Airpoints member? Air New Zealand revamping travel perks system
Monday, 5 August 2024
Changes are coming to Air New Zealand Airpoints system from Thursday.
The website will be undergoing maintenance to make the changes from 10.30am Wednesday August 7 to 5.30pm Thursday August 8.
Airpoints will not be able to be used during the outage and balances won’t be viewable.
Changes are coming to the Air New Zealand frequent flyers programme, Airpoints from Thursday August 8.
An email sent to Airpoints members on Monday said the airline was “aiming to launch some important Airpoint changes” including a new online experience to view members’ Airpoints activity, benefits and membership information.
“This is part of our journey to create an even more rewarding travel experience for you,” the email read.
The changes include simplifying the tier review dates for Silver, Gold or Elite members by combining it with the end of membership date. Doing so removes the up-to-six-week wait to use membership benefits after it has been achieved.
To bring in these changes, the Air New Zealand Airpoints website will be under maintenance between 10:30am on Wednesday August 7 and 5:30pm on Thursday August 8. During this time some website and Air NZ app functionality will be unavailable.
Customers will still be able to log into the Air New Zealand website, however they will not be able to view their Airpoints activity, Airpoints Dollars and Status Points balances on the Air NZ app.
Check-in and access to digital boarding passes on the app will be unaffected, as will using the digital Airpoints card and earning Airpoints Dollars and Status Points. They will take two to four days after the scheduled maintenance to appear on a member’s account, however.
Airpoint Dollars will not be able to be spent during this time, including on flights.
New flight bookings or changes made during this downtime may take one to two days to be reflected online. The airline advised passengers travelling during the downtime to check the Air NZ app or their booking email for confirmation.
The airline said applications for an upgrade need to be done before the maintenance time too. Any prior upgrade requests will be processed as normal.
Kiwibank Airpoints earning credit card holders will temporarily need to contact Air NZ to top-up on Airpoints Dollars.
In March, Stuff Travel obtained a list of perks Air New Zealand was considering for its frequent flyers programme and surveyed its top-tier members.
One idea was being able to check in your bags from home. The survey explained flyers could 'choose a pick-up slot at a time that's convenient for you up to 24 hours before your flight, and we'll collect from your home, hotel or office and check it in for you.'
Another perk members were asked about is a 'fly home sooner' option - allowing travellers to change their flight to an earlier one free of charge. This was being considered alongside free regional parking.
The airline also asked for feedback on the idea of skipping the baggage carousel and being able to pick up checked bags beside the aircraft on regional routes.
Most of those potential perks would be for Gold or Gold Elite flyers.