With inflation tipping over 3% last year (and electricity up over 12%), it’s sadly common to feel the sting of bloated bills.
Luckily for you, if you are reading Thesislink you are probably an AUT postgraduate research student. And with that student card in your wallet, you can unlock some excellent discounts and deals.
A few local student discounts have gotten much sweeter in 2026. Our picks? Auckland Transport have increased their tertiary discount on bus, train, and ferry rides from 20% to 40%; and Event Cinemas has introduced half-price student tickets on some days of the week. A movie under $15 and a cheap bus home? Yes please!
Read on for a list of the best 2026 student discounts, and make the most of your student status. You’ll find deals on:
- Student discount memberships
- Food & drink
- Health & wellness
- Banking
- Transport
- Entertainment
- Staying connected
- Devices & software
Many of these deals apply to all NZ students – but because this is an AUT blog, we’ve included lots of the cheap deals and perks unique to AUT students too.
Student discount memberships
This is the hack, the shortcut, the most low-effort way to get access to hundreds of student deals at once.
StudentCard
StudentCard is a local student discount network that has been delivering the deals to NZ students for over 20 years. They have negotiated discounts with dozens of NZ’s big-name retailers as well as smaller local businesses. A card costs $20, but then you can get discounts on a huge range of items from candles to car servicing; fast food to fast tech. Check out the full range of discounts here. The selection is crazy – with such left-field items like storage units and paint – so this membership is great for those who want an all-purpose discount option.
Other student discount memberships
Although StudentCard is dominant in Aotearoa, there are a few other international schemes open to NZ members.
UNiDAYS is a fashion & beauty-focused network with heaps of deals available for online (mainly) shopping across ~150 brands, including local retailers. Their local presence seems to be growing too: with recent deals at entertainment hotpots like Holey Moley mini golf and Archie Brothers.
StudentBeans is another online shopping scheme from England with NZ sign-ups available. There are around 120 brands included – check out their trending discounts (though note, not all are available in NZ). There is quite a bit of overlap between the retailers on UNiDAYS and StudentBeans, so compare your options before making a purchase.
There’s also the ISIC (International Student Identity Card), which in addition to verifying your student status around the world, can also unlock discounts. You can filter to find the deals that apply in NZ (including lots of local adventures like bungy jumping, bridge climbs, and bike hire).
Food & drink
AUT’s cafes and eateries offer lots of special deals for affordable food & drinks. Refuel (on the city campus) and KaiFe (on the south campus) offer super-cheap $8.50 hot meals. You can also bring the cost down even lower with a pre-paid meal plan at just $8/meal. Visit the AUT Shop website (or in person in WH building) to pay for your desired number of meals, and the credit will be added to your student ID card. The website sells weekly packages, or you can enquire to find out about a 10-meal pass. The Refuel and KaiFe opening hours and buffet times vary, so check online in advance.
For bonus coffee on campus, don’t forget to collect Cafe Points every time you pay at one of our cafes via your AUT app. For every 35 points you collect, you can get a free medium coffee. (And for free coffee, visit the PG study rooms!)
You can also access dozens of dining deals with the StudentCard. It unlocks discounts at Yeah Bowl, Mexicali, Burger Wisconsin, Coffee Club, and many more.
Plus for those many moments when only fries will power you through a late-night study session, Burger Fuel has a ‘Spuds for Students’ deal that gets you free fries with any large burger.
Health & Wellness
AUT students can access free or low-cost healthcare through the AUT Student Medical Centres, and free mental health support through the Counselling & Mental Health team (details here).
For more specialised health services, try AUT Integrated Health clinics at North and South campuses. They have very reasonable rates for podiatry, physiotherapy, and psychotherapy. There’s also AUT’s Niho Ora ki Manukau (Oral Health Manukau) clinic, offering affordable dentistry (with 20% off for AUT students).
Looking to keep fit? You can access low-cost gym memberships through the AUT Gyms. If it’s not convenient for you to work out on campus, many other gyms also offer student discounts. These include Jetts (reduced start-up fee of $10 & 10% off 12-month All Clubs membership) and the YMCA city gym (from $23.50/week).
If your income while studying is under certain thresholds, you may also qualify for a Community Services Card – which can significantly reduce your healthcare costs.
Banking
Sadly, student banking packages seem to be rare these days. Of the major NZ banks, only Westpac and the Co-operative Bank offer accounts specifically for students. Other major banks like ANZ, BNZ, and TSB seem to have phased out their student accounts over the past year or two (though if you have a pre-existing student account with them, you may still get perks).
If you are considering Westpac and the Co-operative Bank, it’s a tough choice. Both offer fees-free accounts, Debit Mastercard fee waivers, and interest-free overdrafts (by arrangement). However, for international students, Westpac may have the edge with their international student account package that can include a New Zealand account in your home currency.The specifics and eligibility critieria vary between banks, so do check the fine print before making a choice.
Want more info on your options? MoneyHub publishes a handy analysis of student banking packages to help you compare, and they include some out-of-the-box options too.
Transport
Big news: the AT HOP tertiary concession for bus, train, and ferry fares has been bumped up from 20% to a beefy 40% as of December 2025. This makes it even more worthwhile to go through the process of registering your concession onto your HOP card. The concession lasts up to 3 years (as long as you remain eligible). A note though: if you have a Community Services card, you may be better off with a Community Connect concession, which can raise the discount to a massive 50%!
If you’re driving, you will need to pay to park on- or near-campus. That can be eye-wateringly expensive, but there are ways to trim the cost.
City campus: Wilson Parking offers discounted monthly prices for students at many of their city centre carparks. (Unfortunately, the one closest to AUT at 47 Symonds St is among the most expensive at $249/month; but if you don’t mind a little walk, there are cheaper options further out.) For casual parking, Auckland Transport’s Civic Carpark is often cheaper at $5.50/hr in peak times; and down to $2.50/hr (or $12.50 max) on weekends & public holidays.
North and South campuses: the usual M-F rates of $2/hr drop down slightly if you pay via the UbiPark app. Discounted rates are $1.75 for one hour; or $7 for a day (plus fees). Weekends and public holidays are free!
Biking to the city campus? You can secure (and in some places, charge) your bike or e-bike for free at one of the Locky Dock parks or bike racks dotted around campus.
Entertainment
Movies
The price of movie tickets has gone through the roof over the past few years. However, a ray of light for film buffs: the major cinema chain in Auckland, Event Cinemas, has started running half-price student discounts on Mondays (and M-F at their Queen St branch). Accessing this deal requires some advance planning – you’ll need get a Cinebuzz card, visit the cinema beforehand (with your student ID) to get a student promo code, and go online to load that to your Cinebuzz card at least 24 hours before your movie. A standard student ticket at the Queen St location is a whopping $25.50, so half-off brings this down to a more reasonable $12.75.
However, your best bet for cheap movies as a student is to hit up the Academy Cinemas (next to the Auckland City Library). Their standard student tickets are $14 every day, with no special membership required… but it gets even better with their incredible $5 ticket deal on Wednesdays! This isn’t even a student deal, so you can bring anyone to enjoy the discount.
Streaming
Spotify offers a student rate of $10.49/mo for Spotify Premium, which represents about a 45% discount from the standard price. They even throw in a free month as well. This only applies with a student ID and if you’re new to Premium.
Plus there are a few other streaming services included in international student discount membership schemes (e.g. Disney+ via UNiDAYS, YouTube Premium via ISIC); though we weren’t able to verify that these are actually accessible in Aotearoa, so your mileage may vary.
IRL adventures
Right over the road from the city campus you’ll find the beautiful Auckland Art Gallery, which you can explore (mostly) for free. There are some paid exhibitions, and students typically get a few dollars off the ticket price.
Not far from there, on upper Queen St, The Classic comedy club hosts shows from NZ’s up-and-coming comedians (as well as a few big names). They often have 2-for-1 student ticket deals – but not always, and only on door sales, so check in advance.
If you don’t mind going a little further afield, you can have a cheap day of fun at Western Springs. MOTAT (the Museum of Transport and Technology) and the Auckland Zoo are right next to each other, and both offer student discounts. Get $10 MOTAT tickets (usually $19), and passes to the Auckland Zoo from $16.50 (off-peak) for a big day out under $30 total. Bonus: your MOTAT ticket includes a tram ride between the venues.
There are also heaps of action & adventure deals with local tourism providers through StudentCard. Highlights include discounted go-karts, sky diving, and even axe throwing!
Staying connected
Phone plans & data
Telcos are a bit inconsistent with what they offer in terms of discounted phone plans & perks; but for 2026, Spark seems to have the edge:
- Spark offers a year of 1.5GB monthly bonus data and free calls to Spark mobiles and landlines on a variety of their plans
- 2degrees has previously offered 1GB extra data per weekend on eligible mobile plans, but their website is currently a bit unclear on this
- One NZ doesn’t offer any student discounts, but Kogan (which uses One’s network) has a UNiDAYS offer for a $25/month package with 15GB data
No matter who your telco is, make sure you enquire with them and check whether your plan is eligible to access a student deal.
Need wifi? AUT students get free wifi on campus, with up to 100GB of data per month. Elsewhere, you can find connections at all Auckland Libraries, and some other council-run venues such as public transport terminals and art galleries.
Web hosting
Website World offers one year of free web hosting for students to showcase their portfolio, CV or academic project. This can be a great option if you need short-term visibility, for instance during a job hunt or while launching a project. However, it does cost after a year, and comes with T&Cs – so be sure to check the details before signing up.
News
AUT students can get free access to paid news services via our institutional licences. This covers you for the NZ Herald Premium online content (details here) and Business Desk (details here).
Professional memberships
Many professional organisations offer student discounts. Three currently profiled for AUT students are the NZ Tech Marketers Group (TMG), Institution of Finance Professionals NZ (INFINZ), and Human Resources New Zealand (HRNZ). However, many more will offer student discounts as standard or on request.
Devices & software
If you have a StudentCard, you can access deals on new tech gear via Noel Leeming and PB Tech. And for repairs, your StudentCard can score you 15% off at Advanced Computers. Even without a StudentCard, Apple and Microsoft both offer their education pricing to tertiary students; and Lenovo and Samsung also have student discount schemes.
Need software? Check before you buy! AUT students get Microsoft Office 365 for free. That means you don’t need to pay for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneNote or OneDrive for Business. You can also get other software relevant to your study (e.g. EndNote) – log in here to check what is available to you. (Top tip for research students: Vibe and Buzz are available as free transcription tools!) As an AUT student you can also use Studiosity for feedback on your writing, and LinkedIn Learning for free online professional development (login with your AUT credentials).
If you need to access software from home that you use on AUT computers, check the instructions to access AUT computers remotely. The process takes a little time, but could help avoid an unnecessary software purchase!
Do you know of more student deals not listed here? Add them in the comments!
