This is the start of our new Community Stories series, where readers can submit their own stories, and they'll appear in the Reader-Stories section of the site.
For most OneWorld flyers in the US, they’re selecting between Alaska’s Atmos Rewards and American AAdvantage. This year, I’ve been flying both Alaska and American a bunch, and having Malaysia Airlines Platinum (OneWorld Emerald) has made it super easy! In fact, for my travel plans, I’d argue that it’s far more worth it than either of the aforementioned statuses.
Firstly, earning status on MH is really easy.
They have a distance-based award chart, meaning that as long as you’re flying on a fare that earns miles, it doesn’t matter how much you spent on your ticket, you’re earning the same number of elite points.
For me, someone who doesn’t travel much in premium cabins, even long-haul economy flights over 5,500 miles earn 10 elite points, and you only need 70 for OneWorld Sapphire. Therefore, someone who flies even semi-regularly — four long-haul round-trips a year, or once a month between LA and New York — can reach a meaningful status tier without spending a fortune on fares.
Secondly, you get almost all the same OneWorld perks.
All the same ground perks you’d have with AA or AS status are also included with partner status: priority check-in, priority boarding, seat selection, etc. In fact, as a OneWorld Emerald, I was even able to select Main Cabin Extra seats 24 hours before departure at no charge.
Thirdly, you get lounge access at no additional cost.
Frankly, maybe I have a different mindset than most, but I can’t conceive how airline lounges are worth the crazy prices airlines are charging. $550 a year for access to one airline group’s lounges is nuts.
In addition, where available, you also get to access higher tier and international lounges. Having access to the AA Flagship Lounges where available is always a treat, and in LAX, Terminal 4 is a quick walk from the Qantas and OneWorld Business Lounges for international travelers.
As a cherry on top, American extends their lounge policy of being able to access lounges after arrival to OneWorld elites. Meaning, if I’m flying from SFO to LAX, I can access both the Alaska Lounge and Admirals Club at SFO, and then access the Flagship Lounge at LAX after landing, which is such a great deal.
Fourthly, the lack of upgrades — not a downgrade in my opinion.
The one downside of not having AS or AA status (as published) is the lack of space-available upgrades, which they don’t extend to OneWorld partners. However, it seems airlines are trying more and more to monetize their seats over giving them away, and from my experience, on the rare occasions where flights are oversold and someone has to be upgraded, OneWorld elites are still kept in mind.
I’ve received Premium Class upgrades several times on Alaska, and even a First upgrade a couple of times, when they needed the economy seat. Alaska assigns Saver Fare seats two hours before departure, so they’d rather move you up and keep saver fare passengers in the back.
Lastly, the Platinum Companion benefit.
This is the most underrated perk. If you fly enough to earn Enrich Platinum, you can nominate a spouse or child to receive OneWorld Emerald status too, which is more or less a two-for-one. I know no other airline that makes it this easy to earn, and if you pay for business or first, it is very doable to achieve.
MH Enrich is relatively generous in economy class status points, but rather stingy when it comes to Business Class. The example you make with 10 points earned in Economy converts into 15 points earned in Business. Since you need 70 points for OW Sapphire, this means 7 such long-haul flights in Economy or 5 in Business are needed. Which is quite a lot, compared to Economy ...
That's definitely true - maybe I'll add in some edits to quantify this experience - I fly a mix of business and economy, and earning status in economy is definitely a better value-add!
Wait, how did you get status on MH to begin with?
I actually started off as a Platinum companion, and was reaping the benefits :)
Now I've been flying myself (and this year, might only re-qualify for Gold, but OWS is still enough for most of my flying patterns)
Feels lightweight. Would have loved more from this post…stays match opportunities, paths to earning, credit cards, transition process from OWE status with another airline.
Seems like a fine Reader Story post. I say, well done studentFlyer!
Definitely appreciate the feedback! I've been a big admirer of this blog for years, so have a long way to go.
And having grown up in SE Asia, you definitely get shocked by how much opportunity for credit card optimization is available in the US, status matches are far rarer. There's a credit card in Malaysia that drastically reduces earning requirements, but assuming most US-centric blog readers wouldn't be able to take advantage
Feels lightweight. Would have loved more from this post…stays match opportunities, paths to earning, credit cards, transition process from OWE status with another airline.
Thanks for the post! I was curious to know any easy way to achieve OWE so attaining through MH sounds like one of the options!
@Ben --> I, too, am oneworld Emerald, albeit through being Alaska ATMOS Platinum.* Aside from one or two trips abroad per year, all my travel is domestic (U.S.). Alaska is also, at least for the time being, distance-based. I get Main Cabin Extra/Premium Economy/Extra Legroom/whatever-you-want-to-call-it seats as a free upgrade at the time of booking, on both AS and AA, and have been upgraded to (domestic) First on about 20 percent of my flights (7...
@Ben --> I, too, am oneworld Emerald, albeit through being Alaska ATMOS Platinum.* Aside from one or two trips abroad per year, all my travel is domestic (U.S.). Alaska is also, at least for the time being, distance-based. I get Main Cabin Extra/Premium Economy/Extra Legroom/whatever-you-want-to-call-it seats as a free upgrade at the time of booking, on both AS and AA, and have been upgraded to (domestic) First on about 20 percent of my flights (7 out of 36). I agree that there is a definite advantage to having oneworld Emerald status with a foreign carrier when traveling domestically when it comes to lounge access, AND that lounge access is crazy expensive, but this is why I have the Citi AAdvantage Exec card that comes with Admirals Club membership. (As you know, the AF is less than purchasing a lounge membership separately with AS or AA directly and gives you access to both.)
But I, too, appreciate the creativity though I'm not sure I can get it to work for me...
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* FWIW, I've been MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75k every year since they took over VX.
Interesting - there's definitely pros and cons. The upgrades definitely hurt (but when flights are oversold or they need to upgrade someone, you still take priority over most other passengers)
My big plus is access to Flagship Lounges + Qantas First (I fly through LAX pretty often)
Interesting. I'm guessing the miles earned are less valuable with Enrich than Aadvantage or Atmos? But I can easily see that trade-off being worth it.
I'll probably have my own "earning vs status" decision next year. Most of my flying will be short-haul with Cathay, who,
a) have good earn rates on their own metal
b) are zero earn with OW partners (except BA/IB) on most economy fares
c) don't allow you to...
Interesting. I'm guessing the miles earned are less valuable with Enrich than Aadvantage or Atmos? But I can easily see that trade-off being worth it.
I'll probably have my own "earning vs status" decision next year. Most of my flying will be short-haul with Cathay, who,
a) have good earn rates on their own metal
b) are zero earn with OW partners (except BA/IB) on most economy fares
c) don't allow you to use benefits from one program but credit to another
Were it not for (c) it would be a no-brainer for me to take Aadvantage Platinum with Hyatt then credit to Asia Miles, but, as it is, the difference in earn rates makes it tempting to pursue status with Cathay instead.
Well fingers crossed you get Cathay Diamond + access to the new Wing First ;)
Excellent, informative post! While Malaysia Airlines has dealt with, let's say, a lot, I'm glad they're still around, even as more of a regional carrier, these days. Had the chance to fly them in 2018 from KUL-DPS on one of their 737s in J (just recliners). Would like to return to KUL and experience their 339neo (like Ben has reviewed!)
This is the kind of creativity I love to see!