Air New Zealand Air Points - Upgrade chances on AKL->SFO/AKL->LAX ?

I wonder if the NZ luminaries on this board can help me decide which routing to fly out of AKL?

I'm in the final stages of putting together a CRWSTAR2 ticket, and need to get from AKL to US west coast.

My first thought was the AKL->SFO flight, but the 3/weekly frequency has me a little bothered. AKL->LAX is my other option, less favoured, partly due to previous bad experiences entering the US via LAX. I'm intending to use the UKStatus Star Alliance wide upgrade vouchers to upgrade myself and partner C->F. These are STANDBY upgrade vouchers!

My questions:

Which route do you think I have more chance of upgrading on?

Does the fact that the LAX flight carries on to LHR mean the paid loads are higher in F? Will this mean my upgrade is more iffy?

The vouchers (not surprisingly) state that 2 vouchers are required to upgrade NZ1/2 right through to LHR. Do you reckon I may get stung for two vouchers to do just AKL-LAX?

Anyone else actually tried this? Successfully??

Cheers,

Ken.

"The avalanche has already begun, it is pointless for the pebbles to vote" - Kosh Naranek, B5.

Hi there,

Not sure about UG chances on the LAX vs SFO flights but can confirm that the AKL-LAX/SFO part only costs one UG voucher, not two (as AKL-LHR would).

Have a great RWT!

[QUOTE=KenF]
Does the fact that the LAX flight carries on to LHR mean the paid loads are higher in F? Will this mean my upgrade is more iffy?QUOTE]

Hi Ken

I flew AKL-LAX-LHR in July and had no trouble upgrading C-F. The flight from AKL-LAX had about 8 people in F (out of 12 seats), while the flight from LAX - LHR had about 10. Oddly, F was fuller on the return flights - LHR-LAX had 9 but NZ5 LAX-AKL was full and I was told NZ1 was full that night too (I had tried to check in for it as I was at LAX early).

I had booked an upgrade from AKL-LAX only, but was asked about upgrading LAX-LHR while at AKL check in. One point of note: AKL check in could confirm the LAX-LHR upgrade but said I couldn't wait until LAX before deciding whether I wanted to burn the points as there is some sort of 4 hour cut off before the flight.

As Fliar says, you will only use one upgrade per person per sector.