MAS Enrich – a frustrating experience - never again

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Reading through the posts relating to Enrich, the only consolation is that I am not alone!

Future Enrich ‘targets’ BEWARE, this program is full of catches and there is no customer service to speak of, despite the web site stating that ‘they are always there’ (I guess I should have asked where is ‘there’, because they obviously can’t read the emails from where it is).

My first (and last) foray into redeeming Enrich points to up grade from economy to business has resulted in:
- having to buy a more expensive H class economy ticket to up grade (Enrich surcharge I call it)
- finding a flight with ‘upgradeable’ seats is VERY limited (even though I am booking 6 months in advance)
- 4 emails sent to Enrich – no reply
- Rang Enrich – 24 minutes on hold, line drooped out
- Rang Enrich – 46 minutes on hold, was told a business seat was available on a certain flight, but could not tell me if there was an H class economy ticket available on the same flight, transferred to fare enquiries
- Finally found a seat in H class, booked with travel agent, rang Enrich to upgrade and they wanted ticket number. As I had paid over the phone, ticket was not due to be issued for a few weeks. Told I could not upgrade without ticket number. I told them I have a MAS reference number given to me by my travel agent. No good, could not upgrade. SO if I wait until my ticket comes through, upgradeable seat will have gone, BUT I MUST first have economy ticket to upgrade and an upgradeable seat must be on the same flight.
The whole experience of trying to redeem these points has been so frustrating. The lack of correspondence is just unbelievable. My question is not out of the ordinary, probably one they get ALL the time. It’s a general upgrade question.
I have actually had it with MAS. I have spent a lot of money with this airline and I genuinely like the in air service and flight staff, but NEVER again. Once the points are used up, I will be sending them my Enrich card and bidding them farewell forever. With the competition in this region one should not put up with mediocrity, or rather non existent service.
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Why in the world can't your travel agent get your ticket issued on the spot? I'd be shopping around for a new travel agent. Even a paper ticket shouldn't require weeks to process. You have a valid reason for needing it issued right away.

Try Expedia. They e-ticket for MH.
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Quote:
- having to buy a more expensive H class economy ticket to up grade (Enrich surcharge I call it)
Most, if not all, airlines do this. H class on MH is actually a mid-level fare...compare that with Y, B, M, E (top-level) on SQ or mileage eligible upgrade classes Y, B, M, H (top-level) on UA! The price difference between a E and Q class on SQ can be around $400 for a roundtrip US-Asia flight or $600+ on UA.

Quote:
- finding a flight with ‘upgradeable’ seats is VERY limited (even though I am booking 6 months in advance)
Again, very similar with other airlines (depending on the season/day/destination). Try UA on their LAX/SFO-SYD or SFO/ORD-HKG....you'll be surprised that a 1K who have been waitlisted for months even fail to clear the upgrade occasionally.

Quote:
- 4 emails sent to Enrich – no reply
- Rang Enrich – 24 minutes on hold, line drooped out
-Rang Enrich – 46 minutes on hold, was told a business seat was available on a certain flight, but could not tell me if there was an H class economy ticket available on the same flight, transferred to fare enquiries
This is inexcusable, but my parents were having the same problem with SQ as well. For some reasons, it's really hard to get through to SQ KF and MH Enrich. E-mails take forever - SQ at least reply the e-mails later, but again, it's inexcusable for MH not to reply e-mails.

Quote:
- Finally found a seat in H class, booked with travel agent, rang Enrich to upgrade and they wanted ticket number. As I had paid over the phone, ticket was not due to be issued for a few weeks. Told I could not upgrade without ticket number. I told them I have a MAS reference number given to me by my travel agent. No good, could not upgrade. SO if I wait until my ticket comes through, upgradeable seat will have gone, BUT I MUST first have economy ticket to upgrade and an upgradeable seat must be on the same flight
Again, similar practice on most airlines, you need to have your ticket issued before you can request for an upgrade. I'll be seriously concerned if the TA did not issue your ticket after you have paid the TA!
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Quote: Again, very similar with other airlines (depending on the season/day/destination). Try UA on their LAX/SFO-SYD or SFO/ORD-HKG....you'll be surprised that a 1K who have been waitlisted for months even fail to clear the upgrade occasionally.
The difference with Enrich is that inspite of the poor miles earning benefit of the programme, seats in the premium cabins are also offered to members of other FF with much higher earning ability (2-3times higher). While its true that many airlines also allow cross redemption, these airlines usually have very decent miles earning benefit themselves unlike MH.

The nett effect is that Enrich members are facing very stiff competition from members of other FF programme for the very few award seats. I wont be surprised if more than 70-80% of the long-haul biz/first award seats have been going to members of other FF programme.
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Quote: The difference with Enrich is that inspite of the poor miles earning benefit of the programme, seats in the premium cabins are also offered to members of other FF with much higher earning ability
Besides being offered to M'sian VIPs (datuks and such) at a much higher priority than FFP elites.
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Quote: The difference with Enrich is that inspite of the poor miles earning benefit of the programme, seats in the premium cabins are also offered to members of other FF with much higher earning ability (2-3times higher). While its true that many airlines also allow cross redemption, these airlines usually have very decent miles earning benefit themselves unlike MH.

The nett effect is that Enrich members are facing very stiff competition from members of other FF programme for the very few award seats. I wont be surprised if more than 70-80% of the long-haul biz/first award seats have been going to members of other FF programme.
That's why I keep my NW account!

If you are going after the miles/upgrade instruments, I'd say that the majority of Asian-based FFPs are not as generous as its American counterparts.
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Quote: If you are going after the miles/upgrade instruments, I'd say that the majority of Asian-based FFPs are not as generous as its American counterparts.
True, but even when compared to other asian airlines MH is far from generous.

Take SQ for example which often has similar priced (but higher sub-class category) flexible fares in econ for regional flights. For every 1,000 miles flown, you get the full 1,000 miles. And if you are KF Gold you get a 50% bonus giving you an extra 500 miles, effective giving you 1,500miles.

For MH, if you go for a similar priced fare you are likely to acrue only 70% of distance flown giving you only 700miles. And if you are Enrich Gold, you get zero bonus miles. So its 700miles against SQ's 1,500miles ,for every 1,000miles flown.

Its also interesting to note that Enrich often refer to themselves as a "reward" programme rather a "loyalty" programme. Most of their staff do not refer to your miles as something "earned" but rather along the line that its something that they gave to you out of their goodwill. My Gold status has just lapsed, and I am in no hurry to get it back.
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I read this post today with interest.

I'm considering transferring a whole bunch of AMEX points to the Enrich program (where I'm a very lowly blue member) and redeeming them for an award flight for 2 people from Sydney to South Africa, first class.

The posts on this thread worry me about this course of action - are there any other war stories, or lessons learned, from readers who have faced or experienced a similar issue to mine.

Is it worth it? If not, are there any alternatives which I can consider.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
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shouild be ok for flights in 2011
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Quote: I read this post today with interest.

I'm considering transferring a whole bunch of AMEX points to the Enrich program (where I'm a very lowly blue member) and redeeming them for an award flight for 2 people from Sydney to South Africa, first class.

The posts on this thread worry me about this course of action - are there any other war stories, or lessons learned, from readers who have faced or experienced a similar issue to mine.

Is it worth it? If not, are there any alternatives which I can consider.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Pick some other carrier, almost any carrier. I was a founding member with Enrich about 10+ years ago and gave it up after 5 years of absolutely worthless membership.

I was based in KUL for some time and did a LOT of regional flights with MH. The service in the air is fantastic and I'd gladly fly them again but the FF program (Enrich) is the worst I know. Even BR's evergreen club that isn't known for being very generous and has been making steady cuts over the years is, IMHO, miles ahead of Enrich.

Strongly recommend you find other options like SQ, TG, CX, etc... Sure, all airlines have restrictions, limitations, etc... on ticket redemption but I've yet to deal with a program of such poor value or non-existent customer service as Enrich. I may not be a VIP but I am a VFF. Even my local DOL offers better service and response time than Enrich.
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Defending Enrich
And no I do not work for MAS. I have had no problems redeeming my points for First and Biz class travel. One has to be flexible and plan ahead as in all programs. Try redeeming your Qantas and Virgin Atlantic points and then perhaps you'll find that Enrich is a much much better program. Qantas no longer appears to even offer FC especially the LA route and biz has to be about 12 months ahead. Virgin HKG to LHR is almost impossible.
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I recently transferred credit card points into my Enrich basic account and got 2 biz tkts Syd-India for Xmas. My experience has been the telephone hold is incredible-very long and frustrating. I was able to hold to J tickets with only 1000 points balance! I found this incredible and as my travel does not commence until Dec had to pay (points and taxes at least 2 days ahead!). This is great for those who want to hold seats and think about a booking but terrible for others as I can only assume this takes up award inventory from others and really not fair. As I could have called a couple of days before and cancelled and had no fee or points taken.
Good luck with getting any awards to South Africa as I tried to get to EZE (which is via Cape Town) and as it only flies twice a week all space all classes is blocked.
Overall I changed my destination and got all dates I wanted at a busy time. I have not flown MH before but here they are great in the air so am looking forward to that also they were cheaper(in trems of points than QF, SQ etc on that route in that class, so worked for me).
SYD/YYZ
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Quote: That's why I keep my NW account!

....
Yeah. MH has good fares, and as such, I bank my miles into either NW or VS accounts.
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Quote: Virgin HKG to LHR is almost impossible.
Changing topic a little, actually there's plenty of redemption availability (especially Upper Class which was previously nigh impossible) now that VS plans to start a second LHR - HKG flight from 28 October. Snap them up before they go... fast!
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Thanks carrotjuice for the info. I haven't tried for quite awhile.
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