It's not a bug.
The arrow rings only shift you upwards or downwards a set amount, and the position on the arrow ring that you fly through determines the start of the altitude shift.
For example, if you need to go higher to reach higher rings, but you hit the bottom of the arrow ring, you might not actually get high enough.
Try flying through the top of the arrow ring in this instance.
Conversely: fly through the bottom of downward arrow rings to get lower.