I flew with Malaysia Airlines in October 2006 when I travelled to Borneo. In total, we had 8 flights with Malaysian Airlines as we took part in a few trips and had some internal flights. We booked our holiday as a package so we did not specifically book this airline, it just came as part of the package.

Check in
The check in desks for Malaysia airlines are open 3-4 hours before departure. I found this quite useful as it allows you to check it your heavy luggage and enjoy having something to eat and drink and then you can do some duty free shopping all before your flight! We arrived 3 hours before departure and there was barely even a queue. We queued for about 5-7 minutes, and then were called to the desk. We were flying economy class and we allowed 20k of luggage, although if you fly with the higher classes, I believe you are allowed extra weight for your luggage. The check in lady obviously checked our passports and tickets and went through the usual security questions. She also asked us if we were aware of the restrictions on hand luggage and that we would not be allowed certain items. This was very useful as we actually had toothpaste and some very expensive moisturiser in hand luggage as I thought the restrictions were only on liquid but these items was also banned from hand luggage. As the check in lady had warned us, we were allowed to put the items in our check in luggage, which prevented us from having them taken from us when we went to the boarding area.

Boarding
We were called to board our flight 10 minutes before we were actually due which was nice, as it seemed to me like Malaysia airlines were very organised and that there would not be a delay. As we boarded the plane, we were greeted by a member of staff who asked to see our boarding pass, she then directed us to our seat. Just inside the plane, there were free papers for everyone to take if they wished.

The Plane
My first impression on getting seated in the plane was that the seats seemed bigger than your average plane. My knees normally touch the chair in front on all flights I have been on but on this plane, I had about half a foot between my knees and the chair in front. Underneath the chair in front was a footrest that you could choose to have up or down. I found the footrest useful for resting my feet on when I wanted to sleep but I didn't really use it except for that. The plane smelt nice and clean and there was no rubbish on the floor.

Entertainment
In the back of every chair is a small TV screen. This was great as usually the TV screens are just at certain points and it's normally difficult to get a good view. There were some great choices of entertainment too. You had to choice of about 8 recent films (showing in English cinemas at present), then a choice of about 6 classic films such as Titanic, Pretty Women, all the usual favourites. They also have many foreign channels which showed Bollywood type films and had English subtitles. Also was a children's channel with TV programs and kiddie films.

There were 6 radio stations, playing pop, jazz, rock music etc and there were also a selection of albums that you could choose to listen to. There was a large selection of albums ranging from albums currently in the charts to albums by The Beatles so I felt that they offered everyone something to listen to.

As well as this they had the usual 30-minute programs such as Little Britain, Friends and The Catherine Tate Show.

An added bonus I discovered was a Games channel on the TV where you could play a large variety of games. Each chair had a remote that you could pop out of your armrest. On the remote were the controls for the TV and it also contained all the controls for the games. The other side of the remote was a telephone which you could just swipe with your credit card and then make calls with. I loved this idea, as I have never seen it before, although I did not use the phone.

Food and Drink
I am a vegetarian and often have lots of trouble trying to get a veggie meal on flights. Even though I order it there is usually some confusion when I tell them I have a meal and more often than not it has not been ordered and I end up with nothing. Literally two minutes after we found our seats on the plane, I was approached by a member of staff who wished to confirm that I had a vegetarian meal booked. I was very impressed as this is the 1st airline I have travelled with that has actually checked that I had a veggie meal. When the food arrived, the special meals were bought round at the same time as the normal meals which I also thought was a nice touch. On the rare occasion that other airlines have ordered me a veggie meal they bring it out ages before or ages after the other meals so my boyfriend and I pretty much have to eat separately! My boyfriend had a choice of three meals, a chicken dish, beef dish or fish dish. This was pleasant to have as normally you just get what you are given so it was nice for him to have the choice. With our meals we got a glass or water, glass of orange juice and also tea/coffee.
As well as the regular meals that were bought round, there was also free food and drinks would you could have whenever you like. All drinks were complimentary, even the beers and cocktails, although they do not bring them round, you have to ask, which we did. My cocktail was lovely and tasted even better seeing as it was free! We could also ask for sandwiches, biscuits and crisps that were also free.

The Staff
The staff were exceptionally helpful and always had a big smile on their face. They wore gorgeous traditional Malaysian uniforms which I thought added a nice touch. The staff bought round ice creams every three hours, orange juice every hours and peanuts every two hours. I feel asleep about 8 hours into the flight (it was a 13 hour flight) and a flight attendant noticed I was asleep and asked my boyfriend if he thought I might like a blanket. Knowing I felt the cold, he accepted this offer. I thought it was very thoughtful when I awoke and he told me this.

All in all, my experience with Malaysia airlines was a very positive one. All of our 8 flights departed and landed in time, the planes were clean with an excellent choice of food and entertainment and the staff made you feel very welcome aboard their plane. I would definitely recommend this airline to anyone thinking of using them