Air New Zealand Air Points - Air NZ terminates NAN-LAX

Hi all,

Air NZ just announced that from 26 April 2008 it will cease flying NAN-LAX. The capacity will be shifted to two other, more high yielding routes, which are mentioned but I'll leave until the media announces later. :td:

This seems rather strange to me, given it's a unique point of difference Air NZ offers that surely wins a lot of RTW and other multiple-stop business. :(

NZ have not as yet announced the two other routes.

Note well the section on Airpoints and Lounges.

Effective for travel from 28 April 2008, Air New Zealand will make the following changes to its B767-300 Pacific routes:
o Suspend operation between NAN & LAX and vice versa (NZ18 & NZ21)
o Renumber and retime NZ18 AKL – NAN (Mon, Wed, Fri)
o Renumber and retime NZ21 NAN – AKL (Wed, Fri, Sun)
Air Pacific is introducing 2 additional B747 services to the route; Wednesdays effective 30 April, and Mondays effective 02 June.
Air New Zealand’s code share agreement with Air Pacific on the NAN – LAX route will extend onto the following services that Air Pacific are adding to their existing 4-times weekly B747-400 schedule:
o Effective 30 April, NZ4010 (FJ810) operates NAN – LAX on Wednesdays
o Effective 30 April, NZ4011 (FJ811) operates LAX – NAN on Wednesdays
o Effective 02 June, NZ4010 (FJ810) operates NAN – LAX on Mondays
o Effective 02 June, NZ4011 (FJ811) operates LAX – NAN on Mondays

The result of this change is:

o 10% additional capacity on the route as two additional weekly B747 services replace three weekly B767 services. This increases Air Pacific’s B747 service to daily except Mondays and Fridays from the 30th April, and daily except Fridays from the 2nd June.
o Air New Zealand will deploy the B767 to other routes (announcement shortly). Air New Zealand will code share on all 12 of Air Pacific’s weekly NAN – LAX - NAN services with flight numbers NZ4010 and NZ4011.

This will mean that Air New Zealand will code share on Air Pacific’s six weekly B747 services between NAN and LAX, i.e. daily except Friday.

The last services to operate will be NZ18 on 25 April NAN – LAX, and NZ21 on 25 April LAX – NAN (arrives 27 April)

Rebooking Process

Customers affected by the schedule changes will be automatically rebooked through the schedule change process over the next 7-days .....

NAN - LAX & LAX - NAN

Reaccommodation via AKL. [Reaccommodation onto NZ4010 & NZ4011 direct service on Monday's from 02 June & Wednesday's from 30 April]

• Exception to the above table is that “ticketed other airline loyalty redemption bookings” on days where FJ does not operate (i.e. Mondays 28Apr – 26May, and Fridays from 02May) will be re-accommodated onto direct services the day before or the day after. “Un-ticketed other airline loyalty redemption bookings” will not be reaccommodated.
• Passengers in the “Ticketed” category above must have been ticketed prior to 24 January 2008.
• Where a passenger’s schedule change/reaccommodation does not meet their requirements (e.g. changed to travel NAN - AKL – LAX on a Friday and would prefer to travel NAN – LAX direct on a Thursday or Saturday), they can be rebooked from availability in the class originally booked. Another example is that LON – NAN traffic may prefer to reroute via AKL on NZ38 and NZ39 on Fridays.
• If the appropriate booking class is not available, Agents should contact the Air New Zealand Agency Support desk for consideration/assistance.
• There is no Premium Economy class on our mid-Pacific 767 routes so no
reaccommodation options are necessary.
• Industry and staff travel bookings between NAN and LAX in R and N class will not be re-accommodated. Please reconsider travel options and contact the operating carrier.
• This document is applicable to travel on 086 paper. Where travel is ticketed on other airline paper, please contact the ticketing carrier for instruction.

Customers who have booked and ticketed prior to announcement on 24th January:
Re-ticketing
• Travel documents will need to be revalidated or re-issued.
• PNRs and documents must be endorsed “Invol Reroute Due NZ PI SC”

Special Service Requests
Please ensure special service requests are reinstated as they do drop out of the system when flight segments are altered.

Connecting flights on Air New Zealand
Customers who hold connecting flights on Air New Zealand will be allowed to change those flights at no cost (i.e. fare difference and Air New Zealand service fees don’t apply) if the schedule change causes a misconnection.
• This applies to connecting travel both on the same ticket, and also on separate tickets regardless of fare-type.
• Travel documents will need to be revalidated/re-issued
• PNRs and documents must be endorsed “Invol reroute due NZ PI SC”

Connecting flights on another airline
Customers who hold connecting flights with another airline will be allowed to change those flights as part of the schedule change process under the following circumstances only:
• Where the schedule change causes misconnection and….
• Where the other airline travel forms part of a through fare on the same 086 ticket as the Air New Zealand travel.

The travel documents will need to be revalidated/re-issued. PNR’s and documents must be endorsed “Invol Reroute Due NZ PI SC”
Note: Where connecting travel is separate from and not part of a through journey, i.e. a separate fare on separate tickets, the normal terms and conditions of that fare apply and change of that travel is not authorised by this policy.

Baggage allowances
• Standard operating carrier baggage allowances apply.
• Extra allowances for Premium Airpoints members are not applicable on FJ operated flights.

Refunds
Customers may be offered a full refund of the Air New Zealand airfare, taxes, levies regardless of the fare-type purchased where no suitable alternative to their originally booked travel is available. Please endorse refund “Refunded due NZ PI SC”.
• This option is only available until Friday the 29th February 2008.

Customers who have booked but have not ticketed prior to announcement on the 24th January:

Customers who have confirmed travel on NZ18 and NZ21 but have not yet committedwith payment will need to review their travel using the options available in the new schedule and the fares appropriate to that travel with no obligation or liability to Air New Zealand. Travel between NAN and LAX via AKL is however permitted for existing bookings, where the originally confirmed direct service was on a day that is not served by a direct flight.

Airpoints & Lounges
Airpoints redemption
• Existing Airpoints redemption reservations booked with Air New Zealand will be treated in the same manner as revenue bookings outlined in the table above, i.e. onto NZ operated or NZ code flights.
• Where passengers are re-accommodated from an NZ operated service to an FJ operated service, any unconfirmed Airpoints upgrade requests will not be carried over. Complimentary upgrade certificates and Airpoints Dollars will in these
circumstances be recredited to the member’s account.
• Ticketed airline partner redemption bookings will be re-accommodated onto direct services only. This may involve a day of travel change.
• Un-ticketed airline partner redemption bookings will not be re-accommodated. Airline partner passengers will need to contact their member airline to make new reservations from the new schedule.
• New redemption bookings made on/after the 24th January will not be permitted on NZ code flights.

Airpoints accrual
• Airpoints members booked on revenue fares (whether ticketed or not) prior to announcement on 24th January on an Air New Zealand flight from 28th April will still accrue Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars if they are rebooked onto an FJ operated
service. Passengers are advised to submit their boarding pass and ticket copy for a manual claim in the normal manner. Rebooking must be done by Air New Zealand.

Note:
• Airpoints Dollars will not be accrued by passengers booked on/after the 24th January for travel from the 25th April on FJ operated services even if booked on an NZ code flight number.

Lounge access
• At NAN, Air New Zealand and Star Gold Elite & Gold, Business class, Koru Club and Silver Airpoints passengers on NZ code on FJ operated services will have access to the Air Pacific lounge.
• At LAX, FJ operate from the Tom Bradley Terminal. Air New Zealand and Star Gold Elite & Gold, Business class, Koru Club and Silver Airpoints passengers on NZ code on FJ operated services will have access to the Japan Airlines lounge.

Lounge access
• At NAN, Air New Zealand and Star Gold Elite & Gold, Business class, Koru Club and Silver Airpoints passengers on NZ code on FJ operated services will have access to the Air Pacific lounge.
• At LAX, FJ operate from the Tom Bradley Terminal. Air New Zealand and Star Gold Elite & Gold, Business class, Koru Club and Silver Airpoints passengers on NZ code on FJ operated services will have access to the Japan Airlines lounge.
Silver???

Bugger...

Well... I am definitely affected by this.... Had booked on NZ21 LAX-NAN in June.. and then on the continuing NZ21 service to AKL (and on to SYD on NZwhatever...) on a separate ticket as that is the only way it could be done... even ran that by the call centre and was told no prohibition existed against such ticketing...

So if I cancel/refund the LAX-NAN (and try to buy a LAX-AKL Y+ instead) I'm stuck with penalties presumably for cancelling the NAN-AKL-SYD.. and I didn't book "flex" on those segments....:(

AND I had applied a confirmed points upgrade to business LAX-NAN...

THAT should still hold (???) .. While it is not specifically addressed the announcement does say that "unconfirmed requests will not be carried over" which should imply that CONFIRMED requests will.. be nice if they actually said so!

I'll be looking for written confirmation there!!!:eek:

So... what's C like on FJ?? :rolleyes:

Edit..... Pitch 57" apparently... all C seats are in the nose... UD is Y. No AVOD....

I'll have to take the FJ option.. (Y+ one way LAX-AKL on my preferred date/flight is now >USD$2K and I'd get a max of AUD$1400 refunded).........and fight like hell for the already-confirmed upgrade...:rolleyes: (Jeez.. glad I went confirmed!!!) Rebooking of my other flights is allowed without penalty according to the announcement .. probably not necessary as it is no doubt meant to link up with NZ21 NAN-AKL... we'll see...

This sucks.

What's next, axing LAX-RAR-LAX ? :(

Too bad. Now FJ has the route to itself. Overflying NAN by a couple of hours only to connect through AKL may be music to the ears of a mileage runner, but it isn't very convenient for someone who wants to get between L.A. and Fiji without undue delay.

Silver???Perhaps Silver's using their pass? OTOH it doesn't say that so if any Silver's want to give it a try and report back ?

THAT should still hold (???) .. While it is not specifically addressed the announcement does say that "unconfirmed requests will not be carried over" which should imply that CONFIRMED requests will.. be nice if they actually said so!That would be my interpretation of it too.

In terms of the fixed product FJ isn't too bad when compared to NZ's 763 metal. PTV in all 430 seats in Y; 4 rows of Business in the nose with 12 seats spilling back into the plane. And the scheduled NANLAX flight time is shaved by an hour and a half (LAXNAN only an hour shorter]

Fingers crossed alright..... I'll wait and see if I am contacted... should be I suppose... The announcement said rebooking over the next week right?

Or should I be PROactive and call in... hmmmm....

So a 747 is THAT much faster than a 767? Interesting - and I couldn't say I find that surprising ! I'm confused however cos FJ's schedule shows the same departure/arrival times as NZ21.... :confused:


Hardly matters....Once onboard it takes what it takes!!:D

Wish me luck.. I'd hate to find myself down the back on FJ after planning that return so carefully!

Well I sure hope FJ improves the reliability of their flights - all six of my last FJ NAN-LAX flights have either been cancelled or delayed for more than three hourse (because of incoming planes). Now, there's just no alternative.:confused:

I know they say it is for higher yielding routes, and two more are supposed to be announced. What I do wonder is if it is to allow for the upgrade to the cabin and IFE that they have announced.
Regardless NZ is getting out of the "Coral Route" that they and there statutory predecessors used to be proud of and also NZ airpoints are earned on fewer routes....I seemed to have missed Ed Sims saying how much better it will be for NZ Airpoints members....:rolleyes:

I'm sad to see it disappear from the route network , but sentiment doesnt pay the bills .

Fijian tourism has been in a downturn for quite some time due to the political instability and if NZ can make more money using these aircraft elsewhere good for them . I want NZ run by people who keep a firm eye on the bottom line and make business decisions based on keeping the airline in profit not emotion- we all remember what happened with NZ a few years ago when previous management took their eyes off the ball

Reckon I agree with that... I LIKE this airline and want to see it prosper....too many organisations (and products) I have been partial to have disappeared over the years!!! (Ansett anyone....:rolleyes:)

I've realised a new problem with THIS particular situation of mine however...

On the old booking(s) I wasn't concerned about the 60 minute "connection" between the two segments of NZ21... (Same a/c?) Now however it will be a similar (short?) connection between FJXXX and the NAN-AKL leg of NZ21

Baggage transfer at NAN?????? Just Checking IN for the NZ flight?

FJ flight running LATE???

It's a mess ........

I'll hafta call.... I'd like to just 'swap" the whole trip over to go via RAR (or TBU) but I can't wait until the following Sunday... and the Tuesday is too early.....so I'm SOL there....:mad:

The more I look at this the worse it gets.....

I'm sure there will be some other passengers doing the same connection.

Good point... a nights sleep has allowed a calmer view of the situation.. as usual..:D

I was looking forward to the trip.. as originally booked.... so it remains a little disapointing.....

At the rate NZ drops routes that I haven't flown maybe I will get to fly every Air NZ active route sooner than I thought (currently just a few south pacific and tasman routes are unflown - NAN-LAX being one that I was supposed to fly last year but got bumped).

At the rate NZ drops routes that I haven't flown maybe I will get to fly every Air NZ active route sooner than I thought (currently just a few south pacific and tasman routes are unflown - NAN-LAX being one that I was supposed to fly last year but got bumped).

You are just so cool. Any plan to go to Beijing?

of course - another inaugural flight :D

With Kiwi Flyer, there's no need to ask :D

Curious!!!!

May one ask what you ended up doing after being "bumped" from NAN-LAX?

FJ?

Second question.... Beijing inaugural? :confused::D

Second question.... Beijing inaugural? :confused::D

NZ will start this route from 18th July 2008. Press release here (http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/aboutus/mediacentre/pressreleases/air_nz_fly_akl_bjs_direct_14dec07.htm).

May one ask what you ended up doing after being "bumped" from NAN-LAX?

FJ?

Second question.... Beijing inaugural? :confused::D

I was booked AKL-NAN-LAX and involuntarily moved to AKL-LAX nonstop (my front aisle seat preselected months before flight changed to a rear middle in the process :( ).

Speaking of middle seats - they've given me a middle seat on a domestic flight today (which being part of international itinerary I could not OLCI for) and the only aisle seats are way down the back. Not happy.

OUCH! Hope THAT got changed....:(

Thanks DownUnderFlyer.... I missed that.... Have to tell my brother....His in laws live there....

I booked business class LAX-NAN for 6/2/08 on ANZ using UA Mileage Plus points over 6 months ago. Today, I reviewed my PNR to find the flight missing. Called UA and they said "ANZ cancelled service and has you on Air Pacific....We aren't partnered with Air Pacific...Please hold while we talk to a supervisor..." They had no idea what to do, and after making phone calls back and forth to ANZ, were finally able to book me on the Air Pacific flights. I was happy with how well it went. I was ready to give them an earful.

Anyone ever flown Air Pacific LAX-NAN? I know nothing about the airline.

Glad that worked out! According to that announcement at the start of this thread anyone with an NZ award resemption was OK... and it did mention something about "other" airlines redemptions.. but not much in the way of detail!

I will be calling NZ tomorrow (Monday) ... as discussed earlier I have an NZ Airpoints confirmed upgrade on the original NZ21... presumably I'll end up in C on FJ like you... but until I get confirmation of that I'll be a little concerned.. just a little....;)

You'll be flying it about three weeks before me.... Hope you report on the experience!! :D I have read differing reports on FJ.. who knows? Like most airlines it probably depends a great deal on the "day".... Although the number of comments that talk about delayed flights is a worry....:(


"Tambua" class on their 747 looks OK in the (very few) pictures I've seen.... and on the seat map.... A big old fashioned C seat.... the configuration is 28 C and 430 Y!

I booked business class LAX-NAN for 6/2/08 on ANZ using UA Mileage Plus points over 6 months ago. Today, I reviewed my PNR to find the flight missing. Called UA and they said "ANZ cancelled service and has you on Air Pacific....We aren't partnered with Air Pacific...Please hold while we talk to a supervisor..." They had no idea what to do, and after making phone calls back and forth to ANZ, were finally able to book me on the Air Pacific flights. I was happy with how well it went. I was ready to give them an earful.

You might consider leveraging this situation to get reaccommodated on NZ through AKL, at least in one direction. Its lie-flat long-haul Business Premier product (not offered on the soon to be reassigned 763s) is superb. Usually, LAX-AKL is a very difficult award to score in business class because of demand, but under the circumstances, you have a lot of leeway to seek alternatives to your canceled flights. By doing so, you could also take advantage of a free stopover in New Zealand.

Anyone ever flown Air Pacific LAX-NAN? I know nothing about the airline.

You might want to read up here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1672023#post1672023), here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8109988&postcount=4), and here (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/pacific.htm).

If I read it correctly, I will be on the last early morning NZ021 from NAN to AKL, schedulded at 6.55 on April 27th....

For my travel dates it appears that the new flight NAN-AKL is NZ059 at 1155 am on a 763.

If NZ rebook me (in C!!!!) on the FJ codeshare, and swap me straight onto that new (763) flight I'll be quite happy... Certainly reduce my (irrational) worries about baggage transfer etc...

Of course if I could swap both those flights for a C seat on NZ1 or 5...:eek::D

("You're DREAMIN!") :D

I would love to layover in AUK, but am originating the trip from ORD. At that point, I think I just will want to get off the plane and start enjoying Fiji. Thanks for the links to FJ reading. They were useful. I'll be sure to report how the flights went.

I remain enormously impressed with the NZ call centre... ..and those Kiwi ladies have the nicest accent!!!:D

As usual (IME to date) my concerns/questions were dealt with quickly and in a professional yet friendly manner!

Already received my new NZ4011 confirmation... no question at all about COS... it's Business as expected. (hoped??)

And.. logically, I have been rebooked from my original (and separate!) NAN-AKL-SYD flights to the new NZ0059 and then NZ105....

Already received the new e-ticket/confirmation there too...

Quite happy now...^

I Just flew FJ LAX-NAN last week after missing NZ21 the day before. It is the second time i've flown Air Pacific and I like it very much; service level is equal to Air New Zealand.

Is access to JAL lounge new? I asked when i was in Bradley and they said *G NZ had no lounge privileges.

From a yield perspective, this was unavoidable. Consider that NZ sells LAX AKL one way for $6,400 + in business on the nonstops, and LAX NAN is just $2,500 + in business, and then a short hop for another $500 or so gets you to Auckland for half the price. Is is true the service (seats especially ) are not as good via NAN as they are on the AKL rought, but they like other carriers are plugging up all the holes

of course - another inaugural flight :D

With Beijing I think you would have to act quick because I can't find any flight from November. It looks like it will only be for the Olympics.

That sounds logical.... yet LAX-RAR and LAX-TBU/APW are still operating at even lower prices...


Shhhhhhhhhh...............;)

[...] and LAX NAN is just $2,500 + in business [...]

That sounds logical.... yet LAX-RAR and LAX-TBU/APW are still operating at even lower prices...



Where did you find those fares?
The cheapest LAX-RAR in C is $3500 + taxes, LAX-APW in $3300 + taxes and LAX-TBU is $3600 + taxes

One way?

Sorry... that was the comparison we were making.....;)

One way?

Sorry... that was the comparison we were making.....;)

Oops, missed that part :D

Shame innit? They'd make NICE roundtrip prices!!! :D

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but this is the one that popped up under a serach for NAN, and thankfully means I am not going mad. NZ did use to fly AKL-NAN-LAX.

I am going to Fiji next year and my intention was to do it on *A RTW ticket, expecting to go AKL-NAN-LAX. It looks like I will have to track back through AKL if I wanted to do that, which doesn't really appeal but I don't really have much choice.

Have they canned flights to LAX from everywhere except AKL then ?.

Have they canned flights to LAX from everywhere except AKL then ?.

I believe LAX-RAR and LAX-TBU/APW are still flying.

Did they get rid of NAN-RAR at the same time? Or was it NAN-APW?

AKL-RAR-LAX is one or two per week (varies by season)
AKL-TBU-APW-LAX is one per week

Other island routes long gone are
AKL-NAN-LAX (this is still available as a codeshare on FJ)
AKL-PPT-LAX
NAN-RAR
AKL-RAR-PPT

MAN Flyer - NAN-AKL isn't a huge amount of miles to backtrack. If it pushes you into next distance band (or over the highest one at 39k miles) then I'd buy AKL-NAN-AKL as a separate ticket. Very cheap in economy, with a choice of airlines.

Thanks for the replies.

Never thought to check Samoa and Cook Islands as I thought Fiji would have been a more popular destination than both of those for NZ. It's a fair point about it not being that far to back-track to AKL and it's probably as easy as buying a seperate ticket to fly between the islands. Having said that CRTW's are not the value they used to be unfortunately.

What is the J cabin/seat like on the 767's that fly to LAX from APW and RAR, not the same as the new flat beds I presume ?.

What is the J cabin/seat like on the 767's that fly to LAX from APW and RAR, not the same as the new flat beds I presume ?.

Unfortunately not the flat beds, they are these more traditional business class (http://www.johnnyjet.com/photos/March2009-Air-New-Zealand-LAX-RAR-6.JPG) seats, arranged 2-2-2, some details in the sticky seating thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-new-zealand-air-points/25056-new-ultimate-seating-thread-version-deux.html).

If you've flown NZ business in the past (before the flat beds) they are pretty much the same seats - now with leather rather than fabric covering, and with a bit less width.

767 has old style seats, non-lie flat, and fairly narrow (for business class). They do have PTVs with AVOD. Think old regional SQ F with worse seat but better IFE and you have it.

I had so hoped this thread was about LAX-NAN coming back! Oh well.. still holding out hope ;)


Other island routes long gone are
AKL-NAN-LAX (this is still available as a codeshare on FJ)
AKL-PPT-LAX
NAN-RAR
AKL-RAR-PPT


And just for old-times sake, some other (long gone) AirNZ Pacific routes, I'm sure there are many more:
LAX-HNL-NAN-AKL
LAX-PPT-RAR-NAN-AKL
AKL-NAN-Japan (I think it was Nagoya)

Some RAR-LAX services over the busy Xmas period are meant to be run by 772s this year.