Anzac Biscuit Bake Off

Last Thursday the grabaseat team (including Kiwi and Koala) where out and about in CHCH to solve one of the great mysteries of the universe - who has the tastiest Anzac biscuit? Aussies or Kiwis?

We teamed up with Classic Hits and ZM, and cruised around the city in a VW convertible to give away flights from CHCH to OZ. Some lucky punters got the chance to do a blind taste test of both the Aussie and Kiwi Anzac biscuit and if they correctly identified the Kiwi recipe they won return flights for 2 to OZ (apparently the difference is the Aussie one has almonds)!

We also handed out 1000 "save a fortune cookies", which were not only tasty Anzac biscuits but also had the inside word on when the ludicrous fares from CHCH to OZ were going on sale.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us, we had loads of fun. Cheers also to the dude who tackled the Kiwi, hilirious.

To the very unfriendly managers of the local shopping mall...WE'LL BE BACK!

Check out the photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23610273@N06/sets/72157604475234939/

Wing Your Way to China

To promote grabaseat fares to Shanghai and Beijing we decided to team up with the artist known as "Wing". You may remember Wing (she is hard to forget) from her appearances on South Park, SportsCafe or Rove Live. She also recently preformed at the SXSW music festival in Texas. Wing recorded "Wind Beneath My Wings" and the grabaseat team created a promo/music video for the song. So on Monday (yes - just one day), we went to a studio and recorded the song, filmed the video on location at the airport and then edited the video at grabaseat HQ.

Wing sings for grabaseat video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHyrAd4CxEQ

The recording of the song and filming of the video made the 6 o'clock news on TV3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDC04y919Ok

The Wing Your Way to China promo was a huge success with 200 seats to Shanghai selling out in 20mins yesterday and 300 seats to Beijing selling out in 30 mins today!

M.I.A.

Hey grabaseaters, sorry we have been missing in action (on the blog at least) over the last month!

Here are the highlights:

• WIN A WOMAD - we gave away double passes to WOMAD 08, including event tickets, camping passes and Auckland to New Plymouth flights. By all accounts the winners had an awesome time and enjoyed the atmosphere at this outstanding event
  
• ST PADDY'S GREAT IRELAND/ISLAND DEALS - fantastic fares to the North Island or to the South Island
  
• ROCK2WGTN - grabaseat fares to Wellington for the concert and discounted event tickets for grabaseaters
  
• DISCOVER THE PACIFIC ISLAND PARADISE OF TINIHANGA - this was an April Fool's Day prank. There is no such island as Tinihanga, we made it up. Tinihanga is Te Reo Maori for “play a joke, dag, deceive.” We had an overwhelming number of responses from around the country – some made us laugh and others touched our hearts. One lucky person from Hamilton received a luxury Fiji resort holiday.

Sorry we have been so slack at posting to this blog, we have given ourselves a smack (legally because we are grown ups now) and will try to keep on top of it.

Laters

Mexican Wave - Can You Dig It?

It appears you certainly can dig it!

On Wednesday the Mexican Wave brought a swell of seats to every region of the country every hour, giving deal loving kiwis throughout NZ the opportunity to spontaneously grabaseat. It was the first time we have run a promotion like this and it was a huge success.

We did however receive some feedback, that it is great to have new seats on sale every hour if you sit in front of a computer all day, but it is a bit hard to check grabaseat every hour if you work on a farm! So, we are kicking around the idea of a rural promotion for our hardworking farmers. This one's for you JENNI.

Next week grabaseat is getting its groove on (if you know what I mean), so make sure you check it out.

NZ takes a leap for leap day

Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone who was born on Feb 29. Celebrate like it only happens every 4 years.

It appears Kiwis like to take the leap, or maybe they just like leap day deals, or maybe, just maybe Kiwis like $29 fares. Today's grabaseat fares sold out super fast.

Get Queenstown on the World Monopoly Board

Visit grabaseat today and tomorrow to vote for Queenstown to be included on the World Monopoly board. If it makes it, grabaseat will give NZ ludicrous fares to Queenstown.

While you are there nominate Auckland as a wildcard city.

The Monopoly site is a bit tricky to use, so here is a bit of a breakdown.

To vote: register, login, locate Queenstown on the map, add to my cities, vote and enter the code

To nominate: (after logging in), enter Auckland in nominate your own city, nominate and enter the code

What's Up

Wow, last week was off the hook. Who would have thought mayors could be so sexy. The seats on offer last Friday went like hot cakes, particluarly the $1 fares between Invercargill and Christchurch. Well done to all those who managed to snaffle a ludicrously low fare.

This week kicked off with the grabaseat team flying to New Plymouth to get the low down on the destination ... watch this space, it will be well worth it.

Also, keep an eye on grabaseat today and tomorrow for an opportunity to score a deal to a much favoured Kiwi destination.

Of course this week we also celebrate a very special, once every 4 years day, the 29th of Feb.

And the winner is....

Mayor Tim Shadbolt of Invercargill !


The finally standings:

• Tim Shadbolt - Invercargill 32%
• Jono Naylor - Palmerston North 30%
• Peter Chin - Dunedin 22%
• Bob Simcock - Hamilton 16%

So Hamilton, Dunedin and Palmerston North are all up for great fares today but Invercargill you get the $1 fare to Christchurch !

The fares will be appearing at random times during today (Hamilton is up first) so keep an eye out on grabaseat !

Lowest fares for city with the hottest Mayor

Today we are running Mayor Idol, a vote off between the Mayors of Dunedin, Palmerston North, Invercargill & Hamilton.

The town with the hottest Mayor gets the cheapest grabaseat fares on Friday (22/02/08) !

• Hottest Mayor's town gets $1 one way fare
• 2nd placed Mayor's town gets $20 one way fare
• 3rd placed Mayor's town gets $30 one way fare
• 4th placed Mayor's town gets $40 one way fare

So get voting now and as always check out http://www.grabaseat.co.nz for some ludicrous fares.

Update: Mayor Tim Shadbolt belives he is without a doubt the hottest Mayor... wonder if the polls will prove him right?

The prices are up to you

Check out grabaseat tomorrow and vote on the prices for seats from Hamilton, Palmerston North, Dunedin & Invercargill, for sale on Friday.

J.A.F.A.'s Get Swallowed Whole

Kiwis certainly love J.A.F.A.'s! As in Just Another F...light to Auckland.
As of now there are only a few flights left. These are mainly New Plymouth to Auckland, so come on the Naki don't be shy get stuck into it.

grabadate hangover and photos

It is pretty damn safe to say that the lucky grabaseaters, who came to P A R T Y at grabadate Wellywood on Saturday, had an absolute blast.

The Establishment was decked out with grabadate posters (which some people managed to snaffle), lime green balloons and a starry starry night photo backdrop, lovely. Lime green wristbands helped identify who was "up for it" (apparently green ribbon on your left arm means you are single) and porn star nametags gave an insight into people's mood on the night. The scrummy (and rather potent) 42 Below "Passionate Cosmopolitan" welcome cocktail and substantial grabaseat bar tab certainly helped the conversations flow.

Thanks for getting stuck into the games on the night. Congrats to the winners of Worst Pick-Up Line and People Bingo (AJ, you are a freakin legend) and our two Hotties of the Night. Thanks must also go to Lauren for fulfilling our ginga quota for the night, we love you Fanta Pants.

Now I know you didn't come to the read my dribble, so here are the photos:



You can see them in all their glory at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23610273@N06/sets/72157603926433397/

It was cool to meet you all. See you on the flipside.
Laters, Fun Boy (aka Sunil)

Grab-a-date Wellywood goes off

It was a brilliant night - check back soon for some photos.

Great deals today !

Some great deals today:

• Auckland to Dunedin, Dunedin to Auckland
• Nelson to Palmerston North, Palmerston North to Nelson
• Timaru to Wellington, Wellington to Timaru

And later this morning, some very very nice deals:

• Auckland to Wellington, Wellington to Auckland
• Auckland to Christchurch, Christchurch to Auckland
• Christchurch to Wellington, Wellington to Christchurch

Get grabbing at http://www.grabaseat.co.nz

Auckland and Christchurch sold out!

Two big cities are already sold out - just a few seats left from Rotorua, Dunedin, Nelson and Napier. Be quick if you want to grab a date. Looks like its going to be a great party.

grabadate seats on sale now

Grabadate are on sale now and are going fast !

Remember your ticket includes the flight to Wellington AND entry into the awesome Singles Awareness Day party !

Tickets are strictly limited so make your move now !

Don't miss out !

Just a reminder, the Singles Awareness Day Party tickets go on sale tomorrow.

Don't miss out its going to a great party !

Ludicrously low fares for today

• Christchurch to Invercargill, Invercargill to Christchurch
• Auckland to Rotorua,Rotorua to Auckland
• Dunedin to Wellington,Wellington to Dunedin
• Blenheim to Queenstown,Queenstown to Blenheim

Checkout http://www.grabaseat.co.nz

grabadate video is smoking...

Filmed by and starring members of the grabaseat team our "Have a love affair in Wellington" spoof has grabbed 7 YouTube honours so far ;)

• #38 - Most Viewed (This Week) - New Zealand
• #1 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Travel & Events - New Zealand
• #79 - Most Viewed (This Month) - Travel & Events - New Zealand
• #3 - Top Favorites (This Week) - Travel & Events - New Zealand
• #14 - Top Favorites (This Month) - Travel & Events - New Zealand
• #7 - Top Rated (This Week) - Travel & Events - New Zealand
• #44 - Top Rated (This Month) - Travel & Events - New Zealand

Check out the clip and check out grabadate.

Today's ludicrously low fares

• Auckland to Queenstown, Queenstown to Auckland
• Gisborne to Wellington, Wellington to Gisborne
• Nelson to Tauranga, Tauranga to Nelson
• Hamilton to Wellington, Wellington to Hamilton

Check out http://www.grabaseat.co.nz

Grab-a-date Wellywood

Already there has been huge interest in the inaugural Grab-a-date party in Wellywood to celebrate Singles Awareness Day. Bah Humbug to all those mushy, lovey dovey couples. Being single rocks. It's going to be an awesome night.

Check out the grabaseat Singles Awareness Day party.

Today's Deals

Auckland to Tauranga, Tauranga to Auckland
Wellington to Queenstown, Queenstown to Wellington,
Auckland to Wanganui,Wanganui to Auckland
Palmerston North to Wellington, Wellington to Palmerston North

Check out http://www.grabaseat.co.nz

The official grabaseat blog is now up and running

Wow our very own blog. The official grabaseat blog is now up and running.

Check back here for behind-the-scenes information (and maybe some 'insider' tips) on grabaseat.