Back in November 2023, I published an article to inform that Enrich Saver is back after more than a month of suspension. Back then we could get a Business Class ticket Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne with 53,400 Enrich Points (which is excellent).
In the above mentioned article, I showed that if you are going to pay for a Biz Class ticket to or from Australia, it makes more sense to purchase a Flat Bed ticket from AirAsia!!! As for the Lounge, if you can afford a Flat Bed with AirAsia, I am sure you have at least a credit card that allows you FREE entry to Lounges worldwide – if not you can consider Maybank 2 Cards Visa Infinite….. or just pay for a good meal from the savings you get instead of paying for a Malaysia Airlines Biz Class ticket, hahahahaha.
Enrich Points 2024 – OMG!!!
Well, a Bro contacted me earlier in the week and told me that Malaysia Airlines has devalued their Enrich Points this year 2024! To be exact, they “inflated” their Enrich Saver close to 100% or more!
I did a search with Enrich Points and noted that based on the date I selected, for Business Class, I now need 113K Enrich Points KL to Melbourne! Once again, back in November 2023, I only needed 53,400 Enrich Points for Biz Class KUL to MEL one way. This means we need more than 100% Enrich Points today compared to last year for the same ticket!
I really don’t understand why Malaysia Airline “inflated” they Frequent Flyer Program by 100%…… 20% is reasonable but 100%???
Frequent Flyer Programs (FFP) is a method for the airlines to get CASH in advance where they sell their miles/points to third parties (e.g. credit card issuers).
I did fly with Malaysia Airlines Biz Class Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne in mid December 2023 and the Biz Class Cabin was almost empty as there were many vacant seats. I would have thought that Malaysia Airlines would be offering more discounts/promos to fill up their seats. But I guess the Management of Malaysia Airlines has a different strategy… instead of giving more promos, they devalued their Enrich Points.
So with me needing more Enrich Points for a Biz Class ticket, it will be stupid of me to convert my credit cards’ reward points to Enrich Points! And I am sure many people are like me where they would also do the same, i.e. take a miss on Enrich Points! Therefore, in the long run Malaysia Airlines would be losing out as they would have lost a “cash cow”.
Why would you want to use Enrich Points when you can fly Biz Class for less miles with other FFP?
Asia Miles KUL to MEL only needs 63K Asia Miles for Malaysia Airlines Business Class one way! This is close to half of what we need with Enrich Points!
As for Singapore Airlines Business Class KUL to MEL we only need 68,500 KrisFlyer Miles for the Saver Option. Even if we select Advantage Option, we still need less KF Miles compared to Enrich Points for Biz Class!
If you want to know for Qantas, we only need 75K Qantas Points Kuala Lumpur for Biz Class with Malaysia Airlines!
What about London?
From the above, we need minimum 149,300 Enrich Points KUL to LHR!
Do you know you can fly First Class with Emirates to so many destinations in Europe for less than 149,300 Skyward Miles! And the Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai is fantastic, And if you are eligible for Hotel Connect, you get a limousine ride to stay at a 5 Star hotel!
As for Business Class, with Asia Miles we only need 89K Asia Miles Kuala Lumpur ro many destinations in Europe. Malaysia Airlines only flies to London Heathrow (LHR) and we also only need 89K Asia Miles only.
Example below: we only need to pay HKD496 for redeeming a Malaysia Airlines Business Class ticket KUL to LHR with 89K Asia Miles!
Which FFP would you chose?
With the above:
For my Maybank Premium Credit Cards’ Treats Points where the rate of conversion is the same to Enrich Points or KrisFlyer or Asia Miles, it would be stupid of me to convert them to Enrich Points today! And I can tell you the Singapore Airlines Lounge serves better food and also Courvoisier XO!
As for my CIMB Bonus Points earned last year with 10X Bonus Points with CIMB Travel World Elite, I would today definitely won’t be so stupid to convert them to Enrich Points. FYI, I have stopped using my CIMB Travel World Elite for Local Spending starting from 1st January 2024 and I don’t use it overseas as I can’t spend more than RM240K to have the annual fee waived.
But sad to say I did convert a few hundred thousands of my CIMB Bonus Points to Enrich Points last year when we get 10% additional Enrich Points 😦
And if you have the AMEX Platinum Charge Card, you can even convert to other than EP, KF or AM, and you will get more FFP miles with other airlines! Tip, if you want to fly Etihad The Apartment, then you should be holding the AMEX Platinum Charge Card.
CONCLUSION
Because of Malaysia Airlines unreasonable and extreme devaluation of their Enrich Points to redeem Biz Class tickets, it would be stupid of me to convert my credit cards’ reward points to Enrich Points especially with the Treats Points earned from my Maybank credit cards. And most of the high value bank customers hold Maybank credit cards….. unless you are not a follower of mine then maybe you be holding the useless CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite and earn peanuts from Local Spending.
Previously I have awarded the Alliance Banks’s credit cards as the best credit card to earn Enrich Points. However considering the fact that we now need 113K and 149K Enrich Points to Melbourne and London one way Biz class, it means one needs to spend 90K and 119K respectively for transactions that earn us 8X TBP. And the thing is, the Alliance VI and Platinum cards are Entry Level credit cards and therefore not many high value bank customers would not even be bothered with it. Having said this, the Alliance Banks’ credit cards are still very good as we can earn 8X TBP for eligible Local Spending and if you are long time follower of mine and into air miles, the Alliance Bank credit cards can compliment the Maybank’s AMEX Platinum Charge Card and to some extend the AMEX KF Platinum Credit Card (this statement may be blur to you if you are not into playing air miles to experience different airlines especially First Class or Suite Class).
I would think that Malaysia Airlines is making a big mistake with them de-valuating Enrich Points and soon they will see a substantial drop in the demand for their Enrich Points (which should be a cash cow) BUT I guess I may be wrong because so far post-covid, Malaysia Airlines have been making a profit and they should be making more with us needing more Enrich Points to redeem tickets which means we are the loser (which I am since I converted my CIMB Bonus Points to Enrich Points last year when they were offering us 10% to 20% Bonus Enrich Points which are meaningless today with us needing more than 100% more Enrich Points to redeem Biz Class tickets in 2024!).
So I am crying with the devaluation of Enrich Points but I should be laughing too as it is good that Malaysia Airlines is making money and therefore the Rakyat do not need to subsidize it in order for it to stay afloat 🙂
Last but not least, some of you may say it is tough to get Business Class tickets with Asia Miles and Singapore Airlines, well that is because you are not My Air Miles Disciple where they are taught how to fly any destination anytime, not only on Business Class but preferably First Class and it is not tough to get a First Class ticket!!!
FYI, I just flew Melbourne to KL on First Class again last week 🙂 Below are some photos:
I tell you, Singapore Airlines Suite Class & First Class Cabin Crew service is the best in the world and that is why they have been constantly awarded World’s Best Airline.
Once again to all my die hard long time followers especially My Air Miles Disciples, don’t be greedy in wanting to take your entire freaking family on Biz Class when they did nothing and it was you who did all the hard work and planning to accumulate the air miles. I tell you, you better experience Singapore Airlines Suite Class yourself and then you can opt for Singapore Airlines First Class before the opportunity is gone forever……. soon we will only be able to redeem for Economy Class tickets with our credit cards’ reward points and to make a point that all FFP inflate with time…. best example is Enrich Points, haha. Another thing is more and more airlines are going for more fuel savings and smaller aircrafts and in our lifetime the Airbus A380 will no longer exits except in open field museums and as scrap metal.
GenX GenY GenZ 