Recognition Upgrades

A Recognition Upgrade lets you request an upgrade to the next cabin class on eligible Air New Zealand Short Haul and Long Haul flights. If your request is successful, you enjoy the higher cabin. If your upgrade isn’t confirmed, your Recognition Upgrade is returned to your account, unless it has expired due to a tier change.

Recognition Upgrades are not guaranteed and are always subject to availability.

Upgrade requests are reviewed close to departure, once seating availability is clearer. 

Koru Black and Koru Platinum requests may be considered from the time of booking, while Koru Gold and Koru Silver members are considered closer to departure (from 7 days prior).

We’ll do our best to let you know before your flight if your upgrade has been confirmed. During busy periods, some upgrades may only be confirmed at the airport, based on remaining seats and tier priority.

Koru Platinum and Koru Black can gift Recognition Upgrades to other Koru members who are on their gifting register. Gifted Recognition Upgrades follow the same request and review process as other Recognition Upgrades. 

If you're travelling together

If you gift a Recognition Upgrade and travel on the same flight as the person you’ve nominated, the upgrade request is reviewed at your tier level for: 

• you 
• the person you’re travelling with 
• children aged 12 years and under.

This means the request is considered with the same priority as your own.

If you're travelling separately

If the person you’ve gifted an upgrade to is travelling without you, their request is reviewed based on their own Koru tier instead. 

Recognition Upgrades and OneUp both give you the chance to move to a higher cabin, but they work in different ways. Recognition Upgrades are included with your Koru tier and do not require payment. OneUp lets you make an offer to upgrade using cash or Airpoints. Offers are weighted differently depending on your tier. 

You can choose which option suits your trip best.

Footnote content

Recognition Upgrades apply only to Air New Zealand ticketed and operated flights 

Airpoints and Status Points are earned based on the original fare 

Some fare types aren’t eligible for upgrades 

If your upgrade is confirmed, you can select a seat. Some premium seats may have an additional charge.