Booking Class guide - Air NZ international services
Jun 29, 2005, 3:59 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 14
Originally Posted by airnzboy
There have been a number of changes to booking classes on NZ International services. Here is a summary of the latest booking classes in use,noting that:
F First Class
A First Class - Frequent Flyer Redemption and Industry Discount
C Business Class
D Business Class - Discounted
I Business Class - Frequent Flyer Redemption
R Business Class - Industry Discount
Z Business Class - Discounted or Frequent Flyer Redemption Upgrades
U Premium Economy Class
E Premium Economy Class - Discounted
O Premium Economy Class - Discounted
Y Economy Class
B Economy Class - Discounted (Fully Flexi Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
G Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
H Economy Class - Discounted (Fully Flexi Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
K Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
L Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
M Economy Class - Discounted (Fully Flexi Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
N Economy Class - Industry Discount
Q Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
S Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
T Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
V Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
W Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
X Economy Class - Frequent Flyer Redemption
- First Class services cease from 10 June 2005.
- Premium Pacific Class services commence from 7 August 2005.
F First Class
A First Class - Frequent Flyer Redemption and Industry Discount
C Business Class
D Business Class - Discounted
I Business Class - Frequent Flyer Redemption
R Business Class - Industry Discount
Z Business Class - Discounted or Frequent Flyer Redemption Upgrades
U Premium Economy Class
E Premium Economy Class - Discounted
O Premium Economy Class - Discounted
Y Economy Class
B Economy Class - Discounted (Fully Flexi Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
G Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
H Economy Class - Discounted (Fully Flexi Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
K Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
L Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
M Economy Class - Discounted (Fully Flexi Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
N Economy Class - Industry Discount
Q Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
S Economy Class - Discounted (Smart Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
T Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
V Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
W Economy Class - Discounted (Flexi Saver Domestic/Tasman/Pacific)
X Economy Class - Frequent Flyer Redemption
Finally, how reliable is the info that the ITN tool reports?
Thanks for any help!!!
Jun 29, 2005, 4:21 pm
#17
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,422
Welcome to FT spot8myhw 
As posted by airnzboy I is the right code for business class awards on NZ. Air NZ, like most airlines, doesnt allow the award and upgrade codes to appear on the various availability tools.
At the moment there are no tools I am aware of that are publicly available and allow to view this, except Aeroplan's award lookup tool (need to be Aeroplan member) which FTers have reported mixed success.
AFAIK the availability information is reliable but requires careful interpretation.
As posted by airnzboy I is the right code for business class awards on NZ. Air NZ, like most airlines, doesnt allow the award and upgrade codes to appear on the various availability tools.
At the moment there are no tools I am aware of that are publicly available and allow to view this, except Aeroplan's award lookup tool (need to be Aeroplan member) which FTers have reported mixed success.
AFAIK the availability information is reliable but requires careful interpretation.
Jun 29, 2005, 4:37 pm
#18
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 14
Thanks for the quick reply. Now it all becomes clear (sort of).
Based on my conversation with the VS FC Special Services folks, to book an Air NZ flight using miles, I give VS my departure & return dates, wait 24 hours and call back to see if there were any BC award seats available. If not, you try again. They said that they have no way of checking Air NZ award availability. This could take weeks to find tix! Please tell me that there is a better way. Also, is any of this specific to VS, i.e. if I xfered my AMEX MR points to US Airways or some other carrier and use *A, does that make it any easier to actually find award seats?
Based on my conversation with the VS FC Special Services folks, to book an Air NZ flight using miles, I give VS my departure & return dates, wait 24 hours and call back to see if there were any BC award seats available. If not, you try again. They said that they have no way of checking Air NZ award availability. This could take weeks to find tix! Please tell me that there is a better way. Also, is any of this specific to VS, i.e. if I xfered my AMEX MR points to US Airways or some other carrier and use *A, does that make it any easier to actually find award seats?
Last edited by spot8myhw; Jun 29, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Jun 29, 2005, 4:56 pm
#19
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,422
hmmm sounds like VS Flying Club (FC confused me for a moment thinking first class!) doesnt have link to the NZ system which is surprising for an Airpoints partner. They (and all the other partners of NZ eg *A) should have something they can look up while you are on the phone. Maybe they dont get many redemptions on NZ so you got someone who doesnt know how to do it? Other partners, particularly United, would have more experience with this.
Jun 29, 2005, 5:02 pm
#20
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 14
Thanks - that makes me feel a little better.
So, for the record, in theory I should be able to call up and ask them to check availability of award seats for certain dates and if I like it, book it. The fact that VS couldn't do this doesn't mean others can't/won't.
I'm going to give Air Canada/Aeroplan a try since they are both AMEX MR partners and *A. Any particular reason you feel United would be a good choice?
So, for the record, in theory I should be able to call up and ask them to check availability of award seats for certain dates and if I like it, book it. The fact that VS couldn't do this doesn't mean others can't/won't.
I'm going to give Air Canada/Aeroplan a try since they are both AMEX MR partners and *A. Any particular reason you feel United would be a good choice?
Last edited by spot8myhw; Jun 29, 2005 at 5:05 pm
Jun 29, 2005, 5:52 pm
#21
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Originally Posted by spot8myhw
I'm going to give Air Canada/Aeroplan a try since they are both AMEX MR partners and *A. Any particular reason you feel United would be a good choice?
If I were you I'd take a look at the award charts for the exact flights you want - AC is cheaper for some, UA is cheaper for others.
Jun 30, 2005, 7:49 am
#23
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: DC
Programs: AA EXP; UAMM
Posts: 1,902
Not to rain, but...
I have been trying since Feb to get 2 bus award seats on NZ using UA miles for travel in Feb 2006. We have called nearly every day since then, and NZ has not released any business award seats for the LAX/SFO-AKL/CHC flights over the last 5 months for Feb 06 travel.
In one of my calls the UA agent (and the intl res agents at UA are among the best) said they may not release any seats.
I think the problem is that the new NZ bus product is in high demand, it's high season and NZ has no history of how many revenue seats they will sell so they are being conservative until they can figure out whether/how many seats to release. In addition, I suspect they will make award seats available to NZ elite members before making them available to other *A members.
So as I said above, not to rain on the parade, but things look a little slim right now. It may be as time passes and NZ gets a better fix on sales, they will release seats. But don't forget that folks like me are calling every day, so if seats open up they will disappear fairly quickly I would bet.
BTW UA agents can look up availability directly, which helps a bit. I ended up booking XC seats via SYD to CHC as a backup and will pay the change fee if NZ seats open up. I am curious about the new business seats on NZ. They sound great, just like the VS business seats, but not sure of how they'll be scattered about the cabin.
In one of my calls the UA agent (and the intl res agents at UA are among the best) said they may not release any seats.
I think the problem is that the new NZ bus product is in high demand, it's high season and NZ has no history of how many revenue seats they will sell so they are being conservative until they can figure out whether/how many seats to release. In addition, I suspect they will make award seats available to NZ elite members before making them available to other *A members.
So as I said above, not to rain on the parade, but things look a little slim right now. It may be as time passes and NZ gets a better fix on sales, they will release seats. But don't forget that folks like me are calling every day, so if seats open up they will disappear fairly quickly I would bet.
BTW UA agents can look up availability directly, which helps a bit. I ended up booking XC seats via SYD to CHC as a backup and will pay the change fee if NZ seats open up. I am curious about the new business seats on NZ. They sound great, just like the VS business seats, but not sure of how they'll be scattered about the cabin.
Jul 1, 2005, 9:07 am
#26
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 14
Looking grim
Just got off the phone with Aeroplan asking about BC award seat availability on NZ, LAX or SFO to AKL. They had 0 availability in November. As the very helpful agent said, "well, since the situation can't get any worse than it is right now, why don't you try back in a week or two and see if NZ has added any seats."
If I really want to travel to NZ in Nov, does anyone have any suggestions for a backup plan that would ensure that I had tix (that I bought for $) but that I could get refunded if BC award seats did magically appear? Does that make sense?
Thanks!
If I really want to travel to NZ in Nov, does anyone have any suggestions for a backup plan that would ensure that I had tix (that I bought for $) but that I could get refunded if BC award seats did magically appear? Does that make sense?
Thanks!
Jul 1, 2005, 9:10 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: DC
Programs: AA EXP; UAMM
Posts: 1,902
See #23
Originally Posted by spot8myhw
Just got off the phone with Aeroplan asking about BC award seat availability on NZ, LAX or SFO to AKL. They had 0 availability in November. As the very helpful agent said, "well, since the situation can't get any worse than it is right now, why don't you try back in a week or two and see if NZ has added any seats."
If I really want to travel to NZ in Nov, does anyone have any suggestions for a backup plan that would ensure that I had tix (that I bought for $) but that I could get refunded if BC award seats did magically appear? Does that make sense?
Thanks!
If I really want to travel to NZ in Nov, does anyone have any suggestions for a backup plan that would ensure that I had tix (that I bought for $) but that I could get refunded if BC award seats did magically appear? Does that make sense?
Thanks!
Aug 29, 2005, 10:14 pm
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Programs: UA Platinum MM; DL Silver; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Hilton Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 24,249
Originally Posted by nor4
I have been trying since Feb to get 2 bus award seats on NZ using UA miles for travel in Feb 2006. We have called nearly every day since then, and NZ has not released any business award seats for the LAX/SFO-AKL/CHC flights over the last 5 months for Feb 06 travel.
In one of my calls the UA agent (and the intl res agents at UA are among the best) said they may not release any seats.
I think the problem is that the new NZ bus product is in high demand, it's high season and NZ has no history of how many revenue seats they will sell so they are being conservative until they can figure out whether/how many seats to release. In addition, I suspect they will make award seats available to NZ elite members before making them available to other *A members.
So as I said above, not to rain on the parade, but things look a little slim right now. It may be as time passes and NZ gets a better fix on sales, they will release seats. But don't forget that folks like me are calling every day, so if seats open up they will disappear fairly quickly I would bet.
BTW UA agents can look up availability directly, which helps a bit. I ended up booking XC seats via SYD to CHC as a backup and will pay the change fee if NZ seats open up. I am curious about the new business seats on NZ. They sound great, just like the VS business seats, but not sure of how they'll be scattered about the cabin.
In one of my calls the UA agent (and the intl res agents at UA are among the best) said they may not release any seats.
I think the problem is that the new NZ bus product is in high demand, it's high season and NZ has no history of how many revenue seats they will sell so they are being conservative until they can figure out whether/how many seats to release. In addition, I suspect they will make award seats available to NZ elite members before making them available to other *A members.
So as I said above, not to rain on the parade, but things look a little slim right now. It may be as time passes and NZ gets a better fix on sales, they will release seats. But don't forget that folks like me are calling every day, so if seats open up they will disappear fairly quickly I would bet.
BTW UA agents can look up availability directly, which helps a bit. I ended up booking XC seats via SYD to CHC as a backup and will pay the change fee if NZ seats open up. I am curious about the new business seats on NZ. They sound great, just like the VS business seats, but not sure of how they'll be scattered about the cabin.
I'm facing almost the same predicament as you on a trip I would like to take to New Zealand and Australia this upcoming December, January, or February: holding onto UA XC seats, but praying for a gift from NZ.
Good analysis, by the way.
Here's hoping that some NZ business class inventory is eventually released. I just hope it doesn't come too late for me after I have already committed to my hotels and intra-Australia flights.
PM me if you ever hit the jackpot. After you grab seats from yourself, of course.