US Customer Service Plan

U.S. customer service commitment

Malaysia Airlines strives to maintain the highest standards in customer service and we are committed to providing safe, dependable, and convenient world-class service to our customers. In accordance with the U.S. Department of Transportation requirements, the following Customer Service Commitment applies to Malaysia Airlines flights to and from the United States.

Offer the lowest available fare

Malaysia Airlines offers the lowest fares on our official website (malaysiaairlines.com). Our staff working in call centres and ticket offices within US will help you in your reservation and ticketing requirements. While you may opt to purchase ticket through our call centres or ticket offices, our staff will notify you that a cheaper fare may be available on Malaysia Airlines official website.

Notify customers of known delays, cancellations and diversions

We take all measures to ensure that you get to your destination on time. Flight schedules, however, may get disturbed due to some unavoidable circumstances including weather, air traffic control, operational or other service considerations. Such situations may result in flight delays, cancellations or diversions. In the event that your flight gets disrupted due to any of the above-mentioned reasons, we will provide you the most up-to-date and accurate flight status information within 30 minutes of becoming aware of such a change. Malaysia Airlines will provide this information in the boarding gate area for the flight at a U.S. airport, on our website (malaysiaairlines.com), and via our call centres upon inquiry.

Deliver baggage on time

We take all necessary measures to ensure timely delivery of your checked baggage. If your checked baggage is delayed or misplaced, we will make every reasonable effort to deliver your bags to you within 24 hours. In the event that you have incurred some expenses due to late delivery of your baggage, we will  reimburse your reasonable and necessary expenses. In the event that your baggage is considered  lost, then our compensation will be in accordance with the Montreal Convention, where applicable. In the event that you have paid any fee for the carriage of your lost bag, you will be entitled to a refund for the baggage fee.

Provide prompt ticket refunds

Malaysia Airlines will process ticket refunds in a timely manner. The purchase price will be refunded to the original form of payment after deducting any applicable service charges imposed by third parties. For ticket purchases through credit card, we will submit the refund request to the credit card issuer within seven(7) business days upon receipt of your request. The credit card issuer will then refund the purchase price in accordance with the credit card terms and conditions. We will issue your refund within twenty(20) business days upon receipt of your request for purchases made with cash, cheque or other forms of payment.

Adequately accommodate customers with disabilities and other special needs

Malaysia Airlines staff is trained as well as is mindful of the needs and requirements of our customers who require additional assistance, including individuals with disabilities and unaccompanied minors. We make sure that customers are not discriminated against on the basis of disability. In the event of a lengthy tarmac delay at a US airport, our flight crew will make every effort to adequately accommodate  the needs of the customers with disabilities or special needs.

Meet customers' essential needs during lengthy tarmac delays

Malaysia Airlines is committed to operating our flights in accordance with the flight schedule. However, lengthy tarmac delays may happen due to weather conditions, air traffic control, safety and operations. When tarmac delays happen due to any of the above-mentioned reasons, we ensure that customers’ essential needs are taken care of. We serve appropriate snacks / food and drinking water at specific intervals. In addition, restroom facilities on board the aircraft are also made available to our customers during tarmac delays. Adequate medical assistance is also provided for the customers who require the same.

Treat customers fairly and consistently in the case of oversales

An situation of oversales may occur due to a number of reasons, including overbooking on a flight resulting in more customers checking in at the airport as compared to the available seats, safety considerations (aircraft weight limits), and substituting a smaller aircraft in place of a scheduled larger aircraft, among other reasons. We seek volunteers willing to give up their confirmed seats in exchange for compensation and travel on a later flight. If there are not enough volunteers, some customers will need to be denied boarding according to Malaysia Airlines’ boarding priority rules. If you have been denied boarding then you will be entitled to compensation and transportation on an alternate flight, provided that you have complied with our check-in time and other applicable rules. In the event that you do not check in on-time or do not meet certain other conditions in the contract of carriage, then you may be denied boarding without compensation.

Disclosing cancellation policies, frequent flyer rules and aircraft configuration

Our website contains information pertaining to our services, policies, aircraft and other aspects which customers need to know. We ensure that the information is kept up-to-date on our website. We will ensure that the same information can also be checked through our call centres. To be specific, the following information will be made available:

• Aircraft seat map and lavatory information;
• Frequent flyer policies and applicable rules;
• Fare rules that apply to your ticket and travel, including cancellation policies.

Notify customers of changes to their travel itineraries

Flight schedule changes may happen due to some unforeseen circumstances. For scheduled changes undertaken a few days prior to the flight departure, our local offices will contact our customers using the customers’ contact information available in our reservation system and inform them of any likely impact on their itinerary. Any changes to our flight schedules are updated on our website and are available through our telephone reservation centre for our customers in case they wish to check their flight before travel.

Ensure responsiveness to customer complaints

If you are unsatisfied with any aspect of our service or product, we would like to hear from you. To lodge a written complaint, please visit our contact page

We will acknowledge receipt of your written complaints within 48 hours. However, we will try to provide a detailed response to you within 5 working days of upon receipt of your written request.

If you are a U.S. customer and are not satisfied with our response and should you wish to take it further, you may then submit a complaint or comment about our service to the U.S. Department of Transportation

at http://airconsumer.dot.gov or write at their mailing address given below:

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

Identify services to mitigate customer inconveniences resulting from cancellations and misconnection

We are determined to operate our flights in accordance with the schedule. However, flight disruptions including cancellation and misconnections are sometimes inevitable. We undertake the following actions to minimise the discomfort to our customers as a result of the above-mentioned unavoidable situations:

• Inform our customers in advance of any flight cancellation using the contact information provided to us at the time of reservation;
• Try to rebook the disrupted customers on our next flight or re-route them with no additional cost to the customer;
• Ensure that customers who are at the airport and are affected by the flight disruption are among others provided appropriate snacks/meals, accommodation and land transport;
• Keep customers well informed during the disruption.