Malaysia Airlines & Enrich
Malaysia Airlines is the national carrier of Malaysia, flying to over 50 destinations across Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East and carries up to 40,000 passengers daily.
Enrich restructured its loyalty program in 2015 in terms of changing both their earnings rates as well as their redemption rates, but ironically only for travel on their own flights, and not for travel on Oneworld partners
Malaysia Airlines Frequent Flyer Basics
Enrich
Malaysia Airlines Frequent Flyer Program is aptly called Enrich.
In every Oneworld Frequent Flyer program, there are two currencies which members collect simultaneously – Status Points (SP) which determines your elite status level and cannot be spent and Reward Currency (RC) which can be exchanged for airline benefits and rewards.
Elite Miles
Elite Miles is the name given to Malaysia Airlines Status Points System.
The number of Elite Miles held is used to calculate your elite status tier. In general, the more Elite Miles you accrue the higher your elite status tier.
A Membership Year is calculated from 1 January to 31 December of each calendar year.
Enrich Miles
Award Points is the name of the Reward Currency used by Malaysia Airlines.
A points-based reward scheme used by the airline were you can exchange accrued Enrich Miles for reward seat redemptions, flight upgrades and other travel-based experiences.
Oneworld Sapphire
Enrich Gold is equivalent to Oneworld Sapphire status and you will receive similar benefits when flying with other Oneworld Alliance members.
At least 12 Months
For Enrich members, you will have the status for a minimum of 12 months.
If you qualify for a higher tier in your current membership period, you will be given the higher tier for your current year plus the year you have qualified for.
No Soft Landing
If you do not reach the required Enrich Elite Miles to re-qualify in the following year you will revert to a regular Blue Enrich member.
How to Collect Elite Miles
When you travel with Malaysia Airlines, a Oneworld partner airline, its subsidiaries, or in some specific cases non-Oneworld member airlines you can earn Elite Miles with which you can use to achieve higher levels of elite status and unlock different rewards as you do.
The Enrich Blue membership is the most basic and is available to everyone as it does not come with any benefits except the ability to earn Status Points and Reward Currencies. Silver, Gold, Platinum status are earned and come with a varying degree of benefits.
Moving up the ladder within Enrich is completely dependent on the number of Elite Miles accrued within a given year, and like Enrich Miles, expire after a set time – in this case, Elite Miles expire at the end of your membership year.
Elite Miles can only be earnt by actually flying, not by signing up to credit card deals. There is no other use for Elite Miles other than setting your elite status; they cannot be spent. The general rule is that they are usually based on the distance of the flight and the fare class you are travelling in.
Malaysian’s Enrich program works a little differently than to other Oneworld members. Some differences include:
Miles Based Calculations
Malaysia Airlines is a mileage-based program, unlike its counterparts British Airways and Cathay Pacific which are zone-based reward programs.
Miles on Renewal
Unlike Royal Jordanian or Royal Air Maroc, members require the same number of qualifying status points to re-qualify in the following year.
No Mid-Tier Bonus
Unlike its alliance counterpart Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines does not offer mid-tier status to its members.
Lifetime Status
Unlike American Airlines, British Airways and Finnair, Malaysia Airlines does not offer lifetime status to its members.
ENRICH MILES RULES
Enrich Miles are valid for the year in which they are earned plus an additional 3 years and will expire at the end of the month of the third year. For example, Enrich Miles credited into an Account on 18th January 2018 will expire on 31st January 2021.
Enrich Platinum members are exempt as their miles do not expire.
Enrich Miles expiring at the end of the month may be extended till the end of the month in the following year at the cost of MYR 0.02 plus an administrative fee of MYR 40.00 per transaction.
The miles extension feature is only applicable to Enrich Members within 3 months prior to the expiry date until 7 months after the expiry date.
Expired Enrich Miles earned can only be extended once.
Routes to Earn Enrich Gold Status
With Miles
The main way to reach Enrich Gold is to fly with Malaysia Airlines, a Oneworld partner airline, its subsidiaries, or in some specific cases a non-Oneworld member airline and accrue miles.
To achieve Enrich Gold status with miles, you need:
1. 50,000 Elite Miles; and
2. A minimum of 4 Qualifying Flights operated by Malaysia Airlines
in each Membership Year.
With Sectors
Another way to reach Enrich Gold is to fly a lot. Malaysia Airlines offers a route to Gold for those who travel exceptionally frequently with the airline.
To achieve Enrich Gold status with sectors, you need:
1. 500 Qualifying Sectors (of which a minimum of 4 Qualifying Flights operated by Malaysia Airlines)
in each Membership Year.
Benefits of Enrich Gold
Outline of the Benefits of having Enrich Gold Status
Extra Bonus Miles
When flying on Malaysia Airlines Marked flights
When travelling on eligible Malaysia Airlines marked flight, you will receive 25% extra Enrich Miles.
Priority Check In
irrespective of class of service
Members have access to use Business Class check-in desks when flying internationally or domestically on either Malaysia Airlines or other Oneworld carriers.
Business Class Lounge Access
Enrich Gold members get Business class lounge access for themselves and either one companion across the Oneworld network.
However, as technically Malaysian doesn’t offer a First Class service (rather now opting to call it Business Suites due to the connotation of First Class) you will note be able to access the Business Suites lounges Malaysia Airlines Operate
Extra Luggage Allowance
Variable rules depending on Airline and travel location.
Luggage policies can be found on the Malaysia Airlines website. Note that regional routes to ASEAN countries (including domestic routes) have had their economy luggage allowances devalued.
Gold members get 50% extra checked bag allowance on top of their standard class allowance when travelling on Malaysia Airlines.
When on a Oneworld marked and operated flight your status as an Emerald member entitles you to 15kg (if the airline uses the weight system) or 1 extra checked bag (if the airline uses the piece system).
Priority Boarding
When on Malaysia Airlines or Oneworld Member airlines
With Gold status, you are also able to board before the general boarding group
Calculating the Number of Elite Miles Earned
Malaysia Airlines calculates Elite Miles on the distance (in miles) from the departure and arrival destination and assigning a percentage multiplier based on the class of travel. However, be warned that the calculation when compared to the website tool and 3rd party tools like Great Circle Mapper shows different results.
As such, the number of Status Points earned is dependant on 3 factors, the Route, the carrier you have flown with, and the class of travel.
Members cannot collect Enrich Elite Miles points before they have become members. However, Enrich Miles can be accrued before joining so long as flown on Malaysia Airlines within 60 days of enrolment.
The simplest and best tool for finding out how many Tier Points you’ll earn on any flight is to use Elite Miles Calculator.