I recently had Qmiles that were expiring and had to redeem them for a flight. However, as I did not have enough miles to redeem for any of QR’s medium or long-haul flights, I decided to look at their partner awards instead. Granted, the value wasn’t exactly there with partner airlines but it was still better than just letting my miles expire. From SIN, I found myself with either MH or CX as my options. However, for the weekend trip I was planning, CX did not have any available award seats so I ended up redeeming a one-way J class flight from KUL to SIN instead.
I have very fond memories of Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 737’s which they utilize for regional flights within Southeast Asia. Many of MH’s Boeing narrow body planes have the Sky interiors which feature a roomier cabin with mood lighting.
At KUL, check-in was pretty straightforward. Other than getting the standard invite for the lounge, business class passengers also get a fast-track immigration ticket – a much-appreciated convenience as the queue for immigration could get quite long.
Golden Lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Regional)
Malaysia Airlines has a couple versions of its Golden Lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. As mine was a short-haul flight, I dropped by the one located at the main terminal which catered to regional flights.
The lounge itself is adequate if not a bit tired. However, you do get pretty good views of the tarmac where many MH planes are parked.
The lounge has a decent buffet spread with an emphasis on local fare. You can for example get nasi lemak or otak on any given afternoon at the lounge.
My flight, MH607 ended up being delayed by about 20 minutes which meant extra time at the lounge. From there, it was a short walk at the boarding gate where I was really looking forward to boarding another one of MH’s new 737s.
Onboard the 737-800
When I got to the plane however, I realized that it was actually one of the older planes utilized for the flight. The proportion of 737s without the Boeing Sky interior was only around a quarter and I happened to be flying on one of them. No ambient lighting or personal entertainment screens unfortunately! As I took my seat, the crew came by to serve welcome drinks – guava/orange/apple juice and water.
The seats on the Boeing 737-800 carried a 2-2 configuration with a pitch of 42″ and width of 21″ which was pretty decent for a short haul flight.
There were no fancy buttons here, just the simple recline function.
The flight from KUL to SIN only takes 40 minutes normally and as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off, the crew came by with the trolley for meal service.
There was no proper dinner for the short flight but we got Malaysia Airlines’ famous satay. It was my first time to try theirs and I must say it was one of the best I had – even when comparing to the ones I’ve had on the ground.
I barely had enough time to finish my satay sticks before the crew came by to collect them. Simultaneously, the pilot announced that he was already making his descent into Singapore.
Overall, I found the short flight quite satisfactory. I was disappointed at first not to fly on the newer 737s but the satay (which really lived up to the hype!) almost made up for it.
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