Air New Zealand Air Points - AirNZ Airports - Worth Signing up for semi-regular domestic travel?

Wanting some advice on whether or not it is worth signing up to Airpoints and whether or not it will provide/in the future provide benefits for myself.

I am in Auckland and i will be travelling to New Plymouth, Napier, BOP Region, Wellington several times a month on work and back, however all flights will be purchased by the company i work for.

Will there be any benefit for me? Will i earn Airpoints on domestic travel or any other rewards?

Any help appreciated - i have read through the Air NZ webpage on Airpoints as well as some threads on this forum but it doesn't really answer my questions so far.

Any help from you FFers appreciated :D

Well under the current Airpoints system, you will only earn Airpoints if you fly on Flexi Saver and Flexi fares. You currently do not earn any Airpoints (or status) on Smart Saver fares.

However, NZ is introducing a change to the system very shortly whereby all fares will accrue status but not Airpoints. Smart Saver fares will accrue status now but not Airpoints.

I personally think in your situation it is good to sign up for Airpoints. Even if you don't earn anything you may get some status with that amount of flying. Better than not signing up!

An alternative would be to sign up to another Star Alliance FF programme, such as Air Canada's aeroplan or British Midland's Diamond Club, and post your flown NZ miles to that programme instead of AirPoints. As with AirPoints only Flexi Saver and Flexi fares earn miles, but the benefits of this approach include sector minimums - 500 miles in AC and 600 (I think) in BD, a potentially faster route to Star Gold status, and potentially better redemption opportunities. To give you an example, in my case a common travel requirement is NSN-AKL, and if I route via WLG on a Flexi Saver (which admittedly can add a half hour or more to the journey time) that's 1,000 AC miles. 25 of those - so 12.5 returns, is enough for a South Pacific economy reward. Those same 25 trips using AirPoints would earn A$300, which might get me a domestic reward.

YMMV :)

Wow thats interesting, i'll probably be making a couple of return trips to Sydney a year also +/- other trans-tasman destinations.

I actually checked and I already have an Airpoints FFer account from a good 10 years ago. Does it cost to sign up with Air Canada's FFer program? Would that give me the same NZ domestic benefits for gold such as Koru lounge access? Because of the travel i think i would like to either gain access to the Koru lounge by either paying (rather not) otherwise by gaining status.

NZ_Flyer, thanks for your comments, chances are i'll be booking flexi fares as the dates will vary on return flights occasionally.

AC's aeroplan programme is free to join.

"Elite" status (level 3 of 4) in that programme gets you Star Alliance Gold, which essentially gives you all the same lounge benefits as Koru Club membership / AirPoints Gold. (AC's level 4 is "Super Elite", as NZ's is "Gold Elite".) You can get to AC Elite for 35,000 miles / 50 sectors. You need 900 $AP to achieve that level in the NZ programme.

Of course there are health warnings with the AC path, and if you think you could get to AP$900 from your expected flight patterns I'm sure there are many here who would recommend sticking with AirPoints. Not least because many status benefits (upgrade certs etc) are only useful on a FF programme's own metal. i.e. Getting to Elite in the AC programme can get you a bunch of AC upgrade certs that are useless if you predominantly fly NZ. Gettting to Gold on NZ on the other hand, gives you upgrade certs you could actually use in that scenario.

So it's a trade-off. For me aeroplan works because my number one personal priority is award redemptions, I have a paid Koru Club membership, and my flying patterns are unlikely to get me anywhere near AP$900.

If I was to have my time again, I might have chosen British Midland Diamond Club, because they have what appear to be quite amazing miles and cash awards.

But I certainly don't want to hog this thread! I am but a mere mortal amongst the FF gods who participate in this forum ...

So using say Air Canada's FFer Program will make it harder to get upgrades/reward flights on NZ metal? I highly doubt i will be in North America/Canada any time soon and so i may get better benefits from Airpoints.

Also the status benefits are probably more important as when i fly long-haul its usually with Emirates, but if i can accrue Airpoints on the flexi fares then thats a bonus.

Also, will be hiring vehicals on alot of occasions when out of town so may be able to accrue Airpoints if they are a partner, along with hotel partners - May be better to stick to Airpoints if that is the case?

In my opinion, crediting hotel stays to NZ Airpoints has to be the most valuable. A stay at the Hilton will get you 20 Airpoints Dollars which is equivalent to $20 in flight rewards. Crediting the same stay to QF etc will only earn 500-1000 points which doesn't get you as far. Rental cars get roughly 2.50 Airpoints Dollars per day (?) if I remember correctly.

If you are predominantly flying NZ then crediting to NZ is probably your best bet. They certainly don't have as good earning:burning ratio as BMI/AC/SQ/UA but for status they are quite good.

That sounds like it might be the best option. I think i will be flying NZ almost all the time unless not available. Checked my Airpoints login and thats all still working :p yay

Also do any of the status tiers give you lounge access for the international terminals (AKL for example) and if you have a Koru club membership does this give you access to the Air NZ lounge at AKL Int if flying on NZ Metal that day?

Gold, Gold Elite and standard Koru Club membership all give you access to any NZ domestic or international lounge.

I think more information is required


Are you expecting to stay in NZ longterm or is this a fixed term contract?
What is your company travel policy regarding booking classes?
You you expect to do any travel outside of NZ?


If this is a short term contract you may not accumulate suffcient useful points (especially if you are required to book the cheapest available). If you will not attain *G status and you will travel overseas, then a RCC membership would be better value

Jeff

Will be on-going, and expect to stay in NZ for the next few years.
Regarding booking classes they will most likely be flexible fares in Y.
I expect to be travelling to Aus between 2-4 times a year, maybe into other areas also

So using say Air Canada's FFer Program will make it harder to get upgrades/reward flights on NZ metal?The only way I believe you can currently upgrade on NZ metal is with AirPoints status upgrade certificates, or AirPoints themselves. So yes - where upgrades are important to you aeroplan is not a good option.

As to reward flights, one of the things about AirPoints is that it effectively allows 'any seat' awards - if you have the points you can have any available seat on the plane you like. But I would question if that makes it 'harder' to get a reward flight on the grounds that it's harder to earn the AirPoints in the first place. i.e. In my scenario below, with 25 domestic NZ flexi-saver sectors, AP$300 probably won't get a South Pacific fare at the best of times. But it will get you enough AC miles for a freebie - subject to all the other award class availability caveats of course.

Anyway, just thought that part of your post was worth a response. In the meantime - especially as you're getting to bypass the $50 joining fee, it looks like you're on the way to getting a strong 'yes' to the thread's initial question! ^

Well considering i already have an Airpoints account i think i will go ahead and use it, i think it will be a bit more useful and hopefully i can obtain Gold status so that i dont have to buy a Koru Club membership - i'll work that out as i go i guess :)

The only way I believe you can currently upgrade on NZ metal is with AirPoints status upgrade certificates, or AirPoints themselves. So yes - where upgrades are important to you aeroplan is not a good option.

As NZ has joined the *A mileage upgrade scheme, you can use miles from other FFPs to upgrade on NZ flights. However these are limited to high paid fares, and the upgrade costs are generally high.

Although it may be a little quicker to gain status if I go with Air Canada's plan, i think overall i'll have more benefits if i stick with Airpoints (for redemptions and stuff also)

If you want lounge access you will need to buy a Koru Club membership until you get Gold status.

Yea i realise that, will wait and see how often i need to fly before I go ahead with that

Well i rang up in regards to my account and it seems that my account has been closed due to inactivity. I can still login and i still receive emails, but its not longer active so i'll have to re-sign up to airpoints haha. Also what is the time period in which you can claim points for old bookings? I have a booking from Nov 4th 2007 which i didn't add my airpoints number to.

Nov 2007 is far too long ago to get credit for now, unless you've been pursuing it since the flight.

Thought so, is there any way around paying the airpoints fee again?

Thought so, is there any way around paying the airpoints fee again?

I think a Business Class flight across the Tassie might, ?.

AM i able to sign up at the UK airnz site and then change my address to New Zealand? I am a British Passport holder and have a residential address there also.

Hey everyone, thanks for all the help when i made this thread a little while ago. I decided to go with Airpoints however after looking at the travel i'll be doing i'll only get between AP$400-600 a year on Air NZ's plan, leaving me short of AP Gold.

I am looking at getting a Koru Membership as it is so i'm starting to look at either BMI or Air Canada's plans as it will possibly give me better chance of getting equivilent Gold and more value for redemption.

Going to do some research now in the other forums as well as online their websites and make a decision from there :)

The question i have is, when posting miles to another plan on Air NZ operated flights, do i just add my Star Alliance FFer number to the booking when checking in, or can this be done through the other star alliance's carriers website prior to the flight, OR through NZ at the time of booking.

IIRC you can add your BD/AC/whatever *A FF number while booking....

You said probably Flexible fares? Good... cos it bears repeating that the cheap fares only earn Status on Airpoints.. and credit nothing to any other program...

If you buy the KC membership and then do MORE travel and find yourself qualifying Gold during the membership year you can get a pro-rata refund of the m'ship fee....

All my flights will be Flexi or Saver Flexi, saver flexi are earning correct? Majority of my travel will be domestic, with a few flights to Aus.