Air New Zealand Air Points - NZ1 5th Oct *A Upgrade Voucher

I am booked in H class for NZ1 on the 5th of October, and C class is now waitlisted, my question what is my chance of an Upgrade now? 0? Should I burn my upgrades on my up and coming LHR-JFK or hold on to them in case? Ideas, also I see that if I make a dummy booking for the flight that has the longer lay over that thye still have seats, worth doing that? Any ideas or input would be great!

tht

If NZ still has plenty of seats then I guess there is a good chance of upgrade. Note if going all the way between AKL & LHR you need 2 upgrades (one way) - ie one per leg.

Your post isn't very clear but I presume this is the LAX - AKL NZ1 sector as LHR - LAX still has plenty of J class.

I don't see any point in shifting to NZ5 on the same day as it only has 1 seat in J.

Not sure about the conditions of the H fare but if you change to departure a day later there seems to be plenty of J class seating. It might be worth it, especially as the flight is an overnight 12h45.

Sorry to confuse, to make it clear, I am on The flight from LHR-LAX-AKL on the 5th booked in Y (H Class) I have 2 vouchers, but looking last night I belived one or both of the secotors was overbooked in C (J), can anyone see how many seats are open? Also if one secor is open and the other one overbooked will they upgrade me for just one, I am booked on the "Direct" flight. So my options as I see them are:

1. Stick with my AIR NZ flight and hope for avalability.
2. Move it a day or 2 to find better avalability (not a good option, as I have plans on arival)
3. Cash in my ticket with a loss of GBP125, I paid GBP860 (because I needed H class) and then fly with Singapor Airlines in Y (a very good ride) on the 5th and arrive in AKL just 5 hours later. The ticket I have found is only around GBP690, so even after the GBP125 I will get some money back (My upgrade voucher is no good for this flight)

Going with 3 would also allow me to try and upgrade with my vouchers on my trip to NY on the 1st of October and the return.

Any ideas? I don't relish being on a plane for 24 Hours with no IFE, but then I have never flow Air NZ before either and I get more bagage alowance.

Ideas or advice please (I can't wait to get to NZ, it will be amazing and I get to stay a year this time!)

tht

Well the LHR - LAX leg looks quite empty in J on the 5th, but the LAX - AKL sector looks full in J.

If you move to the 6th of October, there looks to be plenty of seats on the LHR - LAX and LAX- AKL sectors, the question is, is it worth 125 pounds to you [Especially as you will lose an upgrade to NYC] (Keeping in mind the LAX - AKL sector is 12h45 overnight) {and having to change plans}.

With your *G or *S card you can pre-reserve seats in the first few rows of Coach [IE Rows 23 - 29 which is 3 -/-3 apart from 27 - 29 which is 3-4-3. 27 also has the bassinet position.

According to ntddevsys's post above, it is the LAX-AKL leg that is currently full.

Pretty sure you can get just one leg upgraded independent of the other leg. You could possibly switch the LAX-AKL leg to NZ5 which leaves a couple of hours later, but according to ntddevsys that is also fairly full in J.

In any event there is plenty of time for something to open up. I have been on waitlist for upgrade on apparently full flight before and manage to clear at check-in, but of course that is no guarantee.

I wouldnt switch to SQ for the long trip over. While the IFE is great you have 2 overnight flights going that way anyway, and the pitch is far worse than NZ's generous 34" throughout econ. Food and drink probably fairly close - maybe slight edge to NZ. Personally I dont think the IFE is worth the tight seat in SQ Y.

ntddevsys - I have a seat in row 24 assigned, and plan to check in early to secure row 23, do they have overhead TV's in these rows since you cant see the big screen? If I can get the LHR-LAX leg in C that would be ok, this is when I plan to eat drink and watch movies, and crashing on the LAX-AKL leg wont be so bad with the better pitch.

Kiwi Flyer - I hope somthing will open up, last week there were alot of open seats 10+ but you never know.

Its a hard one given that I paid up for an H fare to get the upgrade, but then that is teh point of teh A* promo I guess.

I need to think about it all now, maybe I should burn one voucher LHR-JFK or on the return, but then I will be gutted if tehy had space on the NZ flight as it is much longer. And in any case the voucher is still good through till 28 feb 2005 - but no flight plans as of yet.

In anycase the important thing is that I get to NZ, C class would be nice but it sonly one day out of 365!

tht

IIRC there are mointors mounted above exit rows.

Oh and in New Zealand on Weekdays we have this great television program on TV2 at 7pm - Its called Shortland Street.

Inventory is currently showing as C1 for LAX - AKL NZ1 Oct5

if you have to travel in Y then NZ is the way to do it, and with the chance of an upgrade (zero on SQS) its a no brainer.

Jon