Air New Zealand Successful OneUp Upgrade Bids Guide

With Air New Zealand running at capacity on many long-haul routes, we argue the chance of one-up success is near-zero. Our guide explains more.

Updated 28 April 2023

April 2023 update:

We continue to monitor the situation using online forums, seat inventory websites and Air New Zealand's website. Given the amount of Gold Elite, Gold and Silver members with recognition upgrade vouchers to redeem (a benefit of their status), the chances of a one-up being cleared are very low.
We receive reports of Gold and Silver members being unable to successfully redeem recognition upgrades between Australia and Sydney or Melbourne, suggesting more demand for premium seats than supply even on short-haul routes.
Our view is that while the pricing suggested below is fair and reasonable, one-up bid success is limited given the Gold Elite, Gold and Silver passengers redeeming recognition upgrade vouchers come first before any one-up bids. This means that if twenty Silver or higher Airpoints members want to redeem their vouchers and there are only six spare seats, there is no chance of successful one-up bids. We believe this situation (or something similar) happens on almost every long-haul North American and Singapore route.
However, there is good news. First, per this April 2023 RNZ article, Delta, United, American Airlines and Qantas are all launching and/or increasing services from New Zealand to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and/or New York. Secondly, Air New Zealand's new 787s (arriving between 2024 and 2026) will have up to fifty business class seats per aircraft. This is an increase from the 18 or 27 currently available. We hope the increase in competition on the North American routes and the increase in seats-per-787 will help increase the chances of one-up success.

Our guide is published below with all the facts and information you need to know. However, please keep in mind we do believe one-up bids on Australian, North American and most Asian routes are very difficult to secure.

Know This First: Do you have a Platinum Airpoints Credit Card?

Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders have 'platinum' credit cards from ANZ, Kiwibank and Westpac, alongside their 'regular' Airpoints-earning credit cards.
Our research shows these bank-issued cards frustratingly earn around 50% to 55% of the Airpoints Dollars for every dollar spent compared to the AMEX Airpoints Platinum card, despite a similar annual fee.
This means you have to spend nearly twice as much to earn the same number of Airpoints Dollars (vs the AMEX card). And the banks have cut perks like lounge access when AMEX hasn't.
We're not impressed. Our comparison research is published below - if you have one of these cards, we suggest reading it:
ANZ Airpoints Platinum vs AMEX Airpoints Platinum
Kiwibank Airpoints Platinum vs AMEX Airpoints Platinum
Westpac Airpoints Platinum vs AMEX Airpoints Platinum

Summary of Air NZ's OneUp Bids Guide

Air New Zealand offers one class upgrades, i.e. economy to premium economy, or premium economy to business class, on any 787 and 777 operated flight.
To get an upgrade, you need to make a bid, with money or Airpoints Dollars, and if your bid is high enough, you'll be upgraded before your flight.
'Winning' an upgrade is not so easy - you have a higher chance of upgrade success on short flights (i.e. Trans-Tasman and Pacific Island routes) and less chance of success on long-haul flights, especially Auckland to Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Singapore and Hong Kong (and vice versa).
What you bid and how full your flight is on the day of travel are the two most important factors.
Our comprehensive upgrade bid guide at the end of this page provides guidance on how much to bid, to avoid overpaying while minimising the risk of missing out on some additional comfort when flying Air New Zealand.
Our popular no-nonsense guide to airline upgrades explains everything you need to know about how upgrades work.

Our Guide to getting upgraded
We’ve written this guide for all levels of familiarity with Air New Zealand and the Airpoints program. While OneUp is available to any passenger booked on an Air New Zealand operated flight, it's important to mention that tier-level Airpoints members (i.e. loyal customers with fancy looking cards) get additional benefits when it comes to placing a bid. However, there is a lot of information online that is inaccurate and unhelpful when contemplating making a OneUp bid.

We believe value for money is the most important factor when placing a bid. Air New Zealand may claim your bid is "weak" which is confusing. Consequently, we have put together this guide to dispel some myths and make the process clearer for passengers and to assist towards a more positive OneUp experience.

We regularly update this page, and appreciate your feedback and thoughts - please contact us if you have first-hand experience that would be helpful.

The guide covers:

What is OneUp?

OneUp is Air New Zealand's cabin class upgrade program. With any booking on an eligible Air New Zealand ticketed and operated international flight, any passenger can make an offer to upgrade their flight by one class. This is done by way of a dollar bid, which can be paid in cash or Airpoints. Air New Zealand then notifies you 3-7 days before your flight if you have been successful.

When will I know if I have a successful OneUp?

A successful OneUp bid is announced by an email to the passenger from Air New Zealand. At the same time, the passenger is issued a new ticket showing the higher cabin than originally booked, i.e. from Economy to Premium Economy. What you bid is deducted from your Airpoints account (or charged to your payment card), and you cannot cancel or change your mind once the bid has been successful.

I made a bid, but the 'Offer strength' is rated 'poor' - do I need to bid more?

We believe that if you follow the Latest OneUp Upgrade Bid table, the offer you make will be appropriate for the route you've booked, all other things being equal.
In recent months, MoneyHub researchers experienced success with upgrades, even when bids were observed to be 'poor'.
Our view is that the indicator is pre-set for all flights operating your route. We don't believe it takes into account specific factors such as day of the week, current bookings, other bids made (or expected) and frequent flyer passenger upgrade voucher demands.
For the reasons above, we believe the 'Offer strength' indicator is best ignored if you wish to avoid overpaying for an upgrade.

We believe the 'Offer Strength' indicator does not indicate the chance of success

Is OneUp the only way I can upgrade my flight?

In most cases, Yes. Air New Zealand may offer upgrade promotions at the gate upon boarding, but this is infrequent and not reliable. Additionally, if you are an Air New Zealand status member, you receive an annual allotment of vouchers for free upgrades (known as recognition upgrades).

What are my chances of OneUp success?

Your chance of a successful upgrade varies, and as we explain below, it is based on the route, the aircraft, the popularity, the bids and the number of elite travellers on board.

What flights or routes offer OneUp?

Any flight operated by an Air New Zealand 777 or 787 (the aircraft must be in Air New Zealand colours or an aircraft Air New Zealand is leasing), even if the ticket is an Air New Zealand flight number. These will be indicated as an 'Air New Zealand flight' when you search on Air New Zealand's website.
Any ticket where you are booked in Economy or Premium Economy.

What flights or routes are ineligible for OneUp?

Any New Zealand domestic flight (as no premium cabins are offered)
Any flight operated to Australia or the Pacific Islands by an Airbus A320 aircraft, which also only offer economy cabins.

How Does OneUp Work? Does the Highest Bid Win?

Air New Zealand has a pecking order when it comes to all upgrades on offer, and OneUp bidders are unfortunately the lowest of the low. To explain things better, we outline the order as follows:

First up, Airpoints Gold Elite members using a Recognition Upgrade (a free voucher issued annually for a one-class upgrade) will have first priority.
Once the Gold Elite recognition upgrades clear, the airline looks at recognition upgrade requests made by any Gold and Silver members respectively.
After that, Air New Zealand looks at any gifted upgrades from Gold Elite members to ordinary passengers travelling.
Once the Recognition Upgrades and gifts have cleared, that leaves the OneUp bids.
If your booking reference has more than one passenger, any offer you submit is per person for every passenger in the booking. If the offer is successful all passengers in the booking will be upgraded.

Our 7 Tips to Bid Right & Reduce the Risk of Missing Out

1. Know an Airpoints Elite Member? Sweet talk them now.

If you know an Airpoints Elite member, you’ve improved your chances considerably. All they need to do is add you to their gifting register, input your booking reference and lodge the upgrade request.
If you’re planning to travel with an Elite member on the same booking, you can secure upgrades instantly up to 365 days before travel if there is availability. To avoid disappointment, it’s best to call the Airpoints line to check availability before booking your flight.
Elite members have access to fixed price upgrades. For example, it costs 220 Airpoints for a single Economy to Premium Economy Airpoints Dollar Upgrade and 480 Airpoints for a Premium Economy to Business Premier Airpoints Dollar Upgrade for all Air New Zealand sectors. Full details are found on the upgrade chart.

2. Off-Peak flights have the best success.

Flights on a Tuesday or Wednesday are less popular and therefore relatively easier to achieve OneUp success. Additionally, leaving Auckland on a Saturday night is also less competitive. It’s less popular with business people and families.

3. Successful bids are more common for Premium Economy than Business Premier.

Lie-flat beds are in short supply on all routes, and in high demand from paying passengers on long-haul routes. If there are available seats for upgrading, more will come from Premium Economy than Business Premier.

4. Not everyone bids, in fact, if you do you’re the minority.

On a 300-seat aircraft, it’s fairly likely no more than 10% of passengers will make a OneUp bid. Don’t feel as if you’re competing against hundreds of people when you bid.

5. Use the Power of Silver, Gold and Gold Elite Status.

If you are a loyal tier-reaching Air New Zealand Airpoints member, whatever you bid, you will be upweighted by 10%, 30% and 50% as a Silver, Gold and Gold Elite respectively.
This means if you’re happy to bid $100 for a Trans-Tasman upgrade to Premium Economy, as a Silver/Gold/Gold Elite member, Air New Zealand will assess your bid at $110, $130 and $150 respectively.
Inversely, if you believe a bid of $300 will be successful for a route, you can divide your bid by 1.1, 1.3 or 1.5 and bid that amount (i.e. a Gold member can bid $230 as the 30% upweight will compute the bid to $300).

6. Consider a Skycouch as an alternative to Premium Economy.

It’s often cheaper and offers more space. However, during school holiday periods the Skycouch cabin can turn into a school playground.

7. OneUp work best alone.

If you’re travelling with someone else, you might be successful with your OneUp and they may not – or vice versa. If you are both successful, you may not be able to sit together. In short, if you travel by yourself, you have the highest chance of success than travelling with a party given the limited number of seats available. Expectations need to be managed if you're planning to submit bids for an entire family or group travelling together, as it's unlikely that everyone will be successful even if the bids are equal.

15 OneUp Rumours Disproved

The price of your original ticket is irrelevant – your bid is what matters
Air New Zealand staff members on staff travel don’t take priority over you – but if your bid is too low and Air New Zealand rejects it, the spare seat will be available for staff travel at the gate.
You cannot increase your bid if you’re rejected – Air New Zealand doesn’t give second chances.
You don’t earn Airpoints Dollars and Status Points on the upgraded cabin class - only the original booking class earns points.
If you are Silver or Gold tier with another Star Alliance airline, you have no advantage or priority - you can only participate in OneUp by paying cash.
You can’t bid for another upgrade to Business Premier if you’re successful with your first OneUp from Economy to Premium Economy
Your success and failure in previous bids on other flights is irrelevant – only what you bid matters.
Generally, for long-haul routes, routes operated by the 787-900 (fitted with 18 Business Premier Seats) are the hardest to have OneUp success.
OneUp bids rated “very poor” or “weak” can still be successful – Air New Zealand wants to maximise revenue and give some colour to the process, but if you’re the second highest bid that the system classifies as “weak”, in reality, the bid is “strong”.
Many routes have limited success - throughout the year, Auckland to/from Los Angeles (777), San Francisco (777), Houston (777), Chicago (777), Vancouver (777) and New York (787) are the hardest to upgrade from Premium Economy to Business Premier. This may change as more services from other airlines (Qantas, Delta, United and American Airlines) launch between the US and New Zealand.
Some routes are much easier - Throughout the year, Auckland to/from Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai (all 787) are the easiest to upgrade from both Economy and Premium Economy or into Business Premier.
Whether you pay by credit card or Airpoints Dollars, your bid has the same value and merit (i.e. bidding in cash does not trump bidding in Airpoints).
Timing is everything - seasonal events make every route unique, with a surge in premium travel experienced during Chinese New Year, Easter, Overseas All Black matches and School Holidays, among others.
Those with low expectations will be the happiest - OneUp success is notoriously difficult, so our advice is to consider your bid as a refundable lottery ticket and don’t get obsessed with the bidding amount in the lead-up to your flight.
You don’t have a priority if you bid earlier or closer to date of travel – all bids are considered at the same time, based on their dollar value.

OneUp Upgrade Bid Guide - April 2023

Assumptions:

We have not factored in the near-zero chance of one-up success currently observed by our research team and from reports gathered.
Inbound route bids suggestions (i.e. Tokyo to Auckland, Los Angeles to Auckland) are the same as those listed below.
The bids presented below exclude any elite tier level up-weighting. If you are Gold level, for example, we recommend placing your bid at the rates presented below.
The bids presented do not guarantee success - as explained in our guide there are many factors affecting OneUp success.
All prices are in NZD. For your booking currency, please use the appropriate NZD FX rate to bid (i.e. a NZ$200 bid would be approximately US$135).

Australia Routes

Auckland to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney: $150 to Premium Economy, $250 to Business Premier
Auckland to Perth: $250 to Premium Economy, $400 to Business Premier

American Routes

Auckland to Vancouver: $350 to Premium Economy, $700 to Business Premier
Auckland to Los Angeles: $500 to Premium Economy, $700 to Business Premier
Auckland to Honolulu: limited data available**, we take an estimate of 100% above the Elite upgrade pricing which is $360 and $720 for upgrades to Premium Economy and Business Premier respectively.
Auckland to Chicago: limited data available**, we take an estimate of 100% above the Elite upgrade pricing which is $480 and $960 for upgrades to Premium Economy and Business Premier respectively.
Auckland to Houston: limited data available**, we take an estimate of 100% above the Elite upgrade pricing which is $480 and $960 for upgrades to Premium Economy and Business Premier respectively.
Auckland to San Francisco: $550 to Premium Economy, $700 to Business Premier
Auckland to New York: This route is regularly sold-out in Premium Economy and Business Premier; no data is available

Asian Routes

Auckland to Hong Kong: $350 to Premium Economy, $650 to Business Premier
Auckland to Shanghai: $350 to Premium Economy, $600 to Business Premier
Auckland to Tokyo: $350 to Premium Economy, $600 to Business Premier
Auckland to Singapore: $450 to Premium Economy, $650 to Business Premier
Auckland to Seoul: $250 to Premium Economy, $350 to Business Premier
Auckland to Taipei: $250 to Premium Economy, $450 to Business Premier
Auckland to Denpasar (Bali): $250 to Premium Economy, $350 to Business Premier

Pacific Routes

Auckland to Apia, Rarotonga and Nadi: $150 to Premium Economy, $450 to Business Premier
Auckland to Papeete: $300 to Premium Economy, $600 to Business Premier

**Where we cannot collect sufficient data and/or take a position with regards to a suitable bid, we have estimated 100% above the Elite upgrade pricing level for the best chance of upgrade success.

Contributors: MoneyHub would like to thank the Flyertalk community, Tripadvisor contributors and every MoneyHub user who continue to reach out to us to update our guide.

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