Air New Zealand is gifting tens of thousands of frequent flyers a massive freebie: a significant number of Status Points towards their Airpoints membership.

Status Points are the most coveted reward for frequent flyers - if they reach a certain number of points each year they can progress to Silver, Gold or Gold Elite status. Some of the benefits of Gold and Elite include free lounge access, extra baggage and free upgrades.

During the pandemic, Airpoints members didn't do as much flying. Given status is reviewed annually, many were at risk of being downgraded.

To combat that, Air NZ introduced three Tier Status Extensions so people could hold onto their status throughout the pandemic – essentially pausing the annual review system.

Now that most of the extensions are running out, Air NZ is offering one final post-pandemic freebie; it's giving away up to 270 status points as a one-off gift.

A spokesperson for the airline told Stuff Travel: 'With the New Zealand borders reopen, it's great to see that flying has gradually returned, however many members may not have yet had the opportunity to travel, and as a result may downgrade their tier status over the coming year.”

There are two types of 'support” packages to help Silver, Gold and Gold Elite members keep their status. The first is a 'top-up”. If the member doesn't have enough points to retain their current tier level at their next annual review, they'll get a top-up of up to 20% of the total points needed to nudge them over the mark. If that still doesn't get you there, unfortunately, you're headed down a level.

Air New Zealand Silver, Gold and Gold Elite members will get an email outlining the bonus. Image: Screengrab/Stuff.

If you already have enough points to qualify for another year at your annual review, you'll instead be given a 'Status Points bonus”. This will be 81 points for Silver, 162 points for Gold or 270 points for Elite. You can use the points towards reaching a new tier.

For context, an entry-level Economy fare from Auckland to Los Angeles return would accrue around 90 Status Points, so the gift is significant.

Members need 450 points to reach Silver, 900 to reach Gold and 1500 to reach Gold Elite.

The free points will be applied to each person's account at their next annual review falling between February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024.

This latest package is likely to be the final bit of Covid-19 assistance for frequent flyers, a spokesperson indicated.

'We expect that over the course of the year, travel will continue to return and members will get back to earning the Status Points they need to retain and upgrade tiers on their own.”

- Brook Sabin/Stuff.