Air New Zealand Air Points - What are the chances?

Hi all,

I have been a long time watcher of this forum and have always found the threads interesting and informing. Just now I thought it's about time that I registered and made full use of this forum.

I'm flying to the USA with NZ later in the month. The NZ flight details are as follows:

24 JUN NZ8 AKL-SFO BOOKING CLASS: Q
13 JUL NZ1 LAX-AKL BOOKING CLASS: B


This is a personal trip to visit some friends, so didn't feel like paying $7k+ for J class on the international legs. However I recently injured my neck when playing badminton and now I can barely turn my head. Therefore thought I'd better get an upgrade to J class for some more comfort. It is another $5.5k to reissue these Y tickets in J class.

I don't have any status with NZ, just Jade Airpoints, but have Platinum with QF. Have lodged a standby upgrade to J for NZ8 last week and have not heard back yet. It would be really appreciated if I could have the following questions answered. :)

What are the chances of the upgrade clearing?
When is it likely to clear?
Would they be able to bend the rules a bit to clear the upgrade due to my injury?
And should I buy more airpoints now to request the upgrade to J for NZ1? Or should I wait and see if the first upgrade clears first, and if not, use the airpoints from there for this upgrade?


The flights are showing as follows on Expertflyer.
NZ8 AKL-SFO C4 D4 Z4 J4 U0 E0 O0 A0 Y4 B0 M0 H0 Q0 V0 W0 T0 L0 S0 G0 X0 K0 P0
NZ1 LAX-AKL C4 D3 Z0 J0 U0 E0 O0 A0 Y0 B0 M0 H0 Q0 V0 W0 T0 L0 S0 G0 X0 K0 P0

Cheers!
Alex

1. With no status and to the US, slim to none. SFO would have the better odds of the two legs
2. At check-in or the gate if you manage to get that far
3. No
4. I'd say cancel this request and go for a confirmed upgrade if your fare class allows it. If not, just hope you get lucky I guess.

I'm sorry, but I think that your chances are miniscule, to be honest.

Your trip coincides totally with the school holidays, and according to the ExpertFlyer numbers you have provided each flight is completely sold out in Economy and Premium Economy, although not in Business Class. To see how much business class inventory remains, try clicking on the seat map function on ExpertFlyer, and just tot up the blank seats.

You don't have NZ status, so you are right at the back of the queue for a Standby Upgrade until OneUp is implemented, which is unfortunate for you as you could simply have outbid everyone else. Having said that, your return flight is B class and would have been eligible for a Confirmed Upgrade instantly if you have enough Airpoints, if only there was Z inventory - but there isn't.

Realistically, you're otherwise going to be seated right at the back.

One last suggestion though. You currently have a Q out B back ticket, and there is Z and J inventory on your outward flight. Thee cost of buying up from Q to J on the outward flight should only be

$3700 (half J class return) - $1000 (half Q class return) = $2700

On the way back, the cost of buying up from B to D class would be:

$4500 (half D class return) - $1350 (half B class return) = $4150.

Lastly, there is currently a shortlife J class return fare of $6884. You could use your existing $2350 fare towards that, fly in Business on your existing flight up, and you'd have to reschedule your return for the next LAX or SFO flight with actual J inventory. You'd only have to pony up around $4500 extra for this.

If it was me, and school holidays, I'd just dose up on NSAIDs before I flew!

Failing that, buy up your outward sector from Q to J class, which will cost you $2700.

Thanks for the reply guys, much appreciated.

The ticket inventory is changing quite a lot at the moment for these flights. I think I will get a confirmed upgrade if Z seats come up for the LAX-AKL leg. Still thinking about whether I should buy up to a class that will enable a confirmed upgrade for the SFO leg.

Does anyone know that when standby upgrades are cleared in advance, what class of seats they are cleared to? Are they cleared to Z, R or I? Cheers.

R class.

I'm somewhat in the same boat. I put in for a standby Airpoints upgrade to PE, and being Jade I'm not holding my breath that I'll actually get upgraded. I've been on Expert Flyer checking on the number of seats in both PE and Biz. Does anyone know the average number of passengers in PE that get upgraded to Biz? There is only 4 seats open in PE but 11 in Biz.

Also, there are a TON of open Economy seats in the front cabin (including a lot of Skycouches). Will I be able to move up to that cabin T-24 or even sooner? Do they sell Skycouches at way discounted rates at Check-in if available? And will they sell 'Twin Seat' into this cabin? I will for sure buy a Skycouch if it isn't ridiculous in price, or 'Twin Seat' if my upgrade into PE doesn't happen.


Flight is the 24th on the 777-300ER!