01/08/2016
SFO-AKL NZ7
Y-PE
$550, NZ *G
Accepted 8hrs prior to departure

28 Jul 16 & 4 Aug 16
Y-PE
AKL-RAR & RAR-AKL
$140 per person (2, *G and no status)

Both flights were honoured for both pax

Hi,
I'm new here so sorry for my stupidity.
I've booked flights from Perth to Auckland upgraded to emergency seats. Then put a $500AUD bid in for the Auckland to LAX leg, leaving 2nd November this year for Y to PE. Is this bid to low?

How long does it take for a bid to be rejected/accepted? Been going through the thread and it seems to be all over the place.

I'm flying SYD-AKL-LAX going Y-PE this week.

I put in a bid of 350 AUD for NZ 6, and it failed 3 days earlier. So i got one of my friends to put in an Elite APD upgrade, which cleared a few hours before takeoff. I'm travelling as VA Silver, no NZ status at all as well.

Is that to PE or to BP?

See his post before:

So he tried a OneUp Y->PE on NZ6, AKL-LAX, for AU$350, and rejected 3 days out.

Then he got an NZ Elite to gift/lodge an Elite APD (APD 220) to go Y->PE on the same flight, and was cleared on the day.


Which does confirm the fact NZ looks at all RUs (including Elite APD and gifted ones) at a higher priority than OneUp bids.

And which reinforces that it's much better off befriending an Elite member and do a gift, than try do a OneUp yourself.

19/08/16
NZ101 AKL-SYD
Y-J (767)
NZ$200 (no status)
Accepted 4 days out

[on behalf of parents]

Wait a minute...if I have a friend who is elite, they can lodge/gift an upgrade to me with their APD? Even if I am not the person they gifted their 'partner' benefit to?

Yes, they just have to add you to their gifting register.

Does anyone know if gifted Elite Airports Upgrades are processed with the same priority as an elite would receive if they requested one for themselfs?

Gifted Elite APD Upgrades or RUs are processed at the giftee's OWN status level.

If the recipient is also an Elite member, then it can clear right away (if R/A inventory is available).
If the recipient is a Gold/Silver member, then it'll clear no earlier than 7-days prior to flight date.
If the recipient is Jade (nothing), then it'll clear no earlier than on-the-day of travel.

The gifted Elite upgrade will only clear "like an Elite member" if the booking/PNR is attached to an Elite member also - e.g. both an Elite and Jade member is travelling on the same flight and is on the SAME booking/PNR.

Shhhhhhh... Don't tell everybody who doesn't bother reading the list of Elite benefits about this. It'll be even harder to get upgrades clear! :)

The only gripe I have with this system is the processes are not consistent between RU's and APD upgrades. If I travel with somebody who's Silver/Gold and we're on the same PNR I can lodge a APD upgrade for both and both will clear immediately if there is R/A class availability.

If I lodge a RU and the Silver/Gold member on the same PNR lodges a RU mine can clear immediately based on R/A class availability but the Silver/Gold RU will only clear in line with Silver/Gold status rules.

Air NZ's reason for this is that "clearing a Silver/Gold RU would disadvantage Elite members as it would take a seat away from them", yet they're happy to clear both immediately for an APD upgrade. It really makes no sense to have such an inconsistency across both upgrade types. It means I end up forking out APD upgrades when traveling with my partner to guarantee we can end up sitting together in the same cabin and RU's go unused.

IMHO APD upgrades are the single biggest benefit of Elite.

Speaking of difficulty in clearing upgrades, what are my chances of clearing a APD upgrade (Y to PE) from Auckland to LAX/SFO during April without an Elite on the booking? Would I do much better with a Recognition Upgrade?

It should be equal chances between a gifted EAPDU and an RU, so choose your day wisely and hope for the best.

How are my chances?
 

Hi I'm a newbie :)

I'm flying NZ28 AKL - IAH November 24th and bid $730APD to upgrade economy - PE. Strength is average on the dial (although when I made it, it said strong).

Then flying NZ7 SFO - AKL December 3rd and bid $810 to upgrade economy - PE. The dial say strong (just) for this offer but it might change too.

I have no status. I've bid as much as I can really, I'd love to go PE on these flights (especially on the return flight). But what do you think my chances are please? Thank you!