INTRODUCTION
For years I have been flying with AirAsia between KL and Melbourne whereby AirAsia return ticket can be very cheap, i.e. less than RM1K during off peak seasons. However, AirAsia is now operating from Avalon instead of Tullamarine Melbourne. I would rather depart/land at Tullamarine Melbourne. Therefore, I have not been flying with AA between KL/Melbourne. For my last few trips between KL/Melbourne, I have been flying First or Business Class for FREE utilizing air miles earned from my credit cards 🙂
Below are my previous travel reports between Singapore and Melbourne:
March 2019 – My Qantas First Class Airbus A380 Travel Report Melbourne to Singapore
December 2018 – My Qantas Business Class Airbus A330 Travel Report Singapore to Melbourne
November 2018 – My Economy Class Travel Report With Malaysia Airlines KL to Melbourne
November 2018 – My Singapore Airlines SUITE Class Airbus A380 Travel Report Melbourne To Singapore
In early April 2019, I traveled from KL direct to Melbourne with Malaysia Airlines on Business Class. I tell you, flying direct from KLIA to Melbourne saves me lots of time versus flying with Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific or Qantas. Moreover, I need less Enrich Miles compared to Asia Miles for a Business Class ticket between KL/Melbourne!!!
Without further ado, I am pleased to present to you My Live Travel Report with Malaysia Airlines Business Class KL to Melbourne.
Check In At Business Class Counter KLIA
Malaysia Airlines Business Class check in is pretty efficient and usually there is no queue at all.
I checked in at the Business Class counter with my wife who was following me to Melbourne. My wife returned to KL last week to attend my dad’s birthday and flew in on Business Class with Malaysia Airlines too. BUT, today my wife is flying Economy, hahaha.
Eraman Duty Free – Discount with Eraman Privilege Card and Maybank Credit Card!
After checking in, we headed to the Satellite Terminal and I dropped by Eraman. They had the Hibiki Master’s Select Japanese Harmony in stock so I bought a bottle along with 2 bottles of Limited Edition Johnnie Walker White Label (damn cheap in Malaysia).
There was a JW promo but the White Walker was not entitled to it.
To my pleasant surprise, in addition to the 10% discount that I am entitled to with the Eraman Privilege Member Card, I got a further RM50 discount with my Maybank AMEX Reserve. Therefore, the Hibiki and 2 bottles of White Walker added up to RM635 only; which means I also earned 700 air miles simply by using the AMEX Reserve 🙂
Oh, to my surprise I saw a Louis XIII that looks yellowish selling for RM30K!? Yellow colour cognac???
Malaysia Airlines Business Class Golden Lounge
Before I proceed to show you Malaysia Airlines FIRST Class lounge, I will first show you some photos of the Business Class Lounge. For more Business Class and other third party airport lounges, please click here to my Airport Lounge Page.
Since I am flying Business Class, I am entitled to enter the MAS Golden Lounge. However, I do have 2 FREE vouchers, compliments from my FREE FOR LIFE CIMB Enrich Platinum MasterCard; therefore, I used one of them to allow my wife access to MAS Golden Lounge too 🙂
Before you reach the actual lounge area, you will first pass by the bar and they are still serving the lousy Prince Polignac VSOP! It just shows you that MAS management really doesn’t know what is value for money. At least the MAS Golden Lounge at Heathrow is serving Remy Martin VSOP.
Sad to say that the lower section in the MAS Business Lounge (near the glass panels) had an unpleasant “smell”.
Take note of this chair, you will see it in the FIRST CLASS Lounge too!!!
As for the food at MAS Business Class lounge, well it isn’t fantastic but okay.
Did you know that there is a Nap Section inside the Golden Lounge.
And the only reason why I love Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge and am willing to put up with their freaking lousy Prince Polignac VSOP is because there is a smoking room inside the lounge. However, it used to be cosy where there were chairs and tables but now it is just one big empty room!!!
Oh, this Marlboro Lights from Changi Duty Free taste better than the ones we get at Eraman
As for the Business Class Shower, it is a joke!!! The shower is one of those raised up fiberglass floor (after thought thingy) and there is no hand held shower but just an overhead shower. WTF!!!
I tell you, it was the first time I revisited MAS Business Class Golden Lounge after their renovation. If you ask me, MAS got ripped off as there is nothing great or nice about this new refurbished lounge….. and the smoking room is plain ugly. Even the ones outside in the terminal are more comfortable and brighter!!!
Not only is Malaysia Airlines still serving the freaking lousy Prince Polignac VSOP at their Business Class Lounge, they are also serving bloody cheap ice cream now (used to be premier ice cream from New-Zealand)!!!
And the shower, yes I am pissed off with it. I did take a shower and it was so cramped that I almost hit my head against the protruding horizontal glass at the sides as I was trying to avoid getting my hair wet…. like I said, no hand held shower which is the norm everywhere!!! And the cheap raised fiberglass flooring made me feel as if I am at a freaking cheap massage joint where they have “after thought” shower cubicles installed!! The ceiling is high enough for them to raise the entire toilet floor to make it more classy. MAS should sue the designer for the renovation works and whom ever approved it should be sacked too!
I tell you, the Plaza Premium Lounge opposite Airotel at KLIA2, Sama Sama Lounge at KLIA 2 and Changi Dnata Terminal 1 which we are able to enter for FREE with our credit cards are much nicer than the recently renovated MAS Golden Lounge!!!
Malaysia Airlines First Class Lounge
For the first time in the history of GenX GenY GenZ, I’m pleased to present to you Malaysia Airlines First Class Lounge in KLIA.
This looks classy.
What!!! Same chairs as in Business Class, hahaha.
There is a separate dining area. I only took photo of the 2 seater tables as the 4 seaters were fully occupied. Waiters will serve you as you order from a menu. I was told that between 3pm to 5pm they serve English and Asian High Tea.
No mention of whisky or cognac!!! This is FIRST Class but is worst than the FREE lounges we can enter with our credit cards!
As for the shower room, well the designer got it right here as the floor was raised leading to the toilets. And the shower had both handheld and overhead shower.
On Board The Airbus A330 Business Class
My Seat 1A – if possible I always try to reserve 1A.
Look at the ample leg space of my seat 1A. It’s so spacious.
Other Business Class seats on the Airbus A330 look so cramped.
In-Flight Menu
Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne
Melbourne to KL
Night Kit
CONCLUSION
I love flying with Malaysia Airlines as it flies direct from KLIA to Melbourne and London because it saves me lots of time versus transiting in Changi if I were to fly with Singapore Airlines. BUT then again, Singapore Airlines SUITE Class is out of this world in terms of comfort and service on land and air.
After supper, I slept most of the way and only woke up 1 hour before landing. I did not order the Chef On Call breakfast. I asked for a cup of coffee and they happily gave it to me BUT when I asked for a croissant, I was told they don’t serve breakfast and was only offering fruits!!! WTF! Later, my wife told me she had a bagel (a bun with a hole) for breakfast in Economy Class.
Since I was flying Business Class, I was not expecting much from MAS cabin crew but no croissant on a Business Class flight!??? The In Flight Manager did not introduce herself nor address me by my surname unlike Qantas and Singapore Airlines. Therefore, I do not know her name, haha. However, the In-Flight Manager was courteous and we did chit-chat for a while.
This is where MAS has lots to learn about personal service. When I flew with Qantas Business Class Singapore to Melbourne, the cabin crew always address me by my surname and the In-Flight Manager took the trouble to introduce himself to me and personally asked if I was happy with their service before landing.
I remember long ago when I flew Business Class with MAS to London (3 times return actually) on the Airbus A380, they always address me by my surname Mr. X.
When I flew First Class with Qantas and Suite Class with Singapore Airlines, the steward/stewardess would drop by so often to ask if I need anything. But then again we can’t compare First Class to Business Class. Like I said, I was not expecting anything great as I was flying MAS Business Class.
So if you ask me, I recommend you try Singapore Airlines Suite Class and I bet you will be blown away. And the joke is, you may even need less KrisFlyer Miles to fly Suite Class compared to Malaysia Airlines Business Class between KL/Australia.
In respect to the last sentence above, if any Malaysia Airlines Top Management is reading this, go ask yourself, would you rather fly First Class or Business Class for the same number of miles? You guys are pricing yourself out of the game besides offering service that is not on par with Singapore Airlines. Change your strategy and make Enrich Miles more desirable by lowering the miles required to redeem Business Class tickets and open up more seats for upgrade redemption instead of wasting time with your bidding thingy and end up having the Business Class Cabin half empty.
By Malaysia Airlines making Enrich Miles more desirable, demand for Enrich Miles will increase tremendously. Malaysia Airlines will then get to sell more Enrich Miles to third parties (e.g. credit card issuers, hotel chains, etc) and, therefore, effectively get to earn more cash from thin air and more importantly entice more people to fly with MAS.
Maybe I should be made CEO of Malaysia Airlines and the first thing I will do is replace the freaking lousy Prince Polignac with Hennessy VSOP and reintroduce premier ice cream at the MAS Golden Lounge. Once these are done, I will decrease the number of Enrich Miles required to fly to London and Australia by reintroducing “Saver Award” option and compete head on with Singapore Airlines Business Class (where the seat is a joke because we need to sleep “senget”). Of course, whichever non-making money routes will be axed and let AirAsia take over these routes instead of competing for limited passengers. Now, please note, if AirAsia is making money, they will be paying taxes and the Rakyat will benefit.
RETURN FLIGHT TO KUALA LUMPUR
There is no Malaysia Airlines Lounge in Australia, therefore I was told to go to Qantas Business Class Lounge. The thing is, I can enter any airline that is under the One World umbrella; so I went to both Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges, hahaha . To see and learn more about Cathay Pacific and Qantas Business Class Lounges in Melbourne 2019, please click here.
Below are some photos taken while I was returning back to KL on Malaysia Airlines Business Class again.
As usual, we as served satay.
Below photo shows the whiskies selection on Malaysia Airlines Business Class:
Since my flight was midnight flight out of Melbourne, Malaysia Airlines only serve breakfast and I ordered waffles. However, you can at anytime during the flight order mee goreng.
For more First Class and Business Class Travel Reports on Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Qatar Airways, please click here.
GenX GenY GenZ 