Kelly Meharg buys a membership to the new Entertainment Book App – but is it as good as it used to be? Here’s her Entertainment Book App Review!
Once upon a time, in the glovebox of every Kiwi family car, nestled between receipts, a battered map and a rogue lip balm, lived a bulky but beloved companion: The Entertainment Book.
If you were an Entertainment Book family, then you know what I’m excited about, team. It was the beacon of possibility, the only places your mum would ever even THINK about going because there was a minimum of 25% off. It was fun and freedom and fanciness, all in one telephone-book sized package.
But somewhere between the rise of Uber Eats and the fall of the home printer, the Entertainment Book faded from our lives. Until now.
After a five-year hiatus, The Entertainment Book is back, except it’s no longer a book. It’s an exciting little app, softly launched in New Zealand last week under the new name Entertainment – Discover More. But as we downloaded it, had a hoon around the interface and redeemed our first deal, we asked ourselves – is this new version actually worth it?
TLDR: Yuuuuup, and our little millennial souls are HAPPY.
From Paper to Pixel: A Nostalgic Shift
The old Entertainment Book was charmingly analogue and, er, of its time. It had a distinct smell, a slight stickiness from time spent in the kitchen drawer, and a satisfying ritual: choosing a deal, tearing out the coupon, and proudly handing it over. You’d comb through the ENTIRE thing, ripping out the deals you wanted before your siblings had the chance, because you knew if you didn’t put them into your Roxy wallet then and there, you’d either forget them or your brother would take all the good ones.
The app, on the other hand, is all about function. You log in, set your location, browse by category or search by name, and redeem offers straight from your phone. It’s sleek. It’s quick. It’s sustainable of course – no trees harmed in the making of your discount. In fact, the digital shift saves more than 25,000 trees a year globally, according to the brand. And of course, you carry the deals around with you everywhere, rather than having to keep the book in the car and random coupons in your wallet.
There’s no denying the trade-off, but the nostalgic part of us does stupidly miss a little the romance of flipping through the book – but not experiencing the frustration of expired deals and carrying a 500-page phonebook to brunch.
What Deals Are in the Entertainment Book App?
The Entertainment – Discover More app offers discounts across food, travel, activities, retail, beauty treatments and accommodation. Once you create an account, you’re greeted by a clean home screen showing nearby offers, trending deals, and categories to explore.
We tried the Auckland membership ($70/year), which, in an intro offer, was upgraded to the multi-city membership (more below). Some of our personal highlights that I’ll be using include:
- Baduzzi – modern Italian with LEGENDARY meatballs in Wynyard Quarter, Auckland – 25% off
- Emirates – Up to $500 off flights. Seriously. With not many catches. This is WILD.
- The French Café – fine dining royalty by Sid Sarawati in Auckland (this is for FANCY occasions) – 25% off
- Truth or Dare – one of the BEST cocktail bars in Auckland – 25% off
- 5 Star Nails – nail appointments add up! – 25% off
- Pravda – Wellington’s finest that I’ve never been to and always wanted to go to
- Archie Bros – Fun arcade games in Auckland and Christchurch (and coming soon to Wellington) – 30% off
- Bar Magda – one of Auckland’s most-lauded restaurants – 25% off
- Casa Publica – A bar I’ve heard awesome things about in Christchurch that’s been on the list for ages! – 25% off
There’s SO much on here – fast food with buy one, get one free deals; 30% off Kelly Tarltons, 50% off Lilliput Mini Golf, discounts on rental cars and hotels, tiles, vibra trains and more.
The Membership Options (And The Maths)
You’ve got two main choices:
- Single City (e.g., Auckland only): $70/year
- Multi-City (NZ + Australia + Bali): $120/year – but you get this at the $70 price right now
Each membership includes a fundraising kickback $14 or $24 respectively goes to a school, club or community cause of your choice (you’re welcome, Piha Surf Lifesaving Club). So it’s not just spending, it’s giving back. Nice touch.
But is the value there?
Let’s say you and your partner dine at The French Café with a 25% discount—that’s a potential $50-80 saved in one outing. Use the Emirates discount once and you’re well ahead, as I plan to for an end-of-year Europe trip. Throw in a weekend stay at a discounted hotel or a few casual 2-for-1 lunches, and it pays for itself quickly.
But the key is: you have to use it. If you’re not someone who eats out often, travels, or checks apps for deals, it might not be for you.
Our Experience: A Flash of the Past, A Tap of the Future
The moment we logged in, something clicked (literally). There was the same sense of possibility the book used to give us. That “where should we eat this weekend?” energy rather than just visiting the usuals and the old faithfuls – except now it came with real-time filters, a location map, and instant redemptions.
Was it perfect? Not quite yet. The app had a few hiccups – slow loading at times, some search bugs, a moment of login confusion with my credit card. But it worked. And when we used it to book a discounted dinner at Baduzzi on a Friday night, it brought back that classic satisfaction: we just saved money on something we were going to do anyway.
And I was shocked at the calibre of businesses, restaurants and bars especially, who have chosen to be part of this new Entertainment Book era. It makes accessing fancy places so much easier, and will be a huge plus for the hospo industry right now.
The Verdict: Is It Worth It?
Look, only you can answer that, but:
If you loved the book, travel a bit, and eat out often, then hell yeah, absolutely.
If you like supporting local fundraisers and exploring your city, yup.
If you’re app-averse or only use one voucher a year, maybe not.
It’s less about loyalty to the brand, and more about whether you’ll actually use the offers. This isn’t a set-and-forget subscription. It rewards the curious, the spontaneous, the slightly organised (read: not us on a typical week, but we’re trying).