Straight up, we’ll admit that Air New Zealand’s Airpoints program may not be ‘priority one’ for many international travellers. After all, the ways in which members earn and spend Airpoints Dollars are akin to the entire program being based around ‘any seat’ awards. But there’s one redemption option to be aware of.
That’s using Airpoints Dollars to book flights not with Air New Zealand itself but with its partner airlines. While bookings on Air New Zealand mirror the cash price of the same ticket, with partners, the rates are fixed. Instead, the Airpoints Dollars required only vary based on cabin class and distance flown. Commercial ticket price doesn’t come into it at all.
Certainly, that brings a little bit of complexity. Partner airline flights are subject to reward seat availability, which many other frequent flyers may already be used to. Although Airpoints members are traditionally trained to know that their Dollars can be redeemed on any flight, once you’ve got your head around it, there’s some very good value to be had. Here’s what we mean.
Attractive ways to spend Airpoints Dollars on partners
Because the Airpoints program uses a simplistic and transparent currency, it’s easy to compare value when it comes to booking flights. In that respect, you know exactly how much you’re ‘paying’ every time you book a flight.
For example, a one-way Business Class flight on Air Canada or United Airlines from Australia to North America clocks in at 1,520 Airpoints Dollars. Even though taxes and fees are still payable, it’s clear from the numbers that this type of booking is quite a good deal. In effect, you’re forgoing $1,520 in credit towards an Air New Zealand fare of the same price, in exchange for a Business Class seat worth much more.
In fact, using Airpoints Dollars to book long flights at the front of the plane is really the best way to go. Here’s another example. Through Star Alliance, Air New Zealand is also partnered with Thai Airways. And Thai could fly you from Australia to London via Bangkok. Departing Sydney, you’d need 2,470 Airpoints Dollars for a one-way ticket to London. For a return journey, you’d double that figure.
Sure, 4,940 in Airpoints Dollars is no small ask. But Thai Airways doesn’t levy any carrier charges on partner reward bookings. It only levies the genuine taxes. And if you were to buy a Business Class ticket outright with dollars, Thai’s fares start at around $9,400 return on the same route. Once you take out the taxes you’d pay on the reward booking, you’re still ahead in value by around $4,000. Overall, that’s around $9,000 in value, from less than 5,000 in Airpoints Dollars.
Of course, if you’d used 4,940 in Airpoints Dollars towards an Air New Zealand flight, you’d literally have saved the same amount – $4,940. As you can see, there’s an opportunity to be had when flying with partners.
Reward flights with Air New Zealand’s network of partners can sometimes be made online, depending upon routing and connections. Or, where the partner or route isn’t supported for online bookings, reservations can be made by phone.
The pain points of partner airline bookings through Airpoints
It pays to be aware of a few pitfalls when redeeming Airpoints Dollars on Air New Zealand’s partner airlines. Some of these distinctions even confused me at first when diving further into the program.
For starters, the Airpoints redemption table for partner airline flights is based in kilometres, not miles. This makes it quite easy to miscalculate how many Airpoints Dollars you’d need, just based on habit. Sydney to Los Angeles is 7,488 miles in distance – so you might look at Airpoints’ table and think, ‘yay, only 950 Airpoints Dollars to book’. But in metric measurements, the distance is 12,051km – the most costly band on the table. Speaking of tables, keep this one handy:
Add to that, Airpoints’ reward rates are charged per sector, not per journey. This means ‘Sydney to London via Bangkok’ isn’t just one charge at the highest rate. You pay for the distance from Sydney to Bangkok, and separately, the distance from Bangkok to London – even if both flights are on a single ticket.
It’s also worth noting that Airpoints uses different tables depending on where the member lives. The table above – and the figures quoted in this story – are for members based in Australia. Those living in New Zealand will follow a separate table, which requires slightly fewer Airpoints Dollars. This mainly just reflects the difference in value between the cash currencies of these two countries. But it’s still something to be aware of.
When it comes to bookings on Virgin Atlantic, flying Premium Economy strangely costs you the ‘Business Class’ rate in the table. And when you book Upper Class (the airline’s Business Class cabin), you’ll be charged at Airpoints’ higher First Class rate. In other words, try to avoid booking Virgin Atlantic through Airpoints unless you have no other option.
Don’t forget too, buying a cash ticket will sometimes be more economical. Especially so for a short hop. Given the shortest partner flights require 120 Airpoints Dollars, plus taxes and fees, you may find it cheaper to just buy a ticket.
How to earn Airpoints Dollars in Australia
If the Airpoints program could suit your travel needs, you’ll find it surprisingly easy to earn Airpoints Dollars. The simplest path for many will be to convert credit card points into Airpoints Dollars. This is possible from a number of Australian card rewards programs:
- American Express Membership Rewards: 200 points = 1 Airpoints Dollar
- ANZ Rewards: 200 points = 1 Airpoints Dollar
- NAB Rewards: 200 points = 1 Airpoints Dollar
- Star Alliance Rewards (HSBC): 125 Star Alliance Points = 1 Airpoints Dollar
- Westpac Altitude Rewards: 180 points = 1 Airpoints Dollar
Also keep your eyes peeled for any sharp sign-up offers. Like other points earned through plastic, these bonus points could become Airpoints Dollars too.
NAB Rewards Signature
- Sign-up Bonus:
- Up to 110,000 bonus NAB Rewards Points
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- Earn 1.5 NAB Rewards Points per $1 spent on everyday purchases up to $15,000 per statement period, then 0.5 NAB Rewards Points for every $1 spent, uncapped thereafter
- Annual Fee:
- $35 monthly fee, which is reversed when you spend $5,000 or more in a statement period.
- The NAB Rewards Signature Card is offering up to 110,000 bonus NAB Rewards Points¹ for new cardholders. It’s the highest points-earning card in the NAB Rewards range², with no international transaction fees on eligible purchases. The card also includes a Delayed Flight Lounge Pass, giving you complimentary access to an airport lounge at selected locations if your domestic or international flight is delayed by 60 minutes or more⁴.
Still, it pays to weigh up all your options and consider the alternatives. From the same programs, you might find that it’s better value to book flights through other Star Alliance programs instead. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is a popular alternative to Airpoints, although the conversion rates from some partners have become less generous over the past year.
Also read: The pros and cons of Amex’s 14 points transfer partners
Feature image courtesy of Thai Airways.
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I just had a look and Amex is showing 150:1 MR – APD
If so, this makes it one of the cheapest redemptions across the ditch (if you can find star alliance availability)…. I think?
According to the Rewards chart – 285 pts SYD – NZ vs Velocity 35 500 pts
Ie.
Business – Velocity needs 35 500 x 2 MR points = 71 000 MR points
Business – AirNZ is 285×150 = 42750 MR points
But I’m guessing availability doesn’t exist?
Hi Chris, I rang Air Nz on Friday and they said that booking partner reward flights is not available from Australia.
When I click on your link above it says:
Not available
Partner Airline reward flights are not available for your country.
I would love to be able to use Airpoints for a partner flight – I find Air NZ airpoints program to be so disappointing.
thank you so much for the great stories.
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your experience. As Air New Zealand publishes a reward chart specifically for Australian members and bookings, it could be a matter of just calling again and trying to get somebody who knows how it’s done under the specific Australian reward table. Air New Zealand would be in violation of its agreements with Star Alliance if it were to prevent all partner reward bookings, because one requirement of being an alliance member with Star is being able to ticket a reward seat that is made available on a partner carrier, wherever in the world that may be (even if it can’t be done online and requires a call).
Have tried several times to ring Air nz call centre, from nz to try and book award space showing on other star alliance programs. They always claim they can’t see anything different to what you can see on their portal. Believe me I’ve tried over the last decade. There are sometimes intra Europe premium awards but I’ve yet to see any meaningful long haul partner premium award space via air nz.
In saying that I’m going to try and ring them in the next few days and see if they can see space showing on the likes of Aeroplan and united. I’ve got elite status as well.
Reward chart looks good but there are rarely any partner premium awards available on air nz partner portal. Even if space is showing on other star alliance loyalty programmes. There has been extensive discussion on FT as to why this is. Some commenters surmising that air nz is actually holding back partner award space deliberately. There is one word for the air nz airpoints program – opaque.
What date can you find availability for Sydney to London via Bangkok?
Hi Mat, thanks for your question. As with any airline, reward seat availability can vary, and changes frequently. In general, Business Class reward flights on Thai Airways can be a little easier to find between Australia and Bangkok than between Bangkok and London, but both are available on various dates over the coming year (verified again this morning). Because Airpoints charges for reward flights per sector, there’s no need to combine them as a through connection unless you choose to, meaning you could spend as long in Bangkok (or as little time as you wish) without spending extra Airpoints Dollars – subject to reward seat availability. The co-payments are also quite low, given that Thai Airways doesn’t levy carrier charges. Separate to the Airpoints Dollars required, cash payments for taxes and fees are about AU$109 from Sydney to Bangkok, and around AU$149 from Bangkok to London. If you need help in finding reward flights that suit your plans – including around specific dates – feel free to reach out through our new Point Hacks Concierge service for assistance.
Still a fairly expensive redemption the Aus – London clocking in at almost 500,000 MR points. In theory the same redemption could be had as low as 180K MR points through Qatar.
It always pays to check all your options when earning and converting points, as different programs can bring advantages to different bookings. The Qatar Airways Privilege Club rate you’ve mentioned is also generally just for Saver flights on Qatar metal using Qatar Avios (180k is flying return), whereas partner airline bookings through Qatar need more Avios (with the Airpoints rates quoted here all being for partner airline bookings, for a fairer comparison). On a pure ‘A to B’ and airline agnostic basis though, Qatar Airways Privilege is certainly quite competitive, especially with a 2:1 conversion rate from Amex.