Originally Posted by kyanar

It depends on the rule. In this case, the only rule they broke was their revenue protection rule - i.e. they could have (and the way you put it, should have) charged OP for a whole new flight. But who really benefits from that? In this case, OP through no fault of their own would have been likely to miss their flight - Air NZ helped them out of a bad situation at no real cost. I know if I had to choose between a company that wouldn't give two hoots and one that has helped me out of a bind before, which one I'd choose. It's why I prefer Qantas over Virgin domestically, since I got stuck in traffic on the way to MEL one time and QF called me when I didn't make the flight to tell me to drop by the assistance counter and they'll rebook on the next flight free of charge - on a classic award ticket no less!