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The Best Ways to Redeem Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars - The Definitive Guide

Our guide outlines the best ways to redeem 100 and 500 Airpoints Dollars, although the findings generally apply to any balance.
Updated 17 September 2024
Summary
  • Millions of New Zealanders are sitting on Airpoints balances earned from credit card spend, flights, partner spend (e.g. New World and Mitre 10) and credit card sign-up bonuses.
  • Our guide is designed to explain the best way to get the highest value for Airpoints Dollar redemptions and avoid the pitfalls.
  • We look at Domestic, Australia and Pacific Travel, Upgrades, Retail Vouchers, Airpoints Store (General Items), Koru Club Membership and Star Alliance Partner Redemptions.

Know This First: Do you have a Platinum Airpoints Credit Card?
If you want to use 100 to 500 Airpoints Dollars, our research suggests:

Best use:
  • If you want to travel, domestic flights are an easy way to redeem, especially if you book during sale periods (for example, Auckland to Queenstown for around $90, Christchurch to Auckland for around $60 etc.)
  • If you don't want or need to travel, Mitre 10 vouchers, ordered through the Airpoints Store in $50, $100, $250 and $500 denominations, can be used in-store or online. Airpoints offers very few retail voucher partners; we believe Mitre 10 provides a wide selection of items with ongoing sales and promotions. Other vouchers can be found here.

Be aware:
  • Australia and Pacific flights incur many add-on taxes, so a $499 return to Sydney sale airfare may only use around 200 or 300 Airpoints Dollars, with the rest of the cost charged to your card as taxes. 
  • Airpoints Store items are, arguably, a mixed bag. There are periodic deals and discounts, and Apple products generally price-match the Apple Store. With 7,000+ items on offer, the selection is wide. However, some items may cost above retail price (our research found instances of between 5% to around 10% in our sample survey when applying a 1 Airpoints Dollar as one dollar "exchange" rate, but in one case the same item cost 100% more than the listed price on a popular New Zealand retailer). There's also a convoluted returns policy where you'll get store credit but not your Airpoints back if you return items (it's best deciphered here).
  • OneUp upgrades - our bid guide reports that there are a lack of available seats to upgrade to given the airline running at record capacity, especially on long-haul routes.
  • Koru Club membership can be purchased with Airpoints Dollars, but it is costly to join for one year without using a credit card offer. Qualifying credit cards from American Express, ANZ and Kiwibank reduce the annual costs significantly if you're a new member. The saving is far greater than any credit card's annual fee.
 
Avoid:
  • Star Alliance partner redemptions - If you have less than 500 Airpoints, it's likely paying cash for a ticket will be more cost-effective given the taxes and general inflexibility that is experienced with a Star Alliance or partner airline redemption. 

Please note: This guide is aimed at Airpoints members who have between 100 and 1,000 Airpoints in their accounts and want a cost-effective and rewarding way to use them. We have not written it from the perspective of a premium Airpoints member (i.e. a Gold or Gold Elite cardholder).

Important: This guide is not for anyone wanting to redeem Air New Zealand credits. Air New Zealand credits can only be used for Air New Zealand-ticketed travel. You cannot use credits at the Airpoints Store or any other Airpoints-specific redemption (such as Star Alliance partner travel or Koru, Silver, Gold and Gold Elite discounted Business Premier tickets. If you have redeemed Airpoints Dollars for a flight and had it cancelled or put into credit, your balance is now held as a credit and not Airpoints. We suggest using your credit(s) first before Airpoints, given the 24 month expiry date of credits set by Air New Zealand (whereas Airpoints Dollars expire after four years).
Our guide covers:
  1. Options to Use Airpoints Dollars
  2. The Bottom Line
  3. Frequently Asked Questions
Important: Sharepoints can help to get better rewards
  • If you're part of a household with several Airpoints accounts, we strongly suggest you consider linking them up to enable Sharepoints.
  • Sharepoints lets you pool your Airpoints Dollars together and makes it easier to redeem them for flights or other items.
  • For example, rather than four people having 50 Airpoints Dollars each in their accounts, Sharepoints lets you spend up to 200 Airpoints Dollars in one transaction.
  • Sharepoints is free to use. It also extends to friends and family members living outside your address.

Options to Use Airpoints Dollars:

1. Domestic, Australia and Pacific Travel

Air New Zealand is, in many cases, affordable if you book flights in advance. While this may seem obvious, the best offers are always domestic sales. 100 and 500 Airpoints Dollars can go a long way, especially using Flexipay, where you can top-up Airpoints Dollars with cash to pay for flights. 

As our guide to cheap domestic flights outlines, you can save money and make your Airpoints Dollars go further by considering the following:
  • Sign up to Air New Zealand email alerts to be among the first to know. Sales are usually emailed with no warning, so you won't have to wait to book. 
  • Refrain from paying for seat reservations. Unless you have a special reason, paying $5 or $10 to sit next to someone for a 1-hour flight doesn’t make much sense.
  • Unless you need check-in baggage, don’t buy a "seat+bag" airfare. Air New Zealand charges around $20 for one 20kg bag which you can add in later if you need a bag.
  • Rental car and hotel add-ons are expensive. Air New Zealand likes to offer “deals” but it’s likely that the rental cars and hotels on offer are much cheaper when you go via a price comparison site or contact the companies directly. Sites like Kayak and Booking.com offer a better range and price on everything you’ll need for your travel.

Know this: If you book flights to any international destination (for example, Australian and Pacific Island flights), you must pay all government and security taxes. In most cases, this is around $180-$200 (Pacific Islands) and $270-$300 (Australia) as you can see in this screenshot from Air New Zealand for an example flight to Sydney. This means that a $499 return ticket to Sydney would use around 217 Airpoints Dollars. The rest of the airfare, around $282, would need to be paid by debit card, credit card of bank transfer. Unlike international flights, the advantage of New Zealand domestic travel is that all taxes are included in the fare, so there are no additional charges if you have enough Airpoints Dollars.

2. Upgrades

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 a bid 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.

Our guide to OneUp upgrades covers suggested bids. Whether or not bidding 100 to 150 Airpoints Dollars for an upgrade from economy to Premium Economy is good value depends on your needs and wants. Arguably the only extra benefits are a meal, some drinks, check-in bags and a bigger seat. However, we can't compare or provide further details because of the subjectivity in the "value" generated from an upgrade.   

More details: OneUp Guide

MoneyHub Founder Christopher Walsh shares his thoughts:
"In a post-lockdown world, upgrading may be more attractive, but ultimately what value you get depends on your needs and how much you value onboard service. For example, I wouldn't use my Airpoints Dollars to upgrade on a flight to Australia or the Pacific Islands. Addtionally, I probably wouldn't stump up 500 Airpoints Dollars for an upgrade to Premium Economy to fly to America or Asia. However, many people have done in the past".

3. Retail Vouchers

The Airpoints Store offers around 120 gift cards and vouchers, which can be redeemed at selected retailers, restaurants, ski fields, clothing stores, cinemas, spas and tourism operators.

Based on our review of the gift card and voucher partners, we believe Mitre 10 vouchers offer an attractive option for using Airpoints Dollars. Members can request credit in $50, $100, $250 and $500 denominations to be used in-store or online.

If you're not interested in Mitre 10, restaurants are a good option as well, though the options are limited and tend to be higher-end venues. Searching "restaurants" in the Airpoints Store is the fastest way to see what's currently available.

Know This: Despite offering numerous Airpoints Dollars earning partners, you can't spend Airpoints Dollars in retailers like Noel Leeming, New World, Harvey Norman, petrol stations and hotels. For this reason, we believe Airpoints' retail voucher partners are limited. As such, we believe Mitre 10 vouchers offer a wide selection of items with ongoing sales and promotions.

4. Airpoints Store (General Items)

There are over 7,000 items available on the Airpoints Store. However, the first question you should ask is would you want (or buy) any of the stuff available if you went into a store? And if you do, is it cheaper at Mitre 10? (where you can redeem a voucher). In the cases of Weber BBQs and other outdoor items, Mitre 10 was around 10% cheaper.

The Airpoints Store does have some benefits:
  1. There are periodic deals and discounts.
  2. Apple products generally price-match the Apple Store.
  3. With 7,000+ items on offer, the selection is wide.

However, some items may cost above retail (our research found instances of between 5% to around 10% in our sample survey when applying a 1 Airpoints Dollar as one dollar "exchange" rate), and there's a convoluted returns policy where you'll get store credit but not your Airpoints back if you return items (it's best deciphered here).

Our view:
  • Scrolling the endless categories of the Airpoints Store will likely absorb a lot of time and be of little value. Even though we found items that were priced slightly below retail, that's rare.
  • Overall, it is a mixed bag, and the price differences should be expected. For example, the Holdson Charades For Kids Game sells for 41.99 Airpoints Dollars, but you can buy it on Mightly Ape for $28.
  • In addition, the Fiskars Garden Straight Ergonomic Spade sells for 68 Airpoints Dollars, but you can buy it from Mitre 10 for around $60. These are just two of many examples.
  • Before selecting any item from the Airpoints Store, it is worthwhile to Google search the products name to see if you're paying a fair price. It is likely a Mitre 10 voucher may offer a better range and lower price.

5. Koru Club Membership

Koru Club membership can be paid with Airpoints Dollars; however, joining directly with Air New Zealand is much more expensive than joining via a Koru-friendly credit card. For example, the American Express Airpoints Platinum Card, Kiwibank Airpoints Platinum Visa and ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum cards save cardholders the $255 joining fee and reduce the annual fee by $145. In addition, the annual credit card fees are well below Air New Zealand's Koru Club joining fee. Our table explains this in detail:
Fees
Standard Membership
(accessed via Air New Zealand)
Credit Card Discount
(accessed via American Express, Kiwibank and ANZ)
Discount using a Credit Card vs Joining via Air New Zealand Directly
Joining Fee
$255
Waived
-
One Year Membership
$834
$689 ($834 with an annual $145 discount)
-
Total
$1,089
$689
45% (Year One)
23% (Renewal Year)
Summary: Using a Koru-friendly credit card, a one-year membership costs $689, whereas it is $1,089 if you join without a credit card. 

Important: Kiwibank's Air New Zealand Platinum Visa and ANZ's Airpoints Visa Platinum, offer a 200 Airpoints Dollars advance. This allows you to spend up to 200 Airpoints Dollars before you've earned them, similar to an overdraft. However, you will need to spend over $20,000 on your card to earn enough Airpoints Dollars to repay the "advance". Therefore, we urge caution around using an Airpoints Dollars advance as it's a form of debt.

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

6. Star Alliance Partner Redemptions

As a member of the Star Alliance, Air New Zealand allows you to book flights on its partner airlines (of which there are over twenty). Examples include Singapore Airlines, United and Lufthansa. You'll need to pay the associated airport, government and security taxes. 

The Airpoints Dollars needed will depend on the one-way distance of the flights, as outlined in the Star Alliance table:
Per One-Way Sector (km)
Economy Class
Business Class
First Class
Example Flight
0 - 999
125
250
375
Lufthansa
London - Munich
1,000 - 1,999
150
300
400
Air Canada
Los Angeles - Vancouver
2,000 - 2,999
250
500
750
Thai Airways
Bangkok - Taipei
3,000 - 3,999
375
650
1,000
Air India
Singapore - Mumbai
4,000 - 4,999
450
800
1,250
United Airlines
Los Angeles - New York
5,000 - 7,499
550
1,000
1,500
Singapore Airlines
Sydney - Singapore
7,500 - 9,999
650
1,300
2,000
Singapore Airlines
Auckland - Singapore
10,000+
750
1,600
2,500
Singapore Airlines
Singapore - Newark
MoneyHub Founder Christopher Walsh shares his experience:
"I thought redeeming some Airpoints for Star Alliance flights was a good idea, but it turned out to be a giant hassle. Firstly, I was levied with some fairly high booking fees (although these now appear to have been scrapped for online bookings), and I also had to pay the taxes on top. What's worse was that you couldn't change the flight once booked without being charged a booking fee.

Perhaps it was the nature of my itinerary, or the fact that the destinations were a little obscure, but having completed the journey, I knew the best thing would have been to keep the Airpoints Dollars and pay cash for the ticket".
Christopher Walsh
MoneyHub Founder

The Bottom Line

As per our research and finding, we believe:
  1. Domestic flight sales and promotions are arguably a great use of Airpoints Dollars. You avoid paying any additional taxes (as you would for an overseas booking), and you can use Sharepoints and Flexipay to maximise your balances and minimise costs. For example, Auckland to Queenstown for $79 or Wellington to Queenstown for $69 are standard sale prices offered periodically.
  2. Australia and Pacific Island flight sales and promotions may appear to be cheap, but the reality is for a $499 or $599 airfare, around 30% to 50% of the cost will be charged to your debit or credit card as Airpoints Dollars don't cover the government and security taxes which are significant (as per this Sydney example).
  3. Retail Vouchers are widely available on the Airpoints Store and are easy to use. They work dollar for dollar, meaning 100 Airpoints Dollars; for example, buys $100 of Mitre 10 vouchers or $100 of restaurant vouchers. Given the selection of items available at Mitre10 and the regularity of its sales, and the fact you can use the vouchers online or in-store, the convenience and range is arguably second to none. 
  4. The Airpoints Store items are a mixed bag. Some items under the "deals" section can be good value relative to everyday retail prices, while others can be 5% to 100% higher (in extreme cases). In addition, free delivery is offered (metro areas take up to 5 business days, regional areas take up to 8 business days). Our view is that the most flexibility comes from retail vouchers, specifically Mitre 10, as outlined above. 
  5. Koru Club membership may be worthwhile, depending on how frequently you travel, but the most cost-effective way to join is via a qualifying credit card.
  6. Star Alliance Partner redemptions are arguably best avoided for short-haul international travel. By the time you add in taxes while facing restricted dates and flights due to "award inventory" (as is typical with partner airline redemptions), you may face a lot of hassle and cost. We believe it's likely to be more cost-effective to pay for any Star Alliance flight with cash and, depending on the booking class, earn Airpoints Dollars and status points when you travel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our list of common queries below covers what's important when it comes to spending your Airpoints Dollars.

Do Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars expire?

Yes - Airpoints Dollars have a four year expiry.

How do I know when Airpoints Dollars expire?

Air New Zealand highlights your Airpoints Dollars' expiry date in your account under "Airpoints Dollar Expiry" on your member homepage.

Can you share Airpoints Dollars?

Yes - Sharepoints lets you combine your Airpoints Dollars with up to four friends and family.

Can I transfer my Airpoints Dollars to someone else?

No - but you can use Sharepoints to pool your Airpoints Dollars together to redeem a reward or flight.

Do retailers like Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming and New World take Airpoints Dollars as payment?

No - but certain items stocked by Harvey Norman can be redeemed on the Airpoints Store website. You'll need to search "Harvey Norman", although the available items are listed here. With over 7,000 items available, using the Airpoints Store's search function is always the fastest way to find what you want.

How much is an Airpoints Dollar worth?

If used for travel on Air New Zealand or any voucher issued, one Airpoints Dollar is worth one New Zealand Dollar.

Can you use Airpoints Dollars for hotels and rental cars?

No - you can't currently redeem your Airpoints Dollars on an accommodation booking.

Can I spend Airpoints Dollars at restaurants?

Yes but only through pre-purchased "restaurant gift cards" for that particular restaurant and of a specific value (for example $100 or $200). You can't pay at the till with your Airpoints card.

How much do you need to spend to earn Airpoints?

With some retail partners, it can be as low as $1. Most Air New Zealand flights earn Airpoints Dollars (the more expensive the ticket/fare class, the more you earn). This guide from Air New Zealand covers everything you need to know.
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