Feedback on Malaysia Airlines' J product?

[wafliron]

Service excellent, would fly again in it for the satays alone.

Thanks for the feedback. These satays get mentioned almost every single time someone talks about MH J - hope my expectations aren't too high now!!

wafliron you asked about KUL v SIN for transit - chalk and cheese my friend - KUL ok but SIN head and shoulders above - no comparison.

Damn - I was probably hoping for too much thinking anywhere else in the world could compare to Changi though. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[KLN]

Satays...................hehehehe, after a week in KL, and MH flights.................am over Satays!!!
Satays every day for a week is enough for at least 6 months..........

would like to report on Mr. KLN's flight from KUL to New Delhi, but he only learnt to txt msg on Saturday, so i won't hassle him for a trip report. he arrived safely that's all i can report.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

FWIW on SQ they will dish you up 3 satay sticks - 1st flt ever on MH last Thurs and they dish up 5 satay sticks first offering - go figure.

I had 2 girls in row next to me who had been in Shanghai / Nanjing for a week on business - between the 3 of us I think we downed like 2 botts champs ea - the FA's did not even bother to ask - just returned every 10 to 15 mins and topped up glasses - service was fabulous - oh and I gave them chockies too.

 

[DontGetMeStarted]

Just returned last weekend ...J class on MAS to KL and then onto LHR (side trips with BA to NYC and Paris) have to say was very impressed with MAS and at just under $5K each I think was a bargain (purchased last May) FA's were very attentive, including one who was very much like Chow from Hangover 2 !! food was great (too many satays) but overall a great experience and at that price would certainly fly with them again. Managed to sleep for a few hours on the angle seats, just kept sort of slipping down a bit but hey I am not complaining ...Lounge at Melbourne OK, basic food but not a bad choice of drinks...KL lounge very large and well stocked but very busy, the best MAS lounge was at London's Terminal 4 or 5 can't remember now ..just stunning and food choices brilliant with great views from the windows. All in all a great experience.

 

[KLN]

glad you had a great time Noreen. i think we discussed this a year ago didn'T we

 

[DontGetMeStarted]

Thanks KLN. Appreciated your advice and glad we used MAS great price and service and hopefully can do again sometime soon

 

[Cruiser Elite]

One advantage KUL has over SIN is availability of Wild Africa - 1lt botts approx A$22 - bargain - best value gifts I ever bring back from o/s.

 

[wafliron]

One advantage KUL has over SIN is availability of Wild Africa - 1lt botts approx A$22 - bargain - best value gifts I ever bring back from o/s.

So KUL duty free will securely package alcohol and deliver it to you as you board the aircraft, as required to bring duty free grog back into Australia (and as they do at SIN)?

I was going to ask closer to my flight date, but seeing as you brought it up...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

YES no problemo - 2ltr - pick up at gate - gotta love that.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

TBPH - in 13yrs never contemplated MH to and fro China - J Savers SQ MEL-PEK/PVG now approx 126K KF pts I think - 20K less into CAN/SZN - MH MEL-PEL/PVG approx 94K Enrich pts I believe - given the experience i had last week will prolly consider again - 4 for the price 3 l0okin' kinda attractive.

 

[wafliron]

YES no problemo - 2ltr - pick up at gate - gotta love that.

Ah that's excellent news, thanks Cruiser.

Whilst I'm at it, anyone know if the same service is available at DFW? I assume not given limited number of flights from there to countries with ridiculous carry-on duty free rules (ie Australia!), but hey, if you don't ask you don't find out!

 

[wafliron]

...In the space of a couple of months I'm lucky enough to be able to sample J on QF A380, QF 747-400ER (new config), SQ 777-300ER, SQ A380, MH 777-200ER and MH A330-300, so I'll have a good basis to compare what MH's product is like compared to some others. I'll post my thoughts in here for the benefit of others once I return from the MH flight.

Thanks for the feedback - sounds something like what I'm expecting. Will report back in once I take the flights in a couple of months.

Posting an update / my opinion, as promised:

First up, the reality of my travel over the past few months turned out to be quite different from what I'd predicted above - all for the better thanks to a combination of the Citibank PMG, QF upgrades and Avianca LifeMiles. Rather than the above list, over the past few months I've instead flown: QF A380 F, QF 747 (refit) J, TG 747 F ("new" 10 seat cabin), TG 77W F, MH 772 J and MH A333 (refit) J - the list still contains the two MH products though, so I can still give something of a comparison.

Overall, I'd rank them in the following order - not many surprises here I'm sure:

QF A380 F
TG 77W F
TG 747 F ("new" 10 seat cabin)
QF 747 (refit) J (actually a better seat than TG 747 F IMHO, but food/service/drinks/etc of course better in an F cabin)
MH 772 J
MH A333 J

Despite the two MH products being at the bottom of the list, they're both still good products - as noted previously both are angled-flat but personally I didn't find this bothered me too much (YMMV of course), the food was very good (better than QF J by a mile), the drinks OK and the service good (although this can obviously vary a lot flight-to-flight). The lounge at KUL is great for a J lounge too. And yes, I agree with everyone else: seconds (and thirds!) on the satay

It's worth specifically mentioning just how massive the seat pitch on the MH 772 J product is - I didn't measure it / look it up, but I reckon it would have been close to two metres even with the seat fully upright. This was a big positive in my eyes - obviously it has a tangible benefit to passenger comfort, but it also makes the cabin / seat feel very spacious and luxurious - it made it feel like a premium business class product despite the seat not being truly lie-flat and the cabin being a little tired. By contrast the A333 seats felt pretty cramped for int J (even in row 1), although they're probably marginally more comfortable (simply by virtue of being newer).

All-in-all, very happy with MH J. Given the choice I'd of course choose a fully-flat product, but if MH is your only option or you're being frugal with points (MH burn rates typically being very good - e.g. 60k points to Europe in J compared to 80k with SQ) then I'd have no hesitation in recommending it. In fact, I'm looking forward to enjoying it again (A333 refit) this Saturday!

 

[k3nnis]

May go to kul late this year or early next year from syd. Should I go on 772 or a380 in J? The only reason for the 772 is the seat pitch.

 

[wafliron]

May go to kul late this year or early next year from syd. Should I go on 772 or a380 in J? The only reason for the 772 is the seat pitch.

The A380 is full-flat in J, yeah? If so, I'd go for that as the default option assuming you plan to sleep and the burn rates are the same. 772 seat pitch was awesome, but I'd still take a flat bed. Or even better, A380 F

 

[k3nnis]

Probably won't sleep on the way there but probably will on the way back

 

[wafliron]

Probably won't sleep on the way there but probably will on the way back

Try them both then - 772 on the way there and A380 on the way back. If you do fly A380, don't forget to tell us what you think of it!

 

[k3nnis]

Tough one as SYD-KUL I will take the A380 mid afternoon flight. Coming back I was thinking to take the overnight flight departing in the evening at KUL to SYD (it's a A380 flight). Unless I take the morning flight from KUL to SYD which is a 772....

Try them both then - 772 on the way there and A380 on the way back. If you do fly A380, don't forget to tell us what you think of it!

 

[MH_fan]

The A380 is full-flat in J, yeah? If so, I'd go for that as the default option assuming you plan to sleep and the burn rates are the same. 772 seat pitch was awesome, but I'd still take a flat bed. Or even better, A380 F

I love the fact that the pitch in MH J on the B772 is massive. I agree with you that it makes the cabin feel very spacious. In comparison the MH J in the new A333 looks cramped (I haven't tried it out yet). If one had the choice, I'd personally take the fully-flat seat on the A380.
Anyway, I'm about to experience MH F on their A380 next month. I'm very much looking forward to that! A pity the A380s aren't flying out of SYD until the end of November.

 

[k3nnis]

Did you use points for the F seat?

I love the fact that the pitch in MH J on the B772 is massive. I agree with you that it makes the cabin feel very spacious. In comparison the MH J in the new A333 looks cramped (I haven't tried it out yet). If one had the choice, I'd personally take the fully-flat seat on the A380.
Anyway, I'm about to experience MH F on their A380 next month. I'm very much looking forward to that! A pity the A380s aren't flying out of SYD until the end of November.

 

[MH_fan]

Did you use points for the F seat?

No. Bought the ticket when they had a special earlier this year. An F ticket from SYD-LHR return was just a little over $9k. How good is that?!