In the coming days, just about every airline and package holiday company will be splashing their Black Friday deals, promising hefty discounts on holidays booked for 2025 and beyond. The tradition of booking next year’s holidays before Christmas is a relatively new one.

It’s Black Friday and many Kiwi shoppers have already begun hunting for great deals. Auckland commuters have been urged to “plan ahead” today and resort to public transport to avoid a “busier-than-normal” Friday on the roads.

The annual sales event no longer creates the midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem of recent decades, in large part due to the ease of online shopping and habits forged during the COVID-19 pandemic.