Air New Zealand revamps Airpoints as Koru, adds Black tier

Air New Zealand’s most frequent flyers will soon be slipping a new card into their travel wallet, with the Kiwi carrier confirming the debut of a much-anticipated Black status tier.

It’s the pointy end of an overhaul for the Airpoints loyalty program, which is being relaunched under the Koru brand in April 2026.

Air New Zealand lounges will become Koru Lounges, while the new business class lounge to open at Auckland International Airport in mid-2026 will be known as the Koru Premier Lounge.

Air New Zealand lounges will be rebranded as Koru Lounges.

Entry to the flagship Koru Premier Lounge – an exclusive space with à la carte dining and private meeting rooms – will be a valued perk of Koru Black as well as Koru Platinum, which is the new name for the current Airpoints Elite tier.

(Lower rungs on the loyalty ladder will be known as Koru Bronze – a new entry-level tier for freshly-minted Koru members – followed by Koru Silver and Koru Gold.)

From Bronze to Black: the five new Koru status tiers.

The program’s Airpoints Dollars currency will be simply known as Airpoints, and remain pegged at an earn rate of one Airpoint per NZD$1 when spending with Air New Zealand.

But there’s no change to the Koru qualification thresholds or Status Point earning rates; nor will any perks be watered down or removed from the below-Black tiers.

“Nothing is being taken away,” promises Alex Larsen, Air New Zealand’s General Manager of Loyalty. “This refresh is additive, it’s purely a plus.”

Koru Black members will have the best chance of an upgrade.

That ‘plus’ column includes fresh benefits for the bulk of Koru elite members.

Koru Silvers will earn five bonus Status Points for every ten journeys with Air New Zealand.

Koru Golds and upwards will have a way to keep their status if they fall slightly short of the necessary Status Point tally.

Also in the revamp: an expansion of Status Rewards offered to Koru members when they hit key Status Point milestones and, later in 2026, discounted reward flights for Koru members.

How to earn Koru Black status

Frequent flyers will ascend from Koru Platinum to Koru Black when they earn 3,200 Status Points – including 1,920 from qualifying flights – within a year.

Many Airpoints members have already reached that target, Larsen tells Executive Traveller, and can soon expect to receive an email confirming the good news. 

“They should also be able to see that they’ve qualified for Black in the app or the member portal.”

Those Black-ready Airpoints members will receive early rewards such as bonus Recognition Upgrades and Valet Parking Vouchers in the coming weeks, ahead of the new tier officially launching in April 2026.

Koru Black benefits

A top-line perk of Koru Black will include five Recognition Upgrade vouchers per year – three full upgrades, and two short-haul upgrades.

However, those will draw from the same pool of R-class and A-class seats made available to other elite Koru members.

On the paid upgrade front, Koru Blacks will see their OneUp upgrade bids “up-weighted by 60%” – giving them an edge in snaring that premium economy or business class seat.

Koru Black members will have the best chance of an upgrade.

Like their Airpoints Elite / Koru Platinum siblings, Koru Black members who earn far above their re-qualifying Status Point threshold will be able to ‘bank’ a Koru Black year to use if their flying drops in the future.

Koru Platinums will continue to bank a status year at 2,400 Status Points, but “we are still working through what that milestone will be for Blacks,” Larsen admits.

Other benefits will be rolled out across 2026 in a staged approach, the airline says.

This will include four free same-day flight changes on domestic Air New Zealand flights per year, which will be managed and activated via the app or website using digital vouchers.

Sharing benfits with Koru Circle

A new concept for Air New Zealand’s rewards program is Koru Circle, which builds upon the partner status available to Airpoints Elite members.

This gifts a special ‘lite’ version of status built around practical travel perks such as lounge access, complimentary premium seat selection, priority check-in and boarding.

Lounge access will be a cornerstone perk of Koru Nominee status.

Koru Black and Koru Platinums will both be able to select one Koru Platinum Nominee – the new name for an Elite Partner.

Koru Black members can also choose between two Koru Circle packages: 

• the Koru Circle Friends Package includes two Koru Black Nominee cards
• the Koru Circle Family Package includes one Koru Black Nominee and an unlimited number of Koru Family Nominees for any dependants under 30 years old

A key difference is that Koru Family Nominees can visit Auckland’s Koru Premier Lounge only when travelling with their Koru Black member (the same goes for Koru Platinum Nominees), and can’t bring guests or children into any Koru Lounge or partner lounge. 

Inside Auckland's new-look international Koru Lounge.

Status Points Top-Up

For Koru Gold, Platinum and Black members who are slightly short of the necessary Status Points to retain their tier, the new Koru program introduces a complimentary Status Points Top-Up which can bridge the gap.

“It’s not uncommon for us to hear from our members throughout the year when they find themselves painfully close to retaining a tier,” Larsen relates, “so we thought it would meet the customer’s needs to formalise the process.”

That shortfall will be set as follows:

• Koru Gold – 30 Status Points short of retaining
• Koru Platinum – 50 Status Points short of retaining
• Koru Black – 70 Status Points short of retaining

Each member will be able to activate one Status Points Top-Up every three years.

Buying Airpoints

However, the ability to purchase Airpoints – previously available through the Kiwi Bank Airpoints credit card – remains off the cards for now.

“The short answer is we have no immediate plans,” Larsen said.

“But we are in active conversations with our financial partners to bring reward and benefits to our co-branded cardholders, so never say never.”

Inside Auckland's new-look international Koru Lounge.

What frequent flyers think

Executive Traveller spoke with three Air New Zealand frequent flyers who have long held Airpoints Elite (soon to be Koru Platinum) status, and all were unanimous in welcoming the new Koru Premier Lounge concept. 

“This brings Air New Zealand more in line with United Airlines, Singapore Airlines and even Oneworld, with differentiated lounge options based on frequent flyer tier and/or class of travel,” noted Auckland-based sales manager Harry Misselbrook, who travels almost monthly on domestic, trans-Tasman and long-haul routes.

However, their voices were also unified in agreeing the overall Koru Black proposition was “underwhelming.”

“There’s very little additional benefit for flying over twice the requirement for Elite or Platinum,” Misselbrook observed.

His suggestions for a better Black include a dedicated customer service team, access to a larger number of confirmed-in-advance upgrade seats than Platinums, rather than offering more upgrade vouchers, and waiving service and booking fees.

“Free same-day flight flexibility for domestic and trans-Tasman would have been a brilliant benefit to offer,” added Wellington network engineer Steve Biddle.

“The fact they haven’t included something like this honestly surprises me.”

Frequent flyers argue that Koru Black members should enjoy guaranteed upgrades.

As for the additional upgrades available to Koru Blacks, “the problem is that upgrades on Air New Zealand are a lottery and many people don’t like to gamble. It can be really hard to get these to clear on many routes.”

Philip Gaunt, a Wellington-based CFO, suggested the airline “needs to provide guaranteed upgrades (for Koru Blacks) if space is available at booking. Receiving extra upgrades is only beneficial if you can use them.”

And as Qantas continues its push into New Zealand, the home carrier “needs to benchmark their loyalty offering and make sure it’s as good or better than Qantas to keep people loyal,” said Misselbrook.

“For those who travel frequently between New Zealand and Australia who might get Koru Black are probably better off splitting their flights between Air New Zealand for keeping Koru Platinum, and also obtaining status with Qantas,” suggested Biddle.

“It will be easier to achieve Qantas Platinum than Air New Zealand Black, and receive access to the Qantas First Lounges,” said Gaunt.

Also read: How to get Air New Zealand Gold status without a single flight