A few days ago, I booked a return flight (Seat only) from WLG-AKL and paid with my credit card. After booking, I was invited to select seats, so thought I'd burn a few Airpoints dollars on the seat selection.

Yesterday, I got the "Info to plan your trip to Auckland" email from Air New Zealand, which contained the following sentence: "This flight is not eligible for Airpoints Dollars™ or Status Points earning."

Is that really the case, or have they got it wrong? I can't believe that using 5 Airpoints dollars to select a seat would stop me from earning and APDs or SPs. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have paid for the Seat Select with my credit card.