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Malaysia Airlines joins oneworld – with a Paris and Amsterdam loophole

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Malaysia Airlines joins the oneworld alliance today.  And this means that you can redeem your Avios for their flights, as well as earning them by flying on Malaysia.

Let’s start by looking at redemption options.

To give BA credit, Malaysia Airlines flights are already showing on ba.com.  As usual, when an airline first joins an alliance, there is HUGE amounts of availability.  I saw up to 5 business class seats available, for example.

There are three great bits of news for anyone planning to visit Kuala Lumpur (or indeed Singapore, which is only 185 miles away, airport to airport):

Malaysia Airlines is flying the A380 out of Heathrow

…. with the London route being the first to receive the A380.  This page shows the very impressive First Class and business class product available, which looks like it could be better than the BA offering.

They are also flying them out of Paris

Now, why does that matter?

Well, Paris to Kuala Lumpur is 6,492 miles.  Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is 6,363 miles.  London to Kuala Lumpur is 6,593 miles.  And 6,500 miles is the cut-off between two Avios pricing zones.

Flying out of Charles de Gaulle or Schiphol will cost you 60,000 Avios return in Economy, 120,000 in Business and 180,000 in First.  From London, you need more Avios – 70,000 for Economy, 140,000 for Business and 210,000 for First.

And if that wasn’t enough, you also save on the taxes flying out of Paris or Amsterdam because there is no Air Passenger Duty.  Business Class, return, is £481 of tax from London but just £337 from Paris and £288 from Amsterdam.  And you save 20,000 Avios!

These numbers mean that using a 241 to get Singapore becomes less interesting.  On BA, you’re looking at 140,000 Avios plus £1,000 of taxes for 2 Club World seats with a 241.  On Malaysian, if you start in Amsterdam, you’d pay 240,000 Avios and £576 in taxes, get potentially a better seat and get to save your 241 for another trip.

The A380 will be flying from Paris from March 1st.

Malaysia has a decent route network to Australasia and other parts of Asia

Have a look at the route map and try out prices at ba.com.  Taxes are high – higher than Cathay Pacific, for example – but availability should be OK.

Earning Avios and tier points on Malaysia Airlines

British Airways has also published its earning chart for flights taken on Malaysia.

Take a look here.

All in all, this is a great addition to oneworld.  Whilst you can’t use an Amex 2-4-1 voucher for a redemption on Malaysia, they add a lot of extra flexibility for trips eastwards from London.

And if you do head out to Kuala Lumpur, I can recommend the Four Seasons Langkawi if you’re looking for an excellent beach resort.  Some people, if staying for a week, mix in a few days at The Datai down the road.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

oneworld alliance partners

Comments (31)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • DS says:
    1 Feb1 February 18:07

    Does the 777 from AMS really have a First Class cabin ?

  • Chun Kuo says:
    1 Feb1 February 20:22

    Hi I just booked a flight from Syd to Kul yesterday. Do you recommend any accommodation for a 22hours layover?

    • Raffles says:
      1 Feb1 February 22:25

      The Hilton / Meridien complex by the airport train station downtown is a decent bet. The light railway which will take you across the city goes through there as well.

  • Colin says:
    1 Feb1 February 22:59

    Weird one: try and book in 1st from CDG to KUL in October and it gives Econ in Malayan outbound and for return on Oct it gives JAL Biz to Tokyo and then JAL1st to CDG.
    Fare is 100k avios and 369 tax.
    Try and book one way KUL to CDG via Japan and the fare is 130,000 avios and about 250 tax.
    So book KUL-CDG in Biz/First and then the return in Y at a later date and you can just throw away the Y!

    • Andrew Grant says:
      2 Feb2 February 03:30

      Amazing! I’m currently in Manila and have just changed my travel arrangements to try Malaysian.
      I’m now stopping off in KL for 3 days the week after next. I was able to book flights in business from MNL to KUL and then another a few days later from KUL to LHR. Staying in the Hilton as well.

      Looking forward to my first flight on an A380 and in business!

  • World Traveller says:
    3 Feb3 February 11:57

    To celebrate Malaysia Airlines joining the oneworld alliance, Iberia are offering double Avios on all flights with Malaysia Airlines in all classes.

    “Buy and take your flights from 15th February to April 2013.” It’s not that clear when this promotion starts or ends. One assumes that if you book today (3rd Feb) and fly on 15th Feb you’ll be awarded double points.

    It’s likely that other oneworld members will be running the same promotion – BA Executive Club haven’t made any announcement yet.

    • World Traveller says:
      3 Feb3 February 12:07

      Just read the following on One Mile At A Time:

      To celebrate all OneWorld carriers are offering double miles for travel on Malaysia Airlines between February 15 and April 15, 2013 (for tickets bought today or later). Here’s American’s version of the promotion, for which registration is required.

      Malaysian are also making it ‘registration required’, Iberia aren’t and BA usually keep things simple. Important thing to note it’s always important to read the small print, as the same promotion can vary slightly airline to airline, it’s worth the time to make sure you’re getting whatever bonuses are on offer.

  • paul longstone says:
    4 Feb4 February 00:55

    Newbie here looking for advice, this MH sounds like a good possibility for my future travel, uk to BNE, At present am G elite on AirNZ but have 200K avios. Should I try for status match on BA or QF or ?, any recomendations please? Thanks paul

    • World Traveller says:
      4 Feb4 February 07:08

      I assume you live in the UK as you mention you have Avios? If you’re based in Australia / use an Australian postal address then currently you can only join QF’s programme, based in the UK then you can only join BA’s Executive Club.

      You’ve got nothing to lose by getting in touch with Executive Club; mention that you’re a regular traveller looking to switch your upcoming flights to BA, have G Elite status and would like to request a status match. Attach proof of current status – copy of card or latest statement.

      • Raffles says:
        4 Feb4 February 09:39

        At the moment, Australian’s cannot join the Executive Club. This was part of the deal with Qantas – all Australasians had to join the Qantas scheme. However, as the Qantas joint venture expires on 31st March when their tie-up with Emirates begins, logically Executive Club should open itself to Oz members.

    • Raffles says:
      4 Feb4 February 09:37

      BA does not status match, and I have never seen a QF one either. However, you can get Cathay Pacific Gold status for free if you get the Amex Platinum charge card, which gives you all the benefits of BA Silver (inc lounge access) except for the additional baggage allowance.

      And, at the end of the day, if you always fly in Business then you don’t really need status.

      • paul longstone says:
        6 Feb6 February 22:02

        Yes QF said no thanks to Status match, another Q, is it me or is it the search on BAEC really annoying, when you look to book AND upgrade with Avios the page only looks at the single dates you enter and NEVER gives the availability across the week like it does when you simply want to book with Avios, or am I missing something? THXS
        Paul

  • GG says:
    5 Feb5 February 10:26

    ..OK been trying for days now to book CDG to BNE with AVIOS flying Air Malaysia…the large amount of availability shown on the BAEC site bears no relation to actual availability…called BAEC and they say there is no availability showing on their systems..
    They may be “testing” the system they tell me…for the past 5 days..
    WTF..highly frustrating being guinea pigs..dont show ANY availability if that is in fact the case..
    No one at BAEC knows when the glitch will be sorted…shoddy..

    • paul longstone says:
      6 Feb6 February 22:05

      Hi ive looked for similar bookings and found the same, also tried buying and uprading with avios but it never shows any availability and never shows across the week only on the date entered, should it?
      thxs paul

      • Raffles says:
        6 Feb6 February 22:07

        No, partner airline flights do not show on the week view. You need to click each day.

        • paul longstone says:
          11 Feb11 February 00:10

          Ok, but is there a better way of searching? Ive spent hours changing the date 1 day at a time trying to buy and upgrade with avios. Using the explore map seems to search for straight redemptions better and finds limited availability, but cant buy WT+ and go up to CW that way? thxs PL

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