Terrible experience with Malaysia Airlines
Jan 15, 2010, 8:19 pm
#31
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,449
It seems like MH's woes keep getting worse and worse. As recently as 2007 we were Enrich Gold card holders, but after a series of terrible experiences, including, much to our anger, the sudden cancellation of several flights a few days prior to departure causing a frenzy of chaos with rebooking and stuff, we have since steered away from MH. (other negatives of MH include poor flight connectivity and times--what used to be 3x weekly to NYC vs. 3x daily or 2x daily on CX and SQ, respectively etc.) Our business now goes all to CX, and we don't mind having to route through HKG (which can add hours to the journey time). No wonder we have all been downgraded to Enrich Blue. Several of our friends have had similar experiences, and we have all switched over to CX or SQ (or even AK...). Perhaps MH should take note of its dwindling base of loyal customers (how many Enrich Golds, let alone Platinums, are there besides all the politicians??), and refocus itself as a customer service-oriented airline.
Mar 15, 2010, 12:44 am
#32
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 2
great service
i have flown malaysian for over 4 years now ,i travel 4 times a year and have not had any complaint with the airline.granted i tend to fly businesss not economy but whenever i have flown economy have found the service to be great.
all airlines stop non profitable routes,of which i have been a victim of with the ewr legs,but malaysian airlines were happy to pay for hotels of my choice when things needed rescheduling.
i think that given they are one of the cheapest carriers from asia they do well.
all airlines stop non profitable routes,of which i have been a victim of with the ewr legs,but malaysian airlines were happy to pay for hotels of my choice when things needed rescheduling.
i think that given they are one of the cheapest carriers from asia they do well.
Aug 3, 2010, 2:33 am
#33
Join Date: Apr 2007
Programs: none
Posts: 215
MH luggage theft problem
MH has three big problems
1) baggage theft problem in BKK and KUL
2) in KL Central Station their computer
systems have been 'down' the past two
times I've been there.
3) Horrible attitude of employees
---
The MH:785 from BKK to KUL has a serious problem.
This is the second time someone has broken my luggage
lock and stolen some of my clothes inside.
Last year I was to busy to complain but this year
I've tried to go to the office but they moved to KL. Sentral.
But their system was down today. 3 Aug .2010
...I will try and rely on the IAPA. International airlines Passenger
Assoc.
regards
dbase
1) baggage theft problem in BKK and KUL
2) in KL Central Station their computer
systems have been 'down' the past two
times I've been there.
3) Horrible attitude of employees
---
The MH:785 from BKK to KUL has a serious problem.
This is the second time someone has broken my luggage
lock and stolen some of my clothes inside.
Last year I was to busy to complain but this year
I've tried to go to the office but they moved to KL. Sentral.
But their system was down today. 3 Aug .2010
...I will try and rely on the IAPA. International airlines Passenger
Assoc.
regards
dbase
Aug 3, 2010, 6:04 pm
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
To make things worse, after completing the business class and first class check in, they closed those counters immediately, instead of turning them into Economy check-in to help speed to process, and thereby ensuring that the flight would be delayed even more.
When I finally got to the desk, they didn't have any seats left (the flight was overbooked) so after spending some 5 minutes in the phone (no hurry in here either) they gave me a boarding pass with a seat request and sent me to the gate.
While standing at the gate waiting for my seat I heard them at least "having to upgrading one more passenger to C from Y" (which judging by the tone was the worst thing that could happen to their precious C-Class), the downgrading him back to Economy as a seat suddenly appeared out of nowhere and finally staff going to the airplane to check how many economy seats they had left (apparently their computers don't keep count).
When I got there through the empty C-class and full Y-class, it turned out that the seat was taken, and that the passenger sitting there was on the seat assigned to her.
After all this they decided that after all there was no room in coach and moved another passenger out from an emergency exit seat supposedly to the C-class (I'm guessing this was the same person that was already upgraded and downgraded once while I was waiting on the gate).
Well, after sitting there for about 15 seconds to my great annoyance an employee told me to get up again, and the other passenger was downgraded again and moved to back to the exit seat.
Altough I must admid I would be curious how their C-class meals are. They have to be phenomenal if upgrading and extra passenger to C (me or somebody else, I really don't care) costs more than keeping a packed 747 with a crew on duty and APU running for an extra 45 minutes plus the business lost from angry passengers (I'm guessing the other passengers with a similar experience and the C and F passenger waiting for the seat lottery in Y to be completed didn't enjoy the situation either.
For the records, Asian carriers make money by keeping their premium classes quite exclusive and will only upgrade unless they have no choice but to do so in case of an overbooked flight. By law, airlines are permitted to overbook, and this is something that you would find at any airline, not just MH.
Aug 3, 2010, 8:25 pm
#36
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,657
WOW! Someone from MH actually reads flyertalk. Welcome Tengku Azmil.
I think it will serve Malaysia Airlines well to follow flyertalk, both the good and bad.
It is my sincere hope that Malaysia Airlines will reinvent itself. I have been harping this for a while. Namely :
- Join an Alliance (my hope is that it is Skyteam or Star. I personally loathe Oneworld, esp BA and AA). Though the likes of Emirates think an Alliance is not necessary, I think most people here will disagree.
and
- Interior update, closer to your competition (SQ and TG)
The hard product needs help (the lounge in KLIA is a little dated), the soft product (i.e the service) is quite outstanding.
I think it will serve Malaysia Airlines well to follow flyertalk, both the good and bad.
It is my sincere hope that Malaysia Airlines will reinvent itself. I have been harping this for a while. Namely :
- Join an Alliance (my hope is that it is Skyteam or Star. I personally loathe Oneworld, esp BA and AA). Though the likes of Emirates think an Alliance is not necessary, I think most people here will disagree.
and
- Interior update, closer to your competition (SQ and TG)
The hard product needs help (the lounge in KLIA is a little dated), the soft product (i.e the service) is quite outstanding.
Last edited by meFIRST; Aug 3, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Aug 3, 2010, 11:11 pm
#37
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: YYZ/DLC
Programs: AP, HHonours Diamond
Posts: 3,722
WOW! Someone from MH actually reads flyertalk. Welcome Tengku Azmil.
I think it will serve Malaysia Airlines well to follow flyertalk, both the good and bad.
It is my sincere hope that Malaysia Airlines will reinvent itself. I have been harping this for a while. Namely :
- Join an Alliance (my hope is that it is Skyteam or Star. I personally loathe Oneworld, esp BA and AA). Though the likes of Emirates think an Alliance is not necessary, I think most people here will disagree.
and
- Interior update, closer to your competition (SQ and TG)
The hard product needs help (the lounge in KLIA is a little dated), the soft product (i.e the service) is quite outstanding.
I think it will serve Malaysia Airlines well to follow flyertalk, both the good and bad.
It is my sincere hope that Malaysia Airlines will reinvent itself. I have been harping this for a while. Namely :
- Join an Alliance (my hope is that it is Skyteam or Star. I personally loathe Oneworld, esp BA and AA). Though the likes of Emirates think an Alliance is not necessary, I think most people here will disagree.
and
- Interior update, closer to your competition (SQ and TG)
The hard product needs help (the lounge in KLIA is a little dated), the soft product (i.e the service) is quite outstanding.
Aug 5, 2010, 2:46 am
#38
Join Date: Jul 2008
Programs: QF, VN, SQ, SPG, IHG PG
Posts: 453
No way on MH being admitted to *A. SQ and TG will never allow it and there is little strategic sense in having MH in *A as it will not extend the reach or add any useful route extensions. *A's focus is in expansion in the middle east and India at the moment to keep EK at bay and surrounded.
Back on MH, I find it quite dissapointing to have a single muffin for breakfast in Economy for a high yeidling route like KUL>MEL or maybe MEL is only high yeilding for SQ.
MH can also serve MEL with a 747 to capture some business traffic, something SQ is very sucessful with in MEL (EG: A380 & 77W & 747 (oct))
Aug 5, 2010, 4:55 pm
#39
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Programs: Ambassador PC, Silver HH, Platinum SPG, SQ Gold, EK Gold, MH Silver, NationalCar Executive Elite
Posts: 22
MH Luggage Theft
The luggage theft at KLIA has been going for years now. They never seem to be able to fully put a stop to it. I am unsure if its in particularly a MH problem or not but it does seem to happen more frequently to MH passengers.
As much as I'd like to support our national carrier, there are other better regional carriers out there today which provides exceptional service and value (e.g. SQ & TG).
As much as I'd like to support our national carrier, there are other better regional carriers out there today which provides exceptional service and value (e.g. SQ & TG).
Sep 7, 2010, 6:03 am
#41
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
OT: comparison: Air Asia vs. Malaysian Airlines (BKI-KCH-BKI)
Earlier this week, I did the same day return trip BKI-KCH-BKI: 6.45AM BKI-KCH with AK and 3.45PM KCH-BKI with MH (both flights in Economy):
- aircraft: AK - brand new A320; MH - old B737-400
- cabin appearance: AK - spotlessly clean; MH - they do an effort to deep clean these very old aircraft, but I wouldn’t say this aircraft was particularly clean
- seats: AK - nice leather seats, typical low cost seat pitch; MH - I couldn't believe what I saw when I entered the cabin: almost each seat was in a different color: cabin looked like a rainbow or like a cabin of a cheap charter airline flying from LGW to PMI - terrible (oh - and I am not talking about headrests being each in a different color like with Austrian Airlines - the fabric seat covers were each in a different color). BTW orange seat cover of the seat in front of me was quite dirty. Seat pitch better than with AK (as expected)
- F/A: AK - young, wearing nice, professional uniforms, MH - my last flight with MH was probably 15 years ago - uniforms are still the same, green male uniforms look as TERRIBLE as always
- meals - AK: if you are hungry a hot meal and water would cost you about USD 4 (12 Ringgits); MH - very nice hot meal (chicken or fish), water, OJ/tee/coffee, Kit Kat, 3 slices of fruit - very nice, KUDOS!
- punctuality: AK arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule; MH was 10 minutes late
- priority boarding: AK - priority boarding via a separate gate for Hot Seats (premium & emergency seats one can purchase online) BP holders; MH - no priority boarding (I think it was the first time in Asia, when I didn't see priority boarding of any kind)
- price: MH fare was about USD 40.00 higher than a fare quoted by airasia.com for a flight I could also fly with from KCH to BKI.
I guess I will stick to AK for now for short intra-Malaysian itineraries.
- aircraft: AK - brand new A320; MH - old B737-400
- cabin appearance: AK - spotlessly clean; MH - they do an effort to deep clean these very old aircraft, but I wouldn’t say this aircraft was particularly clean
- seats: AK - nice leather seats, typical low cost seat pitch; MH - I couldn't believe what I saw when I entered the cabin: almost each seat was in a different color: cabin looked like a rainbow or like a cabin of a cheap charter airline flying from LGW to PMI - terrible (oh - and I am not talking about headrests being each in a different color like with Austrian Airlines - the fabric seat covers were each in a different color). BTW orange seat cover of the seat in front of me was quite dirty. Seat pitch better than with AK (as expected)
- F/A: AK - young, wearing nice, professional uniforms, MH - my last flight with MH was probably 15 years ago - uniforms are still the same, green male uniforms look as TERRIBLE as always
- meals - AK: if you are hungry a hot meal and water would cost you about USD 4 (12 Ringgits); MH - very nice hot meal (chicken or fish), water, OJ/tee/coffee, Kit Kat, 3 slices of fruit - very nice, KUDOS!
- punctuality: AK arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule; MH was 10 minutes late
- priority boarding: AK - priority boarding via a separate gate for Hot Seats (premium & emergency seats one can purchase online) BP holders; MH - no priority boarding (I think it was the first time in Asia, when I didn't see priority boarding of any kind)
- price: MH fare was about USD 40.00 higher than a fare quoted by airasia.com for a flight I could also fly with from KCH to BKI.
I guess I will stick to AK for now for short intra-Malaysian itineraries.
Last edited by TPJ; Sep 9, 2010 at 1:41 am Reason: gramar
Sep 9, 2010, 1:39 am
#43
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
I checked with their with in-flight magazine (Going Places) and have not seen any information about new short haul aircraft - they have 40+ B737-400's as a short haul fleet. BTW - I think I will have only 2-3 more trips from BKI to KCH this year, so sticking to AK is not really a big deal...
Sep 13, 2010, 8:25 pm
#44
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sydney
Programs: UA/EK(Gold) CX(Diamond) Marriott Gold Accor Platinum Hilton Diamond Shangri-la Jade
Posts: 585
Never had problems with luggage having flown MH many many times for the last 20 years. No complaint with service either. I find BA and QF not as good as MH in biz class.
Sep 14, 2010, 7:47 am
#45
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: SEA(sia)
Posts: 5,181
You must be nuts 
Only advantage of AK over MH are the newer aircrafts and the nicer cabin ambiance (My eyes still cant get used to those cheap rainbow coloured seats on MH's 737).
But you failed to mention the lack of seat recline and the narrow seat pitch on AK. You also failed to mention that AK uses the budget terminals at several airports with no access to aerobridge. You also failed to mention AK charges a fee even for checking-in a 8 kg bag. And if you did not prebook a meal, very often AK runs out of hot meals.
AFAIK MH will be replacing its aging 737-400 fleet with 737-800. Currently they have leased a couple of 737-800 which used to be operated by a budget airline, and these aircrafts are horrible ..
Only advantage of AK over MH are the newer aircrafts and the nicer cabin ambiance (My eyes still cant get used to those cheap rainbow coloured seats on MH's 737).
But you failed to mention the lack of seat recline and the narrow seat pitch on AK. You also failed to mention that AK uses the budget terminals at several airports with no access to aerobridge. You also failed to mention AK charges a fee even for checking-in a 8 kg bag. And if you did not prebook a meal, very often AK runs out of hot meals.
AFAIK MH will be replacing its aging 737-400 fleet with 737-800. Currently they have leased a couple of 737-800 which used to be operated by a budget airline, and these aircrafts are horrible ..