Koru Club - would you pay?

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rayonline

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#97664 19-Feb-2012 17:26

Hi there - let's say you don't travel frequently enough and it's not for work, would you pay for Koru Club?

The AirNZ Airpoints is rubbish, I could join one of the Asia programmes and get it with maybe 3x trips to Asia per 2 years and get free access. However I am quite flexible so grabaseat are such a better bargain.

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#583503 19-Feb-2012 18:04

Yes I would. Probably works out cheaper/more convenient than buying lunch/paying for internet each time.

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BlakJak

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#583507 19-Feb-2012 18:15

Auckland Airport now has a pay-for lounge for one-offs. $50 a pop. Suspect it depends on stress levels; the coupla hours of chillout time might be worthwhile, or they might not be worth $50.

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sbiddle

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#583514 19-Feb-2012 18:31

I guess you really have to answer the question of what you want to use the Koru club for, and whether that offers value for money. It's pretty easy to get access for ~$350 per year now.

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#583519 19-Feb-2012 18:34

get a bnz global plus credit card and you can get the koru for $380 a year or so. it entitles you to an extra bag, priority seat choice, priority luggage as well as lounges so it can be well worth it - and especially when you travel with kids

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#583520 19-Feb-2012 18:36

rayonline: The AirNZ Airpoints is rubbish, I could join one of the Asia programmes and get it with maybe 3x trips to Asia per 2 years and get free access. However I am quite flexible so grabaseat are such a better bargain.

you "could" get that, yes. but whether you "Can" is another story.

with other airlines, you can only get certain seats on certain flights and often they are unavailable. makes the points pretty worthless if they're not flexible.

with airnz points you can use them for any fare like you're using cash, you can also buy appliances or hotel rooms too if you're looking for another way to spend.

i'd certainly rate the airpoints program well above others i've been a member of

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rayonline

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#583526 19-Feb-2012 18:47

I thought if I get the cheap seats, they don't accrue points anyway - not even on AirNZ. Grabaseat prices are better than normal economy fares. They're under half price. $799s vs $1900 or maybe $1700.

If I wanted $799 APD on the AirNZ that's too hard to do. One return Asia trip only gets $80. For many yrs now I've only gotten maybe 1x return set to Auckland.

I thought that three hundred odd for just a few times might be on the pricey side.
When I depart from my home-city I'll probably won't use it. Just get to the airport 30mins before takeoff.

For my own travels, I got sick of carrying a travel pack and a daypack so for nearly 10yrs now I only have carry on baggage. I can also check out of the hotel and walk around without going back go get my stuff.

networkn

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#583533 19-Feb-2012 19:00

As a moderately frequent traveller I find it very useful.

BlakJak

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#583534 19-Feb-2012 19:07

I joined Koru when I was travelling a lot for work - 2-3 trips to the US East Coast every year. I got a discount through my employer but I footed the bill myself ($400, and got a second year free) and for that particular commute, it was a godsend (flying cattle-class across CONUS is awful).

Disadvantage: No lounge access outbound; was only able to use Koru lounges (Wellington, Auckland, Los Angeles - I was Wellington based at the time).

Advantage: Time waiting in transit in Auckland and in LA was actually useful; tethering wasn't widely done back them (~3 years ago) so Koru Wifi was great. The Food, Drink etc was also extremely handy on what was essentially a 28 hour trip each way.
Also the shower facilities at LA are great, especially after spending hours and hours mucking about ex Washington DC and surrounds... had usually been on the go for anywhere up to 10 hours by the time we got to LA.

So it does to some degree depend on what route you're flying - and how often - but $400pa (or more?) isn't worth it now (where I might fly domestically up to 3 or 4 times per year max.)

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freitasm

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#583544 19-Feb-2012 19:57

You can use partners' lounges in most international airports where Air New Zealand operates.

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BlakJak

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#583558 19-Feb-2012 20:24

freitasm: You can use partners' lounges in most international airports where Air New Zealand operates.

Not sure what it's like in APAC but in the USA I frequently found that whilst the above statement is probably true, it didn't apply anywhere except LAX. Perhaps SFO (can't remember, it's been a while). Not sure the partner value is there in the CONUS anyway. It may well be there elsewhere.

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rayonline

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#583562 19-Feb-2012 20:29

Ok. Looks like it might be worth it if I did 12 individual flights per year.

Is the food anything special - I could buy myself $50 lunch. ;)

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#583586 19-Feb-2012 21:16

$50 lunch, shower, decent seating in lounge, seating allocation on booking, extra bag, wifi?

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rayonline

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#583592 19-Feb-2012 21:28

Maybe for more freq trips I think. If free I take it but if I was paying ... I only carry a daypack these days to simplify my travels. Have done so for 10yrs now. As for seating, I just pick a aisle seat, after the booking they let you choose.

I'll probably only use the airport 6x per year. Outbound from home city probably not. Use it in AKL and then use it from the place I am leaving, then in AKL before taking a connecting flight back home. I only do 2x trips per year.

Koru Club is only on a AirNZ flight also, you cannot use it if you are flying Singapore Airlines.

It's ~$300 up front first. Not even sure if both my trips would always be AirNZ ..

networkn

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#583602 19-Feb-2012 21:53

I have used my Koru Pass (I am also gold) to get in front of other airline queues internationally. For that alone it was worth it.

rayonline

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#583606 19-Feb-2012 22:08

For NZ Gold - you must be travelling heaps right? I did some maths some time ago. 900 status points. A trip to Asia return would only yield 130. And/or business-first class.

If I happen to travel in normal fares like those $1900 ones to Asia, I could do 3x for 2yrs and get Gold with another programme, let's me access lounges with AirNZ and all their partner airlines but the $799 fares looks so amazing. Cheap fares won't accrue points with partner airlines (nor AirNZ - only gets status points). But at 130 a return trip. Silver is set at 450. Ha.

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