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Updated June 8, 2026 | Published January 1, 2026 | Deals

Cashback site welcome bonus offers

Get new member bonuses of up to £43 combined

If you want to boost your savings when shopping online, there’s a simple way to make money – cashback.

If you’re new to cashback sites, you can nab sign-up offers giving you close to £50 in free cash when you first buy something.

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.

How cashback sites afford to give you money

Retailers often pay a commission to websites that help them make a sale. Cashback sites simply pay you a cut of this money if you shop with them.

How to get even more money from the cashback sites

Since there are a few of these sites, they’re all competing for you to shop via them – which means they all give incentives to get you to sign up.

So even if you’ve already registered with one, you can sign up with another and shop away.

They all have different custom cashback rates at different shops, so it’s worth signing up for them all and shopping around for the one which will give you the most money.

Right now you could earn a free £30 for doing your shopping as normal, and get further cashback on top. Here are the best ones:

New customer offers

TopCashback: £18 bonus when you spend £10

You can get an exclusive £18 new member bonus. You need to spend £10 via one of the retailers listed on TCB to get this bonus (excluding takeaways). You must go via this link or the button below.

Read the full terms and conditions when you click through. Ends 30 June 2026.

Quidco: £18 bonus when you spend £10

The best deal is for subscribers to our free newsletter who get access to an exclusive £18 first-time bonus when they spend £10. You’ll also get the cashback offered by the retailer on top.

Once you sign up, you’ll need to click on the sign-up confirmation email that will be sent immediately. If you don’t see it, please check your spam folders as it could be there, and then add our email address to your safe senders list.

Then look for a special email that will be sent to you with the exclusive Quidco sign-up link. Make sure to read the terms and conditions on Quidco’s website before making your first purchase to ensure it tracks.

JamDoughnut: get £4 for signing up

We’ve managed to snag a cheeky boosted welcome offer for Be Clever With Your Cash readers. You can get £4 extra cashback – double the standard welcome bonus.

It’ll be paid as two sets of 200 points when you make your first purchase.

The first 200 points you get are standard for first-time users of JamDoughnut, while the extra 200 points are for coming through our link. The first 200 points will be instant, while the second ones will take a few days to be added by the JamDoughnut team.

You might be prompted to enter a code. You don’t need to do this as the link will track. But if you want to, then add BCWYC.

Read our review of JamDoughnut

Cheddar: £3 for signing up

You can get £3 when you sign up for cashback app Cheddar using the referral code CLEVER3 and buy your first prepaid card. You’ll also get boosted cashback rates for two weeks.

You have to make the purchase within 14 days of signing up using the invite code to get it.

Read our review of Cheddar

Airtime: £2 when you sign up

Another decent cashback site is the app Airtime. New member bonuses are much smaller. You’ll get £2 for signing up with code FGUHNUQH when you spend £5 within seven days. Sometimes these are boosted.

Get the Airtime welcome promo code

Quidco: £10 back when you spend £5

If you’d rather not get our newsletter then you can get £10 back with a £5 spend via the sign-up link below.

Featured switching deal

Sponsored

Santander £180 switch offer

Customer rating 4/5

Switch bonus
£180
Offer ends
Unknown

FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

View Deal

Existing customer bonuses

From time to time both Quidco and TopCashback offer an extra bonus. You need to activate these deals and they generally only run for a short period of time – often just one day.

Airtime tends to have promo codes you need to enter on the app to get the extra offer.

The best are generic promos which you can gain with any spending. Sometimes they might be for specific retailers or types of service (eg travel or broadband). I’ll share any decent ones I spot here.

Things to watch out for

Cashback is never guaranteed. If your purchase doesn’t track (i.e. there isn’t a record of you buying the item via the cashback site) you won’t get the money.

Here’s how to increase your chances you will get the money:

Read the (short) terms and conditions for the sign-up deals, and also the individual shop promotions.
Be careful using voucher codes. If they aren’t listed on the cashback page they might stop you getting cashback.
Make sure you don’t already have a browser window open for the retailer.

Updated June 1, 2026 | Published March 11, 2026 | Deals

NOW TV free trial, offers & deals

BCWYC Team | Updated by James Andrews

Get Sky Atlantic, Sky Cinema and Sky Sports without getting Sky – and pay less with these great NOW TV offers.

Sky’s NOW TV – or NOW as it’s been rebranded – can save you a lot of money compared to paying for TV via your broadband provider, whether that’s Sky, Virgin, BT or TalkTalk.

Despite recent price increases and fewer offers it’s still the cheapest way to get big channels such as Sky Atlantic, Sky One and more. You’ll also get HBO Max included.

What is NOW?

NOW is essentially an on-demand video streaming service, just like Netflix and iPlayer. The big difference is it lets you watch Sky channels. Why bother when you can do this direct? Well NOW is so much cheaper and more flexible. And you’ll see below there are always deals to bring the price down further.

Another great thing is that you can subscribe month by month, or even by the day for sports channels, rather than tie yourself into a year-long contract as you would if you had satellite or cable TV. Here’s Andy’s take on whether it’s worth the money.

It works best if you don’t watch ALL the different channels. That’s because films, TV and sport are all on different packages. Very cheap if you get one or two, but it can be pricey if you get more. And of course you need to consider if you’d be better off picking Netflix or Amazon Prime instead – there’s not enough time to watch all three!

How much is NOW?

Here are the full price costs for all the different NOW passes – but of course you don’t need to pay this. Check out all the deals on this page for ways to save.

Entertainment costs £7.99
Entertainment + HBO Max Pass costs £9.99 a month
Cinema Pass costs £9.99 a month
There are two Sky Sports NOW TV passes
- A Day Pass costs £14.99 for 24 hours
- A Month Pass is £34.99 a month
NOW TV Boost cost £6 a month or £9 a month

New NOW customer offers and deals

The best offers are pretty much always for new customers. If you’ve never used NOW or NOW TV as it was known before, always start with one of these. If there’s a free or very cheap pass featured further down you can always add that at a later date. We’ve ranked them in the order of how good we think they are.

These offers are only for new NOW subscribers. Make sure you cancel before the prepaid package is up or you’ll pay full price for the following months.

At the moment it seems most of these introductory offers are for a minimum of six months, so you might need to weigh up whether you’d be better off paying full price for a single month and using the cancellation trick (more on this further down the page) to hopefully bring prices down without being locked in.

NOW Entertainment: £2.99 for 6 months

This new user offer requires you to lock in for 6 months, after which you’ll pay full price but can cancel at any time.

You’ll get:

Sky originals and exclusive US Shows
The biggest returning hits from HBO – such as Euphoria series 3
One month ad-free

This offer also comes with a 30 day trial of Boost or Ultra Boost. Includes ads.

NOW Entertainment & HBO MAX: £6.99 for 6 months

This new user offer requires you to lock in for 6 months, after which you’ll pay full price but can cancel at any time.

You’ll get:

Sky originals and exclusive US Shows
Every series from HBO Max Basic, such as The Pitt
One month ad-free

This offer also comes with a 30 day trial of Boost or Ultra Boost. Includes ads.

NOW Cinema: £6.99 for 6 months

This new user offer requires you to lock in for 6 months, after which you’ll pay full price but can cancel at any time.

You’ll get:

The latest blockbusters on NOW
One month ad-free

This offer also comes with a 30 day trial of Boost or Ultra Boost. Includes ads.

Featured switching deal

Sponsored

Santander £180 switch offer

Customer rating 4/5

Switch bonus
£180
Offer ends
Unknown

FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

View Deal

Reduced passes with NOW Broadband

If you change your internet to NOW Broadband, you’ll can sometimes find discounted NOW passes. The cost varies depending on when you sign up; we’ve seen it as little as £4 a month.

However, you are tied into the broadband and the NOW membership for 12 months. And it’ll go up to full price once the year ends.

Get a discounted NOW passes and broadband at NOW

NOW TV free trials (ended)

Sadly there are no longer any free trials for the main passes, though they could return. Usually you can trial “Boost” for 7 days though that’s not currently showing.

If you do get a trial and don’t want to keep paying then remember to cancel before the seven days finish to avoid getting charged full price.

Choose a 7-day NOW free trial

Existing NOW customer offers and deals

Most of the special offers are only for new customers, but there are lots of ways existing customers can save each month. Usually this involved either buying a gift card pass.

With the passes you will get a code which you can enter into your account. Go to the view passes page and you’ll see where to add the code.

There used to be deals offering passes included with a NOW box or stick, but the company no longer sells these.

Here are the best deals:

NOW cancellation trick

If you go to cancel your NOW pass, you’ll be asked the reason you are cancelling. Select the option saying it’s too expensive for you and you might be offered a discount to stay.

If that’s as good or better than the existing customer deals we’ve listed above, then you can accept it and pay less. This will be for a limited time, often three or four months, so don’t forget to repeat this process.

Do keep an eye on your emails too. It’s not unheard of for NOW to offer a discounted price after you’ve cancelled. Here’s more on how this trick works and how to cancel.

NOW email offers

It’s also worth having your email preferences set to allow promotional emails from NOW. They will regularly send promotions with discounts – most recently Andy signed up to four months of Entertainment for £1 a month.

This will only be sent if you don’t have an active subscription, another reason to hit cancel at the start of each month.

Netflix, NOW TV and Freeview box for £5/mth for six months (expired)

If you have BT or EE broadband (or sign up for it), you can add on a EE TV package that includes Netflix and NOW at a reduced price. At the moment, you can get it for £5 a month for the first six months. You’ll need to commit to 24 months, and the price will go up after the six month period and every year. However, it includes:

Netflix Standard with adverts (rrp £5.99 a month)
NOW Entertainment (rrp £9.99 a month)
Discovery+ basic (rrp £3.99 a month)

With this deal, you’re locked in for at least 24 months. For the first six months you’ll pay £5 and this goes up to £20 a month from month seven. It then costs £22 a month from 31 March 2026 and £24 a month from 31 March 2027.

You’ll need to factor in if you can get broadband for less elsewhere, and that you’ll be tied in for two years.

If you want HD Netflix you’ll have to pay extra – and it’s not clear how much more this is.

Similarly if you want HD and no adverts on your NOW pass that’s another £6 a month. And it’s often possible to get cheaper NOW packages direct with NOW – that might not be the case if you pay via your BT bill.

A similar model box will likely cost you £250, so if you’re looking at ditching pay TV elsewhere, this would be a cheaper way to get hold of it, with the streaming services thrown in (though you won’t keep it if you leave BT in two years time).

Get Netflix via EE TV

Latest Sky Sports NOW TV deals

You need a separate pass for Sky Sports via NOW and there are often deals to bring the price down. We’ve listed them on our bespoke deals page for Sky Sports.

Save on Sky Sports at NOW

Here are my top deals for Sky Sports day and month passes on NOW.

Updated June 1, 2026 | Published May 11, 2026 | Deals

Investing offers and cashback deals

Zoe Roddy | Updated by Zoe Roddy

Investment firms often give incentives like free cash to get you to give them your money.

These offers are extra cash payments and freebies you can get for opening an investment account. We’re only sharing these promotions as a way to get some free cash rather than a recommendation of individual investment platforms or funds. Sometimes the type of account you open matters, so take a look at the T&Cs to double-check. We’ve split them into Stocks & Shares ISA offers and General Investment Account offers.

Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose.

Stocks & Shares ISA offers

These are offers to tempt you to sign up for a new ISA or transfer existing ISAs. There may be a minimum amount you need to add in order to get the bonus. Remember, we’re just sharing offers here and not recommending any individual ISA investment platforms, so do your research before applying. Our S&S ISA best buy tables are a good place to start.

ISA offers

Our top pick

Trading 212 Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.7/5

Offer
Free fractional share up to £100*
Annual fee
£0
Type of investing
DIY investing
Minimum deposit
£1

*New customers get a free fractional share worth up to £100 when you sign up via our link or use the code BCWYC. Terms apply

FSCS Protected? Yes
Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
Fractional shares Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 3.8%
Flexible ISA Yes
Foreign exchange fee 0.15%
Fund fees If you invest in ETFs, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
Offer details To get the offer, you need to open a Trading 212 Stocks and Shares ISA or Invest account and deposit at least £1 within 10 calendar days
Important details Remember, the value of any money invested, which includes your free share, could go up or down
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 609146
Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

View Deal

IG Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.7/5

Offer
up to £300 of free shares
Annual fee
£0
Type of investing
DIY or ready-made
Minimum deposit
£0

*New customers can get a bundle of UK shares worth up to £300 when you invest £300

FSCS Protected? Yes
Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 3.75%
Fractional shares No
Flexible ISA Yes
Foreign exchange fee 0.70%
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 944492
Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up.
£300 free share offer New customers can get a randomly allocated bundle of UK-listed shares worth between £40 and £300 when you make £300 of trades, opened by the end of the same calendar month as the first trade. You need to maintain an average of £300 invested for 3 full calendar months after the month of the first trade. You need to use the code WELCOME300 to get the offer. Offer ends on 31 December 2026

View Deal

Charles Stanley Direct Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 3.6/5

Offer
Up to £1,500 cashback*
Annual fee
0.3% (min £5 per month)
Type of investing
DIY investing
Minimum deposit
£0

*You can get £300-£1,500 cashback when you transfer an ISA between £20,000 and £200,000

Fees You get £50 worth of free trades every 6 months. Funds cost £4 per trade and shares cost £10 per trade
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose. There are no platform or trading fees when you invest in Charles Stanley Multi Asset Funds
FSCS Protected? Yes
Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
Fractional shares No
Interest on uninvested cash Yes - 1.5% on balances up to £99,999 and 1.9% on balances over this
Flexible ISA No
Foreign exchange fee 1%
Offer details The amount you'll get in cashback depends on how much you transfer. A transfer of £20,000 gets you £300 cashback
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 124412
Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

eToro Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 3.8/5

Offer
free £50 worth of assets*
Annual fee
Custody fee of 0.35% per year (max £45)
Type of account
DIY and ready-made investing
Minimum deposit
$50

*Get £50 worth of free assets when you deposit £200 into a General Investment Account

FSCS Protected? Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 3% on balances up to $50,000, 3.8% on balances over this
Fractional shares Yes
Foreign exchange fee 0.7%
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees, which cost on average ~0.16% per year, with additional market-spread effects up to 0.05%
UK shares trading fee You'll pay £3.95 per trade for shares, ETFs and mutual funds and £5.95 per trade for bonds
Managed portfolio fees Management fees are tiered, so you'll pay 0.45% up to £50,000, then 0.20% from £50,000 to £100,000, 0.10% from £100,000–£1.5m, and 0% above £1.5m. A platform fee of 0.25% also applies to all managed portfolios.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes, FRN 583263
Risk warning The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. ISA powered by Moneyfarm. ISA rules apply. UK residents only.
Offer You need to sign up, verify your account and deposit at least £200 to get the free asset. ISA deposits aren't included in the £200 requirement to get the offer.

View Deal

Quilter Invest Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

Offer
Discounted annual fee*
Service fee
0.25%
Type of account
DIY or ready-made investing
Minimum deposit
£10

FSCS Protected? FSCS protection may apply if the custodian fails. It does not protect against investment losses.
Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
Investments available You can invest in OEICs and exchange-traded investments
Flexible ISA Yes
Fees £2 per month and a 0.25% platform fee - if you join before 31 July using code SUMMER26, you’ll pay no subscription fee and a lower 0.15% platform fee
Fund fees When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes, FRN 955775
Risk warning The value of investments can go down as well as up. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances and may change in the future. Approved by Quilter Invest on 01/05/2026

View Deal

General Investment Account offers

GIA offers

Our top pick

Trading 212 General Investment Account

Customer rating 4.7/5

Offer
Free fractional share up to £100*
Annual fee
£0
Type of investing
DIY
Minimum deposit
£1

*New customers get a free fractional share worth up to £100 when you sign up via our link or use the code BCWYC. Terms apply

FSCS Protected? Yes
Fractional shares Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 3.8%
Foreign exchange fee 0.15%
Fund fees If you invest in ETFs, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
Offer details To get the offer, you need to open a Trading 212 Stocks and Shares ISA or Invest account and deposit at least £1 within 10 calendar days
Offer New customers get a free fractional share worth up to £100 when you sign up via our link or use the code BCWYC
Important details Remember, the value of any money invested, which includes your free share, could go up or down
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 609146
Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

View Deal

XTB General Investment Account

Customer rating 4.7/5

Offer
Choose a free share*
Annual fee
£0
Minimum deposit
£0

*You can choose a free share if you're a new customer by opening a General Investment Account and making a deposit

FSCS Protected? Yes
Fractional shares Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 4.50%
Foreign exchange fee 0.50%
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 522157
Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down
Offer details New XTB customers can get a free share of their choice (choose from Tesco, BP, Glencore, Barclays, Rolls‑Royce Holdings). You need to be a new XTB customer, open a General Investment account and make a deposit to get the offer

View Deal

IG General Investment Account

Customer rating 4.7/5

Offer
up to £300 of free shares
Annual fee
£0
Type of investing
DIY or ready-made
Minimum deposit
£0

*New customers can get a bundle of UK shares worth up to £300 when you invest £300

FSCS Protected? Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 3.75% usually
Fractional shares No
Foreign exchange fee 0.70%
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 944492
Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up
£300 free share offer New customers can get a randomly allocated bundle of UK-listed shares worth between £40 and £300 when you make £300 of trades, opened by the end of the same calendar month as the first trade. You need to maintain an average of £300 invested for 3 full calendar months after the month of the first trade. You need to use the code WELCOME300 to get the offer. Offer ends on 31 December 2026

View Deal

ISA vs GIA

When you open these accounts you can usually choose between an ISA and a general investing account. If you haven’t used your full £20,000 ISA allowance this financial year, and you don’t plan to do so before 5 April, then that’s the best account for you as any gains you make will be tax free.

If you can’t or don’t want to add any more to an ISA, you can opt instead for the General Investment Account, although some of these offers may not be available for this account. In this account, you’ll only pay tax on profits after selling your share if it brings you over the Capital Gains Allowance.

Updated June 1, 2026 | Published March 2, 2026 | Deals

Cheapest ways to watch Sky Sports without a subscription

BCWYC Team | Updated by James Andrews

You don’t need a Sky subscription to watch Sky Sports! Here are the latest deals for pay-as-you-go passes on NOW TV.

We’re big fans of NOW (or NOW TV as it was called). It’s a cheap way to watch Sky channels, doesn’t tie you in to long contracts, and if you’re a fan of the Premier League, golf, cricket, Formula 1 or dozens of other sports but can’t afford Sky, it can be a real money saver.

Sky Sports on NOW

If you get your TV via Sky, or even Virgin or BT, then you’ll likely have to commit to a long contract with your TV provider, probably 18 months. And it can be really expensive.

In terms of TV programmes and film channels, it’s almost always going to be cheaper to get those exact same channels via NOW instead.

It’s slightly more complicated for Sky Sports channels. The day passes are perfect for occasional users at under £15 a go (or less if you use a deal). Sadly, it looks like the week pass is no longer offered.

The monthly passes, however, can be expensive. At £34.99 a month, you’ll probably pay more via NOW for this channel than with Sky if you have it every single month of the year. But be careful here, because the monthly cost for Sky Sports and can often come with a 24 month contract, rather than the rolling one month one you get from NOW.

But there are regular deals which bring the NOW price down, sometimes as low as £18. This makes the price much more comparable, and you have the added advantage that you aren’t committed to a contract. You can stop it or pause it month by month.

What is NOW?

Think of NOW (or NOW TV as it was called until spring 2021) as a pay-per-view iPlayer for the Sky TV channels. The sports passes give you access to all 12 Sky Sports channels without a contract, so you can watch per day or per month.

NOW can be streamed on your computer, tablet, some smart TVs, games consoles and devices such as the Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire Sticks.

The passes don’t include TV or movie channels, which you need to buy separate passes for – though there are plenty of discounts to be found and we’ve summarised the best on our NOW TV deals page.

NOW Sky Sports free trials

Unlike the other NOW membership passes, there’s no free trial for any of the Sports options.

NOW Sky Sports day pass offers

Far better than a Sky contract is a £14.99 Day Pass. Despite recent price increases, we think this pass represents decent value for money for occasional viewing.

There used to be frequent discounts to be had, such as 20% off or bundles passes with a NOW smart stick. We’ll share any we find on this page but they aren’t as common now.

Buy a Sky Sports day membership from NOW

Month-long Sky Sports pass on NOW

If you’re going to watch a lot of the action on Sky Sports it’s probably cheaper to get a subscription via Sky, Virgin or BT. But if you want to dip in and out month by month you can buy a fully flexible monthly pass for £34.99.

There are often discounts on the first month or two, sometimes as long as nine or 12 months, which we’ll include when we see them.

These offers are also sometimes emailed with unique codes to previous customers so it’s worth turning on the option for emails.

Don’t forget to cancel the month sports pass (which you can do any time) if you don’t want it to renew at full price.

Month passes also start from the moment you pay, unlike week and day passes which you activate when you want them to start.

Buy a Sky Sports Month membership from NOW

Personalised discounts

From time to time, you might see a better offer in your account or via email.

To receive emails you’ll need to have turned on the marketing preferences to allow this.

For in account offers you can see if you’re eligible if you head to the personalised My Offers section of your account. You’ll need to be signed in.

Check your account for offers

Sky Sports at £19.99 a month – for some (ended)

This offer or similar is regularly offered via emails sent to previous customers, giving 6 to 12 months at £19.99 a month.

It’s either a rolling contract for Sky Sports via NOW TV, or it’ll lock you in for a set period. You’ll save over 35% on the standard monthly price. Importantly, you aren’t tied into the full 12 months. You can cancel at any point. But you’ll pay full price if you restart at a later date.

It’s open to new NOW TV customers and existing customers who either don’t have a pass or are in the last 30 days of a previous offer – as long as you received the email.

Get a discounted month pass at NOW

6 months at £28 a month – for all (ended)

Get an Unlimited Sky Sports membership for £28 per month (normally £31.99) for 12 months with NOW TV. The offer is open to new and existing NOW TV customers (for the latter, it’s as long as you’re in the last month of an existing offer).

However, you’ll be locked into the full 12 months – so you can’t ditch it earlier if you want. It’ll also renew at full price if you don’t cancel in the last month.

Get Sky Sports for £28

NOW Sky Sports Week pass offers

NOW TV no longer offers the week pass. Whether this is permanent or temporary remains to be seen. Occasionally you can still get the offers which we’ll share below, but chances are slim.

Sky Sports on Virgin Media

You can get Sky Sports via the standard Virgin Media TV box, or via the Virgin Media Stream box. The latter only allows streaming, not recording.

You can add Sky Sports channels in HD for £34.99 a month without a contract commitment to Virgin Media Stream, but you’ll need to pay the set up fee first.

Sky Sports on Sky

If you don’t want to ditch Sky for NOW, then you can still get Sky Sports channels direct. However, the best prices for the full package will usually require a new 24-month contract, which obviously ties you in, and will be more costly than the options above.

Sky Sports is currently £22 a month for 24-months.

Featured switching deal

Sponsored

Santander £180 switch offer

Customer rating 4/5

Switch bonus
£180
Offer ends
Unknown

FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

View Deal

Other sports broadcasters

Amazon Prime Video

You can also watch sport on Amazon.

Prime costs £95 a year, or £8.99 a month and includes other Amazon features. However, if you just want the video channel for streaming sport, film and TV shows you can get this for £5.99 a month – which means you can pay just under £6 if you only want to watch the games. There’s also a free 30-day trial – just remember to cancel it if you don’t want to keep paying.

Save money on Amazon Prime Video

All the latest Amazon Prime Video deals

TNT Sport

You can now buy month passes for TNT Sport. More details on this and other deals here.

Watch TNT Sports without a subscription

All the latest TNT Sports deals

Updated June 1, 2026 | Published May 1, 2026 | Best Buy

The best children’s savings accounts

BCWYC Team | Updated by Zoe Roddy

The highest paying easy-access and regular children’s savings accounts and Junior ISAs

Here’s our guide to the best children’s savings accounts. Check the date to see when this was last updated.

Easy access accounts

These can be current accounts for kids or specific children’s savings accounts and are open to anyone under the age of 18. Rates are usually variable, which means they can change, and are often only on a limited amount of money.

With these accounts, your children will be able to manage the money themselves once they reach a certain age.

Nationwide FlexOne Saver (5% AER variable on up to £5,000 saved)
- For 11-17-year-olds
- Requires a FlexOne current account
- Can get a Visa debit or a cash card

Kent Reliance Demelza children’s savings account (4.18% AER variable)
- Min £10 / max £25,000
- Under 18 years old only
- No debit card
- 0.25% of the average balance of all Demelza accounts given to Demelza Children’s Hospice each year
- Open it in branch or via post

HSBC MySavings (3.75% AER variable on up to £3,000 saved / 1.1% above this)
- Min £10
- Ages 7 to 17
- Debit card from 11
- Can be opened online if parent/guardian has HSBC account, otherwise in branch only

Featured kids' bank account

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Customer rating 4.7/5

Monthly fee
£3.99
Ages
6 - 17 year olds
Parent account required?
No
Offer
2 months free and £5 pocket money

FSCS Protected? Yes
Interest paid No - only paid for Plus and Max accounts
Fees £3.99 per month for one child
Parent account There's no bank account for parents; instead, the account is topped up using your existing bank account
Card Customisable debit card
Education Includes access to Money Missions to teach kids about money
Perks Parents can set chores with the app, and anyone can pay into the account with Giftlinks
Offer 2 months free and £5 free pocket money available for new gohenry customers who order a card and deposit £5. Sign up using the code AFUKBC26 to get it.

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Regular Savers

These children’s savings accounts pay higher rates but you’re limited on how much you can save each month. Usually, it’s a fixed rate for a year. When the time is up, the account will close and the money will be transferred to a linked savings account.

Halifax Kids Monthly Saver (5.5% AER fixed for 12 months)
- min £0 / max £100 a month
- Open to children aged 17 or under
- Can be opened online or in branch
Saffron Building Society Children’s Regular Saver (3.95% AER fixed for 12 months)
- min £0 / max £100 a month
- Open to children aged 17 or under
- Can be opened by post or in branch
- Can be opened by non-parent

Junior ISAs

You or your child can save £9,000 a year in a Junior ISA. These can be cash ones earning interest or stocks and shares ISAs which are invested (meaning the value can go up and down).

Though interest or gains earned in an ISA are tax-free, it’s unlikely it makes much difference as there are other allowances that will be more than enough for most kids.

Money in Junior ISAs is also locked away until the child turns 18. Then it’s their money to use as they want.

Parents or guardians have to open the account but anyone can add money – handy for grandparents and other family members who want to put money aside.

Best Cash Junior ISAs

Leek Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

AER (variable)
3.85%
Minimum
£1
Account opening
Branch or via post

FSCS Protected? Yes
Allows transfers in? Yes

Skipton Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.4/5

AER (variable)
3.8%
Minimum
£1
Account opening
Branch or post

The Stafford Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.6/5

AER (variable)
3.76%
Minimum
£1
Account opening
Branch or via post

FSCS Protected? Yes
Allows transfers in? Yes

Coventry Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.6/5

AER (variable)
3.75%
Minimum
£1
Account opening
Branch or via post

FSCS Protected? Yes
Allows transfers in? Yes

Danske Bank UK Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.1/5

AER (variable)
3.75%
Minimum
£25
Account opening
Branch or via phone

FSCS Protected? Yes
Allows transfers in? Yes

NS&I Junior ISA

Customer rating 3.7/5

AER (variable)
3.55%
Minimum
£1
Account opening
Online

FSCS Protected? Yes
Allows transfers in? Yes

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Customer rating 4/5

Switch bonus
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Offer ends
Unknown

FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

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Tax and children’s savings

Our analysis

When choosing a children’s savings account, you probably won’t need to worry about tax on interest.

Children can earn a total of £18,500 from savings and other income each financial year. That’s the £12,500 personal tax allowance, the £5,000 starting savings allowance and the £1,000 personal savings allowance.

However, if parents (and parents only) are adding money to any of the non-tax free accounts then there’s a £100 interest limit each year per parent.

So say the child has £2,000 saved earning 3.75%, they’d make £75 in interest. That’s fine. If they amassed £3,000 in contributions from the same parent the amount earned would be £112.50.

That’s still ok if the money comes from both parents, as the allowances would be combined and the total interest that can be earned would be £200.

But if it’s from one parent, then the entire £112.50 would need to come out of that parent’s Personal Savings Allowance. That might not be a problem – but if it exceeds this, then the whole amount will be subject to tax at the rate the parent pays, which could be 20% or 40%.

To avoid this you might want to save into a Junior ISA.

Other ways to save for kids

Premium Bonds

You can also buy Premium Bonds for children. These cost £1 each, but there’s a minimum purchase of £25. Grandparents are able to buy Premium Bonds, as well as parents and guardians.

The current prize fund is 3.6%, which isn’t the same as 3.6% interest. It’s very likely that with small amounts of cash in Premium Bonds you won’t win anything, but there’s the chance of getting up to £1 million every month.

Pensions

Yep, you can start putting money into a person pension for a child at any age. They won’t be able to access the cash until they reach 57 years old (though that will likely increase when they’re older). However, they can manage where the money is invested from the age of 18.

As with adults adding to pensions, they’ll get 20% tax relief from the government, meaning for every £80 that’s added, £100 will be invested.

There is an annual limit though of £2,880 where you’ll get this extra top-up.

Piggy banks

It can be good to get young kids familiar with coins and money by giving them a piggy bank to save with. Obviously they won’t earn any interest (unless you want to work that out yourself).

Once they get a little older to understand branch and online banking it might make sense to replace the piggy bank with the accounts above.

Apps

Starling offers a free app to help kids learn about money and spending while also giving the parents extra control over purchases called Starling Kite. You can also pay a monthly fee for apps like Go Henry and HyperJar. However, you’re unlikely to get any decent rate of interest from any of these.

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

Updated May 27, 2026 | Published May 27, 2026 | Articles

Energy price cap to rise by 13% from July 2026

Zoe Roddy

The average household will pay £1,862 a year, mostly as a result of the price of gas

The energy price cap is rising by a huge 13%, going up by £221 per year for the average household. This will increase bills by around £18 per month. This only applies to those who are on a standard tariff, so if you have a fixed rate, you’ll be locked in at the price you fixed at.

Here’s what you need to know about the cap and how much you’ll pay.

How the energy cap works

The energy price cap is a limit set every three months by Ofgem, the government’s energy regulator. It restricts how much an energy company can charge customers.

The cap applies to the price of your gas and electricity on your energy company’s default or standard variable rates. These basically can go up and down whenever the energy company likes. With the cap, the energy companies have to make sure their tariffs aren’t higher than the set rate.

Despite its name, it’s not a maximum amount that you can pay for your energy. Instead, the prices set on the cap are the maximum price per unit of energy you use. Ofgem announces the figure as an annual price, as you probably don’t have a clue how many kWh of energy your family uses.

Because of this, the quoted “cap” (£1,862) is an annual price based on a typical household. If you use more energy, you’ll pay more than the cap every year. Use less, and you’ll pay less.

There are separate caps for gas and electricity, and each cap is also made up of a standing charge (a set amount each day, regardless of whether you use any energy) and a usage charge.

The cap will also vary depending on where you live in the UK. Prepayment caps used to always be a little higher, although this recently changed. The new energy price cap also applies to those with a prepayment meter.

Crucially, if you’re on a fixed-rate deal, then the cap doesn’t apply and the price you pay won’t change until that fix ends.

What is the new energy price cap?

The latest announcement is a rise to the price cap from 1 July until 30 September 2026.

The new cap for a “household with average use” is £1,862 a year. This is up by about £220, or 13% from the current rate.

If you break it down to each actual unit cost, the average caps are:

	Energy price cap per unit and standing charge 1 April to 30 June 2026	Energy price cap per unit and standing charge 1 July to 30 September 2026
Electricity	24.67 pence per kWh 57.21 pence daily standing charge	26.11 pence per kWh 57.19 pence daily standing charge
Gas	5.74 pence per kWh 29.09 pence daily standing charge	7.33 pence per kWh 29.04 pence daily standing charge

Source: Ofgem

This does vary based on where you live, though the Ofgem website has a full breakdown of the regional caps for all standing charges and units.

What is the new average monthly energy bill?

Despite Ofgem attempting to present the information in a way we understand, the total annual cap figure isn’t always the easiest to comprehend – especially since our energy use changes throughout the year, but this cap only applies to three months.

At the same time, it’s not a flat increase to all bills as there could be different percentage changes to standing charges and unit rates.

So we think it’s easier to understand the price cap when you view it as a monthly direct debit. Your energy company calculates this by taking the predicted cost for a year based on your previous energy usage and dividing it by 12. It’s not 100% accurate, but it’s a handy comparison.

As the cap is up by £220 per year, that makes it around £18 more each month. The average monthly bill will be £155.

What is the current energy price cap?

The current price cap (1 April to 30 June) is £1,641 a year, based on the average household. This is with the newer typical use figures.

When will the new prices start?

This new energy price cap will come into play on 1 July 2026 and will remain in place until 30 September 2026.

How much will you pay under the new energy price cap?

Remember, the price cap figures are based on average use. If you use more than this average, you’ll pay more; if you use less, you’ll pay less. Plus, it can vary regionally, so you’ll need to check where you live to see exactly what it’ll be for you.

If you want to get a rough, quick idea, you can add 13% to what you pay at the moment. This doesn’t take into account the balance between unit and standing charges, or whether you’ve got an accurate direct debit set-up, but it could give you a sense of how much it’ll be.

Will you pay more or less money with the new energy price cap?

If you’re on a variable tariff

Broadly, anyone on a standard tariff will be charged less per unit of energy from 1 July 2026. Of course, the bill itself will be based on your actual energy use.

If you’re on a prepayment meter

There is no longer a significant premium for those with prepayment meters. You can see the cap for your region on the Ofgem website.

If you’re already on a fixed tariff

If you’re fixed on a tariff, your prices usually don’t change when the price cap changes. That’s because you’ve already agreed on a price per unit of energy for a fixed length of time with your energy supplier, usually 12 months.

For April’s price cap change, the prices fell for everyone due to an end of funding for the Energy Company Obligation scheme and removing 75% of costs for the Renewables Obligation scheme from energy bills. This time, they’ll only go up for those not on a fixed tariff.

Should you fix your energy?

We’ve seen more fixed deals returning to the market in the last couple of years, and right now, the cheapest 12-month fix is around 4% less than the current April price cap. The price of these tariffs depends on where you live, but it’s still worth checking them out to see if you’ll save.

You’ll be comparing prices based on the price cap now, rather than the July one, so make sure you consider that.

If you go for one of these, bear in mind that some will charge an exit fee if you want to swap suppliers before the end of the term.

There are also some tariffs that track at below the cap, so you’ll always pay less – but not necessarily less than a fix.

Of course, these can change, so it’s worth using a comparison site to see what rates are available.

Will bills go up again?

This rise is pretty staggering, but it may not be the end of rises. The current predictions suggest that the price cap could see another rise in October, but a lot can change in that time.

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Switch bonus
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Offer ends
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FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

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When is the next price cap change?

The price cap is reviewed every three months (before October 2022, it was every six months).

The price cap will next change on 1 October 2026, and will be announced by 26 August 2026. After this, it’ll change again on 1 January 2027, a change that will be announced in November 2026.

How you can reduce your bill

Paying by direct debit will reduce your bills, so it’s well worth doing this.

Otherwise, it’s hard to do much to reduce what you spend on energy other than by using less energy. The standing charges will still apply, and bills will still be sky-high, but cutting back on gas and electricity will mean you pay less.

It’s worth giving accurate meter readings if you’re not on a smart meter. This will mean you’re more likely to have an accurate direct debit on current use, rather than what you used last year, and it stops you from falling into debt on your energy account. Your energy firm will probably not change this automatically, so you might need to ask.

Don’t forget, a direct debit averages the spend out over the year, so you should hope to overpay in the summer and underpay in the winter to help even out your bills.

How has the price cap changed?

As you can see, the really big changes have happened since October 2021. Before this, the average direct debit was under £100, so even with recent cuts, we’re still paying more, and even more on top if you had been saving with a lower fixed-rate deal.

These are the energy price caps going back to 2019, we’ve roughly adjusted them for the new typical use figures. You can see the historical price caps with the old figures below.

Date	Cost per year with new typical use figures	EPG & grants	Average monthly bill	Change (+/-)
July to September 2026	£1,862	N/A	£155	+13%
April to June 2026	£1,641	N/A	£137	-7%
January to March 2026	£1758	N/A	£146	+0.2%
October to December 2025	£1755	N/A	£146	+2%
July to September 2025	£1,720	N/A	£143	-7%
April to June 2025	£1,849	N/A	£154	+6.4%
January to April 2025	£1,738	N/A	£145	+1.2%
October to December 2024	£1,717	N/A	£143	+9.5%
July to September 2024	£1,568	N/A	£131	-7.2%
April to June 2024	£1,690	£3,000 EPG	£141	-12.34%
January to March 2024	£1,928	£3,000 EPG	£161	+5.13%
October to December 2023	£1,834	£3,000 EPG	£153	-7.95%
July to September 2023	£1,992	£3,000 EPG	£166	-17.04%
April to June 2023	£3,151	£2,402 EPG	£200	+50.33%
January to March 2023	£4,110	£2,402 EPG & £67/m grant	£133	0.00%
October to December 2022	£3,409	£2,402 EPG & £67/m grant	£133	-15.62%
April to September 2022	£1,893		£158	+54.35%
October 2021 to March 2022	£1,227		£102	+12.21%
April to September 2021	£1,093		£91	+9.21%
October 2020 to March 2021	£1,001		£83	-7.46%
April to September 2020	£1,082		£90	-4.50%
October 2019 to March 2020	£1,133		£94	-5.98%
April to September 2019	£1,205		£100	+10.29%
January to March 2019	£1,092		£91

Estimated costs, due to the change in the typical domestic consumption

Historical energy price caps

These are the energy price caps from before the typical use figures changed. This change made it difficult for us to compare new caps with the old ones, so we’ve converted the old price caps into ones with the new typical figures above.

Date	Max annual bill for a typical household	Average monthly direct debit	Change +/-
October to December 2023	£1,923 price cap / (£3,000 EPG)	£160.25	-7%
July to September 2023	£2,074 price cap / (£3,000 EPG)	£173	– 17%
April to June 2023	£2,500 EPG / (£3,280 price cap)	£208 (£273.33 without EPG)	+ 19% (-23.3%)
January to March 2023	£2,100 (£2,500 EPG – £400 grant) / (£4,279 price cap)	£175 (£356.58 without EPG and grant)	+ 0% (20.5%)
October to December 2022	£2,100 (£2,500 EPG – £400 grant) / (£3,549 price cap)	£175 (£295.75 without EPG)	+ 8%(+80%)
April to September 2022	£1,971 price cap	£162.25	+54%
October 2021 to March 2022	£1,277 price cap	£106.42	+12%
April to September 2021	£1,138 price cap	£94.83	+9%
October 2020 to March 2021	£1,042 price cap	£86.83	-7.5%
April to September 2020	£1,126 price cap	£93.83	-4.5%
October 2019 to March 2020	£1,179 price cap	£98.25	-6%
April to September 2019	£1,254 price cap	£104.50	+10.2%
January to March 2019	£1,137 price cap	£94.75

Updated May 21, 2026 | Published May 21, 2026 | Deals

Travel deals

Zoe Roddy

From flights to trains to taxis, here are some great travel deals, discounts, voucher codes and offers we’ve uncovered.

Sometimes there are offers to get discounts on trains and taxis, and often we share motoring deals and petrol offers here too.

Petrol and motoring deals

Barclays/Tesco: get 5% cashback on fuel

From 1 May to 31 July 2026, Barclays customers can get 5% cashback on fuel from Tesco fuel stations. You can get cashback on purchases between £5 and £200, and you need to use a personal Barclays debit card to get it. Cashback is capped at £10 per month – so you can earn on up to £200 of fuel.

With Unleaded currently costing an average of £1.57 per litre, if you usually spend less than £200 on fuel in a month, you’re bringing the average cost per litre down to £1.49.

Barclays currently has a switching bonus of £200, so you can earn a little extra cash on a switch and save money on petrol.

More about Barclays

Halfords: Free 10-point car check and £5 voucher

If you join the Halfords Motoring Club for free, you can get a free £5 voucher to spend online or in-store at Halfords and a free 10-point car check, worth £15.

There’s a Premium tier for £49 per year that gets you your MOT (worth £44.99), 2 10-point car checks, a free fitting of wiper blades or headlights and 5% off at the autocentres and in-store.

This is generally a pretty good deal, but definitely worthwhile if you’re having enough work on your car to make the most of the 5% off, don’t know how to change your headlights or windscreen wipers and would usually do your MOT at Halfords.

Bus, tube and tram deals

£3 bus fare cap

Bus fares have been capped at £3 one way in England from January 2025. Not all bus companies are taking part – you can see a detailed list of the companies and routes here.

Find out if your local bus company is participating

Train deals and discounts

Train & railcard discounts

From £5 off through to flash sales, we’ve listed the best train ticket savings in a separate deals page here.

Our top train offers and deals

Flight deals and discounts

We’ll update here with any decent sales when they happen. Also, read our guide to saving money when booking flights.

British Airways: Up to £200 off last-minute holidays

People booking Spring holidays before midnight on Tuesday 26 May can get up to £200 off thanks to a British Airways sale.

Savings apply to new Flight + Hotel or Flight + Car Holiday Package bookings from for travel between 26 May 2026 and 24 July 2026 inclusive.

You need to depart from London Gatwick, London Heathrow or London City airports to destination in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta, Morocco, Portugal and the Canary Islands where holiday packages are offered to qualify.

See the deals

EasyJet: Spring Sale – Thousands of seats for less than £40

EasyJet has launched its spring event – offering thousands of tickets for less than £40 and some for under £20. The deals run for flights in May and June.

A quick check showed flights at £19.99 to Amsterdam, Malta or Milan for £25.99, Berlin for £31.99 and Copenhagen for £28.99.

There are limited seats on these flights but there are a few options per destination, for example the £19.99 Amsterdam flight takes off on June 9 from Gatwick airport at 6am and 5pm, but there’s also two £19.99 flights on June 16 for the same price. Other dates or times of day could cost you as much as £69.99 for the same trip.

You also need to watch out for add-ons, with that £19.99 flight price soaring to as much as £105.96 if you want hold luggage, speedy boarding, and a large cabin bag too.

But if you’re flexible about destinations and timings, there are some great bargains to be found.

See the deals

Wizz Air: All You Can Fly subscription (expired)

If you travel a lot, then this new membership from Wizz might appeal. You’ll pay £599 a year for unlimited flights.

In sounds good, but there are a number of catches:

Booking only starts in September 2024
There’s an extra 9.99 Euro fee on each flight
You can only book seats on flights that depart in the next three days, making return trips a little risky
It doesn’t include handheld or checked bags (so they’re extra)
Only one personal item is included (max. size 40 x 30 x 20 cm)
If you miss three flights your membership will be cancelled without a refund
It’ll automatically renew each year unless you cancel

Overall it sounds like more hassle than it’s worth, especially when you consider there are cheap tickets available in advance from Wizz and other airlines.

However, if you’re retired or have the flexibility to travel regularly and at the drop of a hat, it could be worth a look.

Get Wizz Air’s subscription

Ryanair: Flash sale – Flights from £19.99 or less (ended)

Ryanair has slashed the price of hundreds of flights to just £19.99 or less – but only until the end of Thursday, May 14. The sale covers flights from now until the end of June.

A quick check showed flights at or under £19.99 to destinations in Italy, Spain, France, Croatia; Portugal and more from London Stansted; people flying from Manchester can also pick form destinations including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Croatia; Poland and Belgium; while those taking off from Edinburgh can pick between places like Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Spain.

There are limited dates for the deal, which only covers flights between now and the end of June 30th, but it could be perfect for a last-minute getaway. It’s also worth saying these flights are one way, although there are also deals for similar prices on return flights – if you can find one that suits you.

At the time of writing, for example, there was a £15 flight from Edinburgh to Copenhagen available on June 16, and a return flight on June 17 for £15 too. Or, if you want more than a few hours in the Danish capital and are willing to spend £4 more, you could pick up a flight out to Copenhagen on June 14 for £19 and have three days until you have to fly back.

See the deals

Taxi and minicab deals

Money off your first Uber journey

Use the code 5ngkw on the Uber app to get a discount on your first ride. This is for first-time users only.

Get Uber

Featured switching deal

Sponsored

Santander £180 switch offer

Customer rating 4/5

Switch bonus
£180
Offer ends
Unknown

FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

View Deal

Updated May 21, 2026 | Published May 21, 2026 | Articles

Travel money: Find the best currency exchange rates

Amelia Murray

Here’s how to get the most euros, dollars and more for your pounds when you’re getting travel cash for your holiday

Looking for the best ways to get your currency? Well, coins and notes aren’t going to be the best way to pay, and I rarely use them. In fact, when I go overseas the bulk of my spending is with a debit or credit card (a fee-free one naturally).

But from giving a tip through to buying from street vendors, not everywhere takes cards – and ATMS can charge per withdrawal. So having some cash with you makes sense, and here are the five ways you can get the best exchange rates.

1. Ignore “0% commission” signs

One of the most misleading signs on the high street is the one that says “0% commission”. It makes you think that you’re not getting charged anything to change your cash – but you will be.

Rather than add a commission on top of your swap, the bureau de change will simply set their own exchange rate! You can read more about this in our “Why 0% currency commission is a lie” article.

2. Don’t get travel money at the airport

Since bureaus and banks are allowed to set their own exchange rates, it makes sense that the worst rates around will be at the airport. Once you’re there, and particularly once you’re through security, there is nowhere else you could go to get travel money than the bureaus in the departure lounge.

The only workaround if you really have left it too late to go elsewhere is you can order in advance online to collect at the airport, and you’ll get a better rate than just walking up to the booth. You will often need three or four hours notice though.

3. Compare for the best exchange rates

Instead of just popping to your bank or the Post Office as many do, it’s better to compare all the different rates available in your area. The tool I use for this is Money Saving Expert’s Travel Money Max. You can choose between collection, delivery and even airport collection, and you’ll be shown the best rates.

Your choice will increase massively if you live in London, but you’ll still get a decent range of options elsewhere. Do check whether you need to order in advance to get the rate you see – some will charge you a worse rate if you don’t.

4. Don’t use a credit card to swap your cash

Once you know where you’ll get your cash, you want to avoid any extra charges on your swap. This means paying with cash or a debit card. That’s because using a credit card is what’s known as a “cash advance“.

With this you’re effectively taking money off your card as cash and then using the cash to make the transaction – even if you don’t actually get your hands on any physical notes and coins to hand over.

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5. Get a specialist card for extra cash machine withdrawals overseas

Don’t take too much cash with you. Apart from the risks of losing it, if you don’t spend all of it you’ll get a poor rate when you try to swap it back to sterling. So instead I’d recommend you only take out enough to cover essentials for the first few days – depending on the infrastructure at your destination of course.

Then, if you need more cash, you can use an ATM. Though some of these will have local fees set by the bank you use, you won’t have any charges on the exchange rate at all if you use a specialist card such as Chase or Starling.

Updated May 21, 2026 | Published May 20, 2026 | Articles

Cut the cost of using your mobile phone abroad

Andy Webb

Don’t blow your holiday budget on your mobile bill

Since Brexit, most major mobile networks have reintroduced roaming charges. And with the constant desire to stay connected, and use your phone to get around, you can end up with a huge bill.

Here’s what you need to know about roaming charges for the major networks, and a few tricks to help you keep costs down.

Can you get free roaming?

Until the end of 2020, you were able to use your inclusive data, calls and texts when travelling in Europe. And some mobile companies, such as Three, offered the same deal in countries further afield, including the USA and Australia. O2 is the only major network to carry on offering this — here are the rules for each of the networks.

O2 & Virgin Mobile – free roaming continues

The only major network to retain free roaming is O2, with extra benefits if you also get Virgin Broadband. You can call and text UK numbers from abroad and use your data up to the limits in your monthly allowance or 25GB, whichever is lower.

This only applies in European countries, and you’ll be capped at 25GB of data a month if your normal allowance is above this.

For travel outside of Europe, you can buy an O2 Travel Bolt On for £7 a day which covers 27 worldwide destinations (full list here). You’ll get unlimited data each day, plus 120 minutes of talk time and texts to UK numbers. Some more expensive packages include this, usually those with 30GB of data or more.

If you’re on Pay As You Go, you can get the O2 Travel Bolt On for £1.99 a day in selected destinations.

Or, if you’re with Virgin Media for your broadband then you can link your accounts to get this Bolt On added to your phone tariff for free.

Vodafone

General roaming charges now apply to anyone who took out a Vodafone contract after 11 August 2021. There’s no change for contracts taken out before this.

However, pay monthly plans and Pay As You Go include roaming in the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Iceland and Norway.

Some more expensive contracts will include roaming in the EU and beyond, but if you’re on a basic plan you’ll pay £2.57 a day if you’re travelling in Europe. You can reduce this with an eight-day pass for £16 or a 15-day pass for £21.

EE

Your roaming charges will depend on your plan and where you’re travelling.

For example, if you pay monthly for your EE phone contract, you’ll be charged £2.72 a day or £16.50 for seven days if you’re travelling in Europe.

Then there are zones for the rest of the world. If you’re visiting the USA, China, India and a few others in Zone 1, it’ll cost £6 a day or £30 for seven days. The most you’ll pay is £16 a day if you’re going to Zone 4 countries including Nepal and the Maldives.

If you’re on PAYG, you’ll need to pay £2.50 for a day or £10 for seven days to use your allowances in Europe.

If you’re on EE’s Full Works plan, you’ll get its EU and Roam Further Pass included, although this is one of the more expensive contacts.

Three

The Go Roam benefit offered free roaming outside the EU, but all included roaming ended for anyone who took out a new contract or renewed a contract after 1 October 2021.

Now Three offers roaming in Europe for £2 for a day, £5 three days, or £12 for a week.

It’ll cost you £5 a day for the rest of the world to use your existing allowances, with three days costing £12.50 and a week set at £30.

There’s also a £7 a day Data Passport which offers unlimited data abroad.

However, it’s free in the EU if you use (or buy) a Three Pay-as-you-go SIM.

Other networks

Here’s what some of the other networks are doing:

BT Mobile – free European roaming remains
Giffgaff – free European roaming remains
ID Mobile – free European roaming remains
Lebara – free European roaming remains
Sky Mobile – free roaming ended in May 2022
Smarty – free European roaming remains
Tesco Mobile – free European roaming remains
Voxi – free roaming ended in May 2022

New rules to cut roaming fees

Mobile network providers must tell you if you’re going to be charged for roaming when you’re abroad under new proposals from Ofcom (the UK’s communications regulator). The provider has to tell you the costs, fair use limits and any relevant time limits. They should also inform you of how to set a limit on your spending.

These rules were introduced on 1 October 2024.

How to reduce your phone charges abroad

Check your destination

Even if you have roaming included or there’s the option to set a daily price cap – check that the country you’re going to is part of that deal. If it’s excluded then you’ll need to look at some of these other tips.

Switch to a different mobile network

As well as O2 and Virgin Media, many smaller networks are keeping EU roaming. These could well be cheaper than the major networks back home, too.

If you don’t fancy doing this permanently, you could look at Three’s PAYG SIM or sign up for just one month of one of the smaller networks.

Get an eSIM

An eSIM is a handy way to get service while you’re abroad. It’s essentially a digital SIM card that you can load onto your phone to use local network providers. You can get ones that are just data, or you can get one with a local phone number to also make calls and send texts.

We have a full guide on eSIMs here where we explain how they work, the benefits and the savings you can make.

Cap your charges

If you don’t want to switch, you should find out what your network will charge where you are going.

It’s worth seeing if your network has a cap on overseas charges, particularly for data. This will stop your bill getting out of control – but don’t assume you’ll get this. You often have to ask for this to be implemented.

Featured switching deal

Sponsored

Santander £180 switch offer

Customer rating 4/5

Switch bonus
£180
Offer ends
Unknown

FSCS Protected? Yes
Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account

View Deal

Get a bolt-on

Another option is to buy add-on packages that give you a pre-agreed amount of minutes, texts or data to use when abroad.

Get Volt via O2 and Virgin Media

Worldwide roaming is included if you have both a mobile with O2 and broadband from Virgin Media. Though only go down this route if the prices for both are decent.

Turn off your data and use Wi-Fi instead

Another option is to simply not use data at all. You need to do this before you get on the plane, train or boat. Go to your settings and turn off data roaming or mobile data – and keep it off until you’re back in the UK.

This also means the apps on your phone won’t automatically access data behind the scenes. It also protects against accidentally opening your email — yep, you’d get charged, even if it’s just a few seconds.

If you’re in a destination where roaming is included, check your limits. There may be a reduction in how much of your regular allowance you can use.

With data turned off, the only way to connect to the web will be using Wi-Fi. You might get lucky and get it for free at your hotel. If not, look for coffee shops and public spaces that don’t charge. You can research in advance too, using the Wi-Fi Finder app.

However, be careful using unsecured Wi-Fi with banking apps or online shopping. Don’t enter login or password details.

Write shorter texts

If your text is longer than 160 characters, it’ll count as two texts (or more), so try to watch your words. It’s also worth not sending picture messages via text (at home and abroad) as they’ll be charged extra. Use messaging apps instead (when you’re on Wi-Fi).

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Be careful when making local calls

Unless you’ve got a specific add-on which allows it, any calls you make to numbers at your destination or texts messages to local mobiles aren’t included in roaming. You might be better off getting a local SIM or calling card if you’re going to make a lot of these calls.

Don’t answer calls and turn off voicemail

Outside inclusive roaming counties you’ll often be charged to answer a call, so don’t answer unless you need to. You won’t be charged to get a text message though, so tell mates back home that’s the best way to communicate with you while you’re away.

Some networks – with EE the worst – will also charge you for receiving a voicemail when abroad, even if you don’t access it. I always used to call my provider and turn voicemail off before I left to avoid any unnecessary charges.

Use apps to make calls and send messages

When you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you’ll also be able to use apps like WhatsApp to make free calls and send messages, including photos.

This cuts out the costs of making and receiving calls overseas. However, if the Wi-Fi signal is weak, it can be a very frustrating phone call!