Air New Zealand Air Points - Mileage Plus or Airpoints?

I will be relocating to NZ in mid-year for work. I am currently United 1K. I am happy with Mileage Plus but wonder if there are any reasons why I should consider a jump to NZ Airpoints?

For background, once in NZ I expect to keep flying 50-75,000 miles per year, mostly in international economy to Asia, Oz and maybe 1 or 2 trips a year to North America/Europe.

From what I can see, Air NZ only offers class of service miles bonuses, not bonuses on the basis of status like UA. (Mind you, it will be harder to cash in on status bonuses without direct flights in/out of NZ). If I stay with UA I would also get Koru Club access as a *G. However, are there any big pluses or unpublished perks with NZ that should make me think about a change? Anyone else made this jump?

Thanks for any help. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Hi GoldenKiwi

If you think you'll be flying AirNZ for most of your trips, and your economy tickets would be booked in H class or above, then I'd definately recommend switching to Airpoints. The biggest benefit over just being a *G is that you'll be able to upgrade your flights using points or the 2 free upgrade certs you're given per year (probably doesn't sound too generous compared to UA SWUs, but then not much is). Except for the UK promo, only airpoints members can upgrade on AirNZ flights, and airpoints gold and gold elites now seem few and far between, so status does mean something. If your travel patterns get you up to gold elite (the NZ equivalent of 1K) then a whole range of published and unpublished benefits come in. If you won't be flying AirNZ too much then there's not too much of a difference between being airpoints gold or *G, so stick with UA. Hope this helps.

Cheers, Zac

On the whole, UA MP is a much better programme than NZ AP. The great advantage of AirPoints is, as Zac pointed out, that you'll be able to upgrade. Having said that, if you're moving to NZ you can get a credit card that earns you AirPoints you can use for upgrades, while crediting your flights to another programme.

The 2 main questions are:
1) What do you like to use your points for? If upgrades, then consider AirPoints. If for free flights, then AirPoints is crazily expensive compared to Mileage Plus or Aeroplan - an extreme example would be Australia to Tahiti business class on NZ: using Airpoints this would cost 150K (or 180K from Perth), compared to 40K on Mileage Plus or 35K on Aeroplan.

2) What sort of tickets do you fly on? If discounted economy, then earning status on NZ is very VERY hard work. If premium economy or above, then status is easy, but still only comparable to Aeroplan.

On the whole, I would have thought you were better sticking to Mileage Plus. I also find Aeroplan good, because their equivalent of status bonuses apply on *all* Star Alliance airlines rather than just the host carrier.

Hi mate

Stick to UA I say,

Don't forget the points on NZ expire within 3 years, UA they are fine as long as the account is active for a period,

Dave

Thanks a lot for the quick replies. Very helpful indeed.

One more thing, I looked on the Air NZ website but couldn't find the qualification requirements for Elite and Gold Elite. Can someone post the URL?

Cheers! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Brace yourself!

http://www.airnz.co.nz/airpoints/airpointsstatus/how_earn_status_credits.htm

Oops, forgot one important point to consider: the AirPoints cards (especially the elite levels) are vastly more stylish than UA's or AC's! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mad_atta:
Oops, forgot one important point to consider: the AirPoints cards (especially the elite levels) are vastly more stylish than UA's or AC's! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif</font>

That's not saying much. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif The biggest disappointment of my frequent flyer life was getting my pitiful white 1K card in the mail. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Talk about a let down.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mad_atta:
Brace yourself!

http://www.airnz.co.nz/airpoints/airpointsstatus/how_earn_status_credits.htm</font>

Urk! My brain hurts just looking at this.

Disappointing to see no miles or status points on cheap fares to Oz. I really like the fact UA haven't stopped you earning miles and status on discount tickets.

I think given my likely flying habits I'll probably will stick with MP, at least for the time being. Thanks for all the help with this. I am happy to know I'll be flying more with NZ. Always liked the service.