HellraiserNZ

Hi guys,

I am an ANZ Elite and I was wondering what is the best possible option to go ahead with upgrading my partner's and my flights from Economy to BP from AKL to Hawaii. This is for our honeymoon and I want to give her a treat on our way there at least.

I have two recognition upgrades and about 1.2K in APD. When I go try and upgrade I am not able to use a combination and get us upgraded from Economy to BP, only way I can do that is if I have 4 recognition.

Is it possible for me to go ahead and do the recognition upgrades (1 each) and then do the APD upgrades @ $180 ea? Or should I do the other way around, do the APD upgrades and then the recognition.

Any suggestions (or offers of expiring recognition upgrades ) are welcome! :

Thanks!

brucelee

you can only use to RU to go from Y to J. You cannot upgrade for Y to PE then use APD to upgrade.

Best to buy PE and use APD upgrade to J if there is R avaliable

sbiddle

You can't double dip and stack upgrades. If you want to go from Economy to BP you need 4 x RU's for 2 pax.

If you want to fly in BP you'll need to buy PE and upgrade. If you're flexible with your dates you can ask about R availability to get these confirmed at the time of booking.

libertyuk

In theory, the ultra long-shot is you could get a Star Alliance upgrade from economy to business if there was any availability, using APD for one of you, with two RUs for the other, but I say it is an ultra long-shot because I doubt NZ releases ANY availability for *A upgrades on this route.

NZbutterfly

Did you buy the economy tickets already?

I was thinking you could use the 2 RU's on yourself Y to J, but use APD to buy PE outright on sale for your partner, then gift partner an elite APD upgrade (which clears 2nd on the list but hopefully the fact you are flying will give it a bit of higher priority).

You can then split the cost of the Y ticket and taxes to pay on the APD ticket.

sbiddle

While this will mean 2 individual PNR's Air NZ can clear an R class upgrade in this situation. Whether they choose to will depend how nice you are and some luck.

NZbutterfly

All upgrades are a bit of luck but we still like to have a go.


You can still call them and ask them to link the PNR's. The agents have said it is useful to call. Ask them to make a note that if the partner's APD upgrade doesn't come through then ask to only stay in PE.

I guess another approach is to buy PE outright on sale and then use APD to buy PE on sale, split the cost between you. Then apply an RU to both PE fares. If the RU's come through then you're both getting J for the cost of maybe a non-sale Y fare which is a really good deal. At least worst case scenario you're both in PE.

I'd also let Air NZ know it's your honeymoon. It doesn't guarantee anything but you know if they have choices about who to select for upgrades etc then a little bit of influence can't hurt A couple of friends got married and I asked one of the CSM's about what they can offer to people on their honeymoons - anyway she gave me her card to email her their flights. She could still inform staff on the day on the flight about the couple flying. I think they could offer J headphones, maybe a glass of bubbles which I think would have been appreciated. Unfortunately neither couple had any idea when or where they were going initially (delayed honeymoon trips) and by the time I caught up with them they'd already been!

HellraiserNZ

Thanks for all the replies guys.

We have already bought the economy tickets when on sale. So as far as I can see, we can only get to premium economy (I'm sorry I'm still not up to date on the fare class lingo) using APD or RU but no stacking.

Can I use to upgrade using APD alone in one and the two RUs on another?

Worst case scenario I can fly us premium economy both ways?

Thanks!

sbiddle

No you can't use APD to get from economy to business.

NZbutterfly

1. Can you pay the fare difference to get to PE for both tickets in cash? Then apply the RUs to each fare? Service fee (?$30 or so) but no booking change fee on this route.

2. Use the RUs for each fare to get to PE.

3. So - you can use both of your RU's on one of your economy tickets to get all the way to business class which may clear immediately or last minute.

a) Pay cash to get to BP for the other ticket then split the cost of Y and BP tickets between you. Obviously depends on price although I have booked AKL-SIN before in PE then checked later and business dropped to a sale fare so I cancelled and rebooked in business with a 115APD fee charge (or $150 in cash was other option).

b) Can you pay the fare difference to PE on the other Y ticket in cash then use an elite APD upgrade on the other fare? If you're the elite then you may want to do this on your own ticket if you want to earn the status points etc

The risk with this is both sitting in business class but not next to each other and maybe asking someone to swap on board which can be awkward not to mention disappointing if refused. Or one ticket clearing to business but not the other.

4. Is there anyone else you know wants to go to Hawaii on the same date??
You could pay for their PE ticket with APD then apply an elite APD upgrade to get to business, then they pay you back the economy fare you paid (sale fare is good), then swap seats on boarding the aircraft. Don't bother asking in the lounge, only ask on boarding the aircraft. I've swapped out to Y with my dad, partner and partner's sister on 4 different airlines including NZ and never been refused. You obviously have to trust the person to play ball. And they may be left buying their own one way economy ticket back which could be pricey.

Would still be a risk of not sitting next to each other.

5. Foregoing one of the economy tickets and seeing if they'll split the booking so you can book a PE fare with APD might be possible then apply an elite APD upgrade? (Buy top up APD if needed?). I'm sure I've read something on here about splitting the booking being possible.

6. Yes use RU's one direction for PE and elite APD upgrades the other to PE.

Really depends on what the costs are of each of these options.


I would call Air NZ - tell them you stuffed up on the booking for your HONEYMOON, ask them about the various options above or see if there's any other solutions. Ask them how many seats are left in business or PE as well, just to check out your chances.

Looks like a night flight to Hawaii which would be great to get to business class, otherwise PE on the return for a day flight is more than adequate on the Dreamliner, obviously angling for the 2 side seats.

Most people like a happy ending so I'm sure Air NZ will try and help you if possible.

Good luck!

p.s. I really think the safest way of guaranteeing things is paying for one airfare with APD and the other with cash to get the class you want and desired seats selected. When done on sale this represents great value.

West45

I was in a similar situation, I found the cheapest way to do it was to use buy an economy ticket then 2x RU for my girlfriend then PE ticket for me and 1x airpoints upgrade. They had no problem clearing her upgrades straight away under a separate booking.

This way was cheaper for us than buying 2x PE and using one RU each by around $200-$300