New Avios spending opportunities – Malaysia Airlines joins oneworld on 1 February

Malaysia Airlines has confirmed this week that it will be joining BA in the oneworld alliance on 1st February next year.

From this date, you will be able to earn and spend Avios on Malaysia Airlines flights. This opens up some interesting opportunities to think about.

Kuala Lumpur is, oddly, a city not currently served by British Airways despite its strong presence elsewhere in Asia. It has been rumoured to be coming in recent years, although BA may now settle for a codeshare deal on Malaysia’s flights from London instead.

The first thing to look forward to is the A380. Malaysia Airlines began to receive its A380’s this year, and launched them on the Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route in August. From November 24th, both of its Heathrow flights each day will be on A380’s. 

If you are the sort of person who hates paying tax on their Avios redemptions, you will be pleased to hear that Malaysia will also be running A380’s on the Paris to Kuala Lumpur route from 1st March 2013. This would allow you to book a cheap single ticket to Paris and avoid the UK Air Passenger Duty of £188 (new rate from 1st April 2013) for a business class ticket.

Malaysia’s entry to oneworld opens up other options as well. Malaysia has a decent service to Australasia, serving Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Auckland looking at the route map.

You can’t, of course, use a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher on Malaysia Airlines. Apart from that, though, it looks like it will be a valuable addition to Avios redemption options.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)