Flying Malaysia Airlines business class was a treat! Service was both excellent and personable. The Malaysian food was delicious. Seats were spacious and comfortable both for sitting and sleeping (the latter was aided by a fitted mattress pad). The in-flight entertainment had plenty of movie choices, and the screen was bright and responsive.
My flight was from Doha to Kuala Lumpur. This was a daytime flight nearly 8 hours long. I had booked this through Qatar as part of a larger award. I had booked Zagreb Croatia to Doha on Qatar Airways business class then this flight onward on Malaysia Airlines for a total of 75,000 Qatar Avios plus about $210.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the flight and would love to fly Malaysia Airlines again, it wasn’t perfect. So, I’ll present the good and bad as pros and cons:
Pros
- Service was outstanding
- Food was delicious. I especially loved the Nasi Lemak (rice dish). But I also appreciated that the fruit plate actually had ripe tasty fruit that did not seem to have been refrigerated.
- Seats were comfortable and with plenty of legroom
- Fitted padding was provided to make the seats even more comfortable for sleeping
- Slippers were provided
Cons
- In-flight Wi-Fi wasn’t working during my flight.
- There is very little near-seat storage
- Unlike modern business class suites with doors, these seats don’t offer any privacy.
- Video screens are overly reflective. This made it hard to watch movies when both reclined and the cabin lights were on. Additionally, it reduced privacy: there were two passengers that I couldn’t help but look right in the eye through either my or their screen reflections. It was… weird.
- Like many business class seats, the footwell narrows towards the back. That could be uncomfortable for tall passengers, especially when lying down.
- The amenity kit didn’t seem to have earplugs. It’s possible that I just misplaced them, though, so don’t call in the earplug enforcement unit yet.
- There were a few very minor mishaps associated with food service:
- The first time they brought around damp towels, my towel was dry. Weird. With the second meal service, the towel was appropriately damp.
- My first cup of coffee was just lukewarm and quickly became cold. My second cup was nice and hot.
- I was told that the Danish I selected from the bread basket was a chocolate Danish. It was not. It may have been peach.
Photos
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That is an additional plane, probably all will be retrofitted similar to their new A330 configuration.. “Malaysian Airlines is expanding its Airbus A350 fleet, starting with picking up a former Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) jet. Aside from a fresh coat of paint on the outside, the internal of the aircraft remains the same meaning high flyers will be benefitting with an upgraded and more modern A350. The former SAS A350 held the registration code of SE-RSB, but has now been re-registered as 9M-MAH with Malaysia Airlines.”
Re: ear plugs, you can usually just ask FA if they have ear plugs. I’ve misplaced mine before and they usually have a stash of extras. (This is general advice and not Malaysia specific)
The seat seems similar to that on Air Tahiti Nui from about 10 years ago. Hmmm.