Koru Club benefits - still worth it for occasional international travel only?

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Talkiet

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Topic # 123451 8-Jul-2013 15:31

I just got my renewal reminder for Koru membership and in the last year I've watched as stuff is taken away from the benefit and the price has gone up. Combined with not traveling as much I'm unsure if it's worth it to me still...

National travel benefits such as choosing seat are now nickel and dime addons anyway so I could pay for those for far less than the amount I would spend for a membership.

Free wifi is available in Wellington and Chch airports now - is there any free in Akl?

Questions:

For occasional international travel, is it generally easily possible to buy one off lounge accesses?

What else have I forgotten about that Koru gives me that I couldn't just buy on a trip by trip basis?

Cheers - N

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Reply # 850936 8-Jul-2013 15:36

Koru is becoming less and less appealing these days, it is still good to have but may not represent good value to others

Talkiet

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Reply # 850937 8-Jul-2013 15:38

That's where I'm at... Nice to have, but not actually of any real benefit :-)

ajobbins

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Reply # 850938 8-Jul-2013 15:40

I've never had any trouble buying one off passes. Cost is $55 each. They generally only wont sell you one if the lounge is full.

Of course that doesn't get you the other benefits of Koru like access to Space+ seats, extra baggage, priority check in etc.

Personally, I think Koru is crap compared to Qantas Club

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khull

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Reply # 850951 8-Jul-2013 15:50

let us hope there are some AirNZ employees around to read this

Zeon

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Reply # 850953 8-Jul-2013 15:51

So what were the benefits of koru membership, how much did it cost and what has been going from it?

khull

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Reply # 850972 8-Jul-2013 16:00

http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/koru

Not a lot really - I'm in the group that can easily afford it due to corporate memberships but I don't see why I would want to even at the reduced rate

ajobbins

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Reply # 850977 8-Jul-2013 16:06

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I considered it a couple of years ago when I was travelling domestically 1-2 times a month.

Even at that rate, I wasn't even going to make Airpoints Silver in a year, let alone Gold needed for complimentary membership, so buying would have been he only option.

Had I kept doing that, it probably would have been worth it. Instead, I just moved cities to Auckland where I was travelling to anyway.

The food in Koru really is terrible, tho. At least in the Qantas Club you get bacon, eggs and hash browns for breakfast.

[Mod (N8): Fixed typo]

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Reply # 850978 8-Jul-2013 16:07

Auckland has wifi too.

I still like to have it, especially flying domestically. Rock up and have breakfast and a latte, read the paper while you wait for the plane. Makes the early morning flights easier than if you have to eat at home first. Chill in the lounge with a beer before leaving at night, also a nice experience. The space+ seats are good too.

if you have a BNZ or ANZ platinum airpoints credit card then the annual fee is only like $350 which makes it good value.
http://www.anz.co.nz/personal/credit-cards/airpoints-visa-platinum/
https://www.bnz.co.nz/personal-banking/credit-cards/globalplus-cards/globalplus-platinum-visa

if you travel internationally with kids, then it can be hugely worth it. Even for only one trip!

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Talkiet

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Reply # 850980 8-Jul-2013 16:08

khull: http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/koru

Not a lot really - I'm in the group that can easily afford it due to corporate memberships but I don't see why I would want to even at the reduced rate

Yeah - I have it at corporate rate as well, and the $[discounted rate] isn't the barrier... It's just that I can't justify spending money one something with so few remaining exclusive benefits.

I think I'm talking myself out of it. I'll live with the allocated horrible seats for national and save my few hundred dollars a year to make my international travel more bearable with on demand lounge passes...

Cheers - N

ajobbins

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Reply # 850984 8-Jul-2013 16:12

Talkiet:I think I'm talking myself out of it. I'll live with the allocated horrible seats for national and save my few hundred dollars a year to make my international travel more bearable with on demand lounge passes...

The other benefit is that you are then free to choose whichever airline has the best deal at the time. If another airline has a special, you can go with them instead. Most airlines give you the ability to buy a pass for their lounge in some form or another.

In the case of Qantas, they don't sell passes directly, but you can buy guest passes on eBay for about $25-30 a visit. I don't travel enough to justify a membership - any I often choose the airline that has the best deal, so ad-hoc passes works out cheaper for me - and it's more flexible.

With Air NZ, if you are on a flight that offers Works Deluxe, that is also an option that gives you basically the ground benefits of Business Class (Premium check in, lounge access, extra checked bag, priority boarding etc) as well as a premium economy seat, but closer to the economy price than the business price.

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myfullflavour

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Reply # 850986 8-Jul-2013 16:16

Wouldn't bother with a Koru membership....

It's too easy to get Air NZ gold status as it is and that includes global lounge access including NZ Koru.

Talkiet

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Reply # 851010 8-Jul-2013 16:33

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I think I'll let it lapse and if I need it before my next trip I'll just get this...

https://www.americanexpress.com/nz/content/airnz-credit-card/

$200 airpoints, a free national return flight, Koru joining fee waived and a $145 discount on Koru membership is a better deal than continuing my current corporate membership.

Cheers - N

chiefie

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Reply # 851012 8-Jul-2013 16:35

I haven't bother to renew my Koru membership as it has elapsed at the end of June. I don't travel domestically much anymore - we have dogs - and decided to focus our finance in other area where the money is much needed.

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Reply # 851033 8-Jul-2013 17:05

ajobbins: I considered it a couple of years ago when I was travelling domestically 1-2 times a month.

Even at that rate, I wasn't even going to make Airpoints Silver in a year, let alone Gold needed for complimentary membership, so buying would have been he only option.

Had I kept doing that, it probably would have been worth it. Instead, I just moved cities to Auckland where I was travelling to anyway.

The food in Koru really is terrible, tho. At least in the Qantas Club you get bacon, eggs and has browns for breakfast.

Air NZ have taken the opposite approach. By having a semi cold Frittata in Koru that doesn't taste great you're less likely to pack on the pounds!

People do need to remember Air NZ's domestic and short haul is one of a LCC, not a full service carrier.

chiefie

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Reply # 851082 8-Jul-2013 18:15

Talkiet: I think I'll let it lapse and if I need it before my next trip I'll just get this...

https://www.americanexpress.com/nz/content/airnz-credit-card/

$200 airpoints, a free national return flight, Koru joining fee waived and a $145 discount on Koru membership is a better deal than continuing my current corporate membership.

Cheers - N

I would thought the AMEX CC application be hard to get? Or the barrier to apply is lowered.

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