Malaysia Airlines' first class lounge gets fresh focus on service
By Chris C., August 4 2017
Malaysia Airlines’ new flagship first class lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport will reemphasise five-star service with specially-trained, tech-savvy staff on standby to help passengers resolve any problems with their laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Whether there’s an issue connecting to a company’s VPN service or difficulties getting onto the WiFi itself, staff will be able to assist – as they will if you’ve lost or misplaced your usual charging cables and need a new one for the road.
Speaking with Australian Business Traveller at a media lunch in Sydney, Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew shares that the top issues travellers are expressing in lounges are that “my (charging) cable is broken”, “I’ve lost my cable”, and that “I’m having trouble getting through on my VPN”.
“These are very important issues... (particularly when) your transit passengers are relying on being able to send or receive an email… so we’re hiring new staff over the next few months: some fairly tech-savvy people,” which Bellow acknowledges are not unlike those you’d find at an Apple Genius Bar.
And, when it comes to the hardware itself, "we can source really good cables for around about US$0.50 each, so why don’t we have 10,000 of them ready… because often you forget your cable, you leave it in a hotel.”
With refurbishment works to be completed by the end of 2017, the first class lounge itself will become a brighter, larger and more lively space, with menus tailored more closely towards the tastes of individual first class travellers.
“We’re increasing our service for those customers at the top premium end… we’re going to start periodically calling them in advance, asking them if there’s anything they particularly want to eat in the lounge and on their flight, or that they don’t want to eat… and if they need an iPhone cable!” Bellow quips.
The current spa in the airline’s Kuala Lumpur lounges will remain, but will decrease in size as relatively few travellers use the facility. Treatments will continue to be chargeable for all passengers, including first class flyers.
These refurbishment works are part of a broader overhaul of Malaysia Airlines’ global lounges, with an upgrade to the airline’s London Heathrow facility set to be completed by February 2018.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Aug 2012
Total posts 22
I use the current MH F lounge in KL maybe once a month, and more often than not the cubby-hole style charging station has been monopolised by the lounge staff's own phones. The staff are nice enough, and the facility is pleasant enough, but I'm always blown away at the vast gap in both service and product between MH and their regional neighbours.
American Airlines - AAdvantage
15 Feb 2013
Total posts 45
They should place more priority on dealing with the cockroach infestation in the men's bathrooms and their staff who sleep in the lounge. And while on this rant, their pilots who smoke during the flight. As long as these issues are present they will always be a third world airline along the same lines as Egypt air and Vietnam airlines.
QANTAS
12 Jun 2014
Total posts 22
What's common with Apple Genius Bar and Malaysian Airlines First class lounge? 😉
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Nov 2011
Total posts 361
I would have thought this airline faces greater issues across all parts of its operations than that of supplying passengers phone chargers...
Air New Zealand - Airpoints
31 Oct 2016
Total posts 71
People will feel better about a poor overall experience, if they felt that at one point a staff member picked them out and went out of their way to help them
03 May 2012
Total posts 120
There are way way way bigger problems with Malaysian's so-called premium service than trying to get a phone charger in the lounge. It's great that MH keep on announcing this stuff, but the staff on the ground have NO idea. Take for example the Chef on Call service. Why, on the overnight flight to Sydney, do they serve your booked dinner at 9am in the morning just after serving breakfast? Total lack of oversight of the experience...
24 Feb 2017
Total posts 4
Exactly, premium is a misnomer. Their flagship lounge has always been lacking and impossible to find. I would suggest, that if you have any issue you contact their customer service team. They guarantee you a response in 3 months, even if they have changed the departure time for your flight in 2 months. That's if the email system doesn't break and lose (?) your email (as apparently happened to me twice), or if the 4 customer service agents you have spoken to forgot to note down all previous conversations, or action any requests (or call you back, as promised). Want any icing on the cake?? The Perth KL route is now serviced by 737, so when i bought tickets for an a330 flat bed, Chef on Call service, I was actually paying top $$ for a reclining chair (737), no Chef on Call (and no notification of the change) on an overnight 6 hour flight (in addition to more flight time changes). Air Asia offer a better 'premium' hard product (with angle lie flat), cheaper than MAS too, on all Perth-KL flights now. Hope they can turn things around, but doubt i will fly them again to judge.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
03 Aug 2017
Total posts 2
MH have spent millions renovating their lounges over and over again with little or no change (that alone improvement)!! They tell a great story line, get shareholders approval (now government approval as its been privatised) to spend the money, then do the very minimal at very highly inflated prices. The lounges are only a small part of the agenda. THe same goes for all other aspects of the airline from construction to engineering to maintenance.
Turkish Airlines - Miles & Smiles
08 Jun 2014
Total posts 264
PER to KL in their new J and then KL to LHR or Europe in F would be a grand delight!
04 Aug 2017
Total posts 6
Whilst I am a long-term fan of MAS Berhad (as the company was formerly known), I do think they need to improve some aspects of their service to match the really serious carriers.
British Airways - Executive Club
17 Feb 2015
Total posts 9
Hey AusBT, do you know when the different KUL and LHR lounges will be closed for refurbishment please?
21 Jul 2011
Total posts 90
If their intra-Asian J prices keep going on sale for a song, I will put up with a lot to get my swag of status credits for QF. But I'd never pay full price on MH anywhere, or fly them from here to Asia (unless the price was half of QF).
QFF - Platinum
23 Mar 2016
Total posts 11
I live in KL and have for a number of years and I fly with MH 5-6 times a month
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