Guest post from the other Michael: Malaysia Airlines Business Class from Kuala Lumpur to London!

We have our next guest post from the other Michael!  This time he’s flying Malaysia Airlines back to London from Australia.

Michael had originally booked an economy ticket via Kuala Lumpur to return to the UK from Melbourne, Australia.  There are any number of flight routings he could’ve selected, but they break down into 3 categories really: Perth, the Middle East, or Southeast Asia.  QANTAS still has the goal to offer direct flights between Sydney/Melbourne and London, but those are still merely on the horizon.  Michael got to Kuala Lumpur in economy class but decided to bid for an upgrade on the long flight to London. He doesn’t hold any status with Oneworld.

Malaysia’s lounge in their hub is large, but pretty good overall given that it’s a business class lounge. 

However, some of his photos are admittedly a bit questionable:

He notes that the seats were comfortable and had good power options and that the bathrooms were clean (high bar he’s set I guess).

They had barista coffee that met his Australian (high) standards.  Alcohol was available but only served in one area (the sports bar) which was closed until later in the morning.

Separate from the sports bar, they had several (breakfast) options on offer, including a fresh noodle bar and fresh egg station. Michael tried the latter and was very pleased with his omelet.

But there were two shower suites! He notes that it seemed like the hot water pressure dropped when the other was in use.

Once he got on board, he turned right for his seat (unfortunate), but that’s because he was in the smaller, second business class cabin that only had three rows.  This seat is actually the same seat I just had from Dublin to San Francisco.  I hated the seat, but he didn’t have the same problems with it that I did.  Specifically, the way he was exposed to the aisle already probably meant that moving forward half a foot before being able to adjust his footrest didn’t affect his feeling of privacy as much as it did for me.

He was offered a pre-departure beverage upon boarding, which was a refreshing beverage made of a medley of flowery/fruity flavors.  He was a big fan of the mocktail but noted that there were no alcoholic drinks on immediate offer. 

He then took the opportunity to peruse the menu for his flight:

Michael didn’t get a picture of the amenity kit, but his review was, “it is a rather nice one, though the eye mask is terrible”, which to me sounds like how I’d describe he American Airlines amenity kits these days.  There were supposed to be slippers, but none actually made it to his seat. 

Service on this flight was dine-on-demand, but there were clear intended meal times.  Specifically, they served brunch (i.e. a lighter meal) after takeoff and then served the main meal (dinner) closer to landing.  Brunch made sense given the early departure, but with an early afternoon arrival, dinner was a bit overstated.  Though, in my opinion, it makes more sense than the 2 pm breakfast I often get on BA when flying from SFO to London.

Michael selected the “Breakfast Minute Steak” as his main brunch course.  While serving the food, they kept the plastic covers on until the food was on the table.  Michael found this a bit odd, but I hypothesize it might have to do with Halal (and similar) rules being common preferences/requirements in Malaysia.

Michael found his brunch to be sufficiently decent (which I understand means good in Australian English), but the beef was “a bit well cooked” (which I understand means very well done, based on the picture below).

After his first meal, he took a nap (his first sleep of the flight) and then decided to check out the snack menu.  He ordered a cheese plate and a fruit plate. The fresh, chilled fruit was again served with the cover on, and had a very Eastern flair to it.  For once, the cheese plate actually had the correct cracker ratio and a good chutney to go with them.  The menu didn’t say which types of cheese were on offer for this plate, but hopefully at least one cheese was Malaysian. 

Michael then went back to sleep (for real this time).  Michael was a big fan of the seat in bed mode.  It was very comfortable, which is to say it didn’t have the same problem with folds that BA’s Club Suite sometimes does. Since Michael had upgraded at the last minute, he was sitting in a seat closer to the aisle.  Luckily, being in the mini cabin made having an aisle seat less of a problem (and he had plenty of space in the foot cubby).  I don’t generally have an issue with small foot cubbies, but many other people do from what I’ve read.  Michael ended up sleeping for over 5 hours, which is great.

Below was his view while sleeping:

After he finished sleeping, it was time for the main meal service, which was served a couple of hours before landing.  It started with a wet napkin and then the “satay service”.  He selected the mixed satay, and it was, in his words, “incredible”. 

Author’s note: this flight was structured so different to other flights I’ve taken: with the light brunch-like meal with a beef main, nap, snack service, full sleep, “satay service”, then main meal (which also had a beef main), and then bonus satay that it took me several back-and-forths with Michael to figure out how everything was ordered, and I’m still not entirely sure I’ve gotten it right.

His meal started with the salmon mousse, which was excellent, and came with a slice of garlic bread.  The bread was very good but was still plane bread.  There was no wine list for either service, so they just offered a choice of red or white. 

He again selected the beef as his main, which was again, only decent.  The sauce was apparently better than the brunch beef, but it still looks overcooked to me. 

He also noted that his seat neighbor had the Malaysian-style red snapper.  He said that it looked better than what he ordered and that he’d order that instead next time (which makes sense based on the pictures of this beef).

He said the dessert was overly sweet (and didn’t get a picture of it).  The most important part for him was that the satay service was good enough that he asked for more after he finished his main and got another large portion (below), and a coke zero to go with it.

In summary, Michael’s first business class experience on Malaysia Airlines was everything he needed it to be for a good price.  He rated the ground experience as a 4/5 (good lounge), the seat as a 4/5 (good but not amazing), the service as a 5/5 (wonderful hospitality), the food as a 4/5 (3/5 without the satay), and the IFE as a 4/5.  Overall, the flight gets a 21/25. 

Michael paid around $1 100 for a coach ticket and then paid an additional $750 to upgrade to Business Class. This flight comes in at 12.5 – 13 hours, so $60/hour is a pretty good upgrade price in my opinion.