Air New Zealand Air Points - New AP earning for partner airlines from 29/10

Has anyone seen what the new earning rates will be effective 29/10. The latest Koru Review says the details are on the NZ website iut couldn't find anything.

Looks like nothing is got updated on their website including the London via Hong Kong bonus let alone partner offers. The current Budget offer isn't even Airpoints related. This is so pathetic. Someone should really get fired if you ask me.

Loyalty programs head John Whittaker moved on to another position many months earlier this year.

Has anybody seen any more concrete details of the new earning rates? Any big shocks?

Just sitting down to book things for Nov/Dec and wondering whether to keep crediting to airpoints, use some more oneworld or switch to another * scheme. Hard to know which path to choose when things could change a whole lot!

Might just let price rather than any loyalty drive me for a couple of months and see what happens.

The new earning details are online now. Looks like the changes only apply to routes from NZ to Asia and Europe. Air NZ does not want members to fly partner airlines on routes they fly themselves. Another airline first I believe.

Another airline first I believe.

Nothing new there. Back when TG flew trans-tasman the earning on TG was something like a half the earning on NZ, for NZ airpoints members (comparing the same paid class).

So does that mean flying to SIN would earn the regular points? I think not. NZ is ripping its members off who take advantage of being in the *A, they claim they have codeshares but you cannot access them eg internet and they are ridiculously overpriced, I asked a TA.
Airpoints is only good for those members who fly on NZ aircraft and pay the premium prices, also they are reasonably generous for domestic NZ flights that are point to point, but not for multiple flights in one day. I am glad that I have an alternate *A program for my long hauls, which NZ have a top product :-: , but use Airpoints for NZ domestic as ROP will only credit the actual miles no minimum miles guarantee.

I had a look today at the AU changes, and they aren't too bad. The decrease is only on routes that NZ flies on.

The exception being Europe to Asia. If you go Europe to BKK, NRT, SIN or any other place that NZ doesn't fly, you only pick up 95 Aussie Airbucks compared to 125 that you use to get. I guess on RTW - these legs will now go to another airline.

The rest of the changes are NZ to Asia, NZ to Europe (NZ Flight Numbers)

Australia to Asia stays at 150 Aussie Airbucks - so no devalue there.

Singapore to KL - first class still stays at 55 aussie Airbucks - the best value out there.

The drop from 125 down to 95 for Asia to Europe on Star alliance (business) does not look good. The AirNZ earnings is 300. Talk about 'encouraging' the use of AirNZ planes out of HongKong to London for us Australians in AirPoints.

I never understood why Australia to Asia earnt more than Asia to Europe. Now the difference is quite marked. The distance out of Australia is less and one still has to use a Star alliance plane.

The drop from 125 down to 95 for Asia to Europe on Star alliance (business) does not look good. The AirNZ earnings is 300.

The chart that I looked at
http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/airpoints/earning_airpoints_dollars/star_earn_accrual_au.htm

Has Asia to Europe at 95 for Non NZ and 155 for NZ flights. (This is Aussie Airbucks not NZ Airbucks).

If you did Asia to Middle East (145) then Middle East to Europe (145) you could earn 3 times the amount going direct. Then another 35 within Europe. Or 160 from Europe to Africa, and another 160 Africa to Asia. Distance doesn't seem to count.

It doesn't add up that AKL to LAX where the only Star player is Air NZ, that it hasn't changed from earning 225. So much for earning more when flying NZ on tickets with a star partner on it.

All Business of course.

Thanks Gotta Requalify

This is interesting. When you look at the following, you earn 300 for business, Asia to London.

http://www.airnz.com.au/airpoints/earning_airpoints_dollars/airnz_earn_accrual_au.htm

Perhaps the 155 is when you combine AirNZ with another Star carrier for internal Euro flights.

Be nice to see it clarified what the earnings really are!!

A question for all the Airpoints $ experts out there:

We booked and flew this itinerary with Air NZ (booked through a travel agent):

CHC-AKL-SFO/LAX-AKL-CHC, with the domestic portions in economy & the international portions in PE. This was ticketed and issued with one booking reference/PNR etc.

I separately booked some internal domestic USA flights (UA & US), on the airline's respective websites, which were credited to our NZ ff accounts. These were entirely separate itineraries, with different record locators/PNR's.

Would the mixed airline rate apply to all travel (even though separate itineraries), or would we earn the NZ portion at usual NZ rates, with the UA/US flights credited separately as per the partner chart?

The website doesn't make this clear, and uses several different terms that make it hard to pin down: "itinerary", "travel" and "journey".

Any ideas?
Cheers

Past experience posted by others is NZ will treat it all as one trip if the USA domestic flights are not too many days away from the flights to/from USA, thus mixed airline rates apply. This itin in total may well be lower earning than just the NZ flights - thus may be better off crediting your USA domestic flights to another FFP.

Past experience posted by others is NZ will treat it all as one trip if the USA domestic flights are not too many days away from the flights to/from USA, thus mixed airline rates apply. This itin in total may well be lower earning than just the NZ flights - thus may be better off crediting your USA domestic flights to another FFP.

You can call to explain that they are booked separately though. They will adjust straightaway. Works every time.

If you did Asia to Middle East (145) then Middle East to Europe (145) you could earn 3 times the amount going direct. Then another 35 within Europe. Or 160 from Europe to Africa, and another 160 Africa to Asia. Distance doesn't seem to count.

All Business of course.

Thought I just re-check on this. I will be going to Zurich early next year. I can earn 880 points if I fly *A business MEL-BKK-DXB-ZRH, return the same way. One can substitute SIN for BKK.
All I need to do is find a fare for this which is around the same cost as a direct MEL-BKK-ZRH return (earning only 490 points).
Won't maintain GE, but a trip like this once every year will maintain G status.
I guess I could also look at a RTW as a *A business price is fairly good.

Past experience posted by others is NZ will treat it all as one trip if the USA domestic flights are not too many days away from the flights to/from USA, thus mixed airline rates apply. This itin in total may well be lower earning than just the NZ flights - thus may be better off crediting your USA domestic flights to another FFP.

It has actually already been credited, and seemed strange, so thought I would get another opinion. This is what happened in our accounts:

27 Aug: CHC - AKL 26/08/07 NZ536 Economy +$10
28 Aug: AKL - SFO 26/08/07 NZ8 Premium Economy +$130
29 Aug: SFO - JFK 26/08/07 UA14 Economy +$25
03 Sep: Reversal NZ8 26/08/07 Premium Economy -$130
03 Sep: Travel NZ8 26/08/07 Premium Economy +$105
03 Sep: Air NZ Premium Economy Mixed Accrual Bonus +$25 (But didn't get this on return journey??)
03 Sep: JFK - SFO 01/09/07 UA893 Economy +$25
12 Sep: LAS - DFW 09/09/07 US395 Economy +$15
21 Sep: LAX - AKL 18/09/07 NZ1 Premium Economy +$105
24 Sep: AKL - CHC 20/09/07 NZ513 Economy +$10

So they haven't even treated each direction in the same way (hence my confusion). $130 outbound & $105 inbound. Sounds like all I have to do is call, like Xiaotung said, and it should be fixed...

In the future I may credit domestic flights to my United account instead to avoid the problem of mixed itinerary earning rates.

It has actually already been credited, and seemed strange, so thought I would get another opinion. This is what happened in our accounts:

27 Aug: CHC - AKL 26/08/07 NZ536 Economy +$10
28 Aug: AKL - SFO 26/08/07 NZ8 Premium Economy +$130
29 Aug: SFO - JFK 26/08/07 UA14 Economy +$25
03 Sep: Reversal NZ8 26/08/07 Premium Economy -$130
03 Sep: Travel NZ8 26/08/07 Premium Economy +$105
03 Sep: Air NZ Premium Economy Mixed Accrual Bonus +$25 (But didn't get this on return journey??)
03 Sep: JFK - SFO 01/09/07 UA893 Economy +$25
12 Sep: LAS - DFW 09/09/07 US395 Economy +$15
21 Sep: LAX - AKL 18/09/07 NZ1 Premium Economy +$105
24 Sep: AKL - CHC 20/09/07 NZ513 Economy +$10

So they haven't even treated each direction in the same way (hence my confusion). $130 outbound & $105 inbound. Sounds like all I have to do is call, like Xiaotung said, and it should be fixed...

In the future I may credit domestic flights to my United account instead to avoid the problem of mixed itinerary earning rates.
It looks like they did by the reversal $130 then they put in the mixed accrual bonus?:confused:
I too am totally confused on what NZ is doing let alone their rationale for crediting less on NZ flights just because their are some other *A flights.

It looks like they did by the reversal $130 then they put in the mixed accrual bonus?:confused:
I too am totally confused on what NZ is doing let alone their rationale for crediting less on NZ flights just because their are some other *A flights.

So they have decided mixed rate applies, but because you already have the higher airbucks credited for the outbound flight you get to keep the extra airbucks.

That does not seem a sensible policy to me, as not only getting the illwill from lower rate on return, but creating confusion. By being inconsistent they are implicitly inviting airpoints members to call them about the discrepancy, creating another opportunity for illwill.

Blackcloud - the rationale on the lower airbucks on mixed itineraries is to encourage higher fare NZ only tickets, ie it is tied with NZ's revenue. However by proactively joining up separate tickets it creates illwill - if you are flying somewhere NZ doesn't fly you have no choice by to have a mixed itinerary and NZ is penalising you for this.

Blackcloud - the rationale on the lower airbucks on mixed itineraries is to encourage higher fare NZ only tickets, ie it is tied with NZ's revenue. However by proactively joining up separate tickets it creates illwill - if you are flying somewhere NZ doesn't fly you have no choice by to have a mixed itinerary and NZ is penalising you for this.I agree that it's stupid.

I received an invitation to another NZ survey yesterday, which mostly focused on cabin configuration and inflight service, rating each component on a 1-10 scale of importance, as well as other carrier reputations etc.

One of the free feedback fields at the end resulted in me (once again) stating that I really dislike this rule, amongst others around Airbuck earning.

So they have decided mixed rate applies, but because you already have the higher airbucks credited for the outbound flight you get to keep the extra airbucks.

That does not seem a sensible policy to me, as not only getting the illwill from lower rate on return, but creating confusion. By being inconsistent they are implicitly inviting airpoints members to call them about the discrepancy, creating another opportunity for illwill.

Blackcloud - the rationale on the lower airbucks on mixed itineraries is to encourage higher fare NZ only tickets, ie it is tied with NZ's revenue. However by proactively joining up separate tickets it creates illwill - if you are flying somewhere NZ doesn't fly you have no choice by to have a mixed itinerary and NZ is penalising you for this.
Yes it is causing illwill and is one of the reason I hardly credit to Airpoints.
What also gets me is the NZ codeshares, where NZ is getting some revenue, also are effected. All the announcements about how the codeshares are to be beneficial to Airpoints members were such a load of "insert profanity".
Enough of the rant, I do like how you can get any seat on an NZ operated flight, it just can cost you a fortune but at least you can get a seat if you want.

How to qualify for the mixed acrual bonus? I have not seen promotion like that.

An update:

I spoke to the airpoints people today and the woman I spoke to referred it on to the "accrual people". She said that it appears the person who did the reversal/re-accrual attached the US/UA flights to the NZ booking reference. She also said that "different booking references/PNR's should definitely mean it is treated separately for accrual purposes". What worried me was her statement "unless there is some sort of technicality that means that it can't be credited". My biggest concern is that they will remove the $25 mixed-airline accrual already received and we will end up with fewer airpoints than before I rang...

(I did point point out that had I known they would choose to treat separate flight itineraries in this way I would never have credited the other points to my NZ account, which the woman wholeheartedly agreed with. Whether this makes any difference to their assessment or not I don't know).

I should have a reply either today or Monday apparently so will let you the outcome.

Total insanity to credit this way when NZ don't even fly domestically in the USA (I can understand on their own routes eg New Zealand to London/Asia etc, but if they don't fly it what is the rationale?)

Total insanity to credit this way when NZ don't even fly domestically in the USA (I can understand on their own routes eg New Zealand to London/Asia etc, but if they don't fly it what is the rationale?)I find the whole approach ridiculous. If they even applied your suggestion, flying AKL-SIN on SQ would result in the lower earning rate because it's "Asia on another carrier", even though NZ don't serve SIN any more with their own metal. If you even bought the NZ fare AKL-HKG-SIN until recently you would have been penalised.

I would rather that they took, e.g. the QF or UA approach and award "bonus miles" on NZ flights/codes and kept all other bookings at the current NZ earning rate. That provides an incentive to fly NZ codes where you can, but you're not penalised for being so outrageous as travelling to somewhere NZ don't fly!

One last update:

Went online this morning and all the PE transactions have been reversed, and re-posted at the $130 rate (in all 3 of our accounts).

So it's all fixed, kudos to NZ for doing it so quickly (even though it was the result of a crazy - inconsistent - policy in the first place)!

I have to write to Customer Support regarding a problem on our flight, so will draw their attention to the airpoints policy. One can live in hope that enough complaints may force them to change the policy...

I wouldn't hold your breath. I've written a few times over this (and other meanness in the airbucks earning) and haven't even had the courtesy of a reply.

I know this infuriates me as well. I'm about to undertake a *A trip to an Asian city which would be a longer journey and not connecting to a *A airline from Hong Kong if I was to go on NZ.

I have no problem with NZ offering less airpoints on LAX-LHR, HKG-LHR or even whole trip AKL-LON compared to the *A or non *A partner alternatives (being UA, VS, SQ, TG basically).

However, why I should I get shockingly low earnings flying *A from London to east coast USA, Canada, Africa and Asia besides HKG? If I am flying to India, Korea or Japan there is no way in hell I'm going to fly NZ to HKG and hub from there, unless I want to add hours to by trip, likewise flying to Denver or Vancouver.

Of course I could simply join another *A FF scheme, or use Oneworld airlines which by and large don't discriminate.

How about this? Aussie members earn higher partner rates to Asia from Australia than NZ members from NZ. Longer distance and more expensive fares end up with fewer airbucks. So much for the fare based system.