Airpoints Programme Bolsters Generosity for Members

Media release
19 November 2013

Airpoints Programme Bolsters Generosity for Members

Air New Zealand’s 1.4 million Airpoints members will now earn Airpoints Dollars on every regularly available fare and can look forward to enjoying several million more Airpoints Dollars every year following changes announced today.

The changes follow the most comprehensive review of the Airpoints programme in a decade, which included seeking feedback from tens of thousands of members. Significant analysis was also carried out to recalibrate earning rates so that Airpoints Dollars and Status Points earned more fairly reflect the fare paid. Analysis has been reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Key changes include:
• Airpoints Dollars now to be earned on every regularly available fare
(excludes last minute grabaseat greenlight fares through grabaseat.co.nz and tickets purchased using Airpoints Dollars)
• Higher Airpoints Dollar earning rates on 62% of all airfares
• Regional, domestic and trans-Tasman travellers will be better recognised, with 78% of all Smart Saver and Flexi fare classes on these routes offering higher Status Point earning rates
• Airpoints Dollar and Status Point earning when flying on partner airlines will be easier to understand
• A new Airpoints website available from today offering a significantly enhanced user experience and optimised for viewing on tablet devices

The majority of changes will take effect on 31 March 2014.

Air New Zealand Head of Customer Loyalty Mark Street says members enjoyed more than 600,000 flights over the past year using their Airpoints Dollars for any seat on any Air New Zealand flight and that number is expected to increase as a result of these changes.

“The new earn rates for Airpoints Dollars and Status Points will better recognise and reward passengers’ travel with Air New Zealand, particularly on short haul routes where they felt earning rates didn’t recognise their spend across the fare classes – and we agreed.

“Adjusting earn rates means higher earning rates on many fares, particularly for short haul travellers while fewer Airpoints Dollars will be earned on certain cheaper fares, but overall we expect Airpoints members to earn several million more Airpoints Dollars each year.

“With this reset of the programme to bring it into line with the airline’s current product and route network, many regional and domestic jet passengers in particular will find themselves earning Status Points towards their next tier up to 55% faster.

“Overall, these changes result in a much fairer reward and recognition system as they are directly linked to value of the fare paid,” says Mr Street.

Other airline loyalty programmes have one blanket earning rate for a group of fare classes that individually may range in cost by several hundred dollars, whereas Airpoints Dollar and Status Point earning rates will now be aligned to each fare class.

There’s also good news for members of the renamed Elite membership tier (previously Gold Elite) who will receive an additional complimentary upgrade each membership year for use specifically on short haul routes across the Tasman and to the Pacific Islands. This is in addition to the existing two free Recognition Upgrades redeemable across the whole Air New Zealand international network.

“In addition, our top spending individual customers can look forward to a personal invitation from Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon to be part of an exclusive Elite Priority One annual membership that will provide them a range of additional benefits and dedicated personal travel support services, details of which will be revealed to those members in the new year,” says Mr Street.

Airpoints members signed up to receive information are today being notified of these and other changes via email. Full details of the changes can be found at www.airnz.co.nz/airpoints.

Ends

Note: Earning rate analysis was based on actual flights taken for the 12 months between July 2012 and June 2013.

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