Just wondering if anyone has experienced buying Malaysia Airlines EconomyFlex tickets on their website, only to fly and then learn that you receive zero Qantas points or status credits for the flights? I know that used to be the case for the cheapest MH fares - but now for flexible economy, are you serious!
Well, I am about to find out myself as I am flying MAS soon.
Having said that, it is all based on the categorization of the booking class of your MAS booking (Q ,M, V, etc) that Qantas recognizes as 'points earning category' (discount economy, economy, etc).
I remember I checked the booking class for my flights. While both outbound and inbound are 'flex' according to MAS, Qantas only recognizes
one of them (the other one is not recognised, meaning 0 points), and the other one (which is recognised) is classified as 'discount economy' lol!
Points earned for flights classified as 'Discount economy' for partner flights are severely 'discounted'.
Nevertheless, depending on your flight routes, sometimes one does not have a choice but to fly other airlines. Just the way it is I am afraid.
It is certainly the case that as Qantumreality points out above that some fares are not awarded anything by Qantas. Recently when I checked, discount economy, and economy fare buckets on Malaysian both earnt QFF points but full fare economy was not in an earn category. It's actually been this way for several years. So you earn points and SC on discount economy but not on full fare economy. It totally bonkers and I'm not sure it's intentional but that's the way it is.
Again, check out the tables linked above by Qantumreality.
Just wondering if anyone has experienced buying Malaysia Airlines EconomyFlex tickets on their website, only to fly and then learn that you receive zero Qantas points or status credits for the flights? I know that used to be the case for the cheapest MH fares - but now for flexible economy, are you serious!
Yup it happens and actually the reason might not be 100% due to QFF or any other FFP's earning rates.
Yes QFF Qantas Frequent Flyer Earn Categories for MH aren't great on some routes, BUT at the same time, I understand that MH assigns its economy class tickets the lowest available RBD / Fare Class regardless of ticket type, so a passenger could buy an MH Economy Lite, Basic or Flex ticket but then be assigned a low RBD / Fare Class like "N" or "Q" which does not earn on many / any OneWorld Partners.
And then as tickets sell out, the RBD / Fare Class goes up according to availability - so they start at the lowest RBD - and sell all three levels of economy tickets (lite/basic/flex) at the lowest class, and then go up one class (N to S to L to K etc), and again sell all three levels of tickets laterally at that next RBD/ Fare Class and repeat
So conversely, if a passenger were buying a ticket on an almost sold out flight, they could even be assigned a "B" RBD / Fare Class for an Economy Lite ticket if the lower RBDs were already sold
Finally one could buy an MH ticket via a TA and ask them to choose the RBD for you :D
Dwest
Dwest
Member since 22 Jul 2022
Total posts 1
Just wondering if anyone has experienced buying Malaysia Airlines EconomyFlex tickets on their website, only to fly and then learn that you receive zero Qantas points or status credits for the flights? I know that used to be the case for the cheapest MH fares - but now for flexible economy, are you serious!
quantumreality
quantumreality
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 16 Jan 2018
Total posts 62
Well, I am about to find out myself as I am flying MAS soon.
Having said that, it is all based on the categorization of the booking class of your MAS booking (Q ,M, V, etc) that Qantas recognizes as 'points earning category' (discount economy, economy, etc).
https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/earn-points/airline-earning-tables/partner-airline-earning-tables.html
Once you know the 'points earning category, then you can consult another table to know the total points and status credits earned:
https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/earn-points/airline-earning-tables/partner-airline-earning-tables.html
I remember I checked the booking class for my flights. While both outbound and inbound are 'flex' according to MAS, Qantas only recognizes one of them (the other one is not recognised, meaning 0 points), and the other one (which is recognised) is classified as 'discount economy' lol!
Points earned for flights classified as 'Discount economy' for partner flights are severely 'discounted'.
Nevertheless, depending on your flight routes, sometimes one does not have a choice but to fly other airlines. Just the way it is I am afraid.
hakkinen5
hakkinen5
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 20 Aug 2014
Total posts 195
It is certainly the case that as Qantumreality points out above that some fares are not awarded anything by Qantas. Recently when I checked, discount economy, and economy fare buckets on Malaysian both earnt QFF points but full fare economy was not in an earn category. It's actually been this way for several years. So you earn points and SC on discount economy but not on full fare economy. It totally bonkers and I'm not sure it's intentional but that's the way it is.
Again, check out the tables linked above by Qantumreality.
TheTravelExperience
TheTravelExperience
Finnair - Finnair Plus
Member since 09 Jan 2022
Total posts 1
Originally Posted by Dwest
Just wondering if anyone has experienced buying Malaysia Airlines EconomyFlex tickets on their website, only to fly and then learn that you receive zero Qantas points or status credits for the flights? I know that used to be the case for the cheapest MH fares - but now for flexible economy, are you serious!
Yes QFF Qantas Frequent Flyer Earn Categories for MH aren't great on some routes, BUT at the same time, I understand that MH assigns its economy class tickets the lowest available RBD / Fare Class regardless of ticket type, so a passenger could buy an MH Economy Lite, Basic or Flex ticket but then be assigned a low RBD / Fare Class like "N" or "Q" which does not earn on many / any OneWorld Partners.
And then as tickets sell out, the RBD / Fare Class goes up according to availability - so they start at the lowest RBD - and sell all three levels of economy tickets (lite/basic/flex) at the lowest class, and then go up one class (N to S to L to K etc), and again sell all three levels of tickets laterally at that next RBD/ Fare Class and repeat
So conversely, if a passenger were buying a ticket on an almost sold out flight, they could even be assigned a "B" RBD / Fare Class for an Economy Lite ticket if the lower RBDs were already sold
Finally one could buy an MH ticket via a TA and ask them to choose the RBD for you :D