Lpmnz

nzkarit

A lot will be VA pax who already had access to the lounges.

Mwenenzi

But after the AirNZ-VA impending divorce from 28 Oct some pax will/may not.
Air NZ are getting desperate.

https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/pres...codeshare-deal
Air NZ to codeshare with Qantas

RTWFF

Mrs RTWFF and I will be crossing the dutch in the next few months, so the upgrade certificates will come in handy I guess. But Airpoints is a very poor value programme IMHO

Xiaotung

Many VA pax who weren't familiar with Airpoints will now get a chance to experience what a poor programme this is. I think it will really open their eyes and shock them with the extremely low earn and extremely high burn rates compared to Velocity which they are used to. While they may enjoy the 2 free upgrades, I just can't see this programme capture their loyalty and retain them.

What they should do is really improve the competitiveness of the programme and revamp the structure of it. Unlike Kiwis, Australians have many choices.

sbiddle

If you're planning on doing this I'd get in quick.

I wrote about this last week when it was launched and was surprised it took so long for the Aussie sites to pick up on it. Know a number of people who submitted last week and were accepted same day. Obviously NZ won't keep this going for ever, so if they do have a threshold it'd pay to get in sooner rather than waiting!

sbiddle

But what should NZ do to make Airpoints "better"? Offer APD upgrades to everybody so they're even harder to get? Reduce SP thresholds or increase earn so everybody is Gold and there is absolutely nobody except your 1x per year flyer waiting at the gate because everybody else is in the lounge?

drajknox

nzkarit

If NZ had domestic competition things may changed to keep people. But currently they have a monopoly. Excluding JQ here, as doesn't offer a lounge etc.

If QF or VA returned to NZ, offered domestic lounges, etc we could see things change. Lounges wouldn't be more crowded as some people would be in the other lounge.

RUs work as on the whole there aren't too many, so actually can claim them. Though may be tweak the numbers e.g. in first year gold get 3 RUs as go silver then gold but in future years only get get two. Gold to Elite year get 4RUs (plus SH RU) but then just 2RUs (plus SH RU) in future years.

Likewise people can spend APD as they can just book any flight. Spending points on other airlines for the lay person seems far more complicated than just selecting a payment option.

nzkarit

We roughly know SP is a function of cost per seat vs what paid for seat. The Turboprops have a higher cost per seat and a high cost per seat. So to offer more SP on the Truboprops could increase the price to get a similar margin as do the A320s so could offer more SP for the flight. But then people would complain that the price is through the roof. PR wise they need to keep the regional costs down as the local MPs and people who don't care about SPs make more noise than the people who care about SP.

Trubo props between Wlg and Chc have some earn as they know they can get the load factor high enough, so the cost per seat is different to same distance to another town.

Or they could charge councils for minimum load factors or replace 3-4 ATRs with one A320 flight in the middle of the day (when doing hourly between AKL & WLG instead of the peak 30min interval)

edmm

I agree. the first thing to do would be to make the earning rates fair with earn related to spend (minus taxes for TT), there is no way that a GAS main-trunk should earn the same as or more than an expensive regional fare.

Apart from that everyone would want different things to improve the program. I wouldn't want more upgrades, I give them away to family or they go to waste. I certainly want less crowded lounges, and to that end I would suggest cutting guest numbers, although it would be unpopular with some. I certainly wouldn't allow children as guests over and above your normal allowance. I would also have a no-guest policy for the Auckland regional lounge, and for all lounges in busy times.
I would also recognise properly the number of years of Elite. There is no point in writing it (in a tiny font) on the card when it means nothing to Air NZ. For example you'd think that as an Elite for more than 10 years (or 5 years or 15 years, whatever) you could at least have a dedicated line to call and no call centre fees.
As I said, everyone would have different ideas, but it is time for Air NZ to start recognising and rewarding their most frequent flyers.

And, they could start giving Elites a gift at Christmas to say thanks for being a faithful customer...

sbiddle

I don't think you'd find anybody who disagrees with this.. Except Air NZ!

Xiaotung

I already said it and it includes improving earn/burn ratio. If the current programme structure is preventing it from happening then they need to change the structure. In order not to deviate from the topic, the programme needs to do more in Australia because a large portion of connecting traffic depends on it.

Your attitude seems to indicate you are probably pretty happy with Airpoints. While I don't understand why I will say it's not my personal opinion. It's general consensus that Airpoints is the worst FFP in the world.

Ellice

Xiaotung

I can understand why they are reluctant to do it as the partner rates are tremendously better than NZ's "any seat" for sale.

But earlier this year at the IATA meeting in Sydney, *A CEO said they want all members to bring this function online by the end of the year so let's see if it happens.