Have two weekends and S$1,400? Earn oneworld Sapphire status

Yesterday, I wrote about the great promotion that Malaysia Airlines was having where you will receive 3X Elite Miles, 3X Enrich Miles and 3X Elite Sectors on all flights booked and flown with Malaysia Airlines.

I was harping over the fact that you could qualify for Enrich Elite Status with just over S$2,000 from getting 50,000 Elite Miles on a Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – New Delhi route. However, reader Jeff pointed out to me that qualifying by Elite Sectors is actually much, much cheaper.

Which is making me extremely tempted to take advantage of this great promotion.

Let me explain.

Qualify for Elite Status through Elite Sectors instead

Malaysia Airlines Enrich has two different forms of qualifications for attaining Elite Status:

• Elite Miles
• Elite Sectors

I’ve covered how many Elite Miles you’d require to qualify for status in yesterday’s post but didn’t really talk much about Elite Sectors.

Now, what are Elite Sectors? Basically, each flight segment you take with Malaysia Airlines will constitute as minimally one Elite Sector if you are booked into an eligible fare class.

Take for example a Singapore – Kuala Lumpur flight, if you are booked into an eligible Elite Sector fare class, you will earn a set number of Elite Sector credits.

Here’s a chart provided by Malaysia Airlines showing how many Elite Sectors you will earn per booking class:

In the 3X Elite Sector promotion, a Business Class ticket will earn you a whopping 6 Elite Sectors per flight. Here’s how many Elite Sectors you would normally require to qualify for Elite Status on Malaysia Airlines:

• Enrich Silver (oneworld Ruby) – 30 Elite Sectors
• Enrich Gold (oneworld Sapphire) – 50 Elite Sectors
• Enrich Platinum (oneworld Emerald) – 130 Elite Sectors

While a deep discount Economy ticket would earn you 3 Elite Sectors per flight in the 3X Elite Sector promotion, the cost per sector accrued is lower if you are flying Business.

Here’s an example which Jeff provided, an itinerary of Singapore – Kuala Lumpur – Penang:

Whether you’re flying on a saver Business ticket or a Business Flex ticket, you will only accrue 2 Elite Sectors ordinarily in fare codes Z/C/D/J. However, in this 3X promotion, you will earn a whopping 6 Elite Sectors per flight. A return journey from Singapore to Penang through Kuala Lumpur would then net you a grand total of 24 sectors. Already close to halfway to Enrich Gold.

Here’s a breakdown in case you are still confused:

1. Singapore – Kuala Lumpur – 6 Elite Sectors
2. Kuala Lumpur – Penang – 6 Elite Sectors
3. Penang – Kuala Lumpur – 6 Elite Sectors
4. Kuala Lumpur – Singapore 6 Elite Sectors

Giving you a grand total of 24 Elite Sectors.

For Enrich Gold and hence oneworld Sapphire status, you would need to fly this itinerary twice which brings it to a cost of approximately S$1,200. Throw in a return Economy Class flight to Kuala Lumpur and you have just earned yourself oneworld Sapphire for an approximate cost of S$1,400 max.

Doing this status run in early 2019 would give you two whole years to enjoy the fruits of your labour as your status will be valid in the calendar year in which you earned it, as well as the following calendar year. So if you qualify in January 2019, your status will hold until December 2020.

Concluding Thoughts

While some might argue that they find no use for elite status since they always do award redemptions on Business or First, having oneworld Elite status can be useful in situations where you do a lot of traveling in Economy Class or really need that excess baggage which is provided courtesy of oneworld Sapphire.

If anyone finds a lower cost per sector itinerary, do give it a shout in the comments section!