Silver to Gold
 

I'm just about to move from Silver to Gold for the first time :D. I've just gone over 900 points and my status on the website has changed to "Pending tier status: Gold". I have a few questions:

• It says on the website that this will become effective within the next 7 business days. In the real world, does this mean 2-3 days, or is 7 days more likely?
• Why isn't it instant? I understand that printing a new card and luggage tags takes some time, but I don't see why all the soft stuff like RUs and Koru aren't processed as soon as the threshold is reached.
• When I am cleared as Gold, will I be able to do Seat Select for free on the flights I already have booked? And will it open up the frequent flyer seats at the front of the aircraft?

7 business days for status to take hold in NZ - and where the apps updates to show the status. You should be able to use lounge and apply RU after that

6-8 weeks for your cards to show up, really up to 4 weeks before propagation to *A.

It is all done through batch jobs and old technology processes.

Hope you used up your Silver RU , otherwise it is sunk

Forward cabin seats will open up for NZ flights only

Congratulations! Free lounge access!

It hasn't been that long since I was silver but I don't remember that level of detail you're requesting. I think my status seemed to update quickly but I was between flights so not really too concerned. The bag tags don't matter too much unless you're using fast bag on the props which I love. I'm sure you'll be able to book FF seating once your status changes from previous flights booked. Yes it will open FF seating at the fore which are worth it if you're tall or you value getting off the aircraft quickly and there is no rear boarding.

Agree with dadig - if you're silver and haven't used your RU please apply it asap! I had no idea I was "losing it" rather than gaining an extra RU for gold until I read this forum.

First - congratulations
Last time I went from silver to gold, in April last year, it took at least seven days for the app to update. And no bags tags or card for maybe a couple of months. Very frustrating. However when I went from gold to elite (on Sunday) the app updated in two days (yesterday, aka Tuesday). I have the same message as you got about the cards etc. but it has less of an effect on me as my gold cards have the same effect.
Not sure why it takes so long.
The seat select etc. should open up as soon as your gold status is cleared.
Heed the note about your silver recognition upgrade. If you haven't used it already and don't request it before the change to gold is confirmed then you have lost it. They are worth it, and I lost two before I worked it out. Don't be as uninformed as I was.

I've not attempted clearing long haul RU's unless R class is available during booking prior. The risk is too high to be stuck

Things take time.

It's also important to note the qualification date (which will become your requalification date for the future) is never the date you get the benefits from. You will likely see your benefits from the 1st of February and your year for status will be until the end of January 2018.

My elite requalification date was about 10 days ago but I won't get my RUs and new card until the start of Feb.

At a guess I'd say that going from NZ*G to NZ*E is just a simple one-liner changed in the NZ database as it doesn't enhance your status on other airlines vs. propagating your new status to the entire Star Alliance that you are now Gold which, as someone earlier said, is probably done in batch jobs periodically and takes some time for systems to update.

My wife recently went over 900 points on a flight from Singapore to Auckland on Singapore airlines, the next day she completed her journey to Queenstown.
The 28 SP for the AKL/ZQN leg were posted before the 120SP for the Singapore Airlines flight so her requalification date became the date the latter SP were posted and she has lost the 28SP which were earned after the date she actually earned Gold status as they do not show as counting towards requalification.
I have sent two emails to Air NZ which have not been replied to does anyone think I am correct that these should count in the next period or am I wrong as the T's and C's don't clarify the situation.
My daughter ended up 2SP short of Elite on the same flight but that is another story!!!

You don't get rollover points on Silver or Gold. These points are effectively lost.

I appreciate you do not get rollover points on silver or gold but because the points earned were not entered in the account in the order in which they were earned is that a correct reason to loose them?

It makes no difference because I'm assuming (because this is pretty much the only scenario this issue will happen) is that both flights were on the same PNR.

I've read where people have had 100's of SP lost due to tipping over status tiers changes. It is a balancing act to make sure that you don't encounter this situation by doing controlled status runs in between tier status changes.

I lost a number of points because the United flights were seen as a continuation of the NZ flights when I went over the qualification level, even though the flights were on separate bookings.

Air NZ earn is always same direction journey based.

Going back to my original post...
I received an email today entitled "Congratulations On Your Tier Upgrade" confirming Gold status (woo hoo). It took six working days (or possibly five if you count the Wellington Anniversary).

The email said this...
"Your new membership pack will be with you in the next few weeks, but in the meantime we wanted to let you know of the additional benefits your new tier status provides, which are available to you immediately."

I'll try to remember to update the post when my membership pack arrives.