Air New Zealand closes in on lifetime status

Longtime Air New Zealand loyalists might soon be rewarded with lifetime frequent flyer status in the airline’s revamped Koru program.

This would deliver perks with not only the Kiwi carrier but right across the Star Alliance group of airlines.

Lifetime status has been on AirNZ’s radar for some time, but 2026 could be the year it lands.

“It’s very much on our radar,” Alex Larsen, Air New Zealand’s General Manager of Loyalty, told Executive Traveller earlier this week.

“It’s much sought after, so I think that makes sense.”

“There’s nothing to share as yet, but I think it’s reasonable to expect something in the next wee while.”

Air New Zealand is weighing up which Koru tiers might be suitable for lifetime status.

In rolling out lifetime status, Air New Zealand could offer this across the main Koru elite tiers of Silver, Gold and Platinum, in the same way that Qantas does now.

An alternative would be to limit lifetime status to a single ‘sweet spot’ tier such as Gold – the path chosen by Virgin Australia for its recent launch of Forever Gold.

Larsen said both approaches were being considered for lifetime Koru status.

“There’s lots of ways to acknowledge tenure. It could be selected to a tier, it could be (across) full tiers. We’re exploring all options, but nothing’s off the table.”

“We’re equally divided on the way to go, or whether it makes sense right now. The key for us is getting it right, so at the moment we are actively exploring the concept.”

Lifetime Koru Gold would unlock a lifetime of lounge access with Air New Zealand and all Star Alliance members.

As a benchmark, Qantas Lifetime Gold and Virgin Forever Gold both require almost a 25x multiple of the year-on-year status credit requirements for Gold.

That figure is also in line with mid-tier lifetime status available through American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

If that same metric was applied by Air New Zealand, lifetime Koru Gold could set the bar in the range of 20,000-25,000 Status Points.

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