What happens to NZ? Very hard to get business class award seat nowadays!
Mar 27, 2014, 9:09 pm
#16
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Thai starts to tighten up the award seats this year. How do I know? Last year I had no problem to get award seat for Christmas/New Year holiday period on some particular flights (not all), but this year I can't get the same award seats at all, it has a black out dates from 25 Dec 2014 to 6 Jan 2015.
More likely, award space has already been taken by MP members burning miles prior to the Feb. 3 devaluation.
Mar 27, 2014, 9:50 pm
#17
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PS. I guess TG finally realized that route is very full and profitable during Christmas/New Year holidays and decided to put on blackout dates on that particular route inbound and outbound. It didn't happen last Christmas/New Year though.
Last edited by GordonGordon; Mar 27, 2014 at 10:48 pm Reason: adding comment
Mar 28, 2014, 12:17 am
#18
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Mar 28, 2014, 3:49 am
#19
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shhhhhhh........
Mar 30, 2014, 5:19 am
#20
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Add SYD - AKL to that list as well. I'm in the midst of a vacation down in NZ / OZ that included BKK - SYD - AKL. Well I got SYD - AKL at T-330 (only available in Y at the time). In the 11 months that passed between then and when I flew the flight this past Tuesday (Mar 25) not a single J seat was released and I didn't see a single Y seat available on that flight either when I checked for the J seat (and in the past 60-90 days there wasn't a single Y seat period offered the entire week and many of the other weeks before and after).
Apr 17, 2014, 12:09 pm
#22
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Apr 17, 2014, 12:22 pm
#24
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Apr 17, 2014, 12:25 pm
#25
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Apr 17, 2014, 3:53 pm
#26
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What happens to NZ? Very hard to get business class award seat nowadays!
Or go the really long way like I just did: JFK - ICN - NRT - BKK - SYD on OZ and TG and return (skipping the flight to AKL and the non-award open jaws flights) SYD - PEK - HND - IAD on CA and NH - you just have to get creative and hope for a good agent (this was also booked way before devaluation and tightening of rules)
Apr 21, 2014, 9:43 am
#27
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Well, my goal is YVR-WLG at the end of the day -- I was hoping for HNL-AKG but apparently that's not possible as Air New Zealand doesn't release seats. However, LAX-PEK-SYD seems to be available and Air China apparently has lie flat seats. Still, quite a trek!
Apr 21, 2014, 11:19 am
#28
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The reason I am led to believe that NZ has very little award space is their policy for staff travel. Staff and their buddies pay for business class seats, AKL to YVR, for example is approx. $NZ1100.00, if they do not get into a J seat then they can try for premium economy,failing that economy. If they travel economy then they receive a refund of approx. $NZ600.00. It is not uncommon for 15 or more staff or buddies to travel on each departure to YVR. The other international routes have similar loads.
Do the math it is a financial gain for NZ to fill their J seats up with staff revenue passengers, and that is why very little is released for award redemption
Do the math it is a financial gain for NZ to fill their J seats up with staff revenue passengers, and that is why very little is released for award redemption
Apr 21, 2014, 5:13 pm
#29
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The reason I am led to believe that NZ has very little award space is their policy for staff travel. Staff and their buddies pay for business class seats, AKL to YVR, for example is approx. $NZ1100.00, if they do not get into a J seat then they can try for premium economy,failing that economy. If they travel economy then they receive a refund of approx. $NZ600.00. It is not uncommon for 15 or more staff or buddies to travel on each departure to YVR. The other international routes have similar loads.
Apr 28, 2014, 9:50 pm
#30
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So, I know this is a little OT, but what are some ideas on booking an award seat? I mean I've done the week before method (got a business class seat on NZ before they became stingy and economy on a December flight to Australia). I'm not sure (using ANA) if I want to just book 4 days in advance since well... my dates need to be slightly concrete...
Would prefer not United, unless everyone wants to hear me sing for 15 hours. In order to "properly" celebrate United's 777 flying from San Francisco to Sydney, I will sing "Let it Go" for the duration of the 15 hour flight. (Hey, I think they have Frozen?)
Would prefer not United, unless everyone wants to hear me sing for 15 hours. In order to "properly" celebrate United's 777 flying from San Francisco to Sydney, I will sing "Let it Go" for the duration of the 15 hour flight. (Hey, I think they have Frozen?)