesting alternative for us for status going forward.
Some of the cheapest MH fares gives 0 avios/TP on BA, make sure it does not apply to enrich also.
Been Enrich Platinum for many years now, no problem at all accessing OWE benefits, lounges, First Wing at LHR, seat selection, etc.
If you treat Enrich purely as a way to get OneWorld status, you’ll probably have nothing to be disappointed by. But beyond that – meh. Keep in mind it’s no longer really a frequent flyer programme, and has instead become a “lifestyle” programme, with the emphasis very much on redeeming points for low-cost/low-value money-off vouchers at pretty much every high-street retailer under the sun, same as every other loyalty scheme in Malaysia, with almost nothing to differentiate them or even make them relevant to air travel.
They also seem to have made a conscious decision to (a) appeal primarily to occasional/infrequent price-sensitive economy leisure travellers, and (b) actively alienate frequent premium-cabin travellers.
Tier points earning, particularly on long haul, is very much skewed in favour of economy travel – eg LHR-KUL in economy earns 8 tier points each way, while business earns 10 despite typically costing around 4-5 times the price.
I think there have been about 5 no-notice / no communication re-valuations of Enrich points just in the last couple of years, and aside from the good-luck-trying-to-find-one Enrich Saver fares, flight redemptions are eye-wateringly stupid prices (eg LHR-KUL is regularly anywhere from 300,000 to 750,000 points in business class, one way). It has become a bit of a joke, and I would definitely treat any points you any earn as purely a nice-to-have bonus, rather than anything that should influence your purchasing behaviour. There can be some value to be had here and there, but it’s hit and miss and very inconsistent. And if you do save enough for a flight redemption, read the T&Cs (if you can find them) very carefully indeed – don’t assume they have the same flexibility of an Avios redemption.
Overall, I would say it’s a programme that has lost its way and desperately needs to be revamped. But perhaps it will find a new lease of life on the back of BA’s changes. Keep your expectations low and you won’t be disappointed 😉
Some of the cheapest MH fares gives 0 avios/TP on BA, make sure it does not apply to enrich also.
Well, the cheapest MH fares will obviously credit to Enrich.
If you mean make sure BA flights will credit to Enrich, I’ve gone through the various booking classes for BA at wheretocredit.com for economy, premium economy, and business and it seems like these would all be okay. That said, wheretocredit is a third-party site and focuses on miles earning rather than status points, so potential for errors/inconsistencies.
Looking at the MH website, I’m not clear how premium economy flights on partners are treated for Elite Points. As MH doesn’t have PE, their chart on Elite-Points earning doesn’t include it and I can’t see clear info about partners. We have some PE flights in 2025 and I’d be concerned it’s treated the same as economy.
As we normally travel as a family of 3, I might test the waters by signing our son up to MH Enrich and switching just his FFP number in our 2025 bookings, but leave ours as BAEC for now until we see how things go. MH seems to have a kid-focused part of Enrich called MH Young Explorers Club (and we’ve also found MH quite good for kids onboard too).
I have to agree with @JON here, redemption for reward flights with Enrich is not great, and it is not flights from all OW alliances.
in regards to crediting KLM flights @RK228, this is based on my dad’s rants. You only credit Enrich points, and not elite miles for TP qualification. I have also found this this confirm it. https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/content/dam/mas/enrich/faq/FAQRBA_27Jan2021.pdf (Jump straight to Q&A63.)
The problem I see here is your counterparty risk.
In my experience – and I know others have had the same – MAS are happy to act in ways that are outright fraudulent. During the pandemic, they cancelled flights and refused to give refunds, on the basis that customers had bought non-refundable tickets.
All airlines were and are still capable of this behaviour to be honest – have a look at this article re BA and Ryanair during the pandemic
– https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-launches-action-against-british-airways-and-ryanair-over-refunds
– https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/06/cma-launches-investigation-ryanair-british-airways/in regards to crediting KLM flights @RK228, this is based on my dad’s rants. You only credit Enrich points, and not elite miles for TP qualification. I have also found this this confirm it. https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/content/dam/mas/enrich/faq/FAQRBA_27Jan2021.pdf (Jump straight to Q&A63.)
Ahhh, that’s a shame; MH Enrich is so close to being perfect for us. Thanks for the helpful info.
Thanks all for the info. Food for thought.
@PB2 I have recently redeemed a BA reward flight from HKG-MAN due to fly in february 2025 with companion voucher. I have managed to stick my Enrich OWE status in there to select seats for free, at the time, I’ve done it via Finnair website. But i reckon the recent advise is via Air Moroc/Royal jordanian (I forgotten which one)
Hi @PB2, just returned from my Reward flight, I had no issues with swapping out my BAEC to Enrich status. I enjoyed the First Lounges in HKG airport and had a great bath in The Cabana 😀
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