There are many reasons to start postgraduate study: intellectual stimulation, career progression, personal curiosity, and of course, the DISCOUNTS!
That’s right: flash that student ID and get cheap deals on all sorts of things. From banking to transport, food to clothing, laptops to phone plans, you can save plenty of dosh while you’re a postgrad student. And so you should. Postgrad study often means giving up some or all of your income; so it is completely fair and right to take advantage of some savings too.
Here are some of the best student discounts available to AUT students (postgrad and undergrad) in 2021.
Essentials & bills
Banking
There are tertiary student packages at most major banks, including ASB, ANZ, BNZ, the Co-operative Bank, and TSB. The specifics vary between banks but they often include fees-free accounts, discounted loan rates, interest-free overdrafts, and occasionally little freebies. In many cases, tertiary accounts can be transitioned to graduate accounts (with moderate discounts) when you complete your studies.
For international students, Westpac offers a student account package that can include a New Zealand account in your home currency.
Phone & internet
Looking to add a sweetener to your phone plan? With 2degrees, students can get 500MB extra data per weekend. At Spark, it’s a year of 1GB monthly bonus data and free calls to Spark mobiles and landlines. Make sure you enquire with them and check whether your plan is eligible to access these deals.
For cheap(er) internet, Vodafone offers $300 sign-up broadband credit to StudentCard members (see below for more on StudentCard). That deal does have a minimum 12 month term, but if you want to go month-to-month, MyRepublic offers a flexi $69/mo student rate for their Fibre Pro plan.
Public transport
If you only get one discount from this list, make it an AT HOP tertiary concession. It’s not glamorous, and the process of registering your concession onto your HOP card can be mildly annoying, but it can save you serious money. The concession lasts 3 years (as long as you remain eligible), and gives you at least 20% off most bus, train, and ferry travel around Auckland. If you use public transport daily, that can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars per year.
Entertainment
Movies
At Event Cinemas Queen St (just down the road from campus), student ticket prices are a couple of bucks cheaper than standard – but that still makes them around $20+ depending on the session. Getting a Cinebuzz student card brings the price way down to $10 for a standard 2D session.
A Cinebuzz card also works at Rialto Newmarket, where you can catch arthouse and international movies for $12 on Tuesdays or $14.50-$15 at other times. The discounts aren’t quite as good, but the movies are often a little different to what you’ll find in the typical multiplex.
Or, for a cheap movie with no membership sign-up, visit Academy Cinemas (next to the Auckland City Library) and show your student ID for $14 tickets, or a ridiculous $5 on Wednesdays! (Take your friends and/or a date on Wednesdays – the cheap tickets are for everyone.)
Streaming
More into streaming than cinemas? Unfortunately, the student discounts here are less plentiful. Many streaming services offer student discounts overseas, but not in NZ. However, there are exceptions. Spotify offers a month of free Premium to students, with a half-price rate of $7.49/mo for up to 4 years thereafter. Also, at the moment, UNiDAYS members can get 15% off Disney+. (See below for more on UNiDAYS.)
IRL adventures
The Classic Comedy Club offers 2-for-1 student discounts on the door (though these vary by show). Or for the truly adventurous, your student ID card will get you a discount on the SkyWalk and SkyJump experiences at the Sky Tower.
You can also have a cheap day out 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 $19 day passes to the Auckland Zoo (usually $24) for a big day out under $30 total. Bonus: your MOTAT ticket includes a tram ride between the venues.
Food & drink
First and foremost: AUT students needn’t pay full price for coffee. StudentCard members can get $3 small hot drinks at AUT’s own #newsfeed, KaiFe, the Counter, and Refuel cafes (see below for more about StudentCard).
You can also access affordable hot meals on campus. Refuel and KaiFe offer super-cheap $6.50 buffets; and you can get this down to $6 with a pre-paid meal plan (purchase from the AUT Shop).
For cheap eats at nationwide chains, your best bet is to get a StudentCard. This unlocks discounts at Dominos, Bird on Wire, Habitual Fix, Mad Mex, The Coffee Club, Hollywood Bakery, Giapo, and lots more.
Craving something healthier? Revive Cafe on Lorne St, home of healthy salads & vegan / vegetarian hot meals, offers a student discount to their newsletter subscribers. Sign up online to get their emails, show your student ID in store, and you’ll get meal discounts of $2 off for the small size, or $4 off for the regular/large size boxed meals.
You can even get student deals on your groceries. New World Metro on Queen St offers a 10% discount for students on purchases over $50. Just bring your student ID card and ask for the deal at the checkout. This only applies at the Queen St store, and doesn’t include some high-value items (like phone cards), so check with their customer service team if you’d like to know more.
Tech
Apple and Microsoft both offer their education pricing to tertiary students, so you can save a chunk of change on that new laptop or tablet. PB Tech is also doing back-to-uni deals on a range of devices until the end of March – just enter STUDY21 as your coupon code online, and show your student ID card in-store.
And before you go spending lots on software, remember that AUT students get Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus for free. That means you don’t need to pay for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote or OneDrive for Business. Details here.
Student discount memberships
StudentCard
StudentCard is NZ’s best-established student discount membership scheme. They have negotiated deals with dozens of NZ’s big-name retailers as well as smaller local businesses. A card costs $20, but then you can get deals on everything from fast food to adventure travel, as well as more left-field items like dentists’ appointments and storage lockers. Check out the full list of discounts here. They run the gamut, so this membership is great for those who want an all-purpose discount option.
UNiDAYS
UNiDAYS is another student-only discount membership. The upside? It’s free to join! The downside? UNiDAYS isn’t NZ-specific, so they don’t have as many local deals as StudentCard. However, they are strong on fashion and health & beauty, so if you like to shop online for new looks then this is a great option.
Do you know of more student discounts not listed here? Add them in the comments!
