Malaysia Airlines is offering a unique fast-track to Enrich Gold status, equivalent to Oneworld Sapphire status.
You can earn instant Enrich Gold status by flying Malaysia Airlines from Australia or New Zealand to London in Business Class or Business Suites. This status will be valid for 12 months and awarded within two weeks after completing the return trip to London.
Enrich is the frequent flyer program of Malaysia Airlines, a member of the Oneworld alliance. By earning status with Malaysia Airlines, you’ll also receive benefits like lounge access when flying with other alliance members including Qantas, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines and Qatar Airways.
If you’re already an Enrich Gold or Platinum member, you’ll instead receive 50,000 bonus elite miles to help you requalify.
To qualify for this Enrich Gold fast-track promotion, you would need to book by 16 September 2019 and complete your travel by 30 July 2020.
Malaysia Airlines Business fares from Australia to London via Kuala Lumpur currently start from $5,570 return from Perth or $5,669 return from Melbourne. Similar prices are available from Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane which are also served by Malaysia Airlines. Free stopovers are permitted in Kuala Lumpur in both directions. These sale fares expire on 16 September 2019, the same date as the Enrich Gold fast-track offer ends.
This promo also works in the other direction, i.e. from London to Australia or New Zealand. You could also earn Enrich Gold status with a round-trip Business Class or Business Suites ticket from London to South-East Asia, however only the flexible fares would qualify (i.e. not P or Z class) in this case.
Is the Enrich Gold fast-track a good deal?
Earning 12 months of Oneworld Sapphire status – equivalent to Qantas Gold – from a single round-trip booking to Europe is a good deal. But this particular Enrich Gold fast-track deal does also lock you into earning Malaysia Airlines Enrich miles for your trip. After successive devaluations of the Malaysian Enrich loyalty program in recent years, Enrich miles are not as valuable to Australians as they once were.
If you were to fly with Malaysia Airlines from Sydney to London, and credit the flights to Qantas Frequent Flyer, you would earn only 180 Qantas status credits. This is not enough to even earn Qantas Silver status. (The earn amount is particularly low because Malaysia Airlines Business Class tickets earn Qantas points and status credits at Flexible Economy rates.)
But if you were to credit the same Malaysia Airlines flights to British Airways Executive Club, you’d pick up 600 tier points. That’s exactly the number of tier points you need to earn British Airways Silver status – also equivalent to Oneworld Sapphire. In addition, to earn Executive Club Silver status, you would just need to take at least four British Airways flights. (This could easily be done during your time in London.)
If you were to fly Qantas on a Business Sale fare from Sydney to London, you could earn 560 Qantas Frequent Flyer status credits. This is not quite enough to earn Qantas Gold status but does come close. However, the cheapest Qantas Business fare currently available from Sydney to London is $7,750 return – around $2,000 more than the Malaysia Airlines ticket price.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: FastTrack Gold Aust – London
