Air New Zealand wishes to advise changes to its Airpoints programme to better recognise and reward passengers’ travel with Air New Zealand.

Airpoints Dollars will now be earned on every regularly available fare and members can look forward to enjoying several million more Airpoints Dollars every year – with the majority of changes taking effect for sales & travel from 31 March 2014.

These changes follow the largest review of the Airpoints programme in a decade, which included seeking feedback from tens of thousands of members.

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).
Every fare class will now have its own Airpoints Dollars & Status points earning rate. These changes result in a much fairer reward and recognition system as they are directly linked to value of the fare paid.
Higher Airpoints Dollar earning rates on 62% of all airfares.
Recognising more regional, domestic and trans-Tasman travellers, with 78% of all Smart Saver and Flexi fare classes on these routes offering higher Status Point earning rates.
Easier to understand Airpoints Dollar and Status Point earning rates when flying on partner airlines.
A new Airpoints website available from today which is computer and tablet optimised and enables members to make the most of their benefits, track their status progress and manage upcoming flights with ease.
Gold Elite members provided with a third Recognition Upgrade for use specifically on short haul routes across the Tasman and to the Pacific Islands.
Our very top individual spenders 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.

Naming and branding changes will also be rolled out over the coming months:

Airpoints:

The name of the programme entry level for Members

Silver:

The first frequent flyer tier of the Airpoints programme (will continue to be recognised as they are today)

Gold:

Gold members will continue to be recognised as they are today

Elite:

Gold Elite will be rebranded to ‘Elite’. Providing a simplification of the current naming and representative of top tier status.

Elite “10”:

The number of years someone has been consecutively at Gold Elite will be recognised on their membership card – a subtle acknowledgment of tenure for everyone to see.

Elite Priority One:

Reserved for our top customers by invitation only (as outlined above)

Full details of the changes are available at www.airnz.co.nz/airpoints-news