frozenic3

Hi all,

I am currently a Gold member and after three return flights to Australia (all within March) I will reach Elite for the first time (I know it's not all that different from G, but am excited nonetheless!).

I currently have my two RU's pending (from Y to J) on the final leg (SIN-AKL) of a long-haul trip (AKL-LAX-LHR-DXB-SIN-AKL) which is in late-April/early-May. These RU's were obviously submitted as a Gold member but will be Elite before I depart on this trip.

My query relates to whether it would put me in a stronger position to call Air NZ once I hit Elite and ask them to cancel my RUs and return them to me, so I can then request the upgrades again in the hope that this will improve my chances in them being successful? I believe there is a timeliness hierarchy and that the earlier you get these in the better (I've always thought this must be like a tiered queue system) but regardless of this, surely given the Elite RU requests get looked at first this is going to be the way to go.

Secondary to the above, I was also reading about the Elite APD upgrades and interpret these to operate in a similar way to RU's do (in the sense that they are a request and not guaranteed) - is this correct?
I ask the question above as I am booked to fly Y+ (PE) on the AKL-LAX leg but if I was able to get an Elite APD upgrade for my final leg (SIN-AKL) then I would just split my RU's across both the first and final leg (instead of both on the final leg to upgrade 2 classes) to request the move from Y+ (PE) to J for both.

I hope the above makes sense, and thanks in advance for your help!

Thanks

nzkarit

If you cancel a pending gold RU after moving to elite it will be lost, it won't be returned. Similarly if doesn't get accepted it will be lost as well.

Thai-Kiwi

As above:

- Gold RUs unused will be lost when hitting Gold Elite
- Once you make Gold Elite (qual date), the status effective date occurs a few weeks later - it isn't 'instant'
- You'll get your 2x RU, 1x SH RU, and the other hotel/parking guff at the effective date, not at qualification
- Gold RUs lodged before you make Elite for a future date will either clear or will be lost
- Elite $AP Upgrades are treated for all intents the same as RUs. It is a massive availability 'lottery', especially if you fave fixed dates
- Elite can call to check for availability of upgrade classes (R for bixz, A for PE) - useful if you have date flexibility, otherwise 'meh'
- Finally, It seems that RUs lodged when Gold are treated still as if having Gold status and cannot be cleared in advance even though you hit Elite - my sister experienced this. Other have reported similar. It may vary.

So, no point to cancel the current RUs you have lodged as they won't exist when you are Gold Elite. Or just throw the Gold RUs away and use your new Gold elite RUs - providing the effective date happens before you travel. Depends if you have other upcoming travel...

This means once Elite you can lodge an RU or EAPDU for the AKL-LAX. If there is availability it'll clear immediately, otherwise you are in the lottery, just with better odds than Gold/Silver.

frozenic3

Ah, yes of course. I totally overlooked the aspect that they would no longer exist.

I've got a return trip to MEL in Y class between now and when I will be Elite - I'm now wondering if I cancel the current RU's that I've got in place for SIN-AKL, attempt to use both of those RU's on the AKL-MEL-AKL trip (last trip I'm able to use before they 'disappear'), then lodge either a RU or EAPDU for both the AKL-LAX and the SIN-AKL. I'm thinking this might be the best plan to make the most of them...?

Thai-Kiwi

Could be, depends on your forward travel plans.
Burning RUs to MEL is poor use if you have other flights, but if not then sure.

Suggest calling AirNZ to check R availability on all the sectors you want to upgrade.

sbiddle

I presume you don't realise you can only upgrade one cabin with an APD upgrade vs two with RUs? So you'll be sitting in PE vs BP if it worked out?

frozenic3

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I had another query: I have an RU currently in for a flight on 28 Apr that was lodged whilst Gold (from PE to BP), and will move up a tier to Elite in late-March. My question is, am I able to lodge a EAPDU if this RU does not clear? I suppose the problem is that this may clear/be declined until I'm at the gate, right? Is there any way to know beforehand? Also, is there any set of circumstances where if a Gold RU does not clear, that an EAPDU will clear post-this?

nzkarit

By the time the RU doesn't clear will be too late for the EAPDU as the seats will be full.

At t-7 you will be Elite so the RU should be processed at elite priority

Thai-Kiwi

At T-7, the RU should rank above Gold/Silver member upgrades lodged, but won’t necessarily clear at that point.

In situations before T-7, Elites that have lodged RUs should have them cleared in advance automatically by the robot if upgrade class subsequently becomes available. However, my sister was told that her RU submitted when she was Gold, would not be considered for clearing in advance despite making Elite before the date of travel as it was “a Gold RU, not an Elite RU”.

So essentially AirNz were saying that RUs have a tag that relates to status when the RU was assigned to the member, and that the upgrade robot will ignore those tagged Silver/Gold even if the member is now an Elite when the upgrade is being considered.

Somebody else posted a similar experience.