Air New Zealand Status Match - Worth it?

With the upcoming New Zealand travel bubble, Qantas jumped the gun and expanded their status match campaign to include our Kiwi friends across the ditch.

Naturally, Air New Zealand has “retaliated” with its own status match campaign in a bid to poach a few Qantas and Virgin Australia customers.

The “Touch of Gold” promotion is available to both Australian and New Zealand residents who hold status with another airline (yes, this includes Qantas and Velocity Frequent Flyer). The only exception is Cathay Pacific members and members of any other Star Alliance program (both are excluded).

How long do I get status for?

The touch of gold promo is only valid for 4 months. However, if you manage to earn 100 status points or more during those 4 months, you will receive another 8 months worth of status with the airline.

What do you need to do to get Air New Zealand Gold?

To apply for the Touch of Gold promotion, Eligible Participations must:
Complete the [online application form](https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/touch-of-gold-signup) before 07 May and include their current Airpoints Membership Number and electronic evidence of the status held with another eligible airline (this can be either a copy of a Membership card or a Membership statement).

Your application will be processed within 15 days, after which you will get a digital card in the Air New Zealand Airpoints app.

Is this a good deal?

In my opinion, it’s actually much easier and more lucrative to take advantage of the ongoing TAP Portugal Gold status match. This requires you to purchase their miles for €99, and in return, you will get 12 months of TAP Gold (Star Alliance Gold) status. I’ve previously written about this deal, so you can head to this page to find out more. Alternatively, the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer status promo where you get 12 months of KrisFlyer Gold when you transfer 250,000 KrisFlyer points into your account.

To learn more about the Air New Zealand status match terms and conditions, visit this page.