DPF is moving to Qantas.... and I'm a long time bitcher on the state of Air New Zealand so I'd better have my say.

I'm not too fussed about the whole Airpoints thing as much these days to be honest.... Fares are now becoming so checp that it's easier just to buy them- Taes and levies make up a huge proportion of the fare anyway and Airpoints doesn't pay for these.

What is important to me are those Status credit things. Reason being is that Air NZ is a shitty little South Pacific Airline and in order for me to get anywhere around the world I'm likely to have to travel with both Air NZ and one of their Star Alliance partners. Now I've got a Koru Club membership, but that doesn't mean DIDDLES when you are flying on a Singapore Airlines SGN-BJS sector. I'm big enough and ugly enough to look aftermyself down the back of the plane, but, I appreciate a nice shower at either end.

Hence the need for Status credits- a Gold status level lets you use Star Alliance Lounges internationally. Now Air NZ have markedly cut back on my ability to earn these credits and they are still tied to the Airpoints system. I would ike to see them seperated from the Airpoints system and still earnt on Smart Saver flights. Another option would be to set up a policy that Koru Club members earn credits and maybe even airpoints on all flights. We have after all plumped up with a decent cash commitment to the airline in terms of loyalty and we are probably the group of customers that they would like to be most loyal- I probably do about 30-40 flights of mixed domestic and international a year. Status credits are a threshold based loyalty system. They expire anually and aren't worth anything if you don't meet the threshold. I believe that they are the key mechanism to ensuring loyalty from SME business travelers in this hot market.