The new RFID ePass is one of a range of initiatives launched by Air New Zealand, as part of a multi-million investment to transform the check-in and boarding experience. Air New Zealand wanted to utilise new technology to meet the needs of customers and offer improved ways of checking in and obtaining a boarding pass.

Marketing Impact helped Air New Zealand devise a method to encode the ePass with a unique identifier and then have these ePasses processed and mailed to all qualified Airpoints and Koru members.

The aim was to turn the checking-in process from what was often thought of as unpleasant experience into a pleasure - particularly for Airpoints members who were frequent flyers.
The innovative elements were essentially working out a mass production method of encoding the tags and ensuring that they were assigned and affixed to the appropriate recipient’s mail piece.

The project was an overwhelming success. There has been a massive uptake of usage. This has filtered down to travellers who don’t qualify for an ePass wanting to know how they can obtain one. The success of the project is exemplified by having no instances of incorrectly encoded tags. The project has created a sense of community and uniqueness as the ePass is attached to mobile phones, and it has revolutionised the check-in and boarding pass par excellence – without compromising personal or airline/airport security.