Dean Kozanic/Stuff
Air Asia flies from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur via Sydney.
Kiwis can now sign up to a flight subscription service for Air Asia which would give them unlimited flights to Sydney from Auckland each year for under $1000.
Air Asia’s SUPER+ by the airasia Super App has been rolled out worldwide, with the premium level of the subscription now open for New Zealand.
The service sees customers pay a yearly fee in return for a number of perks such as ‘free’ unlimited seats on flights, discounts on hotels and the ability to earn Air Asia points.
One of the world’s cheapest airlines, Air Asia resumed its New Zealand services in November with flights from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur via Sydney, opening up discount trans-Tasman fares. Sydney is the only destination at this stage that travellers can fly direct to from Auckland on the airline.
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The subscription service has two levels, SUPER+ Lite, which covers Asean countries, and SUPER+ Premium which is available to all countries served by Air Asia, including New Zealand. Both options include a 5% discount on all hotels on the Super App.
The Lite version costs RM888 (NZ$320) or the Premium version, which is what New Zealanders would need to pay for to fly from Auckland, costs RM2288 (NZ$820) each year.
Air Asia/Supplied
Air Asia’s A330’s have 12 lie-flat beds.
The subscription entitles travellers to unlimited ‘free’ flights for one year from the date of subscription, provided they are an active user. All flights require an advance booking period of 14 days.
Optional add-ons, passenger service charge, departure levies, fuel surcharges and other charges set by international airports will still need to be paid for by the customer, however the base fare would be wiped.
To date, over 100,000 subscribers have redeemed over 500,000 flight seats across Asean, with the highest redemption being 100 flight seats within the 12-month period.
“This is what we have been preparing for – the return of travel, and we are excited about the reopening of markets like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and more to come in the near future,” said Tony Fernandes, chief executive of Capital A (formerly AirAsia Group).
“The SUPER+ subscription captures the beauty of our airasia Super App platform ecosystem, which brings together all of our airlines and travel products and services like hotels, along with our e-commerce offerings such as airasia ride, which is also included as a SUPER+ benefit.
“This is another product that highlights our DNA which is to create value for our customers, and we will continue to champion this across all new products and services that we will introduce in the future.”
CEO of airasia Super App Amanda Woo said this is the first time they are opening up the app to everyone across the world.
“For travellers from the West, this SUPER+ product is the best flight and lifestyle subscription for them to fully maximise and obtain the best value to rediscover the beauty of Asia.
“Since the initial launch in March this year, we have more than 100,000 subscribers across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines with over half a million flights already redeemed.
“We are excited to be the only Super App platform in the market to bring a product such as SUPER+ to the world and for more to enjoy the airasia way of life with this subscription.”
Only 200,000 SUPER+ new subscriptions are available and can be purchased up until December 11, 2022.