AirAsia’s subscription service offers ‘unlimited’ flights to Sydney for $1000

AirAsia's new subscription service will provide 'unlimited' airline seats to members. Photo / AirAsia

A new flight subscription service has finally reached Aotearoa’s shores and could allow Kiwis to take unlimited flights from Auckland to Sydney for less than $1000 per year.

AirAsia has launched the world’s first flight subscription through the AirAsia Super App. Called ‘SUPER+’ the service offers subscribers unlimited free flights for a year as well as discounts on hotels and ride-hailing services in certain countries.

After paying an annual fee, subscribers can redeem unlimited ‘free’ flights, hotel discounts and other perks.

However, travellers will need to get in quickly. New subscriptions will be sold until December 11, 2022 and only 200,000 are up for grabs.

AirAsia returned to New Zealand in November with flights from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur via Sydney. Currently, Sydney is the only AirAsia destination Kiwis can fly to directly from Auckland.

Travellers can purchase one of two subscription tiers; SUPER+ Lite or SUPER+ Premium.

A Lite subscription, which costs RM888 (NZ$320) covers the 11 Asean countries including Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore.

A Premium subscription costs RM2288 (NZ$820) per year and offers access to all countries operated by the AirAsia airline group. Since New Zealand and Australia are included in this tier, Kiwi travellers would have to purchase the premium subscription.

Both options allow travellers to claim unlimited ‘free’ flights for one year from purchase, with some caveats.

Flights must be booked 14 days in advance and while the subscription covers the ‘base’ fare, the traveller must cover any additional passenger charges, levies or costs set by international airports.

Since the initial launch in March, more than half a million flights have been redeemed by more than 100,000 users across Asean.

The record for most seats claimed by a subscriber in a 12-month period is 100.

“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 Capital A (formerly AirAsia Group)’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes.