With Covid-19 I haven’t been making many new travel arrangements. Instead time was spent checking for cancellations by airlines for existing bookings and requesting refunds.
For my long stay in Kuching, I had planned on making a diving trip to Sipadan. It was going to be towards the end of my stay in Kuching, so there’s no rush to do anything. But this morning, I noticed that Malaysia Airlines was offering a 24h domestic frequent flyer redemption promo, with about 40% reduction to their fixed redemption rates.
Their fixed redemption rates are already attractive compared to the other option where they convert most fares from Ringgit or Dollar to miles for redemption.
With a large chunk of points expiring in the next few months, I looked further into it. It was an amazing deal, making them far cheaper than AirAsia’s current pricing.
I ended up booking:
- Kuching – Kota Kinabalu
- Kota Kinabalu – Tawau
- Tawau – Kuala Lumpur
I was already holding a Kuala Lumpur – Kuching ticket from a previous travel plan, in which I would be coming from Pakistan.
In the evening, I realised I still had points that would expire if I didn’t use them. While I’m currently booked to return to Auckland on 1 November, I foresee myself delaying my return. I already have a ticket from Kuching to Penang (on 7 November) to join up with a previous travel plan which would see me fly from Penang to Taipei and connect to Auckland.
After some self-debate, I booked:
- Penang – Kuala Lumpur – Kuching (on 10 November).
The points would have expired anyway and the taxes for that ticket was around USD6. If I don’t use it because I had gone back to New Zealand, it wouldn’t have mattered.
It was a lot of travel arrangements to make in these uncertain times. I certainly wouldn’t have done it if I had to pay with real money. But with points that were expiring, and at ridiculously low mileage rates (and minimal taxes to pay), it seemed like the right decision.