I’ve never been shy to show my excitement when I come across a bargain. And mostly everyone’s favourite offer is a ‘buy one, get one free’ right? Well, imagine if you could do that every time you go out with your man. Or have a spa treat with the girls. Or a day of adventure with the kiddies. Or on your next holiday. In this day and age, who doesn’t appreciate saving a little bit here and there? If you are in the same boat as me and love a good deal, but haven’t heard of The Entertainer, your wallet is going to love me.
The Entertainer
The Entertainer is an app you download onto your phone once a year. You pay a single upfront fee for it and it gives you access to hundreds of buy one, get one free deals on restaurant meals, hotel accommodation, beauty treatments, leisure activities and more with their wide list of partner merchants. It’s location-based, so if you’re based in Jozi, you’d download the Johannesburg one so the app can geo-locate and suggest their nearest partners to you. The Entertainer has more than 10,000 partners across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. If you’re a travel bunny, you can download multiple ones to make sure you get deals whenever you’re in Cape Town for business or Dubai for a holiday.
How it Works
I first heard about the Entertainer earlier this year, when I was treated to a Women’s Day Bucket List Challenge using only deals you can find on the app – a manicure, back & neck massage and posh lunch at Nelson Mandela Square. Since then, I’ve been using it every chance I can get, especially on date nights with hubby. It’s coming in so handy not just for the savings, but also getting us out of our comfort zones and trying new spots around the city. I won’t lie, I did have my doubts at first and wondered how much I really would be saving with this app but once I started, I couldn’t stop! You’ll soon get the hang of the interface, but thought I’d show it to you and take you through how it works:
1. Choose the category you’re in the mood for. Food & drink is my go to 😉
2. If you know the specific name of the store/restaurant/service then type it into the search bar. If you don’t know what’s available, you can also find something that’s based on your location. Turn on your location setting and the app can let you know of the nearest partners to you.
3. I, like always, felt like ice cream so I typed in my fave, Haagen-Dazs 🙂 And there’s the list of all of the branches. Select the branch you want to redeem your freebie. Let the staff member know you’re using the app and they’ll assist you.
4. All of the available offers will appear, and it’ll show you when they expire. In most cases, it’ll also let you know the rand value of the offer. Choose which one you’d like a buy one, get one free deal on. I chose the ice cream drink (which means that my partner also gets an ice cream drink).
5. The app will ask you to punch in your PIN. The waiter also needs to punch their PIN to confirm the redemption. Voila! Freebie ice cream drink to enjoy 🙂
Food & Drink
This is definitely the category I use the most – no surprises there as I love me some good food. With over 80 restaurants and eateries partnered with The Entertainer, you’re bound to find something that suits your taste. My hands down, favourite deal on the app is their Haagen-Dazs offers (I’ve told you my obsession with ice cream and brownies right?) where you can get a free double scoop of ice cream when you buy the same, or a free ‘creation’ when you order the same (eg. those sickeningly good waffle, ice cream and chocolate combos etc). This makes for the perfect dessert to end any date night.
Beauty & Fitness
My most underused but definitely most needed deals are their beauty offers. So many of us love to have pamper sessions with a girlfriend or sister, so these are perfect places to use the buy one, get one free offers on the app. You can use it to treat your bestie to the free treatment or save the complementary treatment for yourself on your next visit. Some notable partners in this category include Bijan, Curves, Studio 353, Life Day Spa and The Laser Beautique.
Travel
On The Entertainer, you can get ‘buy one get one free’ offers in more than 500 hotels worldwide as well as special rates on more than 550,000 hotels. Since travelling can already be so pricey, this is probably the most welcomed discount in my book. Some notable hotels you can get this offer with are Park Hyatt – Zanzibar, Tanzania; LUX – Maldives; Movenpick – Phuket, Thailand.
Other Categories
- Attractions & Leisure: Notable partners – Bounce and Parkers Comedy Club
- Retail & Services: Notable partners – Randlords (you can currently hire a venue and get a complimentary one worth more than R22,000)
The Entertainer 2018
A few weeks ago, hubby and I attended the launch of the new 2018 edition of the app. It was held at Parkers Comedy Club in Montecasino, one of their newest partners. It was a night of fun, laughter and entertainment that only stand up comedians can deliver. Kev and I particularly enjoy stand up comedy, and it makes for a very light-hearted date night, so this was just perfect for us! With all the hustle and bustle of living in Jozi, it always helps to laugh. And let’s face it, we always laugh harder when others are around to share in the joke.
The 2018 edition is promised to be more enticing, as they’ve added even more partners and offers. They’re currently running an Early Bird Special for just R295 as a once off fee. That’s a whole R200 less than the normal price. Once you buy it, you get access to all of the above offers and more, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to get your money’s worth in a couple of transactions. I’m looking forward to using my Entertainer 2018 app for fun kiddies activities now that Kai is a bit older and adventurous… plus some much needed pamper sessions 🙂
Have you used the app? What are you looking forward to saving on?
Photography credits: Hello Lightbulb, Davide Cantelli, Dan Gold, Sebastien Gabriel, The Entertainer
