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September 10, 2024   |   Best Buy

The best savings accounts (September 2024)

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Here are the top places to put your cash.

After a few years of improving savings rates, thanks largely due to the Bank of England base interest rate increases since 2021, we’re starting to see most rates start to drop back a lot, and that could continue for the rest of 2024.

You want to make sure you’re getting the best rate on your savings, and this article will take you through the best options right now.

Some articles on the blog contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

Top savings accounts

These are the highest paying interest rates right now on the most popular ways to save. Find more information, top rates from further providers and others types of accounts in dedicated sections further down the page.

TypeRateProviderMore details
Easy access5%CahootAll easy access
Current account linked6% (before fee)Santander EdgeAll current accounts
Less than 12 months fix5.2%UMTB via Flagstone (6 months)All fixed savings
12 month fix5%UMTB via RaisinAll fixed savings
24 month fix4.72%Ziraat via RaisinAll fixed savings
More than 24 month fix4.51%Hampshire Trust BankAll fixed savings

Best buy tables for other savings types

Best easy access savings accounts – up to 5%

These are the most flexible accounts, though as a result, you’ll usually get lower rates. You can add and take your money out at any time.

  • Cahoot Sunny Day Saver (5% AER variable for 12 months): min £1 / max £3,000 (part of Santander)
    • Can have one personal and one joint account
  • Oxbury Bank (4.87% AER variable): min £25,000 / max £500,000
  • Cahoot (4.85% variable): min £1 / max £2m
  • GB Bank via Raisin (4.85% AER variable): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 for six months by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Monument Bank (4.81% AER variable): min £25,000 / max £2m
  • Cynergy Bank (4.8% AER variable includes 1.05% bonus for 12 months): min £1 / max £1m
  • QIB via Raisin (4.8% expected profit variable): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 for six months by 15 October 2024. See all the details.

Top limited access

  • Chip (4.84% AER variable – includes 0.77% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £1m
    • 3 withdrawals a year, after which the rate reverts to 3.74% AER variable
  • West Brom Building Society (4.81% AER variable): min £1 / max £1m
    • 4 withdrawals a year or rate drops to 2.55%
  • Chorley Building Society (4.8% AER variable): min £1,000 / £500,000
    • 1 withdrawal a year

Top interest from investment accounts

Top loyalty easy access

  • Ulster Bank (5.2% AER variable, drops to 4.75% on 14 October 2024): min £5,000 / max £1m (part of Natwest/RBS)
    • Requires Ulster Bank current account

With offers

  • Chip powered by ClearBank (4.58% AER variable – tracks at 0.51% below base rate): min £1 / max £250,000
    • Up to £50 bonus available
    • Falls to 4.01% from 12 September 2024

Top Building Society

  • Family Building Society (4.76% AER variable – market tracker): min £500 / max £250,000
    • Rate is reviewed four times a year in March, June, September and December

Top Sharia bank

  • QIB via Raisin (4.8% expected profit variable): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 for six months by 15 October 2024. See all the details.

For large deposits with full protection

Best notice accounts – up to 5.25%

A notice account means you have to request to get your money and interest, which will be released after a set time. They often have a variable rate but if there’s a cut you’ll normally be given notice.

Six-month notice – up to 5%

Four-month notice – up to 4.95%

  • Vanquis Bank (4.95% AER variable): 120-day notice: min £1,000 / max £250,000
  • Cynergy Bank (4.95% AER variable) 120-day notice: min £500 / max £1m

Three-month notice – up to 5.25%

  • Investec Bank (5.25% AER variable): 90-day notice: min £5,000 / max £250,000
  • BLME (5.15% expected profit rate variable): 90-days notice: min £20,000 / max £1m
  • Oxbury Bank (5.13% AER variable base rate tracker): 90-days notice: min £1,000 / max £500,000
  • OakNorth Bank (5.12% AER variable): 95-day notice: min £1 / max £500,000

Two-month notice – up to 5.05%

  • Vanquis Bank (5.05% AER variable): 60-day notice: min £1,000 / max £250,000
  • Monument Bank (5.01% AER variable) 60-day notice: min £25,000 / max £2m

One-month notice – up to 5.02%

  • Investec via Raisin (5.02% AER variable) 32-day notice: min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 for six months by 15 October 2024. See all the details.

Best current account linked easy access savings – up to 6%

Some of the best rates are in or linked to current accounts – or you might just want the convenience of having everything at the same bank (though that’s not always a good idea).

All of these accounts can be opened by anyone, though you will be credit checked for opening the current account itself. They’ll often have additional requirements or fees to take in to account. You may already have seen some of these listed in the easy and limited access lists above.

Interest earned in separate savings account – up to 6%

  • Santander Edge Saver (6% AER variable, includes 1.5% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £4,000
    • Requires Santander Edge current account (£3 monthly fee)

Interest earned in current account – up to 5%

  • Nationwide FlexDirect (5% AER variable): min £0 / max £1,500
  • Kroo: (4.1% AER variable): min £0 / max £500,000
    • Interest is earned in the main current account
    • The rate tracks the base rate minus 0.9%

Can you earn extra on your savings?

Check out our list of the best savings special offers

Best fixed savings accounts – up to 5.2%

You can fix your savings for a year or longer and get a slightly better rate in return. However, you need to be sure you won’t need access to that cash over that time. The longer you fix, the greater the risk you’ll lose out if rates were to rise. But at the same time, they’re protected if rates were to fall.

It’s worth noting too when longer fixes provide you with access to the interest. With most it’s at the end of the fix, meaning all that interest will count towards your personal savings allowance for the year you receive it.

Three-month fixes – up to 5.12%

  • UMTB via Flagstone (5.12% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £1m
  • Oxbury Bank (5% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £500,000
  • Gatehouse Bank via Raisin (4.95% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Monument via Raisin (4.87% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.

Six-month fixes – up to 5.2%

  • UMTB via Flagstone (5.2% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £1m
  • GB Bank via Raisin (5% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Gatehouse Bank via Raisin (5% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Atom (5% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000

Nine-month fixes – up to 4.9%

  • Atom (4.9% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
  • IsBank via Raisin (4.88% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Monument Bank (4.85% AER fixed): min £25,000 / max £2m

12-month fixes – up to 5%

  • UMTB via Raisin (5% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Atom (5% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
  • SmartSave (4.93% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
  • Close Brothers (4.92% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £2m

18-month fixes – up to 4.78%

2 year fixes – up to 4.72%

  • Ziraat via Raisin (4.72% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • IsBank via Raisin (4.7% AER fixed): min £2,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Hampshire Trust Bank (4.7% AER fixed): min £1 / max £250,000
  • RCI Bank (4.7% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m

3 year fixes – up to 4.51%

  • Hampshire Trust Bank (4.51% AER fixed): min £1 / max £250,000
  • UBL via Raisin (4.51% AER fixed): min £2,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • Hodge Bank (4.5% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m

Longer fixes – up to 4.4%

  • 4 year fix UBL via Raisin (4.26% AER variable): min £2,000 / max £85,000
    • New customers get a £100 bonus when you sign up with the code OFFER100 by 30 September and deposit £10,000 by 15 October 2024. See all the details.
  • 5 year fix Birmingham Bank (4.36% AER variable): min £5,000 / max £250,000

Best Regular Savings accounts

These accounts are all “Regular” or monthly savers which work differently to normal saving accounts. Here’s Andy’s full guide to how they work.

We’ve listed the top paying options below. Find more regular savings accounts in our separate best buy guide.

  • Principality Building Society 6-month regular saver (8% AER fixed): min £0 / max £200 a month
  • Progressive Building Society Online Regular Rainy Day Saver (7% AER variable): min £20 / max £300 per month
  • First Direct Regular Saver (7% AER fixed): min £25 / max £300 a month
    • requires a First Direct current account – full review
  • Co-operative Bank Regular Saver (7% variable): min £1 / max £250 a month
    • Requires a Co-op Bank current account
  • Nationwide Flex Regular Saver (6.5% AER variable): min £1 / max £200 per month
    • max 3 withdrawals per year, after which your rate drops to 2.15%.
    • Requires Nationwide current account – full review
  • Club Lloyds Monthly Saver (6.25% AER fixed): min £25 / max £400 a month

The best monthly savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular or monthly savings accounts.

Best Cash ISAs

Though most of us don’t need the tax-free “wrapper” offered by an ISA, if you are wanting to use one then the same goes in terms of finding the best rate.

Here are the top paying rates for each type, we’ve listed more options over on our dedicated Best Cash ISA page.

The best Cash ISA savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying easy access and fixed and Lifetime Cash ISAs

Best auto-savings rates – up to 5%

Apps like Chip and Plum and features like Monzo’s IFTTT are great tools to boost how much is in your savings. But the rates aren’t always the best. I’d personally look to transfer these savings over to a higher paying account, but in the short term it pays to use those with the best rates.

  • Chase (5% AER variable) – rate on roundups only – read more about Chase
  • Chip via Clearbank (4.58% AER variable) – Charges can apply, read more about Chip
  • Monzo (4.1% AER variable) – read more about IFTTT
  • Plum (4% AER variable for free users. Reducing to 3.89% on 12 September.)
    • Read more about Plum

Prize draw accounts

Premium Bonds – 4.4% prize rate

The prize rate for Premium Bonds currently stands at 4.4%. This doesn’t mean you’ll get 4.4% back on your savings, though the closer you are to the £50,000 maximum deposit, the closer you’ll get to the rate (on average). Here’s more.

Best children’s savings account

We’ve written in more detail about the different savings accounts for kids, so do check that article out to understand the conditions such as access and find all the top rates.

Best ethical savings account

The money you hold in your savings is used by the banks to invest and lend money. This could mean it’s used for things you might disagree with, such as fracking, tobacco or arms manufacturing.

There are banks with ethical policies such as Triodos, while building societies must lend 75% of their funds to home buyers, meaning they don’t have the cash to invest elsewhere.

Sharia accounts can’t be used for things against Islamic law, like tobacco or gambling and I’ve listed the top ones further down the article.

The “greenest” banks are Ecology Building Society and Triodos, though they won’t always make the tables above. The following banks and building societies are more likely to appear above.

There’s also the NS&I Green Bond, a 3-year fixed-rate account. It’s currently paying 2.95%. Here’s our analysis.

Top Sharia savings accounts

Paying interest isn’t allowed in Islam, so a Sharia-compliant savings account instead promises a return on the money saved – an expected profit rate. Though technically this means the rate isn’t guaranteed, it’s not happened yet. They’re open to everyone, not just Muslims. Money in these accounts won’t be invested in arms, tobacco, gambling or tobacco.

Look in the tables above for banks offering an expected profit rate rather than AER. The main banks are:

Finding the latest savings rates

We update this page once or twice a day (check the published date to see when it last happened), but if you find a rate has been cut or isn’t available, you can check the MoneyFacts website for a partial list.

Read next

September 5, 2024   |   Articles

Christmas savings schemes: Boost your supermarket spending

Written by
Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland and Co-op all offer Christmas schemes, and there’s a trick to get the bonus without risking your cash.

The idea behind these supermarket savings schemes is to help people gradually save up some money that can be used at Christmas when food bills are usually higher.

As an incentive, some supermarkets offer a small bonus, normally between 2% and 6%. But you can take advantage of a loophole where you can get the full bonus paid out, yet you’d only need to “save” your cash for a day or two.

Here’s how they work, and how to get the best return possible.

Christmas Saver schemes

This article might contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

Why I’m not a fan of Christmas saving stamps

First, these are marketed as alternatives to saving at a bank. Well, any money held in a bank is protected if the bank goes bust. If these supermarkets were to go under or you lost the gift card or voucher once it’s been paid out, you’d lose all your money.

You’ve also got less flexibility of how, when and where you spend your savings via these schemes. They tend to require you to spend your stamps in December, and obviously you can only spend them at one retailer.

Not only does that restrict the supermarket you use, but if you have an emergency you can’t use the money you put into stamps for any other reason. You might also not get change from your vouchers, pushing you to buy things you don’t need to hit the voucher value.

There are other options for people who want to save regularly in the build-up to Christmas, with banks and building societies currently paying rates of up to 6%. You can find the best rates in our summary.

So generally I’d say stay clear. But there is a trick where you can avoid most of the pitfalls but gain the free bonus.

How the loophole works

Here’s the cash hack. The bonus on these cards isn’t paid until a set bonus day. So it’s only the amount saved on that date that counts. Plus there’s no requirement to save each week or month to use these schemes.

This means you can instead pay in as much as you can (up to the set limits) just before the scheme closes. Literally on the final day if you want.

Say you put in £120. You’ll then be entitled to the same bonus as someone who’s saved £10 a month since last Christmas.

Until you do this, you should be paying your money into a high-paying current account. So you’ll have earnt money in those accounts too. Double win!

But just make sure you’re aware of the risks and limitations with each card, such as deadlines to spend the money on your supermarket Christmas card.

The Christmas saver schemes

We’ve explained each of the main schemes and their deadlines below. But before you try this trick out yourself, do make sure you can spend the amount you save at that supermarket in the time given.

We are talking about small amounts of money unless you buy multiple cards. So it’s only worth the effort if you are shopping at those retailers anyway.

Asda Christmas Savings Card 2024

You can collect your card in-store, and then register it online.

The deadline to add funds onto an Asda Christmas Savings Card is 5pm Sunday 10 November 2024. The bonus will be applied by 9am on Monday 11 November.

The bonus increases the more you save

  • £1 bonus when you save between £30 and £79
  • £3 bonus when you save between £80 and £129
  • £6 bonus when you save between £130 and £179
  • £9 bonus when you save between £180 and £229
  • £12 bonus when you save between £230 and £279
  • £15 bonus when you save £280 or more (max amount per card)

With this and all the other schemes, those savings are not cumulative. So put £80 on the card and you’ll only get £3, not £1 for the first £70 and another £3 for getting over the £80 threshold.

However, you don’t need to put the money down gradually – you can do it in lump sums. We’ve found that you can put up to £140 in at a time, so you can make two payments to get the full amount available.

The most effective way to do this is to keep your cash in a savings account, and then pay whatever you can afford by 10 November to earn the bonus.

With the highest level (£280) it’s the equivalent of 5.3% extra free. If you only save £79 it’s 1.25% extra.

There’s no limit to how many cards you can have. This could be useful if you’re short of hitting the bottom of a new level. For example, it’s better to have two £30 cards than one with £60.

Also you can use them all year round, not just in December.

BEST VALUE: £280 earns £15 = 5.3% bonus

Asda Rewards Cashpot 2024

Asda has an additional Christmas savings scheme for Asda Rewards members. Last year you could also earn a bonus of up to £5. We don’t know yet what the bonus will be for 2024 or if there will be one.

The Christmas Saver Cashpot is a feature in the Rewards app that works by allowing you to transfer money earned from your regular Asda Cashpot to the Christmas Saver Cashpot. The maximum amount you can transfer is £300 in total.

You can transfer money into your Christmas Saver Cashpot until 3 November 2024 and you can convert your Christmas Saver Cashpot into vouchers to spend at Asda, in-store or online, from 8 November until 31 December 2024, after which they will expire.

Co-op Saving Stamp 2024

You buy actual physical stamps with the Co-op scheme. Each stamp costs £1 and you put them in a booklet which you can use at the till whenever you want.

But to get a bonus (£2) you need to have filled a full book, which is 48 stamps. Hand this over at the till and you’ll get £50 knocked off your bill. That’s the equivalent of 4% extra. This bonus is only available in December, though you can use and buy the stamps every month of the year.

There’s no limit to the number of cards you can have, so you can have multiple cards to add stamps to. But make sure you don’t lose your cards as there’s no protection.

So the best option here is to buy 48 stamps just before you want to shop. Stick them all in, then hand it over. As with Morrisons, you will need to spend the full amount. So that’s a shop of £50 or more.

BEST VALUE: £48 earns £2 = 4% bonus

Iceland Bonus Card Christmas boost 2024

This scheme from Iceland runs all year so isn’t technically a Christmas scheme, but the loophole works the same. You get £1 for every £20 you add to your account, worth 5%.  The bonus should be added within 48 hours.

If you hit the savings target of £100 by 6 November, you’ll get a £15 Christmas bonus on top of the standard bonus. That makes it a £20 bonus, equivalent to 20%. You should receive your bonus before the end of November.

The £15 Christmas bonus must be spent by the end of December 2024.

You can use the app or pick up a temporary card in Iceland stores, and will be posted a full card once you register online.

It’s a limit of one Bonus Card per customer and there’s a maximum of £1,000 that can be added to your card. Cards expire 24 months after you last use them.

BEST VALUE: £100 earns £20 = 20% bonus

Morrisons Christmas Savers 2024

The Morrisons Christmas card is linked to the Morrisons More app. Morrisons Christmas Saver stamps are purchased in-store by asking the cashier to add your chosen amount of digital stamps to your account. You will need to go online to monitor and manage your savings.

The cut-off point to buy stamps is 31 October 2024. The total saved and bonus added will be converted into a voucher to use in-store or online. You have to select on your My Morrisons account which you want. If it’s in-store you have to collect them yourself.

You also can’t get change from a voucher. So if you have a £100 voucher you need to spend £100 or more in a single transaction at the till.

The maximum bonus you can get is £6. It’s calculated as follows

  • £1 bonus when you save between £49 and £96
  • £3 bonus when you save between £97 and £145
  • £4 bonus when you save between £146 and £193
  • £6 bonus when you save £194

The biggest return is £3 when you spend £97 or £6 when you add £194, gaining you 3%. I’d be wary of adding too much to this card as you need to spend your voucher in a single transaction, and there’s the end of the year deadline to spend it.

BEST VALUE: £97 earns £3 = 3% bonus

Sainsbury’s Christmas Club 2024 (including Argos)

The money you save on the Sainsbury’s Christmas Club card can be used online and in-store at Sainsbury’s and Argos. The bonus is worth 5% on every £50 you save.

The deadline for this one is 1 November 2024. Whatever you have on the card by 11:59 pm that evening will be used to calculate the bonus. There’s a minimum of £50 and a maximum of £500. Here’s how much you’ll get:

Card balanceBonus Value
£0.00 – £49.99£0.00
£50 – £99.99£2.50
£100 – £149.99£5.00
£150 – £199.99£7.50
£200 – £249.99£10.00
£250 – £299.99£12.50
£300 – £349.99£15.00
£350 – £399.99£17.50
£400 – £449.99£20.00
£450-£499.99£22.50
£500 and over£25.00

You can only add money to the card in a Sainsbury’s store, both at a normal and self-service checkout.

The bonus will be added to your card by the end of November and you’ll have until the date printed on the card to use it.

BEST VALUE: every £50 earns £2.50 = 5% bonus

Tesco Christmas Saver 2024

The Tesco Christmas Saver 2024 is live so you can start saving now. Here’s how it works.

You’ll need to opt in to switch your usual Clubcard vouchers for Christmas vouchers before 17 October 2024. 

To earn a Christmas bonus, you can top-up your Clubcard with money throughout the year via the Tesco app or Clubcard website, up to £360. Just click on the Christmas Savers banner on the app or website and select top up now. Bonuses are calculated as follows:

  • £1.50 bonus when you save between £25 and £49.50
  • £3 bonus when you save between £50 and £99.50
  • £6 bonus when you save between £100 and £199.50
  • £12 bonus when you save £200 to £360

You get the top-ups and any bonuses sent as vouchers in your November Clubcard statement, alongside any Clubcard vouchers you’ve earned. You can then spend them in Tesco online, in-store or on petrol. You can’t boost them with Clubcard partners.

Clubcard vouchers and top-up vouchers are valid for 2 years, and the bonus vouchers are valid for 3 months.

BEST VALUE: £100 earns £6 or £200 earns £12 = 6% bonus

Saver scheme deadlines

To make sure you don’t miss out, here are the last dates to add money to the schemes for 2024:

SupermarketLast date to add moneyMaximum bonus
Tesco17 October 20246%
Morrisons31 October 20243%
Sainsbury’s1 November 20245%
Iceland6 November 202420%
Asda3 November 20245.3%
Co-op31 December 20244%

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September 4, 2024   |   Deals

Home and garden deals

Written by
Save on your home essentials from furniture to paint

If you fancy spending the weekend putting up shelves or sorting out the garden, here are the best home, garden and DIY sales and offers.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Here’s what’s currently on offer.

Current deals

Ikea: £15 off £50 spend and free breakfast

Wear your pyjamas to Ikea this Saturday 7 September and you’ll get a £15 off voucher to be used against a £50 spend and a free breakfast. There are also other activities running, but they’re store-dependent.

The breakfast available includes one of: a small cooked breakfast, a small vegetarian breakfast, a children’s breakfast, a breakfast bacon roll, a breakfast sausage roll or a breakfast vegetarian roll. You can’t get the cooked breakfasts at the Hammersmith store.

You can only get the breakfast between 9:30am and 11am on 7 September 2024 and you’ll need one of the vouchers that will be distributed at the store on the day and an Ikea Family Card, which is free to sign up for.

See events at your local Ikea

Ikea: £30 off £300 spend with Home Move Club

You can currently get £30 off a £300 spend with Home Move Club – you just need to go here and sign up to receive the offer. It asks when you moved as it’s a website dedicated to helping you move house, but you can put in any date.

You’ll get an email with a code. This offer can be used with the above offer when you spend £330 or more.

There’s not currently an end date for this offer.

Get £30 off at Ikea

B&Q: £5 off £30 spend

Sign up for the B&Q Club online (it’s free) and you’ll get a voucher to save £5 off a £30 spend.

Sign up to the B&Q Club

Emma Bridgewater: Free mug with £40 spend

If you’ve not used the Emma Bridgewater site before and want to spend at least £40 then follow this referral link to claim a free 1/2 pint mug, worth £19.95.

Get a free mug

Ikea: Family Card extra savings

If you sign up for the Ikea Family card you’ll be able to get exclusive discounts at your local store including 10% extra off sale items.

More on the Ikea Family Card

Expired deals

Decathalon: return used tent for gift card refund (ended)

As part of its ‘No Tent Left Behind’ campaign Decathlon is letting customers buy tents, use them for a few months, and return eligible them for a refund on a gift card.

It says some 250,000 tents are left at festivals each year, which mostly go into landfill. And in a bid to reduce waste it’s promising to accept the return of its M100 range of tents bought between 6 June 2024 and 13 September 2024.

It encourages customers to enjoy the tent at their summer festivals but for it to accept a return, the tent mustn’t be damaged, stained, torn, contaminated, altered or in poor condition.

You must bring the tent back to a store, with proof of purchase, by 13 September 2024, to be eligible for the offer.

Get free tent

Ikea Family: £20 off £100 (ended)

Ikea Family members can get £10 off spending over £100 via the Ikea app until 23 June 2024. You just need to have signed up to the free Ikea Family scheme. It’s valid on a single transaction and the discount will be applied at checkout.

Shop at Ikea

Etsy: £5 off £30 spend (ended)

You can currently get £5 off a £30 spend at Etsy when you use the code SMALL5 until 30 April 2024.

The £30 excludes tax and shipping and you can only buy from shops that accept Etsy payments.

Shop at Etsy

September 4, 2024   |   Deals

Theatre deals and discounts

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Tickets aren’t cheap to see shows, but there are ways to save.

Looking for cheap deals and discounts for theatre tickets in the West End and elsewhere? We’ll post regular sales or decent offers here.

Don’t forget to read our guide to getting cheap theatre tickets and our cash hack to get seat upgrades!

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Annual sales and offers

These are offers that tend to come back each year, so keep an eye out.

Kids Week 2024 (June to September 2024)

Kids Week is back every summer, and tickets generally become available in early June for shows in August. Tickets went on sale this year on 11 June 2024, but more have been released to coincide with the start of the summer holidays.

Usually you can get one free child’s ticket (and two more half-price) at a series of West End shows when you buy one full-paying adult ticket. It’s for shows from 24 July to 6 September, not just one week. A child is anyone 17 years old and under.

Tickets are limited with big shows quickly selling out, but there are plenty of options including Hamilton, Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, Guys & Dolls and kids’ shows The Lion King, Matilda The Musical and Mrs Doubtfire. And keep an eye out as more seats might be released for those popular productions.

The only thing I’d say is the adult tickets are full price so you might be better off looking at other deals if more than one adult is attending.

Get Kids Week tickets

London Theatre Week (August to September 2024)

Twice a year, TodayTix and other sites offer discounts at a decent number of West End shows in an event called London Theatre Week. It’s running from 20 August to 8 September, an extension on the initial week it was running for.

During these dates, you can book to visit the theatre in the coming months for heavy discounts — prices are either £15, £25 or £35.

The dates you can get discounts on vary massively between productions, but for a lot of them, you can book for as late as November 2024.

Expect it to also return late February 2025.

Buy London Theatre Week tickets

Official London Theatre New Year sale (December 2024 to March 2025)

Official London Theatre holds a New Year sale semi-regularly, with some big shows at least 20% off. Tickets are either £10, £20, £30, £40 or £50, with no booking fees.

This year it’ll be returning late November 2024 for performances until February. It’s often extended into March.

Buy New Year Sale tickets

Love Your Local Theatre (March to May)

Each March there’s usually an offer run in conjunction with Lotto. In 2022 it was a 2-4-1 vouchers while in 2023 it was a free £25 Theatre Token. The latter went viral and all tokens were snapped up within 24 hours.

However, unused tokens from March are made available again, and the final chance will be at 11am on Thursday 11 May.

Tickets are limited and will go very fast. If you join the waiting room before 11am you’ll be randomly allocated a spot in the queue. Those joining after 11am will be put at the back of the queue – which likely means you’ll miss out.

In order to claim the voucher you’ll need a Lotto ticket or scratchcard that was purchased after 1 January 2023. You’ll find a reference number on your Lotto card which you’ll enter if you make it through the queue.

Get 2-4-1 local theatre tickets

Flash promotions & sales

These offers are special deals that we’ve spotted

Central Tickets: Get 10% extra credit with your first top-up

If you top up your Central Tickets account, you can get 10% added by Central Tickets, up to the value of £10. 

The credit in your account is used as payment for seat filling bookings you make through Central Tickets. It can’t be used on West End offer tickets (listed in a separate tab on their site).

You won’t be able to get a refund on it and it won’t be protected if Central Tickets were to go bust, so make sure you’ll make use of the money you top up before you do so. 

Central Tickets will add up to £10, so you could get £110 worth of credit for £100. 

Read more on being a seat filler
Sign up for Central Tickets

Theatre Tokens gift card discounts

There are occasionally discounts such as save 10% on Theatre Tokens – the official theatre gift card that’s valid at hundreds of locations nationwide and the TKTs Booth in the West End. We’ll add them here when we spot them.

Theatre Tokens: 10% off

If you buy a Theatre Tokens gift card and use the code Tfl then you can get 10% off your purchase. These gift cards can be redeemed at over 300 theatres nationwide and don’t have an expiry date.

You can order a total of £500 worth of gift cards per household, which would get you a £50 discount.

Get 10% off

Previous offers

TodayTix: Boxing Day sale from £15 per ticket (expired)

TodayTix tends to run sales throughout the year and the latest is offering tickets from £15 for Boxing Day. There’s no end date published, but I’d expect it to be until the end of January, if not early December (though the actual performances can be after these dates).

Get tickets at TodayTix

TodayTix: 25 shows for £25 each (expired)

Until 4 June you can book £25 tickets at 25 different West End shows via TodayTix. This includes Book of Mormon, We Will Rock You, Wizard of Oz and Punchdrunk’s Burnt City.

Book via TodayTix

Read next

September 4, 2024   |   Deals

Amazon vouchers & deals (August 2024)

Written by

From Amazon vouchers and free trials of Amazon Prime to flash sales and tricks for free delivery

Let’s face it, Amazon is probably the one website that most people use pretty regularly, so it helps to have a voucher or discount stored up. Here are the best deals at the moment.

If you’re thinking of reducing how much you use Amazon, check out Andy’s article looking at why it can be good to cut back.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

There are some decent offers throughout the year to watch out for. You won’t be eligible for all of them but it’s worth a look.

Amazon gift card and voucher offers

Snoop: £5 Amazon Voucher

Snoop is an app to help you track your spending. It also analyses your bank date to suggest ways you can save money. Right now there’s an offer to get a £5 Amazon voucher.

You must go via the link below for the offer to track.

Once you’ve downloaded the app and signed up you need to connect a bank or credit card account and stay connected until the end of the following month. The voucher will then be paid.

Join Snoop to get your £5 voucher

£20 credit card welcome offer

Sign up for the new Amazon Barclaycard and you’ll get £20 in Amazon credit added to your Amazon account. If you had the previous iteration of the credit card you’ll probably see a £50 reward showing, as long as you’re signed in.

You’ll also earn 1% at Amazon and 0.5% elsewhere, dropping to 0.25% after a year.

Read our review of the Amazon Barclaycard
Apply for an Amazon credit card

Free credit when you buy a gift card

This one’s worth trying even if you’ve used a similar promotion. However you can normally only qualify once every couple of years. Check the offer is displayed when you click through. The latest offer we’ve seen offers £6 extra when you buy £60 in gift cards. 

If nothing is displayed, it could mean it’s ended or you’re not eligible. These deals are often extended or return after a short absence.

See if you’re eligible for this offer

£5 extra when you top up by £60

Similar to the gift card promotion, here you top up your Amazon account and get some extra credit added. The promo value changes often, but it’s currently £5 when you add £60.

If it is running, it’s only for any people who haven’t topped up their account in the last 36 months. Again, this deal can come and go, so it’s worth checking.

Check if you can get this offer

Amazon offers

Check eligibility for promotions

You might have personalised Amazon offers. It’ll show you trials and discounts you are eligible for. However, we still think it’s worth looking at the offers above and below in case they don’t show.

£5 off £15 spend

Some Amazon customers can get £5 off their next purchase of £15 or more. You have to click the button below to see if you can get the offer.

It’s valid on eligible products and is only available for 15 days after you’ve activated it. There are only 15,000 vouchers available, so if you want it, you’ll need to activate it now.

There are some restrictions on what you can spend it with — check the T&Cs for more info on this.

See if you can get £5 off

£15 voucher when you use the app

If you’ve got an Amazon account but you’ve never used the app, you may be eligible for this offer which gets you a £15 voucher (to spend against a qualifying £30 purchase) just for signing into the Amazon App for the first time.

You need to apply the promotion here, and it’s only available to the first 15,000 customers that claim it. Your voucher will only be valid for 15 days from the day you get it. There’s not currently an expiry date for the offer.

Check if you’re eligible

Amazon pickup: £3 off £10 spend

Amazon is offering select accounts £3 off when you use Amazon Pickup. This is where your order is sent to a pick-up location, such as an Amazon locker, for you to grab when you’re ready. Your order can’t be fulfilled by or sold by a third party.

This is valid until 31 December 2024. You need to claim the offer on the website and spend at least £10, then you’ll get £3 off as a reward. 

Only those invited or who see a banner can access it. You can see if you’re eligible here. If so, hit the “apply promotion” button before shopping.

Only the first 20,000 customers can redeem this and you can only do it once.

Check if you can get this offer

Amazon Prime membership offers

Amazon Prime is Amazon’s big membership scheme. You can learn more in our comprehensive Amazon Prime review.

30-day free Amazon Prime trial every year

You know the drill here. You get free next day delivery, Amazon Prime Instant Video, access to Amazon Prime Now and loads of other goodies. It’s normally £95 a year but you can get a free 30-day trial.

You will hopefully be able to do this every 12 months, but it’s unclear if this is guaranteed for all customers. You can always try your luck (you never know), but if you’ve not yet taken out a trial, I’d wait until you’ve got a lot of spending coming up, or a big sale such as Prime Day or Black Friday (more on these below).

Get your Amazon Prime 30-day free trial

99p for one week of Amazon Prime

If you’ve previously had Amazon Prime but aren’t yet eligible again for a second free trial you might be offered a week for 99p. After this you’ll pay full price unless you cancel.

See if you can get a week of Amazon Prime for 99p

£2 off Prime via O2

If you have an O2 SIM you can now add Amazon Prime to your bill and receive a £2 discount each month. You’ll find the details here.

Get an O2 SIM

Amazon Student and 18-22 year-olds: six months free, then £47.49 a year

If you have a student card you should also be able to join Amazon Student. This is essentially Amazon Prime. You get six months free, then 12 months at half price. Amazon might ask for additional proof you are a student. You’ll get the student account for as long as you’re a student or for up to four years.

If you’re between 18 and 22 then you can get this too, but you’ll need to prove your age with a valid driving licence or passport. You can get this account until you’re 23.

Get your Amazon six month free trial

Prime member offers

Free Kindle book

There are lots of ways to save on Kindle books, but Prime members can also nab one of six titles every month for free via First Reads. There’s normally a mix of genres and once you pick your book you can send it to your Kindle.

See which books are on offer this month

15% off £40 spend for Prime members (ended)

Amazon Prime members can get 20% off when they stock up on selected items. However, bear in mind it’s a limited selection of items.

You’ll need to spend a minimum of £40 to unlock this deal which will be applied at the checkout, up to a maximum discount of £100 per order.

Items must be purchased in a single order and have to be shipped to one address too.

Get 20% off a £40 spend

£15 Amazon credit when you back up your photos (ended)

If you’re a Prime member, you get access to Amazon photos, which gets you unlimited photo storage and 5GB of video storage. If you’re yet to upload any photos to it, you might be eligible to get £15 credit when you upload at least one photo to the app.

You just have to download the app to do this, I chose to back up my entire camera reel, but you can upload individual photos too.

I had the credit on my account within 24 hours of backing up my photos. It can be used for any purchase of £30 or more. We expect that this will end on Prime Day which is 17 July 2024.

Check if you’re eligible

Amazon Black Friday

Black Friday 2024

The Black Friday week of deals is at the end of November, but the sale starts before this and carries on after.

You need to have a Prime membership to get early access to the best deals, but the 30-day free trial will give you that.

If you’re after an Amazon device (Echo, Kindle, FireTV, Eero, Ring) then this is likely to be one of the cheapest times to buy.

Amazon Black Friday week 2023 (ended)

Amazon started its Black Friday sales a week early, beginning on Friday 17 November 2023, and then run until Cyber Monday on 27 November.

Remember to use price history tools to check if something is a good price, and check you can’t get it for less elsewhere.

We’ll update here with the best deals, including:

Shop Black Friday week at Amazon

Prime Day 2024

Prime Day is Amazon’s big sale just for Prime members. In 2024 it took place on 16 and 17 July.

It’s important to remember that not all the deals are the best price. Some are simply old stock that needs clearing, while others are often as cheap throughout the year. We’d recommend using uk.camelcamelcamel.com to see the price history before making any purchase

Most offers are product-specific, and we’d encourage you to check for price matching elsewhere, especially on tech like Echo speakers and Ring doorbells.

Prime Day: 16-17 July 2024 (ended)

Amazon is running its special two-day sale for Prime members on 16 and 17 July 2024. The summertime deal event could offer the chance to grab a bargain ahead of larger autumn sales such as Black Friday.

It’s worth shopping around and seeing if you can get the same item for less elsewhere, or with added features. If you do buy something at Amazon and the price drops during the sale you can get a refund for the difference.

As always the biggest discounts are on Amazon’s own devices, such as Kindle, Echo, Fire, Eero and Ring. If you’re new to TopCashback you can get a £20 bonus plus up to 3% back on these devices. We’ll add some here once they launch.

So far you can get:

Shop Amazon Prime Day Summer Sale

Prime Big Deals Day 2024

This new sale for Prime members is likely to take place in October (it was on 10 and 11 October in 2023). We don’t know yet whether it’ll be a carbon copy of Prime Day or something different. As soon as we spot any early offers, we’ll share them below.

As with Prime Day, don’t get carried away. Only buy the things you actually need, and check they’re decent prices too.

Don’t forget you’ll need to have Prime to take part – but we’ve deals listed above that’ll save you money or perhaps help you get it for free.

October’s Prime Big Deals Day sale (ended)

Amazon is running its special two-day sale on 10 and 11 October 2023 just for Prime members. The autumn deal event could offer the chance to grab a bargain ahead of Black Friday and the Christmas sales.

It’s always worth shopping around and seeing if you can get the same item for less elsewhere, or with added features. If you do buy something at Amazon and the price drops during the sale you can get a refund for the difference.

Shop Amazon Prime Big Deals Day Sale

Amazon Fresh offers

Amazon Fresh: £5 off (expired)

Click this link to receive £5 credit to spend at Amazon Fresh stores. You can use it one go, or spread it out over a number of small purchases. Expires 22 February 2023.

If the link doesn’t work try entering the code IBU2HAHAZWQO in the Amazon Fresh promo wallet.

To use it in store you’ll need the Amazon app, and you’ll find it in your account and then In-store promo wallet.

It’s only valid in London branches and one in Sevenoaks, Kent. You’ll be able to see the full list and terms once you apply the offer.

Get a £5 Amazon Fresh voucher

Amazon device deals

There are offers most months, so if it’s at full price you should wait. If you’d rather not shop at Amazon then do check other retailers as they often price match the bigger discounts.

See the latest Amazon devices

Amazon Business offers

Every now and then there are offers such as £50 off for new Amazon Business users. I’ll update here as and when.

It can take time to set up the account but you should be approved in around two days.

Sign up to Amazon Business

Amazon Business Amex: £25 credit and no annual fee

For a limited time Amazon has removed the annual fee of £50 and is offering a £25 gift card when you successfully open up an Amazon Business American Express credit card. Plus, if you spend £1,000 in the first three months then you can get £75 statement credit.

Apply for the Amazon Business American Express credit card

Our top Amazon money-saving tricks

We’ve written a separate article about how to save even more money at Amazon, including the following:

Hundreds of vouchers to use at Amazon

This page lists loads of coupons you can use to save at Amazon. You “collect” the voucher and the discount is automatically added at the checkout. There’s usually a typically random collection of products in this offer.

Save with vouchers on Amazon

September 3, 2024   |   Articles

Club Pret review: is it still worth it?

Written by

Pret no longer offers five coffees a day with the subscription

Club Pret is Pret’s subscription service. It used to offer five drinks a day for £30, but has been given an overhaul, and ultimately downgraded, instead offering half-price drinks for a fiver a month. 

Here’s what you need to know about Club Pret, including how many coffees you’ll need to drink each month before you start saving money.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Text saying "Club Pret" with a cup of coffee

How Club Pret works

Club Pret gives you five half-price drinks for a monthly fee. You need to sign up in the app or on its website, including entering your payment details. Once you’ve done that, you’ll get a QR code in its app and by email.  

When you’re in Pret you order as normal and scan your QR code to get the discount. You can use it five times each day with at least a 30-minute gap between each one, to stop you from sharing the discount with your friends. 

There are a few locations where the discount can’t be used — mainly service stations and some in Ireland.

If you already had the old subscription

If you previously had the subscription then you’ll be moved to this one on your next billing date after 2 September, so you may have been moved to it already. You’ll need to cancel before your September billing date if you don’t want the new membership.

How much is Pret’s subscription? 

Club Pret costs £10 a month, although it’s being launched at £5 per month until 21 March 2025. The start of each month is determined by the date you sign up, so if you sign up on 10 May, your next month begins on 10 June.

You’ll be charged for the next month on the last day of the current month. So, in the above example, you’d be charged on the 9 of every month.

There’s no minimum subscription term, so you can cancel at any time. You’ll get the full month regardless of when you cancel so it makes sense to not leave it too late, just in case you forget.

Drinks included in Club Pret

As long as it’s a drink ordered over the counter and prepared by a barista (not a premade one in the fridge) then you’ll get the discount on it. This includes coffee, tea, hot chocolate, iced coffees and Pret Cooler Lemonades. Milk alternatives and syrups are included, too.

How much could you save?

For our calculations, a latte, flat white or mocha costs £4.05, tea is £3.30 and iced drinks are around £4. The cooler lemonades are £4.20.

 If you order a single £4.05 coffee every weekday, you’ll have roughly 22 coffees a month. This would usually cost you £89.10, but would be as little as £49.55 including the £5 membership fee. When Club Pret costs £10 per month, it’ll be £54.55. 

If you pay £5 per month for Club Pret from 1 October until 31 March (6 months) and taking into account annual leave, sick leave and bank holidays (so roughly 110 days), you’d potentially save £192.75. 

 If you go to the office three days per week and get a coffee each time, you’ll save £19.30 each month.

Minimum orders to break even

At £5 per month and with a latte costing £4.05, you need to have as many as three coffees each month before you start saving money. When the membership moves to £10 per month, it’ll take five coffees to break even. 

Do you get discounts on food with Club Pret?

Previously, Club Pret subscribers got an additional 20% discount on all menu items – including sandwiches, hot food, soft drinks and crisps, as well as additional hot drinks. This isn’t offered with the new subscription.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday and Friday.

Listen now

Is Club Pret worth it?

Zoe’s analysis

At first, it’s definitely not got as much appeal as its previous “unlimited” but more expensive iteration. However, it could still save you cash, and may even work out better for more casual Pret customers.

If you reckon you buy at least three drinks each month at Pret, it’s probably worthwhile to get the membership. Once the membership goes up to £10 per month, you’ll need at least five every month to start saving money — still a good deal, but only if you know you’ll drink there.

There are downsides — you have to stick to Pret. Don’t let Starbucks’ new syrups tempt you away. And if you tend to get tempted to grab a pastry or sandwich that you wouldn’t otherwise buy, you’re not saving money.

Alternatives to Club Pret

If you’re missing Pret’s original subscription then you could go for Leon’s newly launched subscription that gets you five coffees a day for £25 each month.

Or you can sign up for other coffee shop loyalty schemes which can offer stamps to earn a free drink or other discounts. You might even get free coffee with other memberships or services without even realising it.

Read next

September 3, 2024   |   Deals

Kids & family days out offers

Written by

If you’re thinking of what you can do with your little ‘uns that won’t break the bank, here are some ways to spend less on days out and activities

Days out aren’t cheap, so here we’ll share special offers where you can bring down the price of tickets, as well as any special free events and activities. We’ve also had a look at schemes such as Kids Pass and Little Bird and shared whether we think they’re any good.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Free ticket offers

MoneySuperMarket: SuperSaveClub hack

If you take out insurance via MoneySuperMarket you can get free membership to the SuperSaveClub, which offers free tickets every week and month to big name attractions like London Zoo.

But there’s a way to get access without buying insurance that won’t cost you anything – simply sign up for the free Credit Monitor service. You can also do this for every adult in your home, increasing how many free tickets you get.

We’ve written up how to get free membership in detail.

Free days out hack via MoneySuperMarket

Winter Wonderland: free off-peak tickets

You can get off-peak tickets to Winter Wonderland this Christmas. Tickets are usually between £5 and £7.50 but at the moment there are free tickets in November, early December and early January.

The free tickets are for entry in the morning, but you can stay as long as you like so it wouldn’t stop you from staying til the end of the day if you wanted to.

We expect the free tickets will go quite quickly, so grab them while you can.

Get free Winter Wonderland tickets

National Lottery: Open Week (ended)

The National Lottery runs a regular promotion where you can get free or low-cost days out, including Eden Project, National Trust, the Tower of London and English Heritage properties. 

The National Lottery Open Week runs between 9 March and 17 March 2024 — booking is open now.

To get access, you need to have a National Lottery ticket or scratchcard, which you can use to visit a National Trust or National Trust for Scotland properties for free or at a discount. The date of the lottery ticket isn’t relevant, but maybe hang on to it until you know if you’ve won. 

You can see a full list of the attractions and the discounts available, searchable by postcode or your current location. The full T&Cs are here too.

See the locations

“Open House” events

In September each year many buildings open their doors for free across the UK. Here are some of the main organisations, but do check locally to see if there are other places offering something similar.

Open House London – September 2024

From 14 to 22 September 2024 you can get free or discounted access to hundreds of buildings and gardens in London, many of which are normally closed to the public. Bookings open 21 August 2024. Details here.

Heritage Open Days (Scotland) – September 2024

In September 2024 there’s a similar open day festival in Scotland giving you access to buildings and events across the country. Bookings are now open. Details here.

Doors Open Days (England) – September 2024

On weekends from 6 to 15 September 2024 Heritage Open Days will provide free access to events celebrating England’s history and culture. Bookings for some events are now open. Details here.

Open Doors (Wales) – September 2024

Throughout September 2024 you can get free entry and guided tours to more than 200 historic sites in Wales. Loads of events don’t require booking and those that do may let you book now. Details here.

Day out ticket discounts

National Rail: 2-4-1 days out

If you’re travelling by train to an attraction, you might be able to use it for a discount on your entry. Details here.

Find out where you can get a discount with a train ticket

National Trust & English Heritage offers

English Heritage: 50% off tickets via Asda

If you sign up for the free Asda Rewards scheme you can save 50% on tickets to English Heritage attractions. You’ll need to use the code ASDAREWARDS5024.

It excludes the Bank Holiday weekend (24 to 26 August) and excludes Tintagel Castle and memberships.

You’ll also be able to save 10% in English Heritage cafes and shops by presenting your Asda Rewards barcode (via the app).

Ends 30 September 2024.

If you’re new to Asda Rewards, you can read our review.

Save 50% at English Heritge

National Trust: Get a free one-day family pass with InYourArea (expired)

Community platform InYourArea is giving away 50,000 free family day passes to use at participating National Trust sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 15 and 29 July 2024 – while stock lasts.

You need to register here before 29 July and you’ll be emailed a family pass barcode to be used by 1 September. You can redeem it Monday to Sunday, apart from on the bank holiday weekend of 24 to 26 August 2024.

The day pass, which is worth £50, admits two adults and up to three children, or one adult and four children. Single adults and couples can also use it.

Not all sites are included and you’ll need to pay for parking. Make sure to read the terms and conditions before you go and if you don’t receive the pass, check your junk mail.

Grab one of 50,000 day passes

National Trust: Get a one-day family pass with The Mirror (expired)

The Mirror is also offering 75,000 free family day passes to National Trusts sites.

Just enter your details in its online form by 1 September 2024 – while stock lasts.

Alternatively, if you buy the Daily Mirror between 13 and 21 July you can get a voucher to claim at a National Trust location of your choice.

Both options are offering a one-time ticket for two adults and up to three children or one adult and four children until 1 September 2024, so it’ll be valid during half term but not on the bank holiday weekends.

Check the Ts&Cs before going, as some sites are excluded.

It’s worth keeping an eye out for completely free passes from other papers published by Reach PLC. We’ll share them here when we spot them.

Get a free National Trust one-day pass

Free activities

Free tennis sessions

Tennis for Free is offering free tennis sessions at around 40 locations across the UK. Sessions are usually at the weekend and last about an hour. Some are for kids aged 12 and above, while some are for all ages, and they’re more about having fun than professional coaching.

All abilities are welcome and equipment is provided.

Once you’ve found a venue near you, you’ll need to sign up for an account and book a slot online.

Book free tennis session

Kids & family membership offers

Boundless membership

If you work in the public sector or are a civil servant, a Boundless membership gives you free access to UK attractions, including Kew Gardens, a free Kids Pass and Tastecard.

  • Basic Boundless costs £40 a year
  • Boundless Plus costs £68 a year

We’ve looked in more detail at who can get it and what you get in our review.

Check out Boundless membership
Read our full review

Kids Pass: One year for £28

At full price – £40 a year – it’s possibly a bit pricey. However, there are ways to save which make it worth a go.

Living Social is selling an annual pass for £27, plus a £1 admin fee. This saves you £11.99 on the standard annual price.

Kids Pass: get paid for a 30-day trial

Alternatively, if you go via TopCashback or Quidco you’ll get more than £1 back in exchange for a trial (duration can vary when you click through).

“Days Out” offers

Another scheme is the Days Out website. This works slightly differently as there’s no membership, but you might find discounted tickets.

> Find family discounts on the Days Out website

Theme park deals

Check out our separate guide to paying less for theme park tickets such as Alton Towers and Legoland.

Gardens

BBC Gardener’s World magazine: 2-4-1 entry card (ended)

This annual offer is always worth a look. If you buy the May 2024

edition of Gardener’s World magazine (out 11 April) you’ll get a card that’ll get you 2-4-1 entry to 407 gardens in the UK and Northern Ireland.

This includes:

  • Leeds Castle
  • Warwick Castle
  • 67 National Trust gardens
  • 27 National Trust of Scotland gardens
  • 12 English Heritage gardens

The magazine costs £9.50 and you can buy it in shops or online (you can get it for £9.99 including postage).

The pass is valid until April 2025 and can be used as many times as you like.

Order your copy

What is Kids Pass?

What does Kids Pass do?

Kids Pass is a membership which gives you discounts on the places and things kids like to do.

Kids Pass promises:

  • Up to 57% off at “family days out” such as theme parks, bowling and play centres
  • Up to 40% off at cinemas, seven days a week
  • Kids eat free or for £1 at hundreds of restaurants
  • Savings on places like Butlins and Haven

You only need one card per family, rather than per child.

Is Kids Pass any good?

The discounts can be pretty decent, especially the restaurant and cinema deals.

Restaurant deals

Some restaurant chains include are Giraffe, Garfunkels, Barburrito, Handmade Burger Co, and Bella Italia, each offering free food for kids or £1 meals. There’s also BOGOF at Pizza Hut (delivery) and a second pizza for £1 at Papa John’s. There are hundreds of independent ones, too. You can see those involved without getting a membership.

Cinema deals

The cinema discounts through Kids Pass are available at most major chains and various independent places. You get up to 40% off tickets for kids and adults, making it a good option even if you don’t have kids. A quick look at a few different chains and it generally works out as £8 per adult ticket.

Check if it’s cheaper to buy your tickets with a different deal.

You’ll need to buy your tickets through the website or app – you can’t just show your pass at the box office. 

Other deals

The theme park and other family activities look good, though as with most entertainment, it’s worth shopping around for other offers. It does look like it includes all the major theme parks and places like Madame Tussaudss and London Dungeon.

You can also save up to 50% at places like Eurocamp, Haven and Butlins.

September 3, 2024   |   Deals

The best student discounts, offers and deals

Written by

Save at Apple, Boots, Amazon and more

Here are the pick of student discounts – and you don’t need to be a student for some!

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Whether you’re a full-time student or just someone with an NUS card (sadly our loophole where anyone could get one has been closed – though previous Totum cardholders can get an alumni card), there are some fantastic deals to be had! The key is to ask – you never know!

Sadly there are a few discounts only available via MyUniDays or Student Beans, and you can only get those if you have a .ac.uk email address.

We’ve not listed all the different retailers, but you can also save at the likes of Asos, Office and Foyles. The usual rate is around 10%, but is sometimes boosted to 20% at the start of term.

Here are our favourite discounts – there will be more!

For all students, staff and school children

Some discounts are available for staff working at universities and schools (and you don’t need to be a teacher), as well as for students at schools and colleges.

Apple student discount & up to £120 gift card

Flash your TOTUM card, proof you’ve been accepted into a university or that you work at an educational establishment and you’ll save up to 10% on a new Mac. You can also save on other items, with around 5% knocked off iPads.

If you buy something around the start of the new academic year, there’s often also a free gift card or another incentive. This year it was a gift card worth up to £120.

Buy a qualifying iMac or MacBook and you’ll get the full £120 voucher, it’s £80 with a Mac mini or iPad Air or iPad Pro.

You can use them on products or purchases on the Apple Store! This extra offer usually starts in mid-July, and this year it ends on 21 October 2024.

Get your Apple student deals

For anyone with a student email address

Ikea: £10 or £20 coupon

Verify yourself as a student at Ikea and get a coupon for £10 off when you spend £75. If you spend £150, you’ll get a £20 coupon. You’ll need to login or sign up for Ikea’s Family account and fill out the form using your student credentials. You’ll need a student email address but if you don’t have one yet you can use alternative documents.

The offer runs until 13 October and you can only use the discount once.

Sign up for an Ikea Family account

For anyone with a student ID

These discounts work with your Uni or college ID or an NUS/Totum card (which includes some non-students).

Boots: 10% off

You can save 10% on your purchases at Boots. You’ll need to have a Boots Advantage card as well as an NUS/Totum card, and you need to connect these at a Boots checkout till.

Since you only need the Advantage card to get the discount, you could share your card with other family members so they also get the money off – though it does mean they won’t earn their own Boots points.

The discount is valid until 31 August each year so you’ll need to reactivate it at the till from 1 September onwards.

This is sometimes boosted to 20%, including at the start of the academic year.

You can also stack it with other deals and offers on the Boots site.

Shop at Boots

Superdrug: 10% off

You’ll need to sign up to the Health & Beautycard scheme (it’s free), then link your NUS/Totum card or student ID to the account in-store. It’ll then work for the academic year online and in person.

Sign up for Superdrug’s Beautycard

Tickets to theatre, galleries, festivals & other live events

You can also often get reduced rates for everything from theatre to opera. The Royal Exchange in Manchester and the ENO are among those that do.

Many galleries will have a reduced student price, often 50% less. And the Art Pass offers discounted student membership at the start of each academic year.

Not many festivals do, but it’s worth checking when you buy tickets to anything.

Sport

Football fan? I’ve used my NUS card to get concession tickets to see my team Crystal Palace in the past, and it’s saved me hundreds of pounds. Many clubs and other sports have similar deals.

Eating out

You can also save on food with your Totum or other student card. This includes:

  • Tastecard – 3 months free
  • Leon – 15% off
  • Itsu – 15% off
  • Greggs – freebie with lunch deal
  • McDonalds – freebie with meal deal

Shopping

Though some retailers now ask for a Unidays ID or code, it’s worth trying every shop you go to. Online you might have to click through from the NUS website.

For students with MyUniDays

Spotify: 50% off

You can save 46% on Spotify Premium. That’s £5.99 a month rather than £11.99. This version gets rid of adverts and lets you take songs offline to your phone or tablet, meaning you don’t need wifi or your data. Here are the best Spotify deals.

Apple Music: 50% off

You’ll pay the same for Apple Music – but get Apple TV thrown in. You’ll also get this for 48 months once you’ve been validated via MyUniDays.

Software

I got my Adobe suite (things like Photoshop) at a massive discount. We’re talking hundreds of pounds! You can also save on Microsoft Office – though free alternatives like Google Docs might do the job instead.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday and Friday.

Listen now

For students with official student ID

Amazon Prime: Six months free then 50% off

You can get Amazon’s delivery and streaming service free for six months as a student (or 18-22 year old). Then after that you can get a full annual Amazon Prime subscription for £4.49 a month, for three years.

The easiest way to get this is using an academic email, though there are other ways to verify student status. Sadly Totum cards are no longer accepted.

Watch out for other Amazon Student offers throughout the year, such as money off codes at Black Friday or Prime Day.

Sign up for Amazon Prime Student

Train and tube travel

The 16-25 Railcard is a great way to cut the cost of train travel. Mature students outside this age range need proof they are studying with a form completed by their Uni or college.

If you travel by tube and live in London during term time you can get an 18+ Student Oyster card. This saves 30% on travel in the capital.

There are also bus and coach student passes.

International travel

Check to see if you have an ISIC (International Student Identification Card) included with your Totum student card. If not it’s worth looking at separately.

When we went on a big trip to South America in 2013, our ISICs saved us over £200 on internal flights, excursions such as the Inca Trail and admission to museums and galleries, and we did it again on our honeymoon a few years later.

Read next

September 3, 2024   |   Deals

Free and cheap wills

Written by

Save money and give to charity with these two cut-price will campaigns.

There are a few ways to get a will drawn up, but if you want a solicitor to do it for you, you’ll have to pay more than £100.

According to MoneyHelper, a single will drawn up by a solicitor could cost you between £144 and £240, while a joint will could go up to £300.

However, there are a couple of offers which run every year that could bring down those costs:

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Regular offers

Will Aid – £100 for a basic will

Every November, as part of Will Aid, you can get a “free” appointment with participating solicitors to draw up a will. In return they ask you donate £100 for a single will and £180 for a joint “mirror will” to one of the partner charities, which includes NSPCC, Save the Children and Age UK.

You can book from Monday 2 September in 2024, though these go quite fast. The Will Aid website has a postcode based search option so you can find any solicitors taking part near you.

More on Will Aid

Free Wills Month

Twice a year in March and October, over 55’s can get a free will from participating solicitors with the Free Wills Month campaign. It’s done with several charities that sign up to take part. You’re not required to make a donation, though it’s hoped people will give something in return for the service.

You can now sign up and choose which charity you’d like to write a will with. These can book up quickly, so be sure to get in soon if you want a free will.

More on Free Wills Month

Other offers

Trussell Trust: Free will

The food bank charity The Trussell Trust has partnered with Farewill to give people who regularly donate to them the option to create a will or amend your existing one for free.

It’s completed either online or over the phone, and it’s only really suitable for simple wills.

So if you want to support the charity by setting up a direct debit you’ll be able to access this offer. Though there’s no requirement to leave a gift to the charity in the will itself, it’s something you should consider.

Make a free will via The Trussell Trust

National Will Register: Register for free in May (expired)

The National Will Register is offering free will registrations in May with the code FREEWILLREG24.

It’s not a legal requirement to register your will but if you had your will done by a solicitor, they may have done this for you already. You can also just let your executor know where your will is. However, having it registered means it can be located and prevents it from being lost, misplaced or forgotten.

Register will for free