better to book va or air new zealand

[GCC]

Looking to book an ANZ flight WLG-AKL-SYD later this month. There is no option to book both legs through VA, so I can either book WLG -AKL on ANZ & then AKL -SYD on VA, or book the whole ticket on ANZ.

My main interest is good seat selection (Velocity plat) and best point / SC earn. I have read about ANZ giving great service to VA elites, but I'm not sure how I will go with seating if I book with ANZ direct - can I enter my velocity number?

 

[Elbobbo]

Unfortunately seat selection is at the mercy of Air NZ, as velocity members cant choose seats via the VA website. You can do this via the Air NZ website if you book with them - but I don't think you can enter your velocity number in order to access the better seats reserved for Air NZ FF. In my experience the check in staff generally give you good seats as a plat on the day. One caveat to be wary of is that you only get your extra baggage allowance via velocity plat if your ticket has a VA number, so if you want the extra baggage allowance you will need to book via VA not Air NZ.

 

[williamsf1]

Looking to book an ANZ flight WLG-AKL-SYD later this month. There is no option to book both legs through VA, so I can either book WLG -AKL on ANZ & then AKL -SYD on VA, or book the whole ticket on ANZ.

My main interest is good seat selection (Velocity plat) and best point / SC earn. I have read about ANZ giving great service to VA elites, but I'm not sure how I will go with seating if I book with ANZ direct - can I enter my velocity number?

Most of the lower booking classes on NZ do not earn points or SC for the domestic WLG-AKL flight , the only ones that do earn are Y B Q H M

 

[GCC]

Thanks

Not worried about baggage allowance as will only have carry on, it really was seat selection. Might be better just to book the whole thing via ANZ then.

 

[Intra]

I just flew BNE->AKL on a AirNZ Works fare, NZ metal, seat selection as a Gold had me with one of the seats in Premium Economy on the new refurbered 777s, much better than what the rest of my family had in Y - Earn rate for points was the downer for me, no bonus & 0.25 points per mile. Compared with WLG->BNE I took this week on VA, 0.5 points per mike plus the status bonus...
Had 3F on a 738 coming home, it was one of the J aircrafts rather than fitted out with Y+, which was a nice little bonus.... Though I wonder if that was a one off, maybe related to the fact our flight was delayed overnight.....

My 2 cents worth. Question: Why via. AKL, assuming your doing stuff there before you go to WLG?

Unless you want to fork out more money for status/points, I wouldn't bother chase the points on AirNZ DOM - And it seems if you change your flight on the day, your new ticket might be using an ineligible seat bucket anyway, so.... As I learnt the hard way <_<

 

[GCC]

My 2 cents worth. Question: Why via. AKL, assuming your doing stuff there before you go to WLG?

Actually the other way around - am doing stuff in WLG and this flight although longer get me home at 2.30 pm, the earliest direct flight at 5.10pm. Not chasing points / SC but means seeing my kids before bed rather than hanging around WLG.

seat selection as a Gold had me with one of the seats in Premium Economy on the new refurbered 777s

Did you select that online with your Velocity # in the system or you mean was allocated at the airprort?

 

[Intra]

Actually the other way around - am doing stuff in WLG and this flight although longer get me home at 2.30 pm, the earliest direct flight at 5.10pm. Not chasing points / SC but means seeing my kids before bed rather than hanging around WLG.

My apologises, read the first post incorrectly, but I get what you mean now.... WLG doesn't have the greatest of all schedules on any airline Int. compared to AKL/CHC if your looking for flexibility with timing...

Did you select that online with your Velocity # in the system or you mean was allocated at the airprort?

Got the better seat selection when I had my Velocity # with my AirNZ booking on there site; I'm sure you could get assigned a decent seat at the airport too, just all depends on loads and in particular what aircraft your on in the first place.