The 5am embargo is now over so I wanted to be the first to give my thoughts on the new Koru (was Airpoints) program.

There are five tiers- Koru Bronze (new), Koru Silver, Koru Gold, Koru Platinum (was Elite), Koru Black (new). Black will require 3200 SP to obtain.

The good news is that the benefits of existing tiers are *not* being slashed in any way.

Black will include 3 x longhaul RU and 2 x shorthaul RU, extra parking vouchers, OneUp bids upweighted by 60%, and the new Koru Circle allowing you to gift status to friends or family (an extension of the current Elite Partner). The old Elite Partner is now known as Koru Platinum Nominee and Koru Black is Koru Black Nominee (stupid name if you ask me).

And there we have it.. After years of hype about a refresh of the program we now have Koru Black that is essentially going to give you an extra longhaul RU, and extra shorthaul RU, and some extra parking vouchers. Meh.

Air NZ could have delivered innovation and delivered benefits that could have truly made chasing Black worth it. They could have delivered benefits that could have created loyalty and improved the travel experience for the (at my guess) potentially five thousand people that would qualify for this status.. But instead of doing this they gave two more recognition upgrades.. Recognition upgrades that many people struggle to use... Oh and did I mention they're going to upweight OneUp bids by a whopping 60%! Woohoo. Oh wait, why would any Black member even consider a OneUp bid over an APD upgrade?!

Just imagine how innovative offering Koru Black members something as simple as free same day flexibility on all domestic and Trans Tasman fares would have been - this would have been a true benefit.

How about offering them free domestic airfares as a perk? I'm sure offering somebody who's potentially spend $30,000 to get Black would have loved say 3 free domestic flights per year theat they could use for themself or gift to friends or family over a few extra parking vouchers which would actually cost around the same (tax and fees on a flight is just over $60 for a typical jet service).

Air NZ are being hurt hard to Qantas and I don't see anything in here that would drive loyalty to the Air NZ brand. I know a couple of people who are FIFO workers in Aussie and have chatted to both of them lately about FFP's and they both agree the best strategy now is to split their loyalty. Koru Black should have driven loyalty to the airline and kept people who hit the ~3K SP mark loyal to the airline, but IMHO it's totally failed at that. There is absolutely no incentive for anybody to stay loyal, and plenty of benefits in splitting the loyalty so you've got Platinum with NZ and QF.

With no plans to bring back the ability to top up APD (which makes them potentially the only airline in the world that doesn't offer the ability to buy points), an upgrade system that is still largely a lottery unless you're like us savvy people who know how it works, overcrowded lounges with what has increasingly become pretty mediocre food, terrible Trans Tasman schedules out of WLG and CHC that are forcing people to other airlines, and very little recognition of status, I really wonder what purpose there is of anybody actually wanting to be an Air NZ fanboi any longer.

If this is the best they can come up with it's no wonder the business is struggling. These people may have a marketing degree and think they're a loyalty expert but it's pretty clear they have zero understanding of what their average frequent flyer wants. None of this stuff is rocket science and I really struggle to understand why they're not doing a far better job.. But maybe when you think you know it all you don't bother actually asking.