Your guide to Malaysia Airlines’ overhauled Enrich program

The Enrich frequent flyer program of Malaysia Airlines is in for a rejig, with changes to the way that members earn points, a new form of ‘status credits’ for unlocking its elite levels, and indeed, fresh requirements to reach those lofty heights.

Coming into action from April 1 2021, here’s what you need to know about the reengineered Enrich scheme.

Enrich Miles become Enrich Points

From April 1 2021, ‘Enrich Miles’ will instead become known as ‘Enrich Points’.

Members can continue to earn Enrich Points in the air and on the ground, and any existing Enrich Miles in a traveller’s account on this date will become Enrich Points at a 1:1 rate.

For example, an Enrich customer with a balance of 50,000 Enrich Miles will soon have 50,000 Enrich Points instead.

Elite Miles become Elite Points

In a similar vein, ‘Elite Miles’ will be discontinued, and ‘Elite Points’ will take over.

These are the Enrich equivalent of status credits, and determine when a member reaches or retains elite Silver, Gold or Platinum status.

Unlike Enrich Points, Elite Points cannot be spent on flights or other rewards.

Earn Enrich Points based on the fare paid, not the distance flown

On Malaysia Airlines and MASwings flights taken from April 1, travellers will earn Enrich Points in line with the value of their ticket, rather than how far their journey takes them.

Calculated on the fare price plus any carrier-imposed surcharges, the program’s new earning rates are based on the number of Malaysian ringgits spent, with 1 Enrich Point earned per 1 MYR as a baseline.

Whether you're up the front or down the back, you'll earn points based on how much you spend.

That’s combined with the traveller’s frequent flyer status to reach the final tally.

Entry-level Enrich Blue members receive a 20% bonus on that rate, with Silver cardholders getting a 30% boost, Gold members a 60% increase, and Platinum travellers earning an 80% bonus.

For example, a Malaysia Airlines airfare costing 10,000 MYR (approximately $3,239 AUD) would deliver the following reward by the end of the journey:

• Enrich Blue: 12,000 Enrich Points
• Enrich Silver: 13,000 Enrich Points
• Enrich Gold: 16,000 Enrich Points
• Enrich Platinum: 18,000 Enrich Points

Enrich Points will not be earned on other expenses such as government taxes, airport fees and similar that may form part of the total ticket price, nor on the value of any add-ons purchased such as excess baggage or seat selection.

New earning rates on Qantas and other partner flights

Enrich members travelling on Oneworld partner airline flights – including with Qantas – will earn Enrich Points at a revised rate from April 1.

While Enrich is yet to reveal the full details of its earning rates on a per-airline basis, Malaysia Airlines has shared the following table as a guide, with partner airline flights continuing to earn Enrich Points based on the distance flown, rather than dollars (or ringgits) spent.

An example of premium economy earning rates has not been provided, and the ‘earn rate’ indicated above represents a percentage of the miles flown to be given in Enrich Points.

For instance, a flight clocking in at 1,000 miles, with a 140% earn rate, would give 1,400 Enrich Points.

It also remains to be seen whether current program restrictions – such as the inability to earn any Enrich Miles/Points on lower-cost Qantas economy airfares, and reduced earning rates on Qantas flights to and from the UK – will be carried forward into the revised Enrich scheme.

Enrich removes ‘Elite Sectors’ for earning status

Malaysia Airlines currently allows Enrich members to earn their status either through Elite Miles (to become Elite Points, the equivalent of status credits), or from ‘Elite Sectors’, being the number of flights a member has taken each year.

From April, Elite Sectors will be discontinued, with Elite Points being the only way to reach or retain Silver, Gold or Platinum status.

Travellers will need to earn 30 Elite Points to gain or renew Enrich Silver, 60 Elite Points for Gold, and 100 Elite Points for Platinum, from April 1.

Want to continue enjoying benefits like lounge access? You'll need to earn Elite Points.

Members who already hold one of these status levels prior to April 1 will remain at that tier until the end of their current membership year, even if their flying activity would not have qualified them for the same status under the structure of the new program.

However, when it next comes time to renew their tier after April 1, they’ll need to have earned the required number of Elite Points for their desired status.

Existing Elite Miles, Elite Sectors to be recalculated

For travellers who have already earned Elite Miles and Elite Sectors in their current Enrich membership year, these will be recalculated as Elite Points on April 1.

In doing so, Malaysia Airlines will reassess every flight already taken during the cardholder’s current membership year, using the Elite Point earning rates of the new program as though they applied when those flights were taken.

Some travellers will find this puts them closer to keeping their existing status or moving up to the next rank, while others may see the goal posts shift further away from them.

Members can continue to reach new status levels based on the current system until the end of March, so for those already close to moving up the ladder – but for whom the status rejig would make this more difficult – a quick flight (where travel restrictions permit) could be a savvy move.

How many Elite Points can I earn on Malaysia Airlines?

Malaysia Airlines’ revised Enrich program will provide Elite Points based on the distance of each flight, combined with the cabin booked by the passenger.

Here’s how many Elite Points you can expect to earn across a variety of popular routes with Malaysia Airlines, with earning rates indicated per one-way flight (double these figures for a return journey).

Note, Business Suites – formerly known as Malaysia Airlines first class – are only available on Airbus A350 and Airbus A380 flights, and may not be available on all routes, including when flights are operated by Airbus A330s or Boeing 737s.

How many Elite Points can I earn on Qantas and Oneworld flights?

Enrich members who travel with Qantas or other Oneworld partner airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways will also earn Elite Points based on the distance of their flight and the cabin they have booked.

Again, Malaysia Airlines is yet to publish a full table for these partner airline flights – including how earning rates will stack up in premium economy and first class – but the airline will broadly use the same distance bands and earning rates as for flight operated by Malaysia Airlines.

Based on this, here’s how many Elite Points you could earn across a variety of popular Qantas domestic routes, in both business class and economy.

Under this system, Enrich doesn’t apply different earning rates based on the type of your fare – such as fully flexible or discounted – only based on where you sit on board (business class or economy).

On Qantas and other partner flights, Enrich rewards where you sit, not what you spend.

Do note though, that as Malaysia Airlines is yet to publish its earning rates by fare letter for each partner airline, some Qantas and other Oneworld fares may be ineligible to earn Elite Points and Enrich Points.

Under current arrangements, Enrich members travelling on Qantas domestic flights can only earn rewards with Enrich when booked in business class (any fare: J, C, D or I), Economy Flex (Y, B, H, and K) and the most expensive Red e-Deals (M, L and V).

This will certainly be one to watch, as April gets closer.

Passengers travelling on Enrich partner airlines outside the Oneworld alliance – such as with Air France, Emirates or Etihad Airways – will not be able to earn Elite Points (status credits) on those flight numbers: only Enrich Points (rewards you can spend).

Enrich Points to become available on charter flights

Under current Enrich program rules, some flights are excluded from earning Enrich miles – most often, being charter flights that aren’t part of Malaysia Airlines’ regular schedule.

From April 1, charter flights using commercial flight numbers will be eligible for Enrich miles, including seasonal services to Jeddah and Madinah for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

On these flights, a fixed number of Enrich Points will be earned, being 3,500 Enrich Points in Business Suites (formerly first class), 2,500 Enrich Points in business class, and 1,500 Enrich Points in economy.

Enrich Points cannot be earned on charter flights with an MH8000 series flight number (e.g. MH8123).

No changes to elite benefits, Enrich rewards

Despite the significant overhaul to Enrich, there are some things Malaysia Airlines isn’t changing.

For starters, all existing benefits for Enrich Silver, Gold and Platinum cardholders remain in-tact, as do the earning and spending opportunities available to entry-level Enrich Blue cardholders.

Enrich Silver continues to align with Oneworld Ruby (equivalent to Qantas Silver), Enrich Gold remains at Oneworld Sapphire (on-par with Qantas Gold), and Enrich Platinum stays at Oneworld Emerald (the same rung as Qantas Platinum).

There’s also no change to the number of Enrich Points needed to secure a reward, such as a flight with Malaysia Airlines or one of its partners.

Of course, this aspect of Enrich has already been redesigned several years back, with the number of Enrich miles needed to book a Malaysia Airlines flight fluctuating based on the cash price of an equivalent ticket.

Reward rates on partner airline flights remain tied to the distance of the journey.

For more information about the changes coming to Enrich, head to the Malaysia Airlines website.

Also read: Malaysia Airlines revamps Enrich frequent flyer program

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.