Air New Zealand Air Points - Gold / Gold Elite Recognition Upgrades (Waste of Time)

I have finally had enough of AIR NZ and this One Up Programme.

Have been on 4 x Long haul flights in the last 6 weeks (AKL- LAX - AKL) and (AKL-PVG-AKL) . Have tried using my free recognition upgrades but they have never worked. To top it off I spoke to a passenger in BP and they told me they had upgraded from PE to BP for AP$150 (They were silver) . Yet a Gold Elite misses out.

Seems One UP is the preferred choice these days over the real frequent flyers.

Well Air NZ it is time for a divorce between you and me. I have already been in talks with Air China regarding Tier matching. I have always been upgraded on Air China simply for being Star Alliance Gold. There First Class service is surprising good except for the warm beer. A quiet word to the crew soon fixed this problem.

To top it off I spoke to a passenger in BP and they told me they had upgraded from PE to BP for AP$150 (They were silver) . Yet a Gold Elite misses out.

Was this the exact same flight you missed out on, or was this on another flight where you happened to be in business class? If it's the former, this definitely shouldn't be happening and you should kick up a fuss about it. If it's the latter, I guess that particular flight just happened to be a light load.

In any case, 150 APD for an upgrade to long haul Business is just ridiculous. How they are going to make more money is really beyond me! To top it off they are losing more and more loyal customer at the same time.

the impression I am getting is airlines think of $$$ and they forgot the larger picture.......

I have yet to use this year's recognition upgrades, and have tended to use Expertflyer to help select flights in advance.

My question to the original op would be (on top of the one already asked), how long before your flights did you request recognition upgrades?

The impression has been that recognition upgrades have some priority over OneUps, and certainly inventory "R" class should be available for GEs.

Whereas before OneUp, it was a matter of confirming GE into "R" until that inventory is used, and then allocating the rest near checkin in the usual priority of GE/G/S (although GE standbys with $AP would be ahead of Gold recognition upgrades). Now it would seem while "R" has priority, once that inventory is gone, where do recognition upgrades beyond that lie relative to OneUps?

It's reasonable to assume that at the OneUp "distribution", recognition upgrades should get allocated first then OneUp bids. It is unclear whether that is the case now (and doubt whether Air NZ will be transparent about this).

Try using the recog upgrades to go from seat to Deluxe, at least a chance of something.
This is what I was told by NZ when I asked if it was possible to use a recog upgrade to go from seat only to works deluxe:

"In answer to your question, yes, it is certainly possible to upgrade your fare to Works Deluxe from a Seat Only fare when travelling on an aircraft which does not have a Business Class cabin. This upgrade will be confirmed at the time of request subject to availability.
This type of upgrade can only be done using a Recognition Upgrade and must be requested through our Reservations Centre as there is no ability to do so online. You can contact a team member on 0800 737 000."

and also:

"In answer to your question, the answer is yes, subject to availability but as the upgrade request is a Product one, to Works deluxe it will be confirmed instantly.
This is not promoted online, the request needs to be made through Airpoints on 0800 737 000. Please entry your Gold number for priority servicing and the fee is waived as members are unable to make the request online"

See if that helps

Using a recognition upgrade to go from Seat to Works Deluxe should only be an absolute last resort, in my opinion. The value of going from Seat to Works Deluxe is very minimal compared to using the recognition upgrade to Premium Economy or Business on a long haul, or even Trans-Tasman flight.

Still if it's your only option and it's going to expire, then I guess it would be worth it.

Try using the recog upgrades to go from seat to Deluxe, at least a chance of something.


Sounds like a waste.

IMO it's simply getting harder to get an upgrade in this post OneUp world.

Inventory which previously would have been made available for recognition upgrades is now split (using an unknown formula) with OneUp. This reduced inventory for recognition upgrades, is exacerbating the problem thanks to increased loadings on flights and - perhaps - even more high status members requesting such upgrades thanks to the relative ease one can gain Gold or Gold Elite status now.

My personal experience at requesting upgrades has been dismal. I have also been met with a lot of contradictory information coming from staff.

I have never had a Complimentary or Recognition Upgrade go through, even TT. I will admit that Mrs Blacklcoud always used hers but they were on TT 4/4.
Now I could not care less as I no longer fly NZ on any route that it matters. eg non-domestic.;)

Sounds like a waste.

Agree a total waste but sounds like people having problems getting to use them.
Only use them if nothing else available and they will be lost if you don't. While be best if you put in to try and use them before they expire appears from those few people still here that if your Gold expires and you have put in for an upgrade and you only silver when you to fly, you have very little chance of getting the upgrade, at least as a last resort use for seat to WD before they expire as confirmed on the spot, so does offer certainty.

I would go so far as to suggest you set the whole booking up and just before you hit pay, call the number to make sure WD available, and while still on the line pay and get confirmation in one hit.

I have never had a Complimentary or Recognition Upgrade go through, even TT. I will admit that Mrs Blacklcoud always used hers but they were on TT 4/4.
Now I could not care less as I no longer fly NZ on any route that it matters. eg non-domestic.;)

My average success rate was around 80% on long-haul (predominantly to/from LAX SFO and YVR) until very recently. Unfortunately they'll most likely expire unless I use them on TT flights.

My summary of the situation is this:

Gold RUs are now useless unless:

a) You are on a PNR with one (1 only) Gold Elite, or
b) You use them for an upgrade across the Tasman, or on a very quiet Shanghai flight.

Gold Elite RUs remain useful, but in very limited circumstances, namely:
a) No more than 2 pax on the PNR long-haul (only 2R seats are loaded per flight).
b) You book as far as possible in advance, preferably 355 days.

Of course it's a downgrade on the old situation. But it's better than nothing.

My summary of the situation is this:

Gold RUs are now useless unless:

a) You are on a PNR with one (1 only) Gold Elite, or
b) You use them for an upgrade across the Tasman, or on a very quiet Shanghai flight.


Interestingly on a quiet Shanghai flight there are heaps of "I" booking class which are available to any of the Star Alliance programs to redeem. Loads of my Chinese friends are happily redeeming Star Awards using other Star programs. The irony is NZ's most loyal flyers have no chance.

I doubt the folks at Plusgrade have taken these scenarios into account and NZ management has naively believed they can make more money with OneUp.

I've used my recognition upgrades post-one up for AKL-LAX and SFO-AKL. I've also had gold elite standby upgrades confirm on a number of TT flights. I use expert flyer to pick days. Over last 10 years I have 100% desired flights with recognition and about 75% with standby. I understand it's harder post-one up - but for GE its not to bad, provided you have a degree of flexibility with flights/dates - if you don't I can see how it is worse.

I used a Gold RU AKL-LAX a few weeks back (post One Up) on a flight I booked six hours before departure ... and got the upgrade (PE to BP). :)

Not sure what happened after that but they credited the RU back to my account and it's still there. It'll disappear in a couple of days as I'm GE from 1 September.

First post.... I'm scared :). Different experience for me using Recognition Upgrades. I've been through the heady period of moving up through the tiers this year, picking up RUs and had all but one of four upgrades clear (2 at gate) from PE to BP. Each time I've requested more than a week in advance - all have been long haul to LAX, YVR or LHR. So far, it's been a pretty good experience.

What seems crazy is I can pick up 5 upgrades in a year as I move through the levels, but next year if I stay GE, I'll only get 2 for my loyalty. Looks like I need to get myself a new identity to start from the bottom again :)

Welcome to FlyerTalk GeorgieNZ.

As posted by DCF, they have cut the default R class in half from before.

As a GE you can still pick your flight to upgrade into before booking but they are now twice as hard to find.

I have two RU's to use - they'll be done this year. With a banked GE year I have two more next year - I plan on using those two as well. After that I'll have two more, but as a Gold I can't see myself using them ... that will be the end of my NZ dalliance ...

In the mean time, not one more http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/themes/airnz002/images/apd_symbol_blk.gif do I intend to earn ... the few AirNZ segments I plan to book will be credited to Velocity.

I think everyone is being a bit negative- Recognition / stanby upgrades do go through it all completely depends on loading.

My flight to LA last month had around 6 empty seats in PE, I had the seat next to me free. Even in business there was one seat free. On the next leg to LHR there was also a free seat in Business.

On the way back home my oneup upgrade to PE on the LHR to HKG leg was denied, it was completely full. My silver recognition upgrade to PE for HKG to AKL went through, there were still around 11 seats spare in PE, only 4-5 were allocated at the airport upgrades leaving about 6 spare.

Therefore, even on the "busy" routes, a Jade member who applied for standby upgrades (before they were wiped) would have been successful 3 out of 4 times on my flights.

So far of the recognition upgrades I've had available (1 silver, 2 gold, 2 gold elite) plus the standby upgrades (1 single, 1 double class upgrade) I've had every single one given on the flight I requested.

I even got my gold ones allocated early by about a month, although so far I've not been able to do the same for my next GE upgrades.

So far, only two of the flights where I was upgraded (PE cabin) was the cabin full, the rest, both BP and PE have had empty seats.

I have yet to use this year's recognition upgrades, and have tended to use Expertflyer to help select flights in advance.

My question to the original op would be (on top of the one already asked), how long before your flights did you request recognition upgrades?

The impression has been that recognition upgrades have some priority over OneUps, and certainly inventory "R" class should be available for GEs.

Whereas before OneUp, it was a matter of confirming GE into "R" until that inventory is used, and then allocating the rest near checkin in the usual priority of GE/G/S (although GE standbys with $AP would be ahead of Gold recognition upgrades). Now it would seem while "R" has priority, once that inventory is gone, where do recognition upgrades beyond that lie relative to OneUps?

It's reasonable to assume that at the OneUp "distribution", recognition upgrades should get allocated first then OneUp bids. It is unclear whether that is the case now (and doubt whether Air NZ will be transparent about this).
I would certainly hope recognition upgrades have priority over one up . If my recognition two upgrades are declined they are lost ...so a whole tier of gold benefit lost just so a one-up airpoints can be collected from another passenger ..what a "benefit" !

I have just had the same thing happen. Used 2 on the flight to Bali and have had them credited back to me with the original expiry date? Anyone else have this?

Might be worth deleting that post. ;)

It's ok. Burned one on tomorrows AKL-BNE on the 744!
:o

I just rang, about 2.5 days before flight (AKL-YVR on 772).

Told my request to use two recognition upgrades at once had not cleared. But said he would take a look and then he confirmed the upgrade for me.

So I am pleased - that is now 3 from 3 times over I have had these upgrades clear for (discount) economy to Business (2x AKL-YVR and 1x AKL-SFO).

Am happy about that.

I just rang, about 2.5 days before flight (AKL-YVR on 772).

Told my request to use two recognition upgrades at once had not cleared. But said he would take a look and then he confirmed the upgrade for me.

So I am pleased - that is now 3 from 3 times over I have had these upgrades clear for (discount) economy to Business (2x AKL-YVR and 1x AKL-SFO).

Am happy about that.

I am a great believer in chasing up a clearance.. obviously when R was showing on ef you could tell the agent the bucket was available now you just gotta ask

I am a great believer in chasing up a clearance.. obviously when R was showing on ef you could tell the agent the bucket was available now you just gotta ask

i do not have EF, but agree you got to ask!

Going GE in the next couple of weeks, so figured I should burn my two Gold recog upgrades, did NZ101 and NZ108; asked for upgraded with less than 24 hours notice of first flight. Both cleared ok, although I had to chase the NZ108 at the counter in Syd.