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The Air New Zealand Airpoints frequent flyer program offers loyal customers a wide range of perks and rewards, including the ability to earn and redeem Airpoints Dollars.
As with most frequent flyer programs, the fastest way to earn points is through flights with Air New Zealand and its airline partners, including those in the Star Alliance network.
As a member of the Air New Zealand Airpoints program, you’ll be able to earn Airpoints for a wide range of travel and everyday spending. There are five key ways you can earn Air New Zealand Airpoints:
These options vary depending on where you’re from, so we’ve outlined the details for Australian members below.
The Airpoints frequent flyer program offers points for flights with Air New Zealand and 30 airline partners. This includes Star Alliance airlines such as Air Canada, Singapore Airlines and United, as well as “co-operation partners” including Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia.
The number of Airpoints Dollars you earn is calculated based on the airline you fly with, the length of the flight and the booking class that’s booked and flown. The Airpoints website provides calculators that allow you to see how many potential points you’ll earn for each flight, and flights with Air New Zealand have the greatest potential for Airpoints Dollars.
For example, a one-way flight from Sydney to Auckland would earn 3–6 Airpoints Dollars for a basic economy seat, and 50–76 Airpoints for a business class seat. The same flight with Virgin Australia would only earn 5–20 Airpoints Dollars.
There are a number of rewards credit cards in Australia that allow you to transfer points to your Airpoints account. This gives you a way to indirectly earn more Airpoints Dollars through your everyday spending.
You can check out the current credit card partners and relevant point transfer rates in the table below. We’ve also included a column to show how many Airpoints you’d earn per $1,000 spent on an eligible card.
Credit card rewards program | Point transfer rate | Airpoints per $1,000 spend |
---|---|---|
American Express Membership Rewards | 100 Membership Rewards = 1 Airpoints Dollar | 10 Airpoints Dollars |
American Express David Jones Rewards | 200 David Jones American Express Points = 1 Airpoints Dollar | 5 Airpoints Dollars |
ANZ Rewards | 200 points = 1 Airpoints Dollar | 5 Airpoints Dollars |
NAB Rewards | 200 NAB Rewards points = 1 Airpoints Dollar | 5 Airpoints Dollars |
Westpac Altitude Rewards | 160 Altitude Rewards = 1 Airpoints Dollar | 6.25 Airpoints Dollars (Note that only full Airpoints Dollars may be credited to your account) |
To put these transfer rates into perspective further, let’s say you spent an average of $12,000 per year on your credit card. If you transferred all your reward points into Airpoints, you would earn between 60 and 120 Airpoints Dollars for the year.
In some cases, the value of the Airpoints could be outweighed by the reward card’s annual fee. So before choosing a credit card to earn more Airpoints, make sure you consider the potential value of the rewards and any other features to decide if they’ll outweigh the costs of the card.
The Air New Zealand Airpoints program has a range of hotel partners that allow you to earn points for bookings. These include:
In general, you’ll either earn Airpoints based on the amount that you spend or a set rate of Airpoints per stay. For example, the Hilton Honors portfolio of hotels offers 1 Airpoints Dollar per USD$20 spent, while Starwood Hotels offers 40 Airpoints per stay in Australia and New Zealand or 20 Airpoints per stay anywhere else in the world.
It’s recommended that you refer to individual hotel partners for details of how to earn Airpoints and the amount of points you’ll be eligible for per stay. In some cases you may have to be a member of the hotel’s loyalty program or quote your Airpoints membership number, so make sure you check before booking to ensure you get your points.
Airpoints has two car hire partners: Avis and Budget. With either company, you’ll get a flat rate of 2.5 Airpoints Dollars per rental day on eligible leisure and contracted-rate rentals.
So, as an example, if you hired a car for 7 days with either Avis or Budget, you could earn 17.5 Airpoints Dollars. All you have to do to earn these points is book through the Air New Zealand website and quote your Airpoints membership number. Points will then be calculated and credited once the transaction has been completed.
While Airpoints doesn’t have as many shopping partners as some other frequent flyer programs (such as Qantas or Velocity), it does allow you to earn points for spending at the following stores:
Make sure you also keep the following details in mind so that you can decide if earning more Air New Zealand Airpoints is worth it for you.
The Air New Zealand Airpoints program offers several ways to earn points both in the sky and on the ground. While most of the current program partners offer points for travel-related spending, it’s also possible to earn more on everyday spending with a rewards credit card. Just make sure you weigh up your options and the potential costs beforehand so that you can get the biggest bang for your buck.
Picture: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock
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