The best birthday freebies and how to get them

Get more than £60 of birthday freebies from shops and restaurants.

Everyone likes to feel extra special on their birthday. Companies tend to offer some terrific birthday freebies, with everything from free cake to a bottle of Prosecco. The best thing about some of these is that you sometimes get a few weeks to get your freebie, letting you take advantage of more, and spread your birthday out even further. 

In 2019, Editor-in-chief Andy had a successful birthday — he managed to get himself a free meal at his favourite burger joint Meat Liquor, pick up some posh Hotel Chocolat treats, get a Body Shop shower gel and save money on some flatpack furniture at Ikea, totalling £28 worth of freebies.

Here’s how you can get up to £60 worth of freebies on and around your birthday. 

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How to get birthday freebies

While most retailers’ emails end up unread and clogging up your inbox, when it comes to a few weeks before your birthday, it’s time to pay a little extra attention to them, just in case you’re getting a little gift. 

Of course, these brands aren’t giving you something for nothing. In all cases, you need to be signed up for their newsletters or loyalty schemes, which means handing over your data and dealing with constant emails.

If you’re selective, and only pick the brands you regularly shop at and want to hear about, then it’s well worth doing. And often the birthday freebies aren’t the only offers and deals you’ll get sent during the year.

Don’t forget that you can always unsubscribe from emails once you’ve had your birthday, and possibly even sign up again – though it’s worth doing this at least a month before your birthday to allow time for your details to be processed.

One of our writers Nicky Selwood says that she always gives a different birthday, so she’s got birthdays all year round to make the most out of. The odd one might want ID, so use your real birthday for these ones.

Free food and drink

From smoothies to doughnuts, here’s all the free food and drink you can get on your birthday. We’ve ignored a lot of the offers where you get a free main or bubbly when you buy a main, though there are a couple listed at the bottom of this page. They’re still decent offers, but we’re more excited about the freebies. 

If you manage to get a bill for £0, it’s still pretty good form to leave a tip.

Boost – free drink

If you sign up for the Boost Vibe Club (you can do this online), you can get a free drink on your birthday. 

This can be claimed up to 3 days before and 3 days after your birthday.

You need to have earned at least one point and you’ll need to show ID proving that it’s your birthday. 

Benugo – free drink

Coffee shop chain Benugo is giving away a free coffee on your birthday. You just need to sign up to the mailing list and you’ll get a free coffee and another on your birthday.

Starbucks – free drink

One for regular Starbucks users. If you join the free Starbucks Rewards scheme and reach Gold level (you need to earn 450 Stars, roughly a spend of £150) you’ll get a free drink on your birthday. You’ll also get other freebies throughout the year at this level. You get a free drink for every 150 stars you collect, so you’ll get 3 free drinks on your attempt to reach Gold. 

Barburrito – free burrito

Barburrito is offering a free burrito on your birthday, as long as you’re signed up to the loyalty app. A few days before your birthday you’ll be emailed a voucher for a free burrito, which should also show in the app. Show this at the till, and you can eat for free. 

You only get four days to claim it, so you have to be quick. 

Burger King – free whopper

Add your date of birth to the BK Rewards app and you’ll get a free burger!

Lola’s Cupcakes – free 5-inch cake

If you join the Lola’s Cupcakes Love Club more than 30 days before your birthday then you can get a free small cake on your birthday for free.

You have to show ID that confirms your birth date and you have to prove you’ve been a member of the Love Club for at least 30 days. This excludes Lola’s Bakery in West Hampstead.

Costa – free cake

If you’re signed up for the free Costa Club you’ll notice a reward for a free slice of cake appear in your app. Costa lets you know it’s there with an email too. 

Make sure you’ve told Costa when your birthday is, you can do this in the app.

Caffé Nero – free cake

If you’re signed up for the free Caffé Nero app and ensure you have your birthday in your settings, you’ll get a voucher for a free slice of cake on your birthday. Plus you can get a free drink for signing up here.

Muffin Break – free Muffin

There’s nothin’ like a free muffin on your birthday. By signing up for the Muffin Break loyalty scheme, you can get a free muffin in the month of your birthday.

Greggs – free cake or doughnut

Sign up to the Greggs Rewards scheme via the Greggs app and you’ll be able to claim a free doughnut, cupcake or cream cake. The voucher is valid for a month.

Krispy Kreme – free doughnut

You get a free doughnut via the Friends of Krispy Kreme scheme each year, though it’s only in full shops, not the ones you find in Supermarkets. 

With this offer, you can choose any doughnut during your birthday month. When it comes to claiming it, you will need to add the birthday reward to your wallet in the Krispy Kreme app. 

There’s also a free doughnut for joining, too.

Lidl – free doughnut

If you haven’t quite had enough free doughnuts on your birthday, donut worry — you can claim another one from Lidl. 

This one is found in the Lidl Plus app and is valid for 7 days from the birthday listed in your Lidl Plus Account. 

Free birthday vouchers

With these retailers, it could be worth signing up in order to get a free voucher on your birthday. These are often only £5, but you could get yourself a few freebies or take a discount off something you’ve been eyeing up. There’s often no minimum spend, so you can get something for absolutely nothing. 

I’ve ignored those that give the likes of 10% off as those kinds of codes are regularly available.

Body Shop – £5 voucher

Body Shop gives you a £5 voucher on your birthday. You can spend this online and in-store, and you don’t have to go to Body Shop on your birthday, as it’s valid for 30 days. 

To get the voucher, you need to sign up for the Love Your Body Club. There’s no minimum spend, and you can stack it with other discounts such as 30% off.

The Body Shop has gone into administration, so don’t be surprised if you don’t get a birthday gift this year.

Hobbycraft – £5 voucher

Another free fiver! Register for Hobbycraft Club and you’ll be sent a voucher to spend in-store or online. You’ll also get a 15% off voucher when you sign up.

Marks & Spencer

M&S doesn’t guarantee a freebie or voucher on your birthday – it says that if you use your Sparks card in-store you increase your chance of getting one.

If you do get something, it’ll appear in the Sparks app, so keep an eye on that around your birthday. 

You’ll need to sign up for the M&S Sparks card.

Hotel Chocolat – £5 voucher

For another free fiver with no minimum spend, you just need to be signed up for Hotel Chocolat’s VIP.ME scheme.  

The voucher can also be combined with other offers. 

Andy actually forgot to do this and registered a few days after his birthday and I still got sent the £5 voucher a few weeks later, so it’s worth giving a go!

Extra points on your birthday

Boots – double points for the whole month

Boots Advantage cardholders get double points for their whole birthday month. This will pop up in your Boots app on the first of the month, and you need to load the deal to your card before you scan it in-store. Check your details in the app to make sure Boots knows its your birthday.

Superdrug – triple points on your birthday

If you have the Superdrug Beautycard, you get triple points on your birthday. The offer is valid for 2 weeks after your birthday. You don’t have to opt in or add it to your card, just make sure Superdrug knows when your birthday is.

Birthday gifts

Shopmium – free gift

Cashback app Shopmium often provides a special extra offer on your birthday. Andy’s managed to snag a free box of Celebrations. 

You’ll need to buy the item and scan the receipt to get the cashback. Here’s more on how the app works and a sign up offer.

Hobbs – free gift

Sign up for the Hobbs newsletter to get a free birthday gift. We’re not sure what you get, but in 2021 it was a candle. You also get 10% off your first purchase when you sign up.

Space NK – free gift

Again, it’s often a £5 off code but it could be a free miniature. And again you’ll get it by signing up to a membership scheme – for Space NK it’s called N.dulge. 

This is a loyalty scheme, so you’ll earn points each time you spend money, which can be converted into money off future purchases.

Free alcoholic drinks on your birthday

Slug & Lettuce – free bottle of Prosecco

If you’re signed up for the Slug & Lettuce newsletter, you’ll be emailed a code to claim a free bottle of Prosecco on your birthday. 

The email says that you have to book a table but we tried it twice (for two birthdays in July) and didn’t book a table either time. 

We simply popped the Prosecco into our basket in the app, entered the code and checked out. Within minutes, we had a bottle of Prosecco at the table, and we didn’t even have to order food.

You get lots of time to take advantage of this offer, with the voucher valid for 6 weeks.

Since being signed up for Slug & Lettuce emails, we’ve also nabbed a free Pina Colada on National Pina Colada Day – not to mention that two arrived at the table because it was Happy Hour!

Good birthday offers that aren’t freebies

Sometimes you’ll be sent a discount voucher, or a free meal/ bottle of bubbly as long as you get another meal. These can be good and might be worthwhile if you’d like to eat there anyway, but they’re not strictly birthday freebies. 

Here are some of the things you can be offered:

Meat Liquor – 20% off the bill

Meat Liquor is one of Andy’s favourite burger places. A few years back you could get a free main meal and a side on your birthday, which he took advantage of. 

Sadly it’s now 20% off the entire bill – but that’s still decent if you like the food there. Sign up to the mailing list and you’ll get sent a unique code to use, valid for a week before and after your birthday.

Bills – “free” bottle of Prosecco

Again, not strictly a freebie, as each diner has to order a main meal. 

Make sure you’re signed up for the Bill’s Newsletter 4 weeks before your birthday and you’ll get an email with the gift. 

You’ll also need to pre-book a table. It’s valid for 5 weeks from the date that you get the email. 

Do you know of any other birthday freebies or discounts worth signing up for? Let me know in the comments below.