If you did not book your holiday during the recent MATTA fair, you may have noticed that the cost of travel has gone up. Fuel costs airlines a lot, and they pass the cost to passengers through higher fuel surcharge (YQ).

Airlines can also increase the base fare to manage the rising fuel cost, among other things.

Mileschasers are in an interesting spot. For FFPs with a fixed redemption chart, we are somewhat shielded from base fare increase, which gives us an advantage.

In this post, we break down the current YQ situation and share strategies to reduce costs.

What is the current Fuel Surcharge situation for Malaysia Airlines?

Malaysia Airlines imposes Fuel Surcharges (YQ) on both revenue and Enrich redemption flights. As discussed in our Enrich Guide, YQ is based on when you make your booking, not when you fly.

Since March 2026, Malaysia Airlines has adjusted its fuel surcharge. We gathered the latest YQ data from the Malaysia Airlines actual booking data as of May 2026. Here’s the breakdown:

For ease of discussion, we’ve grouped the YQs into 5 pricing Tiers. Note that these are not official tiers from MH.

YQ shown above are for one-way outbound flights. Return flights will cost ~2x the one-way price, except for Europe/UK and Japan. For example, one-way LHR-KUL on Business has significantly higher YQ, i.e RM1,082 instead of RM270.

Japan is special. It does not matter whether you fly Business or Economy, the YQ stays the same at RM726. Flights departing Japan track the Singapore Kerosene price. Everyone pay their equal share of roughly 1.2 barrels of jet fuel.

In our opinion, Tier 1 to Tier 4 YQ charges (RM50 to RM270) are still relatively reasonable, given everything that is happening. If you need to redeem MH on Enrich, there’s just no way around this. There are ways to manage the costs for Tier 5, which we will go through more in the sections below.

How Different FFPs Charge Fuel Surcharges (YQ)

When it comes to Fuel Surcharges, not all FFPs are equal. The amount you pay also vary depending on whether you are redeeming on the airline’s own metal or on partner airlines.

Airline / FFP	Own Metal YQ/YR	Partner Metal YQ/YR
	Yes	Yes (May differ a lot from partner YQ/YR)
	No Charge 👍	Yes (follow partner YQ)
	Yes	Yes (follow partner YQ)
	Mostly Yes 💡 (~RM 0 with UK/EU Saver)	Yes (follow partner YQ)
	Yes (High “redemption fee”)	Mostly Yes (follow partner YQ, except Cathay = RM 0)
	Yes	Yes (follow partner YQ)
	Yes	Yes (follow partner YQ)
	No Charge 👍	No Charge 👍
	No Charge 👍	No Charge 👍 (Except BA)
	No Charge 👍	No Charge 👍 (Except BA)

Strategies to manage YQ for Different FFPs

Enrich

For Enrich redemptions on MH, you just can’t avoid the YQ. But the key thing to watch out for is one-way Europe/UK/Japan to Malaysia tickets, which tend to have the highest YQ.

Here’s an example for LHR-KUL: the YQ is RM1,098, roughly RM860 more than what you would effectively pay on a return ticket.

Also, it usually costs more Enrich Points to redeem Business Class one-way LHR-KUL and NRT-KUL. Not only you are paying more YQ, but you are also spending more Enrich Points!

Therefore, it’s best to stick with return tickets for Europe, UK and Japan. If you don’t have enough Enrich Points for a return ticket, then one-way outbound would make more sense.

For Enrich partner redemptions, we could not find clear published rules on YQ treatment for different airlines. But based on the sample data we gathered, Qatar and Cathay generally cost more via Enrich.

KrisFlyer Miles

Singapore Airlines is one of the best positioned airline to weather this fuel crisis, thanks to its fuel hedging strategy and strong financials.

Best of all, it does not charge YQ on its own flights.

See the example below comparing MH and SQ for Kuala Lumpur to Osaka. Even after including the additional Singapore taxes, you still save roughly RM700 out-of-pocket compared to flying Malaysia Airlines.

Another good use of KrisFlyer Miles is for Scoot flights. You can fly from Malaysia into Tokyo Haneda on Scoot for just 14,000 KrisFlyer Miles with no YQ.. It is a budget airline, yes, but you save ~RM1,400 on a return trip.

You can read more about Scoot in our Scoot Guide here.

Lastly, you can take advantage of the monthly Spontaneous Escapes deals. You save 30% on Saver redemption fares to selected destinations, while still paying no YQ.

British and Qatar Avios

British Airways and Qatar Avios are surprisingly practical FFPs when it comes to cutting down YQ costs.

For British Airways Avios – One lesser-known sweet spot is the BA Reward Flight Saver, which has no YQ for eligible flights within Europe/UK. These flights are marked with a little blue icon.

It can be a very useful trick for Europe holidays, especially since Eurostar tickets can be very expensive.

For Qatar Avios – Qatar imposes a very high “redemption fee” on its own flights, but the sweet spot is redeeming Cathay Pacific with no YQ.

This is good value. Not only you avoid paying normally imposed by Cathay Pacific, you are also paying “fewer” miles.

See below example for Business Class flights on Cathay Pacific.

Avios is not as accessible as Enrich or KrisFlyer Miles in Malaysia, but you can still get it via CIMB or Every. We have a dedicated Avios guide for Malaysia, so be sure to check that out too.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Aeroplan is arguably one of the best FFPs for YQ. It does not impose YQ on its own flight and partner flight redemptions. The downside is that Aeroplan is not very accessible in Malaysia outside of Every or buying miles via Points.com.

That said, there are still some attractive sweet spots if you can find award availability. See the example below for Aeroplan partner metal booking on ANA, PVG-KIX, where you can enter Japan for cheap while avoiding YQ.

You have to pay a the Aeroplan “Partner Booking Fee” of ~RM110 and airport taxes, but overall it’s still great value.

Other FFPs

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and American Airlines AAdvantage are also excellent FFPs with no fuel surcharge on most redemptions. However, these are more exotic “Seafood miles” that many Malaysians simply do not have easy access to, so we will not cover them in detail.

You can still access them indirectly via CIMB + Marriott Bonvoy transfers, but the conversion process can take up to 2 weeks, making them difficult to use.

Conclusion

You can’t avoid YQ on Enrich, but it helps to understand the pricing structure so you can plan your redemptions strategically. If your main goal is to avoid YQ altogether, KrisFlyer Miles is the most straightforward option for Malaysians.

And if you are more advanced, British Airways, Qatar Avios, as well as Aeroplan, can also help you to avoid YQ on selected redemptions.

This was a heavier topic and definitely not the easiest thing to understand, but knowing how YQ works can actually save you a lot of money.

That’s all for this post! Be sure to join our Telegram group in the link below if you haven’t.