Air New Zealand Air Points - Buy-up From Economy to Premium Economy?

Is it possible to buy-up from International Economy to Premium Economy ex-AKL? If so, what is the buy-up amount (usually)?

A "buy-up" would consist of paying the applicable change fee and the fare difference between E and PE.

The fare difference could be tiny (if bought full fare economy booking class Y and the cheapest premium economy booking class O is available), or enormous (if bought cheap economy and only full fare premium economy is available).

For example, AKL-LAX return costs ex-NZ are currently (ignoring sales)

Economy 2450-4050
Premium economy 3700-4580

An upgrade to premium economy could cost over NZD1000 one way.

I once did it AKL-LAX, cost about £200 UK each (sorry, not sure of the conversion to NZD) for me and the girlfriend. We were on mid-priced economy fares at the time.

As others have said it's all down to the fares available at the time. A few times I've bought Premium Economy when making my booking, at as little as £50 more than the regular Economy fare.

If you checked the price for Premium when making your booking, it's somewhat unlikely the buy up fee will be less than the difference was then.

On the dozen 777 flights I've been on in the past year Premium Economy (all 18 seats!) has been full which makes the point moot in some ways. I've seen PE somewhat empty out of LAX on a 747 but that was a flight with 125 people aboard in total.

So not at all like UA's buy-up at the gate scheme at all where the buy-up cost on the day of departure is much less than the extra cost at time of booking.

On the dozen 777 flights I've been on in the past year Premium Economy (all 18 seats!) has been full which makes the point moot in some ways. I've seen PE somewhat empty out of LAX on a 747 but that was a flight with 125 people aboard in total.

Yeah, it's always full when I've been in it too. When I did it we actually wanted to upgrade back all the way to LHR but there were no seats LAX-LHR.

Not surprising really, it's a great product, especially upstairs on the 747.

NEVER AGAIN!

Not only was it overpriced, it was over rated!

The fare differential was enormus and the food and service TERRIBLE! The extra leg room was what initially sold me. It turned out to be miniscule. Save your money.

What route was that on? For longhaul (as opposed to trans-tasman) the food is the same as business class. Service is in between economy and business class.

If you were on a 777 aircraft I sympathise with your comments about the seat (the same 3-3-3 layout as economy does not equal premium in my book), but on 747 the seating is much better than regular economy.

What route was that on? For longhaul (as opposed to trans-tasman) the food is the same as business class. Service is in between economy and business class.

The food is great!!! I loved it very much on every flight! I just wanna point out that PPE's food is different from business class and I have checked both menus; I don't know about other flights but for mine (PVG-AKL).

AFAIK it shouldn't be different. Same menu, served from same galley, by the same crew.

When premium economy was first launched a few years back it did have the economy menu + some bits from business class (eg cheese plate). That was changed to match business class (food & drink, not service) quite a while ago.

I can agree with Kiwi Flyer (and I suspect others will) that NZ do rip you off slightly with the space available in PE on the 777. More seat pitch but the same width, whereas on the 747 there is more seat width and space as well as more seat pitch.

However, business class food is served on longhaul PE routes and IMO it's pretty darned good. Even Y food on NZ is better than a lot of other airlines.

Maybe SCruzFlyer took a flight in PE before they switched over to J catering?

Could be the reason.
I know when I flew PPE before the chnages on the 777 I vowed never to do that again.
Also until they do the change over and classify it as Space+ on short haul the catering is the same as Pacific Economy.:td:

Also until they do the change over and classify it as Space+ on short haul the catering is the same as Pacific Economy.:td:

It will still have economy catering when it is space+ Trans Tasman (from December).

It will still have economy catering when it is space+ Trans Tasman (from December).
Sure but it will no longer be sold as Premium Economy but will be available for Y passengers with status or on the high fare. Much better option now.
I will be travelling on QF Premium Y as the NZ hard product is not up to scratch and was more expensive. I have not idea about the difference in catering.

Not comparing like with like. QF premium economy is not available for shorthaul.

What route was that on? For longhaul (as opposed to trans-tasman) the food is the same as business class. Service is in between economy and business class.

If you were on a 777 aircraft I sympathise with your comments about the seat (the same 3-3-3 layout as economy does not equal premium in my book), but on 747 the seating is much better than regular economy.

I second that, PE is only worth on the 747.

AFAIK it shouldn't be different. Same menu, served from same galley, by the same crew.

When premium economy was first launched a few years back it did have the economy menu + some bits from business class (eg cheese plate). That was changed to match business class (food & drink, not service) quite a while ago.

Sorry, I'm not saying that you are wrong.:p I knew it was served Eco class food then it has changed to business class food. However, on my flight ( NZ88, 31st Aug 2008) was different, maybe it was just a one off. I didn't get Eco class food but it looked like business class food, then I was talking to the crew, and I had a look at the business class menu, they have different mains. Even though I still think the food I had was great! ^

Hey,

For all SAS flights you can go to www.optiontown.com which is a partner of SAS and a few other airlines, and you may there log in with your Flight-data and Upgrade or Standby to other flights. Upgrades sometimes have Bargains. For example, once I was on a S Class IAD- Stockholm Ticket and upgraded for 500$ to J. It was well worth it.
I don't know how much Y to Y+ is but you'll be around 200$ for a flight less than 9 hours.

Hope this helps,

Ben

Hey,

For all SAS flights you can go to www.optiontown.com which is a partner of SAS and a few other airlines, and you may there log in with your Flight-data and Upgrade or Standby to other flights. Upgrades sometimes have Bargains. For example, once I was on a S Class IAD- Stockholm Ticket and upgraded for 500$ to J. It was well worth it.
I don't know how much Y to Y+ is but you'll be around 200$ for a flight less than 9 hours.

Hope this helps,

BenThread has been dead for over a year
No cheap upgrades in this part of the world. NZ & Aust are not listed in that web site.
Do you have a commercial relationship with that web site ?

Recently flew AKL-LHR via HKG for work. Inquired at the ariport as to how much an upgrade from economy to premium economy would be. I was quoted a chest clenching $1,800 from AKL-HKG. It was back of the bus for me I tell ye!!
Cheers