Earning and utilizing miles in Malaysia is still a viable strategy in 2024
Welcome to the first post of BolehMiles! Here, we simplify the miles game for Malaysians, making luxury travel more accessible. Whether you’re new to collecting miles or a seasoned pro, our goal is to break down complex calculations into simple terms so you can make the most of your miles.
In countries like the USA, UK, and even our neighbour Singapore, the miles game is relatively straightforward due to the plethora of credit card offerings, generous miles per dollar earnings, and access to many world-class airline miles programs.
While the miles game may not be as easy in Malaysia, it remains a viable option. We at BolehMiles believe that with proper strategy and planning, Malaysians can also enjoy the perks of luxury travel (Malaysia Boleh!).
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of miles credit cards available in Malaysia, providing more opportunities for earning miles.
While we only have Malaysian Airlines as the only non-budget carrier in the country, we don’t have to be constrained by that. We can take advantage of Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles to expand our travel options.
In this post, we will provide examples of strategies for collecting miles for 3 different income segments. For each income level, we estimate how many miles you can potentially earn in one year period and show you some places you can to travel to.
1. Entry Segment (Income Level: RM24,000 to RM60,000)
The miles game is not a game for high-income earners only. With proper strategy and planning, anyone can accumulate a decent amount of miles in one year.
For the entry level income segment, our example strategy focuses on earning miles by reloading e-wallets (TNG, Boost, Grab, etc) using Alliance Visa Platinum which rewards us for e-wallet and prepaid top ups.
To improve cash flow, it’s worth noting that for Touch n Go (TNG), the funds topped up using a credit card are transferable. As of July 2024, TNG charges a 1% convenience fee for the amount you reload. You can transfer these funds back to your bank account, effectively buying miles instead of ‘earning’ them.
| Credit Card |
 Alliance Bank Visa Platinum |
| Enrich Miles Per Ringgit (MPR) | 0.53MPR |
| Spending and Cap per month | 1. E-Wallet Top Up (RM3000 per month) |
| Miles Accumulated | 1590 Enrich Miles per month (19,000 Enrich Miles per year) |
Where can we go ?
With this example strategy, you get 19,000 Enrich Miles per year, enough for a one way trip Kuala Lumpur-Osaka on Malaysian Airlines Economy.
2. Mass-Affluent Segment (Annual Income: RM60,000 to RM100,000)
The miles game is appealing for the Mass Affluent category. You get access to credit cards that offer transfers to KrisFlyer Miles, the miles program of Singapore Airlines, which offers better value for your miles compared to Malaysia Airlines.
For instance, a Malaysia Airlines business class ticket to Hong Kong costs 56,300 Enrich miles at the minimum. On Singapore Airlines, it costs only 26,500 KrisFlyer miles. (>50% miles difference!).
Singapore Airlines publishes their award redemption chart, unlike Malaysia Airlines, which has stopped doing so. Therefore, you can be more certain on the number of miles required for Singapore Airlines.
For this category, our example strategy uses two cards:
| Credit Card |  Standard Chartered Journey |
 Maybank Krisflyer Amex Platinum |
| Miles Per Ringgit | 0.5 MPR | 0.5 MPR |
| Category and Cap Per Month | 1. Dining 2. Travel 3. Overseas Spend [No cap] |
1. Online Spend [No cap] |
| Assumption | Spend RM2000 on Dining and RM1000 on Travel per month. | Spend RM2000 online per month. |
| Miles Accumulated | 1500 Miles per month (18000 Miles per year) | 1000 Miles per month (12000 Miles per year) |
Where Can We Go?
With this example strategy, you can accumulate up to 30,000 Krisflyer Miles per year, enough for a one-way trip to Hong Kong with a stopover holiday in Singapore for 26,500 KrisFlyer Miles. Stay one night to visit Singapore before your trip to Hong Kong. Visit 2 big cities in 1 trip!
Alternatively, we can fly direct to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Business from 28,000 Asia Miles. However, only the Standard Chartered Journey card supports transfer to Asia Miles, therefore we need a different strategy to fly on Cathay Pacific.
For this, we can add UOB World Card into our portfolio, which is currently having a promotion of RM400 cashback and 3-years fee waiver for new cardholders.
If you are eligible for annual fe waiver, you essentially gain additional 8640 miles a year for free. Otherwise, we would not recommend getting this card due to the high RM600 annual fee.
There is also 0.33MPR for departmental store, grocery and overseas spend which we will just ignore. We shall review this card in detail in another post.
| Credit Card |
 UOB World Card |
| Enrich Miles Per Ringgit (MPR) | 0.80MPR |
| Category and Cap per month | E-Wallet Top Up (RM300 per month for TNG, Bigpay and Boost) |
| Miles Accumulated | 720 Asia Miles per month (8640 Asia Miles per year) |
3. Premier Segment (Annual Income: RM100,000 and More)
The Premier income segment gets access to cards with higher MPR and more perks such as lounge access and airport limo. We are using UOB PRVI Miles Elite Card for our sample strategy in this segment. The idea is to use this card in addition to the cards we use in strategy 2 above.
| Credit Card |  UOB PRVI Miles Elite Card |
| Krisflyer Miles Per Ringgit | 1.11 MPR |
| Spending and Cap Per Month | 1. Foreign currency transaction 2. Airlines [No cap]. |
| Assumption | Assume RM2000 foreign currency spending per month |
| Miles Accumulated | 2222 Miles per month (26,600 Miles per year) |
Where Can We Go?
Using this strategy, you get another 26,600 Miles a year. Add this to the Miles you get from strategy 2 above you get up to 56,600 Krisflyer Miles per year. With this amount, we can take Singapore Airlines Business to Sydney (one-way) for 51,000 KrisFlyer Miles.
Alternatively, if we use the UOB World Card in strategy 2 above to accumulate 56,000 Asia Miles, we get a return trip to Shanghai Cathay Pacific Business. This is a fantastic value given that it is such a long distance travel.
Conclusion
As you can see above, we are still decently rewarded for collecting miles in Malaysia – enabling us to travel to major cities on business class. Stay tuned for more posts and strategies on BolehMiles to help you achieve those dream trips and travel goals.