Only 3 of my fave seats left on a flight. I'm considering booking a flexi fare with APD so I can "reserve" the seat. When dates are firm I'll make a nonflexi cash booking. But those seats might be taken in that time frame.
I'm thinking I'll cancel the APD booking and then take that seat with my cash booking (yes exact same flight). Never done this before but I figure I have the advantage of it only being APD I need refunded rather than waiting forever for a cash refund. No idea how long that takes these days. If I have my cash booking up when I cancel the APD booking, I want to nab that seat immediately. Back up is to have Air NZ on the phone when I go to cancel the APD booking so they can grab the seat for me? Not fussed if I incur a service fee as that's still cheaper than the preferred seating fee and I'll be booking a nonflexi cash fare instead of the flexi. Not concerned about the fare difference between the earlier APD booking as it's what I would have paid at the time of the cash booking anyway.

I've never done it so just wondering if anyone else has and if there are any issues that might pop up?

I guess while I'm here I might as well ask how long it takes APD to return after cancelling a flight? Google AI says within 24hrs which is a lot more palatable than what some cash refunds have been in the past.

Yes I'm aware its a bit pathetic to go to these lengths for a seat but it seems pretty quick and easy. If using APD then I'm not really losing anything?