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- Apr 29, 2012
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2nd Asian Trip in April
Sydney to Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Airlines
Originally my client had agreed to pay "business class" on AsianAirX but failed to purchased the tickets before an increase to changed the arrangement for economy class on Malaysian Airlines with an extra nights accommodation so that I flew during the day time both ways.
Before Departure
I found Malaysian Airlines extremely frustrating to deal with prior to departure. There is an option to pay for an exit row seat, but it seems that can only be done if you book through their website, update your booking on their website or during online check in.
As my client uses a travel agent the first option was not possible, I could not use the second option as their online system would not allow me to access my booking on line and every attempt to use online check in failed.
I called them as the client's travel agent did not put in my CX Marco Polo number (gold) and it took several days to get to talk to someone, I tried the call back a couple of time, would receive a call but there was no one there, sometime I would stay on the line and get transferred through and again there was noone to talk to.
This is not what I call an acceptable level of service from a OneWorld Carrier.
Sydney to Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Airlines
Check in at Sydney (no baggage to check in) as the Malaysian System would not let me check in on line. Go to the Business Class counter (CX Gold travelling in Y), no waiting which was good, however the TollDatna check in agents again not that friendly (see Virgin Atlantic SYD-HKG trip report) and they state that my CX number is not working in the booking so they removed it and told me I need to manual claim the points with CX. (see below - MH was able to deal with).
Naturally by this time all the exit row seats had gone!
Go to the lounge, which I think it minimalistic and again the staff not very helpful, simple questions, how full is the flight, is there a person sitting next to me could not be answered "we don't have access to any information in this lounge". Food offering ok.
Boarding the flight, went down the priority lane and the TollDatna person wanted me to queue up in the Y queue, took a while to convince I had the right status for priority boarding.
On board, bulkhead in row 12 middle section of seats - was pleasantly surprised that there was reasonable leg room so was ok given my height.
Gluten Free meals on board acceptable, staff very supportive of passengers around me with kids and infants. Was able to get work done and watched a couple of movies.
Found the staff attentive and helpful, had a few chats in the galley and they were interesting and engaging.
I was quite concerned on the approach to KUL as the crew did not require any of the passengers with infants to put their very large bags away nor a hard infant carrying cot which was left on the floor near me.
Arrival in KUL was fairly straight forward, didn't realise there is no paperwork to be completed for arrival. Found APEC line - straight through. Client had booked VIP transfer via train and car to JW Marriot Hotel. Found sign with my name easily, picked up paperwork and guide to get me through customs, to train and stayed with my until I was put in the car at the Central Station. Very effective way of getting from the airport to the city.
JW Marriott
I was speaking at a conference the next day - room was well appointed and most things (only issue was TV which was not synching properly and a number of channels didn't work). Had access to the Executive Lounge - great for breakfast (hot and eggs cooked to order) and a great coughtail hour.
Had a minor problem with wireless internet and the dealt with the issue very well.
KUL - SYD - Malaysian Airlines
Again not able to check in online.
Transfer to the airpot worked well with the VIP service. Checkin in at the Malaysia Counter at the Central Station. They were able to deal with the CX number problem unlike TollDatna in Sydney. Boarding pass issued and on way to the airport.
Went through immigration and security (which allowed computers to remain in bag), but it was not obvious where the Malaysian Lounge was. Found one, but discovered we needed to got to the Satellite terminal and there was a large lounge there.
The lounge was a bit of a disappointment - very large and really did not have anything special for what is Malaysian Airlines home port. Could not even get a decaf coffee (unless Nestle instant!).
Asked the front desks how long I would need to get to the departure gate in time for priority boarding (I knew the flight was full) he gave me a time, and even though I didn't know the airport very well, I decided to leave early as it didn't sound right.
I was glad I did as I didn't realise the KUL has the Singapore system of needed to do a security check at the departure gate. This is where it all fell apart. The queue to the lounge was extremely long as the lounge was for two gates, an A380 going to LHR and our A330 to SYD. The display boards did not show the gate was for Sydney which was very confusing. There were no MH staff outside the gate and there was mass confusion as it was sounding like the security staff were trying to giver priority to the LHR passengers when they were actually trying to get the SYD pax through. Also the gate entrance had a priority passenger lane which was not working (which is amazing given that the gate was loading for an A380 which has first and business and our flight had business).
They also seemed to have their security settings set very high which was delaying passenger processing. I am very good and getting things in bags for the body sensor but even I failed.
Overall, a very poor performance by MH and KUL airport in signage and processing of passengers into this departure gate. Needless to say the flight left the gate late. I was also glad I didn't take the advice of the reception at the Malaysian Lounge as I may well have missed the flight.
Onboard was interesting - very full flight - again with a lot of infants and the planning was poor and ended up with a number of passengers moving seats. I had 11A, bulkhead window which was a good seat with surprising legroom (which I needed).
Pre-departure - building up a little concern re attitude to flight safety as the monitor in our section of the plane did not work and as the flight attendant don't do anything in flight safety demonstration on MH I think that as a minimum they should ensure all displays are working, and if not go to manual in that part of the aircraft.
Thought the meal planning was poor - given we left after 9am and arrived around 7.20pm was surprised the first meal was actually a breakfast meal.
The worst part was the gluten free "supper" I was presented with two corn thins in glad wrap, apart from not being provided with a gluten free meal, this was the worst effort I have seen. On the flight up at least there was a little salad between the two corn thins. They did not have any cheese available from J Class but did find me some butter and jam and an apple (bruised)
When I noticed the Cabin Services Manager near my seat I mentioned that this Gluten Free service was really not acceptable. What was disappointing was that he agreed and stated that he noted it before and didn't think it was right. But he failed to take any initiative to do something about it.
Arrived in SYD on time and with no bags out of the terminal in about 7 mins which was a record for me.
Summary
Again TollDatna is letting their customers down by their lack of performance of with passengers in Sydney.
There are some obvious weaknesses in the MH reservation and online systems which mean they are not at a level expected of a major carrier these days.
I found the MH lounges in both Sydney and KUL adequate, but hoped for something more special in KUL.
KUL departure processing was a disaster so I recommend you give yourself plenty of time to get through poorly organised departure gate security and don't be surprised if the departure monitors are displaying incorrect information.
I have a concern in relation to the lax attitude by MH to inflight safety.
Gluten free food is at best adequate and where inadequate a lack of customer focus was evident when they were aware there was a problem.
Passable trip but won't go out of my way to travel with MH.
Sydney to Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Airlines
Originally my client had agreed to pay "business class" on AsianAirX but failed to purchased the tickets before an increase to changed the arrangement for economy class on Malaysian Airlines with an extra nights accommodation so that I flew during the day time both ways.
Before Departure
I found Malaysian Airlines extremely frustrating to deal with prior to departure. There is an option to pay for an exit row seat, but it seems that can only be done if you book through their website, update your booking on their website or during online check in.
As my client uses a travel agent the first option was not possible, I could not use the second option as their online system would not allow me to access my booking on line and every attempt to use online check in failed.
I called them as the client's travel agent did not put in my CX Marco Polo number (gold) and it took several days to get to talk to someone, I tried the call back a couple of time, would receive a call but there was no one there, sometime I would stay on the line and get transferred through and again there was noone to talk to.
This is not what I call an acceptable level of service from a OneWorld Carrier.
Sydney to Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Airlines
Check in at Sydney (no baggage to check in) as the Malaysian System would not let me check in on line. Go to the Business Class counter (CX Gold travelling in Y), no waiting which was good, however the TollDatna check in agents again not that friendly (see Virgin Atlantic SYD-HKG trip report) and they state that my CX number is not working in the booking so they removed it and told me I need to manual claim the points with CX. (see below - MH was able to deal with).
Naturally by this time all the exit row seats had gone!
Go to the lounge, which I think it minimalistic and again the staff not very helpful, simple questions, how full is the flight, is there a person sitting next to me could not be answered "we don't have access to any information in this lounge". Food offering ok.
Boarding the flight, went down the priority lane and the TollDatna person wanted me to queue up in the Y queue, took a while to convince I had the right status for priority boarding.
On board, bulkhead in row 12 middle section of seats - was pleasantly surprised that there was reasonable leg room so was ok given my height.
Gluten Free meals on board acceptable, staff very supportive of passengers around me with kids and infants. Was able to get work done and watched a couple of movies.
Found the staff attentive and helpful, had a few chats in the galley and they were interesting and engaging.
I was quite concerned on the approach to KUL as the crew did not require any of the passengers with infants to put their very large bags away nor a hard infant carrying cot which was left on the floor near me.
Arrival in KUL was fairly straight forward, didn't realise there is no paperwork to be completed for arrival. Found APEC line - straight through. Client had booked VIP transfer via train and car to JW Marriot Hotel. Found sign with my name easily, picked up paperwork and guide to get me through customs, to train and stayed with my until I was put in the car at the Central Station. Very effective way of getting from the airport to the city.
JW Marriott
I was speaking at a conference the next day - room was well appointed and most things (only issue was TV which was not synching properly and a number of channels didn't work). Had access to the Executive Lounge - great for breakfast (hot and eggs cooked to order) and a great coughtail hour.
Had a minor problem with wireless internet and the dealt with the issue very well.
KUL - SYD - Malaysian Airlines
Again not able to check in online.
Transfer to the airpot worked well with the VIP service. Checkin in at the Malaysia Counter at the Central Station. They were able to deal with the CX number problem unlike TollDatna in Sydney. Boarding pass issued and on way to the airport.
Went through immigration and security (which allowed computers to remain in bag), but it was not obvious where the Malaysian Lounge was. Found one, but discovered we needed to got to the Satellite terminal and there was a large lounge there.
The lounge was a bit of a disappointment - very large and really did not have anything special for what is Malaysian Airlines home port. Could not even get a decaf coffee (unless Nestle instant!).
Asked the front desks how long I would need to get to the departure gate in time for priority boarding (I knew the flight was full) he gave me a time, and even though I didn't know the airport very well, I decided to leave early as it didn't sound right.
I was glad I did as I didn't realise the KUL has the Singapore system of needed to do a security check at the departure gate. This is where it all fell apart. The queue to the lounge was extremely long as the lounge was for two gates, an A380 going to LHR and our A330 to SYD. The display boards did not show the gate was for Sydney which was very confusing. There were no MH staff outside the gate and there was mass confusion as it was sounding like the security staff were trying to giver priority to the LHR passengers when they were actually trying to get the SYD pax through. Also the gate entrance had a priority passenger lane which was not working (which is amazing given that the gate was loading for an A380 which has first and business and our flight had business).
They also seemed to have their security settings set very high which was delaying passenger processing. I am very good and getting things in bags for the body sensor but even I failed.
Overall, a very poor performance by MH and KUL airport in signage and processing of passengers into this departure gate. Needless to say the flight left the gate late. I was also glad I didn't take the advice of the reception at the Malaysian Lounge as I may well have missed the flight.
Onboard was interesting - very full flight - again with a lot of infants and the planning was poor and ended up with a number of passengers moving seats. I had 11A, bulkhead window which was a good seat with surprising legroom (which I needed).
Pre-departure - building up a little concern re attitude to flight safety as the monitor in our section of the plane did not work and as the flight attendant don't do anything in flight safety demonstration on MH I think that as a minimum they should ensure all displays are working, and if not go to manual in that part of the aircraft.
Thought the meal planning was poor - given we left after 9am and arrived around 7.20pm was surprised the first meal was actually a breakfast meal.
The worst part was the gluten free "supper" I was presented with two corn thins in glad wrap, apart from not being provided with a gluten free meal, this was the worst effort I have seen. On the flight up at least there was a little salad between the two corn thins. They did not have any cheese available from J Class but did find me some butter and jam and an apple (bruised)
When I noticed the Cabin Services Manager near my seat I mentioned that this Gluten Free service was really not acceptable. What was disappointing was that he agreed and stated that he noted it before and didn't think it was right. But he failed to take any initiative to do something about it.
Arrived in SYD on time and with no bags out of the terminal in about 7 mins which was a record for me.
Summary
Again TollDatna is letting their customers down by their lack of performance of with passengers in Sydney.
There are some obvious weaknesses in the MH reservation and online systems which mean they are not at a level expected of a major carrier these days.
I found the MH lounges in both Sydney and KUL adequate, but hoped for something more special in KUL.
KUL departure processing was a disaster so I recommend you give yourself plenty of time to get through poorly organised departure gate security and don't be surprised if the departure monitors are displaying incorrect information.
I have a concern in relation to the lax attitude by MH to inflight safety.
Gluten free food is at best adequate and where inadequate a lack of customer focus was evident when they were aware there was a problem.
Passable trip but won't go out of my way to travel with MH.
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