Originally Posted by
kiwifrequentflyer
I think the program is bad value for Australian flyers. The value of Eltie is mostly in the upgrades. I am currently flying BP on all of my flights I've booked because of APD and guaranteed upgrades.
But if you lived in Australia? Ugh. To fly anywhere you'd have to go through Auckland. It would be much nicer to just fly direct.
It really does feel like a New Zealand specific program, not because of the benefits persay being New Zealand focused, but simply because Air NZ does all its international flights out of Auckland.
Not a great program for provincial New Zealand Elites either, and I said this in the survey. If you don't use your upgrades there's not a lot of benefits over Gold. You can't use the parking vouchers. And there are very poor earning rates on lots of flights. It's improved on international connections (was getting 3, now getting 8-12 for most), but flights next Monday only get me 4 SP's each way, and they weren't cheap.