How far in advance can you book? Destinations MEL/SYD? For how many pax? I managed 4 saver level award tickets (J & F) for my family SIN-MEL//SYD-SIN in August next year. I have also managed to book a few weeks/months out travelling to China/India.

The fact that there are "almost always confirmed seats available" on MH should tell you something. Hate to be a party pooper but I've tried the refurbished J seats. One word: tight. Cannot compare to their excellent J product on the A380.  Better than the sloping seats of old but still, a far cry from SQ, QR or CX J. The recent removal of the 15% online booking discount is the proverbial straw that broke this camel's back: I'm burning my remaining Enrich miles redeeming on partner airlines, the inevitable nightmare of an experience with MH call centre notwithstanding. End rant.

was looking in july for december this year....just 2 tickets....to mel....

got the mh j instead...but unfortunately just before the sale...so burnt double points in the process....

as to the new j seats....will see in december...but yes, the a380 j seats was great....but not for long more....when they receive the new 350s, they will stop flying the 380s....and i doubt if the j in 350s will be like the 380s....

as to partner airlines, not much options to down under...

I plugged in 14 December and could get 2 saver level awards on the A380 to Melbourne. Could also get 2 seats but on Standard level for the trip back after 1 or 2 weeks' stay. Total miles: 246,500 or 123,250 KF miles per person. For December I think you need to be realistic and book way in advance.

As for partner airlines, what about Emirates???

I plugged in 14 December and could get 2 saver level awards on the A380 to Melbourne. Could also get 2 seats but on Standard level for the trip back after 1 or 2 weeks' stay. Total miles: 246,500 or 123,250 KF miles per person. For December I think you need to be realistic and book way in advance.

123K KF miles KL -MEL is pretty steep compared to enrich no? But then it's the A380 so warrants the premium?

123K KF miles KL -MEL is pretty steep compared to enrich no? But then it's the A380 so warrants the premium?

i presume journey starts from kul?....

july looking at December not advance enough?...it is not always possible to plan so far ahead....

and yes, 123k miles is steep....

It's 93,500 KF miles on saver for return. I plugged in SIN-MEL.

Looking even one year ahead is not enough for popular routes like SIN-JFK. The miles and points game is much more nuanced than simply accumulating miles. Finding award space is an art form. There are many ways to actually get the dream flights/seats you want. You can lock-in 12 months' out then pay the change fee to get the actual dates/flights you want.

My point is this: nothing of value comes easy. I found out that accumulating the miles was just the first (and easiest) step. Sure, it's easy if you are satisfied with MH J and the timing works. But for me, the extra effort is worth it, especially crafting out a complex multi-carrier award redemption using AsiaMiles.

My avoidance of MH has absolutely nothing to do with the recent twin tragedies or superstition etc. I just find their redemption really poor value for my hard earned miles.

IMHO, 2CPremier is only worth it if you can earn enough points to exchange to air miles due to its best conversion rate and TP earning rate (though not as good as last time). Even with VI card, you get 2TP for every RM1 spent.

2 years worth of collecting points allowed me to fly business on cathay pacific by just paying RM 1k on taxes for 2 pax. Cash purchase value of the ticket is about RM 34k for 2 pax. Think of it as having a big treat once awhile.

Some people prefer monthly cash rebates. I prefer having being rewarded with big treats once awhile. 2 years of RM 50 - 100 cash rebates does not give the equivalent value as flying J class.

For those who want to optimize earning, i suggest to pair this card with either HLB Mach Signature or MBB Krisflyer Amex to take advantage of points earning from Utilities and Government. If you can get HLB VI or Alliance VI, all the better.

Just stay away from HSBC cards even though their advertised conversion rate looks good. They come with lots of T&C and limitation. I had a big headache trying to figure out when to use the card and when not to.

CIMB VI or World Mastercard while has good potential miles earning rate, the AF is too expensive and to get a waiver is a bi**h. Have to spend like RM 1Mil to get automatic waiver. There's also a limitation on the number of miles earned a year.

Redemption online with kf still gets 15% miles discount?...

Problem with kf is I need to start journey in msia, not sin....still two minds about where to direct my points....

And yes, I hate to have to call cc....rather do everything online....

Redemption online with kf still gets 15% miles discount?...

Problem with kf is I need to start journey in msia, not sin....still two minds about where to direct my points....

And yes, I hate to have to call cc....rather do everything online....

which airline miles did you convert your points to?

TP converted to Enrich. then from Enrich, i used One World partner redemption to redeem flight on CX. JUst need to call customer service to do the redemption. Before call, do homework to find available flights and dates first. Need to specifically tell CS which dates to search for.

does Enrich imposed expensive YQ surcharges for One World partner redemption? never tried before for One World partner redemption, but for MAS itself the YQ surcharges is super expensive

does Enrich imposed expensive YQ surcharges for One World partner redemption? never tried before for One World partner redemption, but for MAS itself the YQ surcharges is super expensive

Taxes charged depends on the carrier you're redeeming from. for example, CX does not charge YQ (before september) hence my redemption cost was very low. in total the taxes enrich charged to me is just RM 1000. If redeem using asia miles, the total tax charged after conversion is about RM 800+ so i believe MAS takes some too.

Qatar & Emirates charge ridiculous amount on taxes. IIRC, other than Cathay, JAL has very very reasonable tax charge on air ticket. You can also redeem their flights via one world.

That said, i have a feeling the one world redemption cost will be revised pretty soon as it doesn't make sense for their own redemption to cost more than One World. On top of the stupid YQ charged by MAS.

You can check out carrier's YQ and Tax charges by doing dummy booking on their FF program. MAS charges will just be slight higher to take into account currency exchange and margin.