How Much Are Enrich Miles Really Worth?
Table of Contents
Travelling by air is rarely considered cheap. Apart from purchasing cheaper tickets during the promotional period, there are other ways to cut back on your travelling cost. You can do so by redeeming your air miles to get free or cheaper tickets, upgrade travel classes and a list of other services.
This is a great way to save money on your travels. Earning miles was previously made available only to frequent travellers to earn frequent air miles to redeem free or cheaper flights on their consecutive flights.
These days, all you need to do is spend on your credit card in cinemas, petrol stations, or grocery stores and earn reward points that can easily be converted into air miles. There are an array of credit cards that are available in today’s market that offer this privilege but these conversion points vary among different credit cards and airlines.
Here is a comparison of the air miles reward system of Malaysia’s two major airlines, Enrich Miles of Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and BIG Points of AirAsia.
| Enrich Miles (MAS) | BIG Points (AirAsia) | |
|---|---|---|
| Membership Fee | None | None BIG Prepaid MasterCard: RM10 joining fee waived with a minimum top-up of RM50. |
| Age Limit | 2 years and above only | BIG membership: No age limit BIG Prepaid MasterCard: 18 years and above |
| Earn Points | Credit card spending on MAS, oneworld member airlines or Enrich partner airlines flights. Credit card spending on participating partner’s products and services. Miles differ according to different credit cards, travel class, flying distance and Enrich tier status. | Credit card spending on AirAsia flights, Tune Hotels, BIG Partners, AirAsia Red Tix and Tune Talk top-up. Points differ according to different AirAsia flights and services offered by participating partners. • Earn up to 600 BIG points for a one-way ticket per individual Double points available when using the BIG Prepaid MasterCard (serves as both loyalty and payment card). • 1 Big Point = RM5 (local spending) • 1 Big Point = RM2 (overseas spending) |
| Redeem Points | Upgrade your travel class from Economy to Business or Business to First only. Redeem flights with a minimum of 1,000 points and top up the remaining amount with Cash + Miles. • Top up to a maximum of 30% of the redemption with cash • Enrich Miles purchased in blocks of 500 miles at RM50 per block Enrich vouchers for excess baggage payment Access to E-Garden Lounge at London, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore and KL airport Attend MH Flight stimulation Receive further 15% discount when redeemed online Redeem Temptations inflight shopping voucher (RM50 voucher = 3,500 Enrich Miles). | For AirAsia and AirAsia X flights AirAsia BIG Fixed Points: Redeem free flights according to flight hours (starting from 4,500 BIG Points up to 30,000 BIG Points) Redeem flights with a minimum of 500 points and top up the remaining amount with Redeeming Points + Cash Redemption option. Stay at Tune Hotels Convert BIG Points to partners’ loyalty programme points (e.g. Senheng, Mydin). |
| Expiry Date | Maximum expiry period of 3 years and can extend up to another year for a fee. | Maximum expiry period of 3 years and cannot be extended. |
| Added Benefits | There are four tiers of benefits – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The higher the tier, the more added benefits. Under the tier scheme, you are entitled for 25% elite tier bonus for silver and gold levels and 30% for platinum. E.g. if the distance between KL and London is 6,593 miles, with silver and gold you obtain 8,241 Enrich Miles and 8,571 for platinum. You can transfer your air miles to another member for a fee, up to 50,000 miles. You can redeem your air miles for someone else using your Enrich account. | Priority access to AirAsia’s biggest sales and redemption deals. You can transfer Big Points to your family or friends (who is also a member) for a fee. You can transfer Big Points from a deceased family member as an inheritance. |
How much is one Enrich Mile really worth?
It is common knowledge that you can stretch the value of your Miles by using them to redeem a long haul flight, and for the more expensive cabin class. Here’s an example to help you calculate the value of each Mile to determine if the redemption is worth your points.
If you are flying to Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur, here is the difference in the Miles values across different cabin classes.
For longer haul flight, like Kuala Lumpur to London, the breakdown is as follows:
Get the most out of your Miles
1. Choose the suitable credit card that gives the most value for money
Different credit cards offer different rates to earn a point, which can then be converted into Enrich Miles (depending on the credit card).
Each Ringgit spent could add up to a certain amount of points. It is good to get multiple reward points for every Ringgit you spend but what is more important is how many reward points you need to acquire in order to convert it to air miles! Always look for credit cards that can offer you better air miles with their reward point conversion.
For example, with RHB Travel Money, you only need 3,500 credit card points to redeem 1,000 Enrich Miles. It also offers an opportunity for non-frequent travellers to earn air miles on their usual spending such as petrol and groceries, with a low minimum salary requirement of RM2,000 per month.
2. Redeem your air miles during non-promotional periods, for less popular travel destinations, more expensive cabin class and long haul flights
Air mile redemption is worth more when ticket prices are expensive during non-promotional periods than when the ticket prices are on offer (for the same destination). During promotional times, you most probably purchase tickets cheaper on your own rather than if you were using your air miles to redeem them.
Also, you would want to use your points wisely by redeeming air miles on less frequented or rarely discounted routes as these routes are usually more expensive and rarely have any promotions. Besides, long haul flights are typically more expensive and it would be more worthwhile to use the air miles rewards for that.
3. Remember to consider tax and surcharges before deciding to redeem your air miles
Air mile redemption is based on just the cost of the ticket, excluding tax and other surcharges.
AirAsia abolished its fuel surcharge since January 2015 across all of its airlines in the group, as well as its low-cost long haul affiliates AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia X and Indonesia AirAsia X, in line with declining global oil prices. However, MAS has yet to offer this to their passengers.
You will have to pay these regardless of any promotions or redemptions. So it is always wise to calculate the difference you would pay if you redeem or don’t redeem your air miles reward. This will tell you if the redemption is worthwhile.
Using the formula above, you can easily calculate whether it’s worth it to use your Enrich Miles to redeem the flight you want.
The enrich miles reward system provided by the airlines plays a significant role in your travelling expenses especially when you are an avid traveller, regardless for business or vacation. Enrich Miles also allows you to redeem on a list of best offered services for your travelling convenience. By taking advantage of this system, you could be a step closer to your dream vacation in comfort.
* Article updated on August 11, 2015.
