The Malaysia Airlines Golden Satellite Lounge at Kuala Lumpur Airport is a force to be reckoned with. I have never seen airline lounge facilities in the U.S. that even begin to compare to this. No, this is not a “bash U.S. carriers” article, but this lounge was really sweet! I had low expectations because my experience with “satellite lounges” has been quite dismal… not the case in Kuala Lumpur.
This lounge is located on the Mezzanine Level (2nd floor) of the Satellite Building. The lobby is huge and I was greeted by two smiling attendants when I arrived there. There is a separate section for First Class passengers which, from what I could tell, was nearly empty. As I walked toward the actual seating area, I noticed a kid’s play room, putting room and large business center with many computers and a separate attendant. Around the corner I found a sea of seating available that looked out over the tarmac. I could not help but to marvel at how huge this place was. At the back of the lounge there was a full-service spa and lockers.

There was one main self service bar with at least one other self service satellite bar as well as an espresso bar that doubled as a full service liquor bar. Although the food was self service, there were menus placed on small tables to let passengers know what hot food was available: Mee Jowa, Soto Ayam, Vegetarian Curry and Beef Noodles-that was just the afternoon selections on the menu. There were also salads, sandwiches, cookies and ice-cream! Knowing I had a solid 20 hours of flying ahead, I chose to eat light and stuck with a few cracker and cookies. Free WiFi was always available.

espresso bar/liquor bar:
drink menu:
lots and lots of ice cream:

This lounge is a must for even the most casual of airline lounge connoisseurs. I can only imagine what the “main” lounge is like….

Malaysia Airlines #95: Los Angeles-Taipei-Kuala Lumpur

Golden Club Class/Business Class
13.5 hrs to TPE & 4hrs to KUL
Boeing 747-400

Pre-flight was challenging in itself. The flight was scheduled to depart LAX at 1:40am PST making it, according to the monitors, the last flight out of the International Terminal that night-which was actually morning if we want to get technical; which we don’t…. 1:40 am is not that late, but I was on EST which made it feel like 4:40am to me. Couldn’t tell you the last time I pulled an “all-nighter”

outside Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX:

tonight’s departures:

Check in was a breeze. I asked how much it would cost to upgrade from Business Class to First Class: “$1,000″ …not tonight….

As far as I could tell, boarding was orderly, but I was one of the first passengers to board.
I climbed the stairs to the upper deck, my favorite place to sit, and was greeted at the top of stairs and in the forward cabin by very friendly flight attendants. I called Malaysia Airlines ahead to get a seat assignment (no earlier than 24 hours because I had booked through Air India as a codes share) and was given 8C. Upon check-in at the Malaysia Airlines desk at LAX, 8H was assigned to me.

seat 8H (aisle):

I got settled in that seat and there was a person in the seat next mine. Noticing that the upper deck cabin was only 50% full and that the exit rows were empty, I asked the FA if I could jump back to the empty exit row. He very kindly said: “Let me just make sure I can release those seats and it will not be a problem.”

The seats were not occupied and I moved to set 9A, exit row, with 10 yards between me and the seat in front of me. The passenger across the aisle from me did the same thing. So I wound up sitting in 9A, easily the best business class on this plane, particularly because the seat next to me was vacant. A flight attendant does sit across from 9 H & K during take offs and landings; making H&K the 2nd best business class seats on this plane.

Exit Row Seats 9 A & C:

leg room in exit row:

seat controls:

I found the cabin to be very tidy and clean. There was a hand held remote in the seat that controlled a personal television that came out of the armrest. There were a plethora of movies, music and games to choose from. The “new release” movies have not even been released on DVD yet… i.e. Gran Torino. There were also plenty of classics as well. No noise cancelling head phones, just regular ones, but impressive sound quality none-the-less. Meal menus and separate beverage menus were in a small compartment next to the seat. Oddly, I could not find an in-flight magazine at my seat or any of the empty seats, although I did not ask the FA if there was one available.

beverage menu:

Here is the amenity kit given to business class passengers (minus the toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash):

cabin while boarding:

As much as I wanted to sample the full dinner service about to commence, I was bleary eyed and exhausted. I just could not muster the energy and proceeded to sleep for the first 4 hours of flight. The seat reclined almost all the way flat and the blankets provided were huge and warm. I did not “slide” down on the seat while sleeping, like some business class seats allow for.

dinner menu:

When I woke I saw the FA in the aisle and waved her down. She sat down in the seat next to me with a big smile asked what I cared for. I asked for a cup of coffee but she apologetically explained that no hot beverages could be served while the fasten seat belt sign was on. As soon as the seat belt sign was off , the same FA came back and asked me if I would still like some coffee. She also made me aware of the self service snack tray at the back of cabin. I found cheese, crackers, candy bars, peanuts, chips and small finger sandwiches on the self service snack bar. This was a great amenity for the long flight and anyone who had slept through dinner, as I had. I am confident any of the 3 FA’s dedicated to our cabin would have prepared a hot meal for me, had I requested it, but it did not cross my I mind at the time.

mood lighting mid-flight:

chasing sunrise:

Breakfast was served about 90 minutes before landing in Taipei. And although my post breakfast hot towel service consisted of a warm towel that was freezing cold in spots, the food was delicious, fresh and plentiful.

On this trans-pacific flight, Malaysia Airline’s in flight service is right up to snuff with its reputation: excellent!

After a 50 minute stop in Taipei where passengers were required to disembark while the plane was refueled and cleaned, we were on our way to KL. I was pre-occupied making a telephone call to the United States and I did not have time to determine whether there was a club lounge available to flight #95 passengers.

Views from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei:

Eva Airways:

Air Macau:

Leg # 2
Taipei-Kuala Lumpur

I had the same seat on the Kuala Lumpur leg and manged another 2 hour snooze in the very comfortable seats. No amenity kits or headphones were passed out on this leg, even though new passengers boarded in Taipei. There were 2 flight attendants dedicated to serving the upper deck passengers, but brunch service felt a bit rushed. I chose a the braised chicken with preserved ginger and ate every last bit because it had so many incredible, complex flavors.

brunch menu:

After brunch, the hot towel service was cold, like the last flight. I found it bizarre that on both legs of this flight, pre-meal towel service was very hot like one would expect and post meal service was cold…(?)

All in, I had an awesome experience with Malaysia Airlines. Their super friendly, accommodating staff made a long trip a breeze. Without question, Malaysia Airlines is in the same “class” as Singapore Airlines, albeit with fewer flights from the United States.

I had a few hours to kill at the “International Lounge” in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. Basically this is a lounge for airlines that are not in a major code share agreement like Star Alliance or One World. Malaysia Airlines (which I was flying) premium class passengers have access to this lounge. There was nothing particularly special here, although everything you would expect was present. The lounge was very well staffed, but the carpet was worn and dirty. Food consisted of finger sandwiches wrapped in plastic, peanuts, crackers, beer, muffins, pastries and noodles. There was 1 red and 1 white wine available and 6 or 7 liquors at the self service bar. A plentiful array of juices and sodas were also available. I used the free WiFi and spread out in the ample space. There were a ton of AC outlets available. When it was time to head to my gate, I noticed a business center with at least 4 computers, all of which were being used at the time. The bathrooms were small, but clean. There was also a First Class section of this lounge, which used the same entrance as the Business Class portion of the lounge.

I was somewhat disturbed by what I saw on Horizon Air (Alaska Airlines regional carrier) flight #2233 from Vancouver, British Columbia (YVR) to Seattle, Washington (SEA). This short flight, roughly 45 minutes of flying time, is on a Bombardier Q400 prop plane, not dissimilar (if not the exact type of plane) to the plane that crashed operating as Colgan Air flight #3407 outside of Buffalo, NY in February of this year.

I was seated in the first row and was able to see, through the open cockpit door, the young female co-pilot reading a celebrity gossip magazine while passengers were boarding and up until it was time for departure. In addition, the young female flight attendant seated in front of me was engaged in her novel no more than 5 minutes after takeoff and again on our approach into Seattle.

I am not an expert on airline crew policies or procedures, however, in light of the scrutiny of all regional carrier’s crew experience and alertness stemming from the horribly tragic events of Colgan Air Flight #3407, I would expect a tad more professionalism on the crew’s behalf. At the very least, to make myself, and other passengers feel a bit more secure.

Was this an isolated incident? I suspect yes and hope it was.

Would I fly Horizon Air again? Yes, but they would not be my first choice.