I recently took a short trip to Jakarta. To get there, I flew Malaysia Airlines from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur where I had an overnight layover. The following morning I took the onward flight to Jakarta, which I will review separately.

Booking

I redeemed 61,000 Asia Miles to fly Malaysia Airlines Business Class from Sydney – Jakarta which covered both my flights. Fees and taxes were approx. $140 which wasn’t too bad. In the past, Asia Miles used to allow members to take a free stopover even on partner award flights, sadly, this ended couple of years ago. As I simply had a layover in KL and not a stopover, I did not need to shell out any extra miles or cash.

Asia Miles are fairly easy to earn in Australia as they are transfer partners with most major banks as well as with American Express Membership Rewards Program.

Malaysia Airlines is a member of oneworld alliance meaning you can book this flight with Qantas points too, although at 68,400 Qantas points, the price is higher than Asia Miles. Fees and taxes should be about the same.

Airport Arrival & Check-In

I arrived at the Airport just after 11 am for the 1:10 pm departure from Sydney. Since this was a mid-week flight when airports are generally less busy, I was expecting a swift check-in. Sadly, this wasn’t the case on this day.

For some reason, Malaysia Airlines had just 2 check-in desks open for Business Class passengers. As it happens, the Business Class cabin on my flight was nearly full and there were lots of passengers in the queue waiting to be checked-in as you can see below.

Malaysia Airlines Check-in, Sydney Int’l Airport

It was a slow-moving queue and would have been close to 40 minutes until I made it to the front, once there though, it only took a few more minutes for the staff to print my boarding pass and send me on my way.

The standard departure lanes to enter the customs hall were very busy, thankfully my Business Class ticket allowed me to take the Express path which was totally deserted.

Express Path Departure Lane, Sydney Int’l Airport

I zipped through the immigration and security check and before long, found myself in the Qantas First Lounge sipping champagne and chomping on popular Neil Perry creations such as Salt & Pepper Squid, Pork Bao and Crab, pork and green mango salad.

Salt & Pepper Squid – Qantas First Lounge, Sydney Int’l Airport

Gua bao with roast pork – Qantas First Lounge, Sydney Int’l Airport

Crab, pork & green mango salad – Qantas First Lounge, Sydney Int’l Airport

Like they say, time flies when you are having fun, before I knew It was time to board.

Boarding

On this day, my Malaysia Airlines flight was departing from Gate 35 which is about 8-10 minutes away from Qantas First Lounge. It was around 12:45 pm by the time I arrived at the Gate, just 25 minutes prior to the scheduled departure and so I was fully expecting to be one of the last one’s to board. I was resigned to taking the walk-of-shame. If you have ever been amongst the very last people to board the plane, you would know what I am talking about.

Try to remember the look on everyone’s face as you enter the plane huffing and puffing, walking through the aisle to get to your seat, eyes buried on the floor, avoiding eye contact, pushing the carry-on and muttering sorry sorry sorry under your breath about half a dozen times until you reach your seat. I was dreading having one of those experiences.

Well, I get to the Gate and there wasn’t a single Malaysia Airlines staff in sight. The seating area at the Gate was teeming with passengers but it would be another 15 minutes before boarding will commence, I was saved the blushes.

Gate 35, Sydney Int’l Airport

Gate 35 Boarding Queue, Sydney Int’l Airport

I boarded the plane from the forward door and arrived at my seat.

Business Class Cabin & Seats

Malaysia Airlines fly a mixture of A-330 and A-350 aircrafts between Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. On this day, I was on the A330-300.

Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Cabin

But no matter which Airbus variant you fly, the cabins are identical and feature 27 lie-flat seats laid out in a staggered configuration as you see in the seat map below.

Seat Map, Malaysia Airlines A330-300

There are 7 single window-seats on the left, with some being closer to the window and others closer to the aisle. The middle section contains 2 seats per row, a good choice possibly if you have a travelling companion.

My seat 6K was a window-seat on the right. In the av-geek world, this is also known as the throne seat, thanks to it’s layout which places the seat in the centre and offers tonnes of bench space on either side which gives the impression of a throne.

Seat 6K, Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Cabin

Seat 6K, Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Cabin

Seat 6K, Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Cabin

Each seat comes with a seatback entertainment unit for your viewing pleasure. The seat and lighting controls are down by your left knee when you are in sitting position. Then there was a small storage unit under the console on the right side of the seat.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Entertainment Unit

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Controls Pad

There was a 2nd seat and lighting control pad, a small storage net, a reading light and a detachable remote up near my left shoulder. The control pad was positioned so close to my elbow that a little movement grazed the controls and set-off the recline function of my seat.

To manoeuvre the seat you had to press and hold the controls until the seat got into your desired position. You could keep the seat upright which is its default position, in the lounging position or in the sleep mode. In the sleep mode, the seat slides down and turns into a comfy bed.

Besides seating and lights, the control pad also contained a massage function. A gentle push of the massage button sets-off a soothing back rub. While you can’t compare it to the massage chairs we sometimes see at airports and shopping centres, for an airplane seat this was pretty good.

Below the detachable remote, there was a USB port and a headphone jack. Then on the other side of the seat-shell, you had an enclosed storage compartment with mirror.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Storage Compartment

The tray table was located besides the compartment unit, to deploy you had to pull it out and flip it to the right. The table flexed a little but was otherwise quite sturdy. Later on in the flight, I used the tray table to rest my laptop and get some work done.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Tray table

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Tray table

Business Class passengers have exclusive access to one lavatory which is located at the front of the cabin, just outside the cockpit. It was clean and suitably stocked.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Lavatory

The Premium Economy Cabin is located directly behind the Business Cabin and there are 2 more lavs at the end the Premium Cabin which passengers in Business Class can also access. While not ideal, it is an option.

Business Class Amenities

The crew had pre-placed a pillow, a seat-topper and a blanket at each of the seats. Everything was of decent quality.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Bedding

While the boarding was in progress, one of the crew member came around with a pair of slippers and a bottle of water.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Slippers

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Water

Each seat was also supplied with a pair of noise cancelling headphones, they were alright.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Headphones

Within minutes of boarding, the crew went around the cabin offering passengers hot towels and pre-departure drinks. The choices were between apple or orange juice, I helped myself to a glass of the latter.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Pre-departure drink & snack

A few minutes later, the crew rolled out the drinks cart offering a second pre-departure drink. The options were red and white wine, spirits, champagne, a selection of soft drinks and juices. On this occasion, I had a glass of bubbly which was served with 2 small packets of peanuts.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Pre-departure drink

As the departure was delayed and the crew kept coming back for refill, I ended up having 2 more glasses of champagne before take-off.

A short while later, amenity kits were distributed. The burgundy-coloured bag was from Aspinal of London and contained the standard set of goodies such as socks, eye shades, a lip balm and some other items of personal hygiene.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Amenity Kit

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Amenity Kit

Lunch Service

We took-off from Sydney about 30 minutes behind schedule. Once at the cruising altitude, seat belts signs were turned-off. The Captain came on the PA system welcoming everyone on-board. He apologised for the late departure and advised the flight time of 8 hrs and 20 minutes.

As soon as he finished talking, the crew sprung into action. It was time for lunch which was the main meal on this flight. Hot towels were distributed, copies of printed food menu were handed-out and drinks order were orally taken.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Menu

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Menu

Service started with Malaysia Airlines signature satay service. A cart loaded with trays of chicken, lamb and beef skewers, dollops of peanut sauce and crunchy salad was wheeled around the cabin.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Satay Cart

Although I ate at the lounge, I had saved some stomach space for onboard dining. I ordered 3 chicken skewers which came dripping in peanut sauce. They were delicious and I wolfed it down in next to no time.

Malaysia Airlines Chicken Satay Skewers

The starter on this flight was seared tuna, it was accompanied with half a steamed potato, red onion and pickled cucumber. I am not a big tuna fan, so I only took a bite and left it alone.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Lunch

A round of bread-basket followed from which I had 2 slices of garlic bread. The bread was heated just to the right temperature and had some buttery, garlicky stuff oozing out from the centre. Comfort food at 40,000 feet hits differently 👀

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Lunch

For the main course, I went with the Hainanese Chicken rice. It was served with blanched spring onion, chilli ginger sauce and broth. I took the time to savour it.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Lunch

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Lunch

Then for dessert, there was the Chocolate Royale served with raspberry and cream. I am not a big dessert eater at best of times, but ended up having about half of the plate. So good.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Dessert

That concluded lunch. I have no qualms in saying that after nearly 3 years of eating meals served on a single tray, I am incredibly grateful to be able to sit through a multi-course luncheon affair spaced out over an hour. The other nice thing about lunch was the pace of the service, each of the courses were delivered just as you were finishing your previous dish.

By the time lunch wrapped-up, I started feeling a little weary. So after a quick trip to the toilet, I reclined my seat hoping to get some shut-eye.

Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Bed

Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Bed

While the bed was alright, I thought the foot-space was fairly constricted, particularly when you are lying on your back. So I tried sleeping on my side which improved things a little.

Malaysia Airlines A330-300 Business Class Bed

I spent the next 2 hours trying to fall asleep but to no avail. So I decided to wake up and take a look at the entertainment system.

In-flight Entertainment

Ever since I started PointsHq, I highly value the ability to work on planes. Unfortunately, Malaysia Airlines A330’s are not equipped with wifi internet which IMO is a real weak point. Wifi connectivity on long-haul flights, at least in Premium Cabin where many people are travelling for business is almost a necessity. So lets hope Malaysia Airlines do something about it soon.

The entertainment system was loaded with a reasonably good amount of content. There were movies, TV shows, kids cartoon, games and my favourite, the moving map.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Entertainment Content

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Entertainment Content

While I usually stick to the moving map as I like to follow the progress my flight is making, on this occasion I decided to watch The Kominsky Method, a Netflix comedy-drama series featuring Michael Douglas.

Screen-freeze from Netflix series, The Kominsky Method

The show is seriously funny and I ended up watching quite a few episodes. I was also relieved to see that Michael Douglas was finally starting to look like an old man 😉

After I was done watching the show, I pulled out my laptop and spent the next 2 hours working. At this point, the flight had travelled close to 7 hours and I felt a few hunger pangs. So I flagged down a member of the crew and asked if she could bring me something to eat.

A few minutes later she brought me a tray with a plate of warm tandoori chicken wrap, a can of sprite and ice cream.

Malaysia Airlines Business Class mid-flight meal

Malaysia Airlines Business Class mid-flight meal

The warm wrap was scrumptious which I washed down with the Sprite. The salted-caramel flavoured ice cream was equally yummy.

Arrival into KL

About 20 minutes after I finished eating, the PA system came back to life. On this occasion it was the First Officer speaking. He advised that we were some 235 Kilometres from KLIA and about to start our descent into Kuala Lumpur, he also gave an estimated touch-down time of 7 pm.

That was the cue for the cabin crew to start preparing the cabin for arrival. Lights came on, window shades were pulled up, some people made the last minute dash to the loo before the seat belt signs were switched on. The cabin supervisor went around to every passenger and thanked them for flying with Malaysia Airlines.

After another 20 minutes of the plane making various approaches, we touched down into KLIA at 6:50 pm local time, just 5 minutes behind scheduled arrival time. From here, we taxied for another 10 minutes before pulling into one of the Gates. The jet bridge was attached, doors were opened and passengers were let out.

In Conclusion

Having not flown Malaysian Airlines for several years, I had low expectation when I made the booking. Happy to say that my experience far exceeded my expectations. The true Malaysian hospitality was on display for the duration of the flight.

The crew working the Business Class cabin were pleasant and eager to assist in any way possible. I thought the catering was top notch, the chicken satay in particular was amongst the best I have ever had, including on Singapore Airlines. There were plenty of hot and cold beverages on offer and refills were never too far away. That said, a couple of things could be improved.

It would be nice if Malaysia Airlines introduced wifi services on board. My other issue was with the the seat when it’s in bed mode. The foot space in the cubby hole is way too tight and makes it hard to relax and fall asleep. It wasn’t a huge issue on this daytime flight, but if you were taking the overnight departure from KL, I suggest you pick one of the single seats on the left side of the cabin which appeared to not have that issue.

To conclude, this was a great flight and terrific use of Asia Miles. If I had another opportunity to fly Malaysia Airlines Business Class on a long-haul route, I will take that up gladly.

Have you flown with Malaysia Airlines recently? Leave a comment below.