Review: Malaysia Airlines Business Suite A350 Kuala Lumpur To Tokyo

Exactly how did you book this? How do I book a "Business Suite" instead of "Business" if I'm using American points?

As a business suite customer, were you provided expedited immigration (or front of line) once you landed?

@ George -- Nope, Japan doesn't offer fast track immigration for any first & business class passengers.

@ Robert Mahari Habte -- See the introduction post in the series for full details. 🙂 I redeemed American miles, and the cost was the same as it would be for first class.

@Ben
You should apply for an APEC card.

I know this is the opposite direction of your travel but ... do you know, for Business Suite customers departing from Tokyo and heading to KL, which lounge they get access? (I'm hoping it's JAL First.)

@ Ed -- Unfortunately they cut first class lounge access at NRT when they rebranded, so you now just get access to any oneworld business lounge.

Just interesting by the moving map it says distance traveled 5124 km and distance from departure 5002 km.

@Ben re:fast track immigration in Japan. Not sure if your comment is specific to Malaysia Airlines passengers, or all first and business passengers in general, but last time I flew ANA F to Japan I was handed a fast track card for immigration at Narita and there was a dedicated line (although it moved slowly).

I'm still confused about why Malaysian rebranded First to Business Suite. It certainly looks like a first-class soft product. I know the hard product is more like the best J seats than the best F seats, but it still seems competitive with, say Korean Air a380 F, or BA F.

Rebranding to Business Suite lowers a lot of expectations and I would guess lowers the price they can charge. Are they trying to lure in true business travelers who are allowed to book "business class," and whose companies don't understand this is really F?

@Ben (not lucky) - I think you're right about your last thought. It likely has to do with corporate travel not allowing First class. Maybe lucky can clarify what booking class this books into (if its not in his intro post) to prove or disprove that theory.

@Ben - are you sure about that (Japan not offering fast track access)? On my recent ANA F trip in December, we were given fastpasses at Narita arrivals.

I have an APEC card, however (which you should absolutely get if you frequently travel to Asia on business - which this trip was!) so went to the shorter APEC line instead.

Strange why they installed this seat. It seems to take up exactly as much space as a row of proper first class seats, but wastes much space on the massive, unnecessary consoles.

@Robel; @Ben: I too would be interested on how you booked this. With miles or cash? Which platform? How many miles/cash? How were you able to determine which routes/aircraft had the business suites [first class] offering?

@claus it takes a bit less space because the first part of the console is the footwell for the business class sets behind. It’s designed to integrate with the seat behind and save a little space. Now if it had been me I would have made this a true window rather than have the seat next to the aisle but I guess that is how it is.

@Ed: That’s what I thought at first, but looking at pictures of business class and seat maps, it doesn’t seem to be the case. Business class is based on Vantage (not Vantage XL) and the bulkhead seats have their own footwells.

That cabin looks really, really claustrophobic.

@claus I thought this was the whole point of the vantage system, I guess I am wrong.

@lucky a shame not to try the Bruno Paillard Rose champagne, it maybe NV but its a really nice one.

@Ben Malaysia Airlines got most of their F business through government travel. When the new government came in they have gone through a cost reduction exercise and banned first class travel for govt servants. Therefore MH lost all demand for F.
Cleverly they have now rebranded this class as Business Suites meaning the Govt Servants essentially can again book First Class.
Welcome to Malaysia.

@Ben
As @Caneron mentions, there are a first class fast track for immigration. The FAs on airlines who pays to participate hands out invitations. Boarding pass itself is not enough. There is usually zero waiting time, as the invitations are only for non Japanese passport holders. So the number of passengers applicable is very low.
MH clearly does not participate after the rebranding.

The console did not need to be that wide and they could have utilized storage space under the ottoman.

You didn't have any teh tarik on this flight?

Good grief, who needs that much storage at their seat?

Dear @Lucky, as a long time reader I've noticed your comments on champagnes served on board. You almost invariably make it about the price of the bottle. That seems a bit common, even vulgar to me. It should be about the drink itself. True, more expensive champagnes are usually the better ones, but don't they deserve to be described bit differently. You could say prestige champagne, wine of high quality or something in that direction. I think that making it all about the price tag dilutes your reviews.

Otherwise it's usually a pleasure to read the articles from you and your co-writers. Keep up the good work!

Looks fantastic -- especially the food -- but quite bizarre that these luxuries are subsidized by ordinary Malaysian citizens who will never get to experience it. Equally bizarre that Air Asia -- which the ordinary Malaysian citizen is more likely to travel with -- is hobbled so that MH can hope to remain alive to subsidize foreigners and wealthy Malaysians.

Menu errors:
"Tip of the hat" to Lucky for referring to the "Palate Cleanser" and not the "Plate Cleanser"
Also Whiskies as the plural of Whisky, not Whiskys although of course if American, plural of Whiskey is Whiskeys.
Good to see they have copied Emirates window blinds, although EK as usual not mentioned by the writer.........

I can see the Business Class Suite seat is much more narrower. I will feel claustrophobic too.

Anyway nice trip review.

Is this new suite even bookable with AA miles or BA Avios anymore? I cannot seem to find award space for it over the next six months on either partner platform. I tried to look for award space on Asia Miles also. No luck.

I wonder if there's a way to upgrade (with miles or cash) from a regular business class seat that's been booked with miles to the business suite, if the latter is no longer bookable as an award.

MH by far has the best satay up in the air for flights out of KUL. When I was younger, they had a choice of chicken or lamb (no beef because of potential Hindu objections). The FAs would share unserved leftovers in the galley.

Satay on SQ pales by comparison. In fairness, the satay quality is very consistent out of every airport they serve. In the past, MH double caters their satay. They are kept frozen for the return flight.

Gotta love this observation from Ben: "I would note that they didn’t have a mother of pearl spoon, but rather I was just offered a teaspoon. You’d think that if you’re spending this much on caviar, buying some proper spoons would be a small cost". What other travel writer would (dare) go to this level of detail!

I loved the Trip Report; very well written and well explained. I did find the seat too narrow from the pictures, and you confirmed it later when you wrote about it.

I wonder why Malaysian did not have a proper First Class seat since it utilizes the same real estate as wide first class seats! Why do they need this much storage.

Price-wise Business Suites is classified as First Class prices, so you would expect it to be First Class seats.

I do hope that Malaysian will have a new Business Class and replace this with something more akin with QSuites or BusinessSuites from Qatar Airways