LoungePair partners with Entertainment Publications

LoungePair has partnered with Entertainment Publications of Australia to make digital e-gift cards for airport lounge access available in New Zealand and Australia.

The Auckland travel technology company will distribute the offer through Entertainment Book for consumers and Frequent Values for businesses, giving individual travellers and employers a new way to buy lounge passes.

The arrangement extends LoungePair's reach beyond direct sales in its home market as it builds a broader presence across the Tasman. It also places its product in existing rewards and benefits channels used by consumers and corporate customers.

Under the consumer offer, Entertainment Book members can buy lounge passes as digital gifts for friends and family or for their own trips. Through Frequent Values, businesses can buy the same digital e-gift cards for employees.

LoungePair's model lets travellers choose a lounge that fits their itinerary and buy access when needed, rather than through an annual membership or airline status programme. Its network covers more than 1,400 airport lounges worldwide.

Expansion push

The partnership with Entertainment Publications sits alongside other recent commercial deals as LoungePair expands outside New Zealand. It has also launched a co-branded site with Etihad Airways that allows the airline's customers to buy lounge access, while eligible Mastercard cardholders can receive money back when booking through LoungePair.

Together, those agreements suggest a strategy centred on partnerships with travel, payments and rewards groups rather than relying solely on direct consumer acquisition. For a company founded in Auckland, the latest move opens access to two markets where frequent leisure and business travel create a ready audience for airport services sold on demand.

Airport lounges have traditionally been tied to premium tickets, airline loyalty schemes or paid membership clubs. LoungePair is targeting travellers who want occasional access without committing to a subscription, and businesses that want a travel-related benefit for staff without managing a broader programme.

The deal also reflects wider interest in digital gift cards and flexible travel add-ons that can be bought close to the point of use. For employers, a lounge pass can be positioned as a discrete travel benefit. For consumers, it can be marketed as a gift or optional extra for a holiday or work trip.

Daniel Kinnoch, chief executive officer of LoungePair, outlined the company's position on lounge access and the new distribution tie-up.

"Lounges have long been reserved for a select few with status, and we want to open that door to everyone who travels. Through Entertainment Publications, we can reach individuals wanting to spoil someone they love and businesses looking after their teams, right across New Zealand and Australia. From New Zealand, we are carrying that idea further out into the world," Kinnoch said.

LoungePair described its service as a way for travellers to buy lounge access instantly based on the needs of a specific journey. That approach differs from traditional lounge products, which are often bundled with airline tiers, credit cards or annual plans.

Entertainment Publications is best known for its consumer savings products and membership-based offers, giving LoungePair exposure to an audience already accustomed to buying discounts, rewards and add-on services through a marketplace. The Frequent Values channel broadens that reach by targeting employers seeking staff benefits with a travel element.

Travel add-ons

The deal points to a growing market for ancillary airport services sold as standalone products. As airlines, card issuers and travel companies look for new forms of customer engagement, airport lounge access has become a more visible retail item rather than a perk confined to elite travellers.

For LoungePair, embedding its offer in third-party channels could help normalise lounge purchases as a routine pre-flight spend. Its recent work with an airline partner and a card network indicates it is testing several routes to market at once, from branded travel sales to payment-linked offers and gift-card distribution.

That multi-channel approach may also help the business balance leisure and corporate demand. Consumer gifting can be seasonal and discretionary, while business purchases may be linked to employee travel policies and staff welfare budgets.

The New Zealand-founded company said the Entertainment Publications agreement will serve both sides of that market in New Zealand and Australia through the group's established platforms. Digital e-gift cards are now available to members in both countries.