Should I switch to MH Enrich?

[winfred]

I have never considered moving from QFF to Enrich, ever. That is until now.

As a loyal QFF for more 25 years and a current Platinum/ Lifetime gold member and based in Asia, I find it extremely difficult to retain my platinum status. I did 57 flights last year within Asia + flights from Asia to Middle East, North America and some US domestic ones, I tried as much as possible to fly OW airlines. I discovered that ALL flights within Asia and from Asia to the Middle East with non-Qantas OW airlines in economy, regardless of type, do not earn any status credit. Also, as someone who does not travel to Australia much these days, doing the 4 QF/J* flights is difficult with J* cutting a lot of their inter-Asia services.

I started looking at CX as I spent a fair amount of time in HK and I love CX but to qualify for Platinum is hard and I have to do it from scratch. I also looked at other Alliances but it will be hard with my bases being HK and KL.

I do not like MH as their planes are old and dirty and their services questionable but in the absence of a better alternative, Enrich may have to be it.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Mwenenzi]

I discovered that ALL flights within Asia and from Asia to the Middle East with non-Qantas OW airlines in economy, regardless of type, do not earn any status credit.....

Jetstar with a bundle would qualify

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/status-and-clubs/status/membership-tier-journey.html

A minimum of four eligible flights must be taken with Qantas (QF) or Jetstar (JQ, 3K, GK) flight numbers on your ticket

Higher priced economy can earn to QF ffp.
CX is poor crediting to many other airline ffp's (not just QF)

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From what I read MH is not that good a ffp.

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What airlines do you fly most?
The Oneworld avois airlines (QR BA IB AY) are good for some people.
BA & QR have a 4 own airline rule for status.

The days of low cost economy fares being good earners to ffp's are gone

 

[SYD]

Jetstar with a bundle would qualify

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/status-and-clubs/status/membership-tier-journey.html

Higher priced economy can earn to QF ffp.
CX is poor crediting to other airline ffp's (not just QF)

From what I read MH is not that good a ffp.
What airlines do you fly most?
The Oneworld avois airlines (QR BA IB AY) are good for some people.
BA & QR have a 4 own airline rule for status.

Yes, I would have thought one of the Avios programs would be worth a look. Check their earnings tables to see if you would have been better off with some of your previous flying?

There are also exceptional fares on QR to Europe and the US out of Asia that would be useful for eligible sectors and status earn.

Alternatively, is stary alliance a better fit? They don’t go past A*G anyway. Maybe SQ, but earning status flying whY could be a hard slog also.

Having OWS (from QF LTG) and a A*G card would be great coverage for most flying.

 

[Ade]

I have never considered moving from QFF to Enrich, ever. That is until now.

As a loyal QFF for more 25 years and a current Platinum/ Lifetime gold member and based in Asia, I find it extremely difficult to retain my platinum status. I did 57 flights last year within Asia + flights from Asia to Middle East, North America and some US domestic ones, I tried as much as possible to fly OW airlines. I discovered that ALL flights within Asia and from Asia to the Middle East with non-Qantas OW airlines in economy, regardless of type, do not earn any status credit. Also, as someone who does not travel to Australia much these days, doing the 4 QF/J* flights is difficult with J* cutting a lot of their inter-Asia services.

I started looking at CX as I spent a fair amount of time in HK and I love CX but to qualify for Platinum is hard and I have to do it from scratch. I also looked at other Alliances but it will be hard with my bases being HK and KL.

I do not like MH as their planes are old and dirty and their services questionable but in the absence of a better alternative, Enrich may have to be it.

What are your thoughts?

Are you keen on keeping OW alliance? Any specific reasons? If you are not tied to OW, you can also try *A.

ACK that you are based in Asia, *A might be a good option too. Given the base is Asia, you can easily maintain the minimum flight requirements that airlines *A might have? For instance, given that you are QF WP & LTG, you might consider using this to get a status match with TK to *AG? TK is easy to qualify & requal.

Edit: this will give info re status match to SQ - https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/singapore-airlines-status-match/
There is also a promo with Marriott Bonvoy & SQ - https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/us/plan-travel/promotions/global/kf/kf-promo/marriottbonvoy/

The above being said, if there aren't any lucrative options FF program-wise, MH ain't that bad. As QF WP MH treated me well, even in Y. There was constant check up on me and was offered a lot of food & drinks. Given the number of flights intra-asia you do in a year, you might get to Enrich Gold? And a couple of status runs here & there might make you Enrich WP as well, which is OWE anyways. So you are not losing much by doing MH, I think. YMMV. Granted their hard product ain't that good (as you mentioned earlier).

 

[winfred]

Theoretically higher price economy fare will earn SC but in reality, they are not available in most cases. For CX, I selected Flex economy but the class associated with it is usually "S" (only M,L,B,H,K,Y or E earns SC). Similar situation with QR and MH.

Why OW? I am based in HK and KL and usually fly out of one of those 2 cities. No other Alliance airline based in those places.

I normally fly CX for inter-asia, QR, Emirates or CX to Middle East, QR, CX, JAL or AA to North America.

*A would be good (especially when I just got Singapore status via Bonvoy promote) but it means I always have to transit via another city. Ok for med or long haul flights but short haul will be a big hassle. Also, the lack of Platinum equivalent status for *A means my QF Lifetime Gold may be good enough.

 

[Ade]

but it means I always have to transit via another city

big hassle.

#Blasphemy, considering the motto on AFF is "Why fly direct when you can connect"

 

[winfred]

#Blasphemy, considering the motto on AFF is "Why fly direct when you can connect"

Yeah. very true. especially if it = lower costs and/or more SC and points.

 

[sap1l]

IMO where Enrich shines in terms of SC earn is if you fly MH Economy a lot. Their Y SC earn rates are very generous, and they aren't tied to the letter class of ticket.

In other words, discount Y fares earn the same SC as flex Y fares.

For example, compared to Qantas:

QF SYD-SIN return on "Saver Economy" (the middle class) gets you 60 SC out of 1200 for Plat.
MH SYD-KUL return on any Economy ticket gets you 6 SC out of 100 for Plat.

On the other hand, MH J earn rates are generally lower than Qantas. While QF J earns roughly 2x Y, MH J earns roughly 30% more than Y.

In your case, 10 return trips between KUL-HKG will get you OWE.

I'm not 100% certain how MH SC earn works on other OW airlines, but I believe they don't cut down the earn rate (i.e. CX J between HKG-KUL should earn the same SC).

I think the biggest downside of Enrich as a program is the hard expiry on points, but if you buy discount fares a lot, you aren't accumulating much anyway. MH also has a really strange upgrade system (I have been told that they are working on improving it, but who knows when it'll happen).

I do not like MH as their planes are old and dirty and their services questionable

I agree with you overall, but their A350 hard product in all classes is pretty solid, and their A333 J is decent as well. I don't think their planes are so bad that it makes Enrich a horrible choice, especially if it's the easiest/cheapest way for you to retain OWE.

As QF WP MH treated me well, even in Y.

I'm a QF SG and MH has treated me well as well. I'd argue that their status recognition as a SG/OWS is better than Qantas'!

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Avoid Enrich.

The program has been devalued yearly for 7 out of 10 years.
Just last month, there was another points redemption devaluation, with some sectors (eg, KUL-ADL in J) increasing by 100%.

Enrich has no consumer co-brand credit card.
Limited credit card transfer partners.
Options for points earn outside of flying are extremely limited.
Who knows what your Enrich points will be worth for flight redemptions in 1 year from now - given the devaluations over the past decade.

As others mentioned - Star Alliance might be a better option in Asia.
Then again, another real strategy is ignoring status altogether and fly based on best price of the day.
If you're always in economy class (presumably so because you're not earning SC on QF), you will save a lot of $$$ by flying whoever is cheapest, and then spending your way up (eg: pay for seat selection, bags, etc..) versus a straight up highest ticket price x57 sectors.

In Southeast Asia there are only a few strategies for status that work:
- Pay for biz class.
- Maintain status with multiple alliances (crediting to the same FFP of the airline you fly).
- Forget status, fly based on price.

Your strategy of, use QF status, fly intra-Asia - doesn't fit into one of these 3 models, and that's why you're struggling to find a fit.
As someone with QF status based in Asia - I recommend forgetting about QFF so much, and focus more on how you can get a better experience in Asia.

Asia != Australia

 

[andye]

Avoid Enrich.

The program has been devalued yearly for 7 out of 10 years.
Just last month, there was another points redemption devaluation, with some sectors (eg, KUL-ADL in J) increasing by 100%.

Enrich has no consumer co-brand credit card.
Limited credit card transfer partners.
Options for points earn outside of flying are extremely limited.
Who knows what your Enrich points will be worth for flight redemptions in 1 year from now - given the devaluations over the past decade.

As others mentioned - Star Alliance might be a better option in Asia.
Then again, another real strategy is ignoring status altogether and fly based on best price of the day.
If you're always in economy class (presumably so because you're not earning SC on QF), you will save a lot of $$$ by flying whoever is cheapest, and then spending your way up (eg: pay for seat selection, bags, etc..) versus a straight up highest ticket price x57 sectors.

In Southeast Asia there are only a few strategies for status that work:
- Pay for biz class.
- Maintain status with multiple alliances (crediting to the same FFP of the airline you fly).
- Forget status, fly based on price.

Your strategy of, use QF status, fly intra-Asia - doesn't fit into one of these 3 models, and that's why you're struggling to find a fit.
As someone with QF status based in Asia - I recommend forgetting about QFF so much, and focus more on how you can get a better experience in Asia.

Asia != Australia

Assume MH are poor listeners too

 

[winfred]

Assume MH are poor listeners too

Their customer service is legendary in a bad way and they always gives me the impression that they couldn't care less.

 

[winfred]

Avoid Enrich.

The program has been devalued yearly for 7 out of 10 years.
Just last month, there was another points redemption devaluation, with some sectors (eg, KUL-ADL in J) increasing by 100%.

Enrich has no consumer co-brand credit card.
Limited credit card transfer partners.
Options for points earn outside of flying are extremely limited.
Who knows what your Enrich points will be worth for flight redemptions in 1 year from now - given the devaluations over the past decade.

As others mentioned - Star Alliance might be a better option in Asia.
Then again, another real strategy is ignoring status altogether and fly based on best price of the day.
If you're always in economy class (presumably so because you're not earning SC on QF), you will save a lot of $$$ by flying whoever is cheapest, and then spending your way up (eg: pay for seat selection, bags, etc..) versus a straight up highest ticket price x57 sectors.

In Southeast Asia there are only a few strategies for status that work:
- Pay for biz class.
- Maintain status with multiple alliances (crediting to the same FFP of the airline you fly).
- Forget status, fly based on price.

Your strategy of, use QF status, fly intra-Asia - doesn't fit into one of these 3 models, and that's why you're struggling to find a fit.
As someone with QF status based in Asia - I recommend forgetting about QFF so much, and focus more on how you can get a better experience in Asia.

Asia != Australia

Yeah MH devalue their points and hard to earn with credit cards.

QFF also not viable any more.

All my travel for short haul are in economy, medium haul (6-10 hours) in premium economy and long haul in business.

If I spend more time in a city with a *A airline such as Singapore or Bangkok then *A makes sense. Also, I still prefer OW's airlines.

I am going to try out Qatar's FF program. I do travel to the Middle East 5-6 times a year and I have done a few trips from Asia to North America with Qatar Airways. Their economy and business class product are good. As they have no premium economy, I will just do day time economy flights which is not too bad.

 

[Mwenenzi]

I am going to try out Qatar's FF program. I do travel to the Middle East 5-6 times a year and I have done a few trips from Asia to North America with Qatar Airways. Their economy and business class product are good. As they have no premium economy, I will just do day time economy flights which is not too bad.

If considering QR (avios ff currency) also consider the other avios currency ffp's. That is BA and to a lesser extent IB & AY. Avois, but not status can be moved between these ffp's. Look at earning status requirements for all (earning & retaining). And opportunities for earning avios from non flying activities.

The airline you fly on the airline ffp you credit flights to does no need to be the same. But generally better to have status with the airline you fly most.

BA has premium economy.

 

[winfred]

If considering QR (avios ff currency) also consider the other avios currency ffp's. That is BA and to a lesser extent IB & AY. Avois, but not status can be moved between these ffp's. Look at earning status requirements for all (earning & retaining). And opportunities for earning avios from non flying activities.

The airline you fly on the airline ffp you credit flights to does no need to be the same. But generally better to have status with the airline you fly most.

BA has premium economy.

Most of my premium economy flights are from Asia to Middle East or from KUL/SIN to Japan. BA will won't help. Also I rarely fly to Europe.

My main points earner so be my Hong Kong credit card that I credit to CX. I think I earned 1.4m points last year.

 

[Mwenenzi]

My main points earner so be my Hong Kong credit card that I credit to CX. I think I earned 1.4m points last year.

But have you used them?
No "interest" with locality program miles/points/avios.
Long term trend is for devastations with any/all programs

 

[winfred]

But have you used them?
No "interest" with locality program miles/points/avios.
Long term trend is for devastations with any/all programs

Yes I have used lots of the points. It has been easy to redeem tickets for travel within Asia. I have also used the points to redeem PE & J tickets to Dubai a few times. Redeeming tickets to North America is a lot more challenging but the same can be said with QF even with WP status.

I will look into switching to Avios with my credit card after qualifying with higher status with Qatar.

 

[winfred]

As I was contemplating life travelling wihtout access to 1st class lounges after 30 June 2023, I received an email from Standard Chartered Bank giving me a 12 months CX Diamond status for free. Now I can focus on requalifying for CX Diamond which will be a lot easier than QF.