Bro, if you had read my article, I showed for RM62K spending, can redeem 1 return Business Class tickets to Melbourne saving one about RM4-5K versus OCBC and MBB 2 AMEX RM620 and RM1240 respectively.

Bro, I did mention several times in my articles that it is usually not worth while to redeem for Economy tickets but did not specifically mention for family better to buy economy and then upgrade.

You see, in my article A Little Bit Of This and A Little Bit Of That Vol.1, Chapter V, the tickets I upgraded for my sister and son was because they flew from JFK, New York where they flew with American Airlines to Paris and then took MAS to KL.

For example my son's case, a one way ticket booked with MAS JFK to KL cost about USD1K . I.e. JFK/CDG on AA (Code Share) and CDG/KUL on MAS. So I upgraded him to Business Class from CDG to KL only and cost me about USD40.

Now, if he had bought a one way ticket with American Airlines to Paris and I redeem in full the Paris to KL ticket, the AA ticket cost USD2K!!! Go figure. So I save USD1K!!!

Same thing for my sister case's, her return ticket JFK/KUL purchase with MAS Online (where AA Code Shared to Paris) cost about USD1.8K. I upgraded her return on Business Class Paris/KUL only.

In addition to the 3 upgrades mentioned above, I also redeem for my parents Business Class KL/Paris and then London/KL. And I told my son to be their tour guide since he went holidaying in Europe early this year and knows how to take the train from Paris to London. So I redeem a Business Class ticket for him to accompany my parents from London back to KL. To Paris, I booked my parent same flight with my sister. My son flew to Paris on Economy because I ran out of Enrich Miles,hahaha.

And then last minute I asked my daughter if she wanted to go to Paris and she said ok - it's a reward for her as she was a recipient of a scholarship and that saved me lots of RM. But I got no more Enrich Miles, hahahaha. So bought her return on Economy (about RM2.7K). But a week or two before she flew back alone, I managed to earn another 40K Enrich Miles (must be paying from their hotel bills in Europe plus my other expenses) and upgraded my daughter flight from Paris to KL because I thought it would be more relaxing as she was scheduled to fly to Melbourne the same day she arrives in KL.

Now, how much savings in cold cash- not much, hahaha. You can fly on Promo Economy tickets and still reach your destination. This is because we still need to pay for taxes and surcharges when redeeming for Business Class tickets which may be just a little bit below the price of an Economy Class ticket. In my case, the benefit of the Maybank 2 Premier/Visa Infinite are that they earn me enough Enrich Miles very fast, thus giving me and my family members the opportunity to fly on Business Class which I will never ever use my own money to pay for the full fare. And I can tell you, Business Class to Europe is very relaxing

That is why I mentioned in my latest credit card showdown summary, for those who do not foresee themselves flying in "Business Class" or the need to enter airport lounges AND only need the Treats Points to redeem for cash vouchers, the only card they need is Maybankard 2 Cards And in this case, the MBB 2 Cards is even better than Maybank 2 Cards Premier because it also guarantees the card holder RM600 cash back!


You cannot transfer your wife TP from MBB 2 Cards to your new Maybank 2 Cards Premier account because of the Enrich Miles conversion. So it is true that the TP will be forfeited. Go redeem your wife TP's now!

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Nov 8 2014, 10:05 AM

hahaha, that time you new to my blog and never see date when the article was published, But all my recent articles since middle of 2013 (including Effective Cash Back of Credit Cards published in October 2013) will show 2% equivalent cash back for Maybankard 2 Cards and Maybank 2 Cards Premier. I also don't know when you last read my Maybankard 2 Cards Review because I did update in August 2013 to state cash back is now 2%.

Yes, you are right bro, on the spot redemption at Maybankard Centres or at Merchants may give you higher than 2% equivalent cash back when redeeming for cash vouchers.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Nov 8 2014, 10:57 AM

Next time, go to Maybankard Centre Mon-Fri before 7pm (best earlier) and get the card same day.

okay, 3 days better than 1.5 weeks right.

Bro, Maybankard 2 Cards 1 day also can but for other cards maybe need more time.

For supp Maybank 2 Cards Premier, they can do it same day if you go early.

I just saw a pamphlet received via normal mail from MMB Premier Card, RM300 rebate for Ezy pay and RM100 for normal purchase of iPhone6.

Need to make reservation for the event.

Anybody got idea on how the rebate works? Kind of odd that we get more rebate for Ezy Pay.

Wanted to call to reserve a place but then noted that it said only during office hours.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Nov 11 2014, 08:05 PM

Late? I just got it in the mail today! Anyway, what is it about, i.e. RM300 rebate.

What a bummer, make me happy for nothing. Tomorrow I'll call and try luck.

kinabalu - guess what? With my power of persuasion and begging skills, I am got a place for the event tomorrow But if they have only black colour iPhone, then problem as my youngest daughter may not like it. It's a reward for her being accepted into the best high school in Victoria.

And for those who want to see the RM500 MAS Golden Voucher, click here to my article A Little Bit Of This and A Little Bit Of That Vol.1 Chapter VI. In this article I once again gave step by step sample calculation on how to determine 1 Enrich Mile = RMx spent plus other subjects which may not interest you guys.

Just call CS and explain to them above and they can arrange the PPMC for you even without you needing to sign any further forms. That's why MBB Premier CS is fantastic.

kinabalu, just got back from the event, so many people and got to wait damn long. Payment was fast, the backlog was because EpiCentre issued member card to all and had to key in the info!!! And I got RM300 rebate on the spot for 0% 6 months Ezy Payment with my AMEX RESERVE and earn 10,495TP The funny thing is for those who pay in full, only get RM100 rebate, go figure. Anyway, my daughter's 1st choice was Space Grey which surprised me and they had lots of stocks for it, hahaha.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Nov 13 2014, 10:24 PM

Congrats, now you can "FREE" faster on Business Class, but got to pay more for overseas transactions versus your Watami

No need write, call CS, the Toll FREE number behind the VI card, they are very efficient. The beauty part of Maybank Premier CS is that they will try to accommodate you and make things as simple as it can for you.

You know what, usually I fly off from Melbourne midnight with AA, United Club (United Airlines lounge), where we can use PPMC card, closed, haha.

kinabalu - I just updated my article A Little Bit Of This and A Little Bit Of That Vol.1 Chap VI to include briefly about the Maybank EpiCentre iPhone6 recent even where I got RM300 rebate. Posted invoice of the iPhone and it stated I am a Maybank VIP, hahaha.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Nov 15 2014, 02:32 PM

Yes, always tell them you want to pay in their currency and not RM. Especially if you are in Macau shopping. In Australia generally (restaurants and supermarkets) they don't ask and payment automatically in AUD but whenever I am getting stuff at Harvey Norman, I will specifically tell the cashier I want to pay in AUD as their terminal allows payment in RM.


If you are talking about cards that earn you 1X point - Use cash.

If you have Maybank 2 Premier Cards where you earn 5X points and you collecting Enrich Miles, then go with Maybank VI or AR

Bro, if compare to Visa International's rate, then around 2.5%; BUT if compare to spot rate, then we talking about extra 3.5%

But then again, money changer also charge about 1% so net net like you say 2.5% extra with card.

And with 5X points we also get back equivalent 2% in cash voucher, so with card still need to pay "more".

As for miles worth the 2.5%, for economy most probably NO (except maybe London or for destinations where AirAsia do not fly to). For business class yes. For first class, definitely. And if got 50% EM Sale, no brainer, Economy also very good.

I did manage to use both the VI and AR on the same day in Melbourne on 10 December and both posted on 11 December. VI 2.98 and AR 2.99. So VI better. Having said this, if compare to spot rate, I am paying more 3.75% (based on investings.com interactive chart) more for both cards compared to spot rate!!!!

To ALL:

Coming back to bearbear question - worth while to pay 2.5% or even the 3.75% mentioned in above replies:

Say spend RM100K overseas, that means have to burned RM3750 on top of spot rate (worst case).

Get to redeem RM2000 worth of cash vouchers with 500K TP, so still loosing RM1,750.

With RM100K spending, also can get to redeem 111K Enrich Miles with Maybank 2 Cards Premier VI or AR.

CASE 1

I just checked, KL London Return on Business Class - depart KL 18 Jan and depart London 26 Jan, total need to pay RM14,950 versus

EM redemption 93500 for Business Class KUL/LHR return PLUS RM2676 tax for the same dates.

Therefore the difference between paying cash and redeeming for the "Free" Business Class is RM12,274.

In other words, spend RM100,000, we save RM12,274 (or 12.27% returns) for a return Business Class KL London. So you tell me worth while to "pay" the extra 3.7% with credit card?

And if pay the RM2676 TAX with our AR, can get about RM50 cash voucher somemore, hahaha.

CASE 2

111,000 Enrich Miles can also redeem for 2 return Economy class KL London.

For Economy, return ticket KL/LHR total RM8188 for 2 PAX versus Redeem 102,000EM for same 2 economy return tickets need to pay RM3076 Tax. Diff RM5112.

From above CASE 1 and 2, for spending of RM100K, once again, better to redeem for Business Class ticket versus Economy Class ticket.

Want to see more examples - click here to my Comprehensive Review of the Maybank 2 Cards Premier where I will show you cases where it is not worthwhile to redeem for FREE Economy class tickets and better to just redeem the TP for cash vouchers.

And guys, check my blog on 18th December @ 11.18am where my very first guest columnist will present his review of the AmBank World MasterCard and you get to see that the AMBank overseas transaction conversion rate is way better than our MBB VI.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Dec 17 2014, 01:23 AM

haha, so I conclude from your first paragraph you agree it is worth while to use Maybank 2 Cards Premier VI and AR overseas.

Bro, as for your second paragraph, say we use Case 1 and 2 mentioned above:

CASE 1 - One Business Class ticket redeem using EM need to pay RM2676 TAX PLUS "invincible" RM2700 (net 2.7% CC Surcharge after considering 1% imposed by bank or money changer for Cash) = RM5400

CASE 2 - One Economy return ticket KL/London RM4094 including taxes.

EDITED

Diff in RM Case 1 - Case 2 = RM1306

Therefore, if one does spend RM100K overseas with CASH (versus using the Maybank 2 Cards Premier VI or AR overseas), one's bid should not be more than RM1306 (including paying for any additional taxes/surcharges if applicable) to upgrade from Economy to Business Class, else he/she will be forking out more money - RETURN not one way!

Actually for apple to apple comparison, may only need about 74000 Enrich Miles to upgrade from Economy to RETURN Business KL to Europe, i.e. spend RM66.6K. So 2.5% of RM66.6K = RM1650.

Add RM1650 to the Economy Class ticket RM4094 = RM5744. Please note I have yet to include any additional taxes. So adjusting for this, one should even bid for less than RM1650 else forking out more money - RETURN not one way! What are the probabilities we can upgrade for only RM1K one way London to KL

Please note from above, I guess it answers some people questions about upgrade using EM - better to redeem in FULL for Business Class if you have enough to spare versus upgrade; but the difference in cost not substantial.

And for LOCAL spending, make sense to use our CC since no FOREX Fee. So if one spends RM100K with the AR locally, it's an entire different story. Redeeming for the Business Class return ticket KL/London total net cost RM2676 versus paying RM4094 for Economy Class ticket!!!

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Dec 17 2014, 11:00 AM

Bro, like I mentioned, I checked yesterday the price for the return ticket via Malaysia Airlines website for flight on 18 and 26 January. I then log in into my Enrich Miles Online Account to check how many EM required for same ticket. No sale currently. Usually, the nearer the departure date the more you need to pay and also need more Enrich Miles.

To redeem ticket using Enrich Miles.

First of all you need to sign up for an Enrich Miles account online. Go to Malaysia Airlines website and move your cursor to Enrich and then select Enrich Online Services and Sign up for a Enrich Miles Account.

You will then be issued an Enrich Account Number.

To redeem your credit card point for Enrich Miles - call your Credit Card Customer Service and ask them to credit the Enrich Miles into your Enrich Account Number. After 3 to 4 days log on to your Enrich Account and check to see if the Enrich Miles have been credited.

And to answer your question, you can redeem EM anytime for ticket if you have enough EM to do so.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Dec 17 2014, 02:59 PM

I do receive emails from Enrich periodically but the best place to find out is here or at Enrich Miles Thread where there is always someone who is kind enough to share with all of us on EM sale.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Dec 17 2014, 04:12 PM

The Maybank Diamante actually looks like my low end FREE debit card (i.e. Citibank Malaysia and UOB) because the numbers and name don't look like it is embossed!!!

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Dec 17 2014, 10:16 PM

It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you guys Mr. VergonDC, my very first guest columnist at my blog.

About a month ago, VergonDC shared with me, for overseas face to face transactions, his AmBank World MasterCard actually gives him a better return of 2.5% cash back versus our Maybank Visa Infinite 2% in terms of cash vouchers.

AmBank World MasterCard (and Visa Infini8te) Review by VergonDC

If you had read my Credit Card Showdown 2015 - Malaysia's Best Top 10 Credit Cards, of course the Maybank 2 Cards Premier came ou as the clear winner. The FREE FOR LIFE AMBank World MasterCard together with the AmBank Visa Infinite credit cards managed to be ranked No.6 and their Bonus Points conversion rate to Enrich Miles is competitive versus Maybank 2 Cards Premier for overseas face to face spending. One major disadvantage of the AMBank WMC and VI is that they only earn you 1X Bonus Point for online transactions anywhere on planet earth.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Dec 18 2014, 11:48 AM

hahaha, I thought you were the one who give me the link on where to use the Voucher when I asked last time. The voucher has a code and I guess when you book the MAs Holidays just have to enter the discount code.

yes, we can use EM to redeem for stuff like credit cards.

Go try and report back Or if you can get MAS Holiday's Contact Number, call them and ask.l