Velocity and my trip to NZ

[sydstar]

Learned AFF members....this may be more of a 'crystal ball' question but any advice is appreciated.

I'm off to the Rugby World Cup in NZ later this year. Price is a major constraint for me on this trip, so a few sacrifices have to be made, including flights (love being a poor student )

Anyways, my question is this....

Trip over has booked on DJ

My trip back will be AKL-SYD. For the dates I am looking at travelling, NZ is the cheapest, followed by DJ and then QF. (I'm still investigating the LA OMG departure!!)

I don't hold any FF with *A and don't see a need to currently. If I was to book with NZ, would there be a reasonable chance of having some form of points credit into Velocity? Obviously FF points is not *that* important, however, a nice thing to gain. All the publications I've seen so far from DJ state 'mid-2011' for recipriocal benefits, so would it be fair to say there is a chance? I've seen NZ fares for around A$160 when the likes of DJ and QF are charing $250-350.

I am QP, however, is QP entry worth the extra $100+ when I'm on a tight budget? I don't know if I can justify it for this trip

So, should I go ahead and book NZ, hoping Velocity has the tie-up complete by October?

 

[anat0l]

You on a real tight budget?

In which or in any case, $100 just to get access to the QP isn't worth it. Unless you can seriously drink / eat $100 worth of stuff (doubt it), i.e. you would spend this much in the terminal (again, doubt it).

If money is a concern, go with the cheapest. If the NZ/Virgin tie up happens in time, count your blessings and enjoy!

Additional info - check your fares on DJ and NZ and make sure you either don't need checked luggage, or they are included in the quoted fares. Not that additional charges for bags should make or break the whole decision (based on your quoted prices, anyway).

As for crediting your NZ fare, if it is the bottom-of-the-barrel cheapest fares NZ have to offer, you may have to pray to the Gods to get some credit with DJ. Unless DJ have negotiated a really sweet unprecedented deal with NZ, the cheapest fares on NZ rarely give you any credits. For example, on NZ's own Airpoints program, the cheapest Tasman fares (Smart Savers) only give you status points and no redeemable credit. For other Star Alliance FF programs, Smart Savers give you absolutely nothing! I guess something is better than nothing, though.....

 

[trooper]

What he said!

I would personally assume that the cheap NZ fares will continue to credit nada to ANY other program... and just book whatever suits the timetable and budget....

Hey... have a great trip! :mrgreen:

 

[JB007]

I am not sure how this can be done as I am trying to do it myself with no real luck but:

Etihad and Air NZ just signed a codeshare agreement which means that the EY code is now on several Air NZ flights from SYD, MEL and BNE to AKL, CHC and WLG.

If you can get access to these EY flights, it will be on Air NZ metal but with an EY code therefore should be eligible for Velocity points and Status at EY rates.

The catch being I don't know how to access these flights. The Etihad site won't let me book MEL > AKL and obviously the Air NZ site only displays the Air NZ flight codes.

If you have any luck, let me know as I will be looking to do the same thing later in the year