Put this one in the offers that are ‘just plain insane’ basket – Malaysia Airlines are running a promotion until December 8th where redemptions on Malaysia Airlines operated flights through their Enrich frequent flyer program are 50% of the usual level. The full offer terms are here, and you’ll need to book in the next week for travel from 1st January to 30th June next year.
Enrich have traditionally run this promotion in the past, once every 6 months a discount comes along – last year at this time it was 50% off also, but it actually ran for a month or more. This time the window of opportunity is much tighter.
Malaysia Airlines Enrich is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, with Membership Rewards points transferring at 1 MR to 1 Enrich mile. Promotions like these are why I love Membership Rewards – while unrelated to Amex, the ability to transfer points out to the major programs in the region at a whim is just so valuable.
Only flights (both one way and return) that end or begin in Kuala Lumpur are eligible – so (for example) no one-stop London to Sydney or vice versa bookings, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t combine two bookings at only a slightly higher price.
A 50% discount on points required is of course outstanding, but Malaysia Airlines Enrich redemptions are already cheap, meaning if you have ANY plans to travel anywhere that Malaysia Airlines or Firefly service in the first 1/2 of next year, start researching that award booking now. A one way ticket in Business Class to KL from Sydney in Business Class comes in at just 20,000 Enrich miles during the promotion (at the cheapest level). A comparable length flight to Singapore on Qantas using Qantas points would cost 60,000 Qantas points.
Researching Enrich award availability used to be more straightforward, but now you need a minimum balance of 1,000 miles in your Enrich account to research online. You can open an Enrich account and they’ll give you 1,000 miles as one option, but for those with less than 1,000 miles in their account, British Airways now show Malaysia Airlines availability, and you can also use awardnexus.com (excellent paid service) to do the same.
I’m now thinking how on earth this could be useful for my travel plans next year, definitely trying to find a way…
So can you book adult reward tickets on enrich and then add infants later over the phone?
Yep. Cost is fees and taxes only, no miles needed.
HI Keith, We only decided we want to transfer our MR points to enrich miles today (long story short – after ongoing robust discussion we just decided to use the points for business class rather than saving it for first class ). Do you reckon its sufficient time for us to transfer the points today and still take advantage of the 50% redemption? Thanks!
Keith, I’m having some trouble getting my Amex points into the Enrich system. I meant to transfer late late week (so they would arrive in time for the beginning of this promotion) but forgot to do it until Sat 30/11. Points still haven’t arrived in Enrich’s system 3 days later. Have chased with Amex and Enrich. Amex are blaming Enrich, citing unusually large turn-around time during current promotion. Enrich have said they don’t have a record of the transaction, and will look for it and get back to me. I recall you had an issue with points failing to transfer to Enrich from Amex that related to whether or not the “MH” was inserted at the beginning of your Enrich number. My transfer does seem to have gone with an “MH” at the start, if that makes any difference. Any tips for good strategies to get the points transfered before the end of the week, to make sure I get the tickets I want?
I made a transfer on Dec 1 which just hit my Enrich account, so 3-4 day processing time it looks like right now. I imagine nothing happens on weekend days, so if you don’t have your points tomorrow, let me know and I’ll tell you how I handled the problem.
No, still no points in my Enrich account.
Still none?
I basically told Amex they sucked l, it was their fault, and asked for many compensatory points in case I missed making my award booking. 5k MR points was credited to my account, fair enough.
Thanks Keith, Issue resolved, as of an hour ago when I checked my account again. Points are now there, and I’m ready to book in my lunch hour later today at work (in case something goes pear shaped and I need to call the call centre before the end of the promotion). Not sure who fixed it, or whether it was just a routine processing delay. I wrote a web message via the Amex Secure Messaging page yesterday asking for Amex to look into it pretty please… They replied and told me they were escalating it. Not sure if that had any effect. I had also phoned Enrich a couple of days earlier and politely asked them to review. Anyway, all’s well that ends well, now just need to book and add infant ticket…. (Deep breath).
Good luck!!
I think I will need it. Have booked 4 legs, of which only 2 generated e-tickets for all passengers. 1 transaction debited miles and cash, but only generated a booking reference and e-ticket for 1 of 3 passengers. 1 transaction debited cash (no miles) and generated no e-tickets (only a booking reference). Have just spent the last 2 or 3 hours on the phone to Enrich trying to sort it out. Finally struck an operator who has told me that it will be sorted in 24 hours, and they will email me the updated details. I sure hope so! 🙂 Once that comes through, I’ll call back again and try to add the infant. Phew.
Damn, that sounds painful. Did you do this originally online?
So, I think I have got it sorted!!
Following on from previously: my first round of ticketing was fixed as promised and sent to my email within 24 hours. I then had to go through a similar painful process to add an infant to each of the sectors (each on a separate PNR). On hold for several hours on Saturday while an operator manually added the infant to each leg, but they then couldn’t process my credit card, and then my call dropped out from their end, and my infant was added to the booking, but no e-ticket number or credit card charge.
So just rang back tonight, and got an operator who managed to finalise the transaction and emailed me confirmation and receipts while I waited, in just under an hour! I’m glad to have the tickets, but that was seriously the most painful booking i have ever made. Keith, do you have any suggestions on seat selection for 2 adults and an 18 month old on Malaysian’s J class ex-BNE and their A380 cabin? Thanks for your site, btw, this site was one of my first references when I started collecting points for travel awards in Feb this year.
And yes, original bookings were done online.
Sounds EPIC!
Glad they got it all sorted for you though in the end.
As for seat suggestions, we’re travelling on the A380 and A330 back to Sydney in the not too distant future. We’re currently up front with the bassinet – not much choice here given we’re travelling with a 4 month old. I’ll let you know how we go.
Would buying MR Points from Amex and transferring them to Enrich be a viable option in this case? Maybe scope to do a post dedicated to this option vs. buying straight from Enrich?
Will write up today. In a nutshell, buying points from Amex is a dud, too expensive. Using the MS Society donation ($150 tax deductable donation = 5000 MR points) is more cost effective. Buying Enrich points from memory is hard and involves printing out a form, adding your credit card details, and I *think* then visiting a Malaysian Airlines office!
How much tax does one get back with an MS Society donation? I realise it may differ from person to person, but approximately?
Thank you!
Not really possible to say. Depends on your income tax rate.
Hi Keith,
Considering 5,000 pts for $150 works out to 3 cents per point, and buying points from MR costs 2.5 cents per point, I am assuming that the tax reduction will at least offset that (i.e. less than $125 for the 5,000 pts), regardless of tax rate?
The donation route makes sense for those with an effective tax rate of 17% or more, i.e. bringing the cost under 2.5c per point if I’ve done my sums right. If you don’t earn any declarable income (and pay no tax) then you have nothing to offset your charitable donations with – at least that’s my understanding. So not for everyone.