In June of last year it was announced that Malaysia Airlines would be joining the OneWorld alliance by late 2012. The good news is that just today OneWorld announced Malaysia Airlines’ official join date, which was up in the air till now. The bad news is that it’s only going to be February 1, 2013, so it seems the entry is delayed a bit. My hope is that they’ll develop more reciprocal agreements with other OneWorld carriers before then, though I wouldn’t count on it.
Malaysia Airlines has a fantastic reputation, and I can’t wait to finally try their first class product. While Malaysia Airlines has partnered with Delta SkyMiles for a while, they impose substantial fuel surcharges and also limit award redemptions to business and coach class. Chances are that we’ll be able to redeem our American AAdvantage miles for Malaysia Airlines first class, and there shouldn’t be any sort of fuel surcharges. Their first class product looks pretty awesome as well, especially on the Airbus 380.
Airbus 380 first class product
Malaysia’s only route to the US is daily service to Los Angeles via Tokyo, though unfortunately that’s a two cabin plane without first class. That being said, they have several destinations in Asia, Europe, and Australia with first class service.
OneWorld really is starting to give the Star Alliance a run for their money, if you ask me…
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