Cash hack: Cheap cinema tickets with £1 Tastecard Plus trial

Get access to cheap movie tickets for three months, and 2-4-1 meals, for just £1 with a Tastecard Plus trial.

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Going to the cinema can be expensive. I rarely pay more than £6, often less, thanks to a series of special offers, memberships and deals. 

The problem is, these deals come and go, meaning you might not have one available when you plan to see a film. But there is one deal which you can use day-in, day-out at most major cinemas, saving up to 40% on the ticket price.

What is Tastecard Plus?

I’m sure you’re familiar with Tastecard. It’s a membership scheme offering a year of 2-4-1 restaurants. It’s not bad value if you get a card for around £35 and often eat at places like Pizza Express and Strada.  Plus there are always trials where you can get anywhere between 60 and 120 days for just £1, with 90 days the most common.

You might not realise though that there’s also an extra option called Tastecard Plus. Sometimes it’s included in the deal, other times you have to pay extra for it. This offers money off at cinemas, theatres and hotels. I’ve written before about how the theatre and hotel offers aren’t anything special and are available elsewhere, so I wouldn’t get excited about those.

But the cinema ticket offer on Tastecard Plus is a different story. Yes there are potentially bigger ways to save (see my bumper cinema savings page), but it’s possible to get reduced tickets all year round at Odeon, Vue, Cineworld, Picturehouse, Empire, Showcase and The Light with the Tastecard plus deals.

The cinema offers with Tastecard Plus

There are seven cinema chains listed on Tastecard +. types of discounted ticket you can buy. All the tickets you buy are e-codes and you can buy any number of tickets. Each ticket will have its own unique code so you can use them over time or even all at once. 

Some of the chains have one set price per ticket, others have different prices depending on which location you pick, whether it’s 2D or 3D and if it’s an adult or child ticket. Below I’ve broken down the key options. I’ve not gone into every single option (there are hundreds of variables) but they should generally be accurate (at the time of writing). 

Cineworld on Tastecard Plus

• Adult  – £6.60
• Child  – £4.90
• Premium – £13.20

The main Cineworld options on Tastecard are adult or child in 2D, or a separate “premium” option for things lilke 3D or IMAX. There’s also a deal to buy a drink and popcorn combo. If you buy a 2D ticket you can pay extra at the cinema to upgrade. Code are valid for three months. You can book online (with an extra booking fee) or in person, though not via the phone.

Prices could vary on location but I could only find the same price. Only Leicester Square is excluded. This means there could be huge savings on prices you pay. But, something to be careful of is when the cinema has cheap tickets all the time. For example Bradford charges £5.50 for ALL tickets. Via Tastecard + it’d be £1.10 more! So do check the cinema website first.

Odeon on Tastecard Plus

• Adult (inside London) – £9.02
• Adult (outside London) – £7.67
• Child (Inside London) – £7.14
• Child (Outside London) – £6.59

There are essentially four options. Adult and child, and inside or outside London. You can only buy 2D tickets, and the tickets are just for standard seats, not premium ones. Every Odeon is included except Leicester Square, Whiteleys and BFI Imax. You can redeem them at the box office, or online.

Vue on Tastecard Plus

• Adult (Picadilly London) – £8.50 / £9.13 (3D)
• Adult (inside London) – £8.05 / £8.58 (3D)
• Adult (outside London) – £7 / £8.58 (3D)
• Cheap cinemas – £4.50 / £8.58 (3D)

There are four cinema categories with Vue. The Picadilly cinema in London, the rest of London, non-London and the locations where seats are always cheap (and these can be all over the country, including Islington and Fulham). This means you should always pay less than the price listed at the box office. With Vue you can also choose to buy 3D tickets at a small premium. Prices are the same whether tickets are for a child or adult. Once more, Leicester Square is excluded.

Picturehouse on Tastecard Plus

• Adult (Picturehouse Central London) – £13.70
• Adult (inside London) – £9.50
• Adult (outside London) – £8.65
• Child (all locations) – £5.40

Much simpler here. It’s either adult or child 2D, and outside London, inside London or the Picturehouse Central. You can pay more when you book to upgrade your ticket.

Showcase on Tastecard Plus

• Adult (De Lux cinemas) – £9.05
• Adult (standard cinemas) – £7.70
• Child (De Lux cinemas) – £6.62
• Child (standard cinemas) – £6.25

The price here depends on whether your Showcase is a De Lux or standard location – you’ll pay more for the latter. You get the option to choose between adult and child tickets, but they are all 2D tickets. You can top up when you book if you want to upgrade. Booking can be done online or in person.

Empire on Tastecard Plus

• Adult – £6.90
• Child – £5.90

Very simple here, whatever the location you’ll pay the same price for a 2D ticket, with adult tickets a quid more than one for kids. As with most of the others you can pay to upgrade to a 3D or VIP seat.

The Light on Tastecard Plus

• Adult – £7.25
• Child – £5.80

This one stands out as it’s the same price for 2D and 3D, so it’s very cheap if you do want the premium experience.  You can only redeem the codes at the box office.

How to get access to this offer for just £1

The best way to get these discounts is to take out a trial – and you can get a 90-day trial for just £1. 

I don’t think it’s worth paying the full price just for these cinema discounts, though if you also use the dining discounts it can be decent value. Just don’t pay more than £35/£40 a year as there are regular offers at this price.

In the past, one of the problems with Tastecard is it can be tricky to cancel if you don’t want to continue with it after the trial. My advice is to schedule in the diary two weeks before the card is due to expire just in case you have problems. If you don’t do it four days before the trial ends you will be charged £39.99 for a full 12 months. I’ve a guide to cancelling here.

Can you beat these prices?

It is often possible to pay even less thanks to special offers and other deals. For example, the Meerkat Movies app can get you two for one tickets every Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can get a year of that for around £1.

But sometimes this and similar offers (Kids Pass has similar deals, as do some work perk schemes) do represent fantastic value.

> Check out all the latest cinema deals in my cheap cinema tickets page

Cheap cinema tickets offers and deals inc Odeon, Vue, Cineworld and more