A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question if all Malaysia Airlines business class fares can be credited to partner programs.
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Question from a reader:
I was wondering if you had any experience with crediting of tier points on British airways exec club whilst flying on Malaysia airlines.
Is it true that there is zero tier points earned on Malaysia airlines on a business class ticket booked in ‘I’?
I know the miles are very low when crediting to BAEC whilst flying MAS but I did not know there would be zero tier points on some business tickets.
I thought tier points are always earned no matter the class fare.
Prepandemic, I flew quite a bit on Malaysia Airlines on those cheap business class fares ex-Bangkok and Phuket to destinations in Asia (excellent and affordable way to rack up BA TPs). However, I had not heard of fare classes that wouldn’t credit to partner programs, so I decided to investigate.
British Airways – Malaysia Airlines Earning Chart:
The Z has been the lowest business fare class on Malaysia Airlines for a while (and the one where those cheap tickets were booked at).
Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur – Sydney Availability:
There is indeed an I-fare class that is used for business class flights, and it should also be the “lowest.” But sometimes, there is I availability when higher business class fare buckets are zeroed out.
Not sure what to think of this.
Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur – Sydney Fares:
There are no published fare classes for this city pair that would book into I.
Conclusion
It would be interesting to know in which markets Malaysia Airlines publishes I-fares and if they are used for other purposes.
There are often fare classes, such as P on Lufthansa (not on Swiss) and O on Air France & KLM, that cannot be credited to any or only a small number of partner programs. These tend to be deeply discounted business-class buckets.
Then there are many economy fare classes in the economy that earn very little, if nothing at all, when trying to get credit with partners, but you rarely need to pay much attention to the business class ones.
I cannot wait for Malaysia Airlines to reintroduce those “deal” fares around Asia, but let’s hope they don’t book into this I.
