The best birthday freebies and how to get them

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

Birthday freebies

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

One birthday, Editor-in-chief Andy managed to bag himself a free meal at his favourite burger joint Meat Liquor, some posh Hotel Chocolat treats, a Body Shop shower gel and he saved money on some flatpack furniture at Ikea, totalling £28 worth of freebies.

And here’s how you can get up to £60 worth of freebies for your birthday. 

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 to get birthday freebies

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

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

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

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

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

Free food and drink

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

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

Barburrito – free burrito

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

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

Benugo – free drink

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

Boost – free drink

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

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

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

Burger King – free whopper

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

Caffé Nero – free cake

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

Costa – free cake

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

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

Greggs – free cake or doughnut

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

Krispy Kreme – free doughnut

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

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

Lidl – free doughnut

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

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

Lola’s Cupcakes – free 5-inch cake

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

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

Muffin Break – free Muffin

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

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

Starbucks – free drink

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

Subway – free cookie

Join Subway Rewards, add your date of birth and you’ll receive a treat on your birthday, usually a free cookie.

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Free birthday vouchers

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

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

Hobbycraft – £5 voucher

Register for Hobbycraft Club and you’ll be sent a voucher to spend in-store or online on the month of your birthday. You’ll also get a 15% off voucher when you sign up.

Marks & Spencer

M&S didn’t used to guarantee a freebie or voucher on your birthday, but it recently changed the Sparks scheme to get one for everyone signed up to the M&S Sparks card who has signed up for marketing and enters their birthday more than 35 days before via the app.

Freebies could include:

  • Chocolate Marks bar
  • All Butter Cookies 8-pack
  • Outrageously Chocolatey Rounds
  • All Butter Scottish Shortbread Assortment
  • Percy Pig sweets
  • Colin the Caterpillar sweets
  • Grapes
  • Blueberries

Hotel Chocolat – £5 voucher

For a free fiver with a £5.50 minimum spend, you just need to be signed up for Hotel Chocolat’s VIP.ME scheme.  

The voucher can also be combined with other offers. 

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

Extra points on your birthday

Boots – double points for the whole month

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

Superdrug – triple points on your birthday

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

Birthday gifts

Shopmium – free gift

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

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

Hobbs – free gift

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

Space NK – free gift

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

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

Free alcoholic drinks on your birthday

Slug & Lettuce – free bottle of Prosecco

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

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

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

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

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

Good birthday offers that aren’t freebies

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

Here are some of the things you can be offered:

Meat Liquor – 20% off the bill

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

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

Bills – “free” bottle of Prosecco

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

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

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

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

Our top deals

Here are a few ongoing and recent offers you might have missed:

Banking offers

Savings and investing offers

Shopping vouchers and other deals

Entertainment deals

Food and drink offers

Finance app and fintech offers

Try out new apps to help you and your finances and also get a free money bonus or voucher when you do

We love trying out new apps that help us track our spending, put money into savings or earn interest. Often they’ll also come with a welcome or referral offer, and we’ll share these and any other decent ones below.

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Money app welcome offers

Snoop: £5 Amazon Voucher

Snoop is an app to help you track your spending. It also analyses your bank data 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. Do this and the voucher will be sent.

Sprive: £5 welcome bonus

Sprive is an auto savings app (more on how these work here) where the money moved from your current account goes towards your mortgage rather than a savings pot. The idea is you’ll slowly make overpayments that’ll get you mortgage-free faster.

The standard referral offer is £5 (it’s occasionally doubled to £10). You’ll need to sign up with a code (such as 5NN3KXFL) and set up a Direct Debit linked to your bank account.

The bonus can only go towards your mortgage – so sadly if you’re not a homeowner this won’t be one for you.

Money data offers

YouGov Connections: earn up to £55 a year

Share your banking data with YouGov and you’ll earn 5 points a day per account, worth 5p. You can add three current accounts, which over a year adds up to just under £55. Our full guide to YouGov Connections explains more.

Banking app offers

Monzo: £5 welcome bonus

New users of digital bank Monzo can get £5 credited to their account if they sign up via a refer-a-friend link and make a card payment in 30 days.

You’ll need to ask a friend for a link. Make sure the landing page when you follow a link explicitly says you’ll earn £5.

Here’s our full review of the bank.

Expired offers

Tide business: Earn £75 (ended)

Sole traders and limited companies that open a brand new Tide account are eligible for a £75 welcome bonus. You’ll need to enter the code REFORM when you apply. Then once accepted, spend £300 on the debit card in the first three months.

The £75 will be credited to your account within eight weeks of meeting the criteria. You might be asked to prove you are running a business.

HyperJar: Up to 2% cashback (ended)

New users of the HyperJar app can earn up to £200 a month if they sign up before 21 June 2024.

You’ll get 1% back on spend with the physical debit card, and 2% on payments via Apple Pay or Google Pay, capped at £200 each month.

So if you spend £500 a month with your card you’ll get £5, and another £10 if you spend a further £500 via your phone’s wallet.

Most of your spending will count, but there are some exclusions, including paying off credit cards, Council Tax, utilities, gambling and tax bills. Also excluded are buying gift cards via HyperJar.

The cashback will last until 31 October 2024 so you’ve potentially got six months to earn the cashback. You’ll get your money 30 days after each month ends. So spend in May and you’ll get the money on 30 June and so on.

The HyperJar account is free so it won’t cost you anything to spend via the debit card.

You cannot be a current or previous customer of HyperJar to get the offer. Full terms and conditions here.

Read next: other bank reviews

Food and drink deals

The best deals right now for some free or cheap food and drink

From lunch discounts and vouchers to free samples and deals, read on for the best food and drink deals currently available.

We’ve split the supermarket special offers and tea and coffee shop deals over to separate deals pages as there are just so many!

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.

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Shop deals

Hotel Chocolat: free treat on your birthday

If you sign up to Hotel Chocolat’s VIP ME scheme you’ll get a free gift on your birthday (I got a free £5 voucher to spend), as well as other offers through the year such as 15% off your next purchase. You can only sign up in-stores.

Krispy Kreme: free doughnuts

Download the Krispy Kreme Rewards app to get a free Original Glazed doughnut when joining and another on your birthday. You’ll also get points every time you spend that can be spent in-store.

25% off Krispy Kreme

You’ll be able to get 25% off your doughnuts Sunday to Thursday if you have Meerkat Meals from Compare the Market. There’s a hack that’ll get you access to this for a year for £1, as well as 2-4-1 movies.

Recipe box discounts

We’ve written about recipe boxes in detail here, but below are some special offers.

Gousto: 75% off first box via Quidco

There are often voucher codes for Gousto, but if you’re new to Gousto and go via a cashback site you can save even more.

The deals seem to change fairly regularly and switch between TopCashback and Quidco, so it’s best to check both to see which is best.

At the time of writing, going via Quidco can get 50% off your first box, and up to £12 cashback on top.

So the most expensive box (four meals per box for four people) would normally cost £47.85, but the discount brings it down to £23.93. Add in the cashback and you’ll get the recipe box for £11.93 instead!

If you’re also new to Quidco, then you can get an additional new customer cashback bonus.

Hello Fresh: 66% off first box via TopCashback

If you go via TopCashback (this one also switches between the two cashback sites, so check Quidco too) for HelloFresh then you can get 50% off your first box and £10.20 cashback on top. When you order the largest box (five recipes a week for four people), it brings the total down to £21.30.

Here you can nab a new customer bonus for the cashback sites too if you’re new to either site.

Hello Fresh: free delivery with Amazon Prime

You can now get free delivery on your Hello Fresh deliveries for a year with an Amazon Prime membership. Delivery usually costs £4.99, so this could save you £20 a month if you get a box every week.

You’ve got to go here and sign in to your Amazon account where you can connect it with your Hello Fresh account. This works if you already use Hello Fresh. You get free delivery for a year if you keep your Prime membership.

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Cheap cinema ticket offers and deals (June 2025)

All of the deals for ODEON, Vue, Cineworld, Everyman, Picturehouse and more!

In this article you’ll find all the latest cinema ticket deals and offers, starting with the ones you can’t miss, then some chain specific offers, and then a few more well worth a look.

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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.

Top cinema offers

2-4-1 via Meerkat Movies for £1

One of the most popular cinema deals is Meerkat Movies. Once a week you can access a code to get buy-one-get-one-free tickets on a Tuesday or Wednesday. You can use this deal at most UK cinemas all year (though not Everyman or Curzon). 

You get access through buying an insurance policy via Compare the Market, but we’ve got a hack that’ll get you access for just £1 each year.

Free tickets via your bank

Vue/ODEON: six tickets via Lloyds 

You can get six free ODEON or Vue tickets if you open a Club Lloyds bank account. You’ll need to deposit £2,000 into the account each month to avoid a fee, but that’s easily done.

At Vue cinemas, your vouchers also entitle you to half price popcorn. At ODEON cinemas, you can redeem your vouchers at ODEON Kids Screenings, which come with a free kids-size popcorn per ticket.

Vue: free Vue ticket via Monzo Perks

You can claim a free, standard ticket at any Vue in the UK every month. You can upgrade to a VIP, 3D, recliner or IMAX ticket but you’ll pay an extra fee.

You’ll need to use the code before the end of each calendar month, but it can be for a screening at a later date. Monzo Perks costs £7 per month and comes with a range of money saving benefits, including an annual Railcard and weekly Greggs freebies.

Vue: 12 tickets via Halifax

With Halifax’s Reward accounts you can get one free cinema ticket per month at any UK Vue Cinema. Each ticket is valid for 12 months. You’ll need to add £1,500 to your account each month, and also spend £500 on the debit card too, in order to trigger the freebie. 

New Halifax Reward customers won’t be able to add this feature after mid-June 2025 and it’ll end for existing account holders in September.

Cashback on cinema gift cards

Whether you’re buying a full price ticket, or stacking with other offers featured on this page, you’ll save a little by using a discounted gift card.

Some of these are special offers at retailers like Tesco or Amazon where you save when you buy. When these are available we’ll share them as featured deals.

Others will learn you cashback on your gift card purchase, and these tend to run all year around via these apps:

Up to 40% off via your other memberships

There’s a good chance you can save up to 40% on cinema tickets via an existing membership or account – and if not, you could sign up as a new customer. 

The likes of Tastecard, Mastercard and Lidl offer you access to a service called Cinema Society which sells reduced tickets for ODEON, Vue, Picturehouse, Showcase, Cineworld, Empire and other independent cinemas. 

This can be a good way to save, but watch out as you might find your local cinema is cheaper itself when you buy direct! Or some of the other deals we’ve shared on this page could also work out better value.

In some cases you’ll need to pay for the initial membership, but others are free. Though you can find these in a number of places (check any work perk schemes for instance), here’s some of the more common ones you might have access to.

Available for free with other accounts:

Included with paid membership:

Other top cinema deals

We’ve listed more offers, both specific to the different chains and across different cinemas, below, but these ones in particular are worth a look:

  • Vue: 3 tickets for £1 via the Telegraph
  • Everyman: 2-4-1 Wednesday with Times+
  • Escapes: free film preview tickets

ODEON ticket deals and offers

Don’t forget we may have featured some ODEON deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

Odeon: 20% off

Buy an Odeon gift card at Tesco and you’ll save 20% off. This gift card can then be stacked with other offers, such as 2-4-1 Meerkat Movies or two for £10 Amazon Prime tickets. Ends 15 June 2025.

ODEON: two tickets for £10 for Amazon Prime members

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you have Amazon Prime, you can get two standard tickets for £10 at ODEON, or two recliner tickets for £15 at ODEON Luxe. 

This offer can be used once per month for screenings from Monday to Thursday. This price includes the £1 booking fee per ticket. Can be stacked with discounted gift cards.

ODEON: two tickets for £8 for Voxi mobile customers

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’re a Voxi Mobile customer, then you can get two ODEON tickets for £8 in its new monthly rewards scheme. You can choose to either get two standard tickets for £8 or two Luxe tickets for £13.

You can claim your tickets once each month by logging into Voxi Rewards.

ODEON: free kids ticket via Octoplus Rewards

Deal expiry: 31 August 2025

Octopus Energy customers can nab up to two free child standard tickets per week free Kids ticket at ODEON via the Octoplus Rewards scheme until 31 August 2025.

The ticket can be used at any UK ODEON cinema, excluding ODEON Luxe, for a standard 2D film screening. And you’ve ages to use it – once the code is claimed it’s valid until until 31 January 2026.

There’s a £1 booking fee online, but none at the box office.

ODEON: two tickets for £8 for Vodafone customers (+£1 booking fee)

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’re a Vodafone customer then you can get two ODEON cinema tickets every week with VeryMe Rewards. You can do this once each week for any film showing at any time.

Two standard tickets will cost £8, while two Luxe tickets cost £13.

You can also get four standard for £16 and four Luxe for £26.

The voucher can only be used on the same screening, so you couldn’t use it for one ticket at two screenings for example.

You’ll need to pay an additional £1 booking fee when using the voucher on the ODEON website, though this covers the whole booking. If you use it at the box office you won’t pay this extra charge.

To get it, you just need to tap on ‘Rewards’ in the Vodafone app and claim the offer.

If you don’t have Vodafone this hack could get you access to the various offers.

myODEON: tickets from £5

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

Sign up for free to myODEON and you can watch any film, any day, any time from just £5 when you book online. 

This offer is only available at 22 specified locations so check ODEON’s list to see if your local cinema is included. You must be signed into your account to see the lower prices.

ODEON: cheaper online tickets

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you book online ahead of your trip rather than buying tickets upon arrival then you get cheaper cinema tickets at ODEON. 

You’ll get charged a £1 booking fee online (included in the price you see), so check that special offers aren’t better at the box office.

ODEON: two for £10 via Octoplus Rewards (expired)

Deal expiry: Renews every week

Octopus Energy customers with a smart meter can get two ODEON standard adult cinema tickets for £10 each week, via the Octoplus Rewards scheme.

Tickets can be used at any UK ODEON cinema, excluding ODEON Luxe, for a standard 2D film screening on Monday to Thursday.

Vue ticket deals and offers

Don’t forget we may have featured some Vue deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including free tickets via bank accounts.

Vue: two tickets for £9 with O2 and Virgin Media

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’re a broadband customer with O2 or Virgin Media you can use the O2 Priority app for discounted tickets. You can get two Vue tickets for £9 every week or four for £18 to use on any day, at any Vue location. There’s also 20% off food and drinks.

You can get a new code at 10am each Monday and it’s valid until Sunday of the same week.

If you don’t have O2 Priority, this hack can give it to you for £10 every six months.

Vue: two free tickets for Sky Cinema customers

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’ve got Sky Cinema, you can get two free standard Vue cinema tickets every month. The tickets can be used at any Vue cinema in the UK or Ireland, at any time Sunday – Thursday.

You’ll need the MySky app to get access to this offer, where you’ll find a code to use online and a QR code to use in the cinema. 

There’s a limit to how many free tickets Sky gives out each month, so you may need to get in early.

Vue: tickets from £4 each with Wowcher (expired)

Deal expiry: 14 May 2025

You can buy bundles of Vue tickets on Wowcher, either two, five or ten, and you’ll get them at a much lower price. Two tickets cost £9.50 – making it £4.75 a ticket. For five tickets, you’ll spend £22 (£4.40 per ticket), and ten tickets cost £40, making it £4 per ticket.

You can use the tickets for Standard 2D screenings, sitting in super saver seats.

You’ll have til 18 May to use the tickets, but check that your cinema is listed, as there are some exclusions, and some cinemas will charge you a £2 surcharge when redeeming it – check this list in “The Fine Print”.

To get it, go to Wowcher and search “Vue” to find the offer.

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Episodes every Tuesday.

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Cineworld and Picturehouse cheap tickets

Don’t forget we may have featured some other deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

We’ve also details of Cineworld and Picturehouse memberships later on this page.

Cineworld: £2 tickets via Clubcard

Deal expiry: 8 June 2025

From 27 May until 8 June, you can get up to four Cineworld tickets with only £2 worth of Clubcard points per ticket.

You just need to transfer £2 worth of points into a £4 Cineworld voucher on the Clubcard website for every ticket you want. Then you can book your tickets via Cineworld.

If you don’t have enough points, you can transfer as many as you have (as long as you have at least 50p in points), then pay the difference for the £4 ticket.

Cineworld/Picturehouse: £3 tickets via Three+

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

Every week, Three+ customers can nab a code for a discounted ticket to use Friday to Sunday. Codes are available from Monday. It’s for 2D screenings only, though you can pay to upgrade.

Picturehouse Central and Picturehouse Fulham Road are excluded. You’ll pay a booking fee to redeem the code online, but it’s free to use in the foyer.

Picturehouse: Happy Mondays

All day, every Monday (excluding bank holidays) you can watch any film at a discounted rate at every single Picturehouse. 

The most you’ll pay for a standard ticket on Happy Monday is £8.20, or £10.20 at Picturehouse Central.

Cineworld: two tickets for £12.95 with Wowcher (expired)

Deal expiry: 31 March 2025 (though may be extended)

You can buy two Standard Cineworld tickets on Wowcher for £12, plus a £0.95 booking fee when booking the tickets.

You’ll have til 31 March to use the tickets, but check that your cinema is listed, as there are some exclusions. There’s an uplift fee for things like 3D screenings or IMAX. And be aware that you need to use them both at the same time.

To get it, go to Wowcher and search “Cineworld” to find the offer.

Everyman cinema ticket deals and offers

Everyman offers are pretty rare!

Everyman: 2-4-1 Wednesday with Times+

If you subscribe to The Times, you’ll be able to get two-for-one tickets at Everyman on Wednesdays. You can get a one month free trial or £3 for 3 months then it’s a pricey £26 a month. 

Showcase ticket deals and offers

Don’t forget we may have featured some other deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

Showcase: 10% back via Insider scheme

Showcase Insider is a free loyalty program. Members earn 10% of spend back on ticket, snack and drink purchases to use on future visits. 

Members also get discounted admission tickets, sometimes as low as £4.99 on Saver Mondays.

Other cinema deals and offers

Don’t forget we have featured some other deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

Santander: £5 off a ticket

If you have a Santander account you can access Cinema Society for discounted tickets via the free Santander Boosts scheme.

From 10 February there are 3,000 £5 off vouchers, meaning you can pick up a ticket for Cineworld, ODEON, Vue, Showcase, Picturehouse, Merlin, The Light and more.

As of 1 April 2025 there were still vouchers available.

Escapes: free film preview tickets

With Cinematik, you can get free tickets to select films for free. Each month, a film is voted to be screened and you can book to see it on a specific day. You can book a maximum of one ticket per screening. You also have the option to reserve an additional ticket for a guest, which they’ll need to confirm separately via a shareable invite link.

The cinemas taking part are mainly local independent ones, but there are Picturehouse and Reel cinemas included. There’s a full list of all participating cinemas on the Cinematik website.

Mubi Go: free ticket every week

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

Mubi is an online streaming service. For £11.99 a month you get a classic, world cinema or art-house flick to watch, with the curated selection adding a new film every day.

For an extra £7 per month you also get a free cinema ticket every week via the Mubi Go service. There’s a 7-day free trial and if you sign up for an annual membership, you’ll save 33%.

You typically won’t be able to watch blockbusters, instead there’s a specific new film every week. You can go to see that film once, and another film choice will be given the following week. 

With many of the films being smaller, they’ll have limited releases, so if you don’t live in a big city there’s a good chance you won’t be able to take advantage every week as not all the films will be shown at all cinemas.

Vitality: free ODEON/Vue ticket each month

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’ve got a Vitality membership, usually offered as a healthcare perk with employers, then you can nab yourself a free Vue or ODEON ticket once each month.

You need to earn 48 Vitality points each month for tracking your activity, then just log into the website or app to generate your personal cinema ticket code.

Enter your code on the cinema’s website when booking your tickets.

Fever: discounts at Vue, Cineworld & ODEON

You can buy a ticket from £5.60 to use for movies at Vue, Cineworld or ODEON with the entertainment site Fever.

The actual price you’ll pay varies by location. If you have a larger town or city close by, you could get a better discount by choosing a cinema there instead. 

You can also use a refer-a-friend link to save £4.

Again, do check you can’t get a ticket for less via a different offer before buying.

Here’s what you need to know about getting discounted tickets with Fever:

ODEON: you can get a standard 2D ticket at select cinemas in the UK. It’s not valid at Luxe locations or the Islington Luxe & Dine. If you want to upgrade to IMAX, 3D or recliner seats, you’ll have to pay extra. 

You can use the voucher online via the ODEON website or app, but there’s a £1 fee per ticket. You can also redeem the voucher at cinema kiosks – but not at the box office. The voucher can’t be used for special screenings or events and can’t be combined with other offers.

Vue: you can get a ticket for a film either online or via the Box Office. Each voucher is only valid once and if you cancel your booking, you won’t get it back. 

It’s not valid for premieres, special events or things like Mini Mornings or Scene screenings. With a Super Saver voucher, you can book general 2D seating, while VIP vouchers give more options, including recliners and 3D screenings (with an upgrade fee). 

Cineworld: you can get a ticket for any standard 2D film, but if you want to upgrade to 3D, IMAX or 4DX you’ll have to pay extra (plus the cost of 3D glasses if needed). If you’re booking online, there’s a small fee added.

You can’t use this ticket for Event Cinema, special screenings, Movies for Juniors or ViP seats though, so check before booking.

Cheap kids cinema tickets

Kids tickets from £2.49

Most of the big chains have deals where you can get cheaper kids or family tickets. Here’s our roundup of what’s on offer:

ODEON: £2.75 per ticket – you’ll get the same cheap price for both adults and kids at weekends and school holidays.

ODEON: Family ticket – you can get adult tickets at child prices for the same film. You’ll see the option at check out for an adult and child combo ticket.

Vue: tickets for £2.49 – Vue Mighty Mornings are kids screenings on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10am and every day of the school holidays.

Cineworld: from £2.50 – kids and adults pay the same price via Movies for Juniors.

Picturehouse: from £3.30 per ticket – kids’ Club screenings are shown every Saturday morning and prices depend on the cinema you visit. There’s also preschool specials, exclusively for preschool children and the adult goes for free. With the family ticket option, adults only pay kids prices. It’s for four people, at least two must be under 15 (e.g. two adults and two kids or one adult and three kids).

Cheap over 60s cinema tickets

Over 60s tickets from £3.50

ODEON, Cineworld and Picturehouse have cheaper tickets for over 60s (Vue don’t have anything on offer at the moment). Here’s our roundup of the deals:

ODEON: from £3.50 per ticket – ODEON Silvers has screenings during quieter times of the day with a selection of new releases or classic films. Tickets with standard seats are £3.50 when you book as a myODEON member online and £4.50 in-cinema. Standard seats are £4.00 when you book online as a guest and £5.00 in cinema. The price includes tea, coffee and biscuits, served before the film.

Cineworld: tickets for £4.50 – CineSeniors runs every Wednesday and you also get complimentary hot drinks and biscuits.

Picturehouse: discounted tickets – Silver Screen is a free-to-join club for over-60s. Members get a free tea or coffee at Silver Screen shows. 

Memberships

These memberships could save you money on tickets – if you go frequently enough.

ODEON myLimitless: from £14.99 a month

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

ODEON myLimitless is an annual membership that allows you to see as many films as you like in ODEON cinemas. You pay £14.99 per month or £17.99 for myLimitless Plus, which also gets you ODEON Luxe, seat upgrades and screen upgrades. 

If you go via a cashback site, you could cut the cost even more. With TopCashback you can get up to £4.25 of the price back on your first payment. Plus, you could get a welcome bonus offer.

ODEON sometimes offer discounts on annual membership, and we’ll share them here when they run.

Cineworld Unlimited Card: from £10.99 a month

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you frequently go to a Cineworld, its Unlimited Card lets you go as much as you want (2D only). The minimum subscription is 3 months and starts at £10.99 a month, going up to £21.90. 

Each cinema is bracketed into a group – the amount you pay depends on the group your cinema falls in. The Cineworld website has a full list of which cinemas are in which groups

  • Group 1 cinemas – £10.99 a month
  • Group 2 cinemas – £16.99 a month
  • Group 3 cinemas – £19.40 a month
  • Group 4 cinemas – £21.90 a month

Members are also invited to preview screenings and get 10% off food and drink. If you continue your subscription for a second year, membership then includes 3D films and the food discount goes up to 25%. 

There’s also a referral scheme where you get an extra month for free if you get a mate to sign up.

We’ll share any discounts on membership here when they’re available.

Picturehouse: free tickets and £3 off with memberships

Picturehouse memberships give you free tickets and discounts at any Picturehouse cinema. The free tickets are sometimes restricted to your member cinema so it’s best to save them for the weekends when prices go up.

There’s two tiers of membership – Member and Member Plus. The Member option gives you five free tickets and costs between £57 and £97 per year depending on the member cinema you join. 

Member Plus gives you an extra card so you can split the costs with a mate or family member. You’ll get ten free tickets and it costs between £100 and £170 per year. 

After the freebies you’ll also get £3 off our further tickets.

Members also get a 10% discount on food and drink, free previews, no online booking fees and occasional other freebies.

At certain points in the year there are discounts on memberships, and we’ll share them here if they’re any good.

Everyman Memberships

There are a few options here, though the basic one (i.e. cheapest) allows you to take a friend for free on Mondays. You also get six free tickets for the £89 cost.

The next level up costs £325 a year, and comes with 24 free tickets. After this you can spend £680 and get unlimited tickets for two for a year.

Curzon Membership

For £65 (£50 concessions) you can get an annual “Classic” membership. This comes with five credits to use for free tickets or at home streams. You can use the credit to buy tickets for yourself and guests. There’s a further 20% discount for you and a guest on other tickets. You’ll also get 10% off drinks and snacks.

If you go to a Curzon a lot, there is a £285 “Cult” option. This annual membership gives you five free credits a week. Use them all and it’s just £1.10 a ticket! You can’t use the credits to get a ticket for a guest. If you want to pay monthly it’s £25 a month, but you’re still tied in for 12 months.

The Cult + membership doubles down with 10 free tickets a week (which are valid for events such as theatre and ballet screenings) and an additional cardholder. It comes in at £850 a year.

Expired deals

ODEON: 20% off gift cards at Tesco – expired

Deal expiry: 22 December

Get 20% off ODEON e-giftcards from Tesco until 22 December. The discount applies to e-giftcards valued between £5 and £25. These e-giftcards are valid for two years.

Amazon vouchers & deals (June 2025)

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, which looks 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.

blue background with text that says "Amazon deals"

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.

£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.

You’ll also earn 1% at Amazon and 0.5% elsewhere, dropping to 0.25% after a year. There are double points during the Black Friday sale.

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.

£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 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.

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 (for some)

Click the button below to see if you’re eligible for a £5 off £15 spend promotion. You’ve 15 days from choosing to ‘activate the offer’ to take advantage.

The offer is running until 31 December 2025.

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).

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.

£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.

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.

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.

Prime Day 2025

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:

Prime Big Deals Day 2025

This sale for Prime members took place on 8 and 9 October 2024. It’s pretty much a carbon copy of Prime Day. 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 that they’re decent prices.

Don’t forget you’ll need to be a Prime member to get the offers – but we’ve listed deals above that’ll save you money or perhaps help you get it for free.

October’s Prime Big Deals Day sale (expired)

Amazon is running its special two-day sale for Prime Members on 8 and 9 October 2024. 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.

Before the actual day, the offers are mostly on Amazon’s own products and devices.

Early offers include:

  • Discounts on Echo devices – 31% to 58% off.
  • Blink cameras and doorbells – 31% to 61% off
  • Fire TV – 28% to 62% off
  • Kindle Scribe – 24% off (just a few pounds off its cheapest price)
  • Amazon Music Unlimited – get 4 months free (usually one month)
  • discounts on branded gift cards, including Lego, Vue and One4All – details on our gift card deals page

Amazon Black Friday

Black Friday 2024 (ended)

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 2024 (ended)

Amazon started its Black Friday sales a week early, beginning on Thursday 21 November 2024 and it’ll run until Cyber Monday on 2 December.

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:

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.

The best children’s savings accounts

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.

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.

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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
  • HSBC MySavings (5% AER variable on up to £3,000 saved / 2.25% 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
  • Kent Reliance Demelza children’s savings account (4.3% 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
  • Yorkshire Building Society (4.05% AER variable) (dropping to 3.85% on 19 June 2025)
    • Min £1 / max £100,000
    • Under 18 years old only
    • No debit card
    • Open it in branch, over the phone or via post

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 months is up, the account will close and the money will be transferred to a linked savings account.

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.

Loughborough Building Society
AER (variable)
4.15%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Coventry Building Society
AER (variable)
4.00%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

NS&I
AER (variable)
4.00%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Online
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Leek Building Society
AER (variable)
3.85%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Skipton Building Society
AER (variable)
3.75%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Tax and children’s savings

Andy’s 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 4%, which isn’t the same as 4% 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 American Express cards

Which Amex credit card will earn you the most cashback or rewards in the UK in 2025?

There are a number of different American Express cards, so which is the best?

In this best buy guide, I’ll take you through my top picks whether you want to get your first card or change the one you already have.

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.

The best American Express for welcome offers

There are a number of great welcome bonuses from American Express that could earn you more than £100 extra in your first few months. They are often boosted too, making them even more profitable.

Importantly you can only get these offers (on most cards – more on this in a bit) if you’ve not an an Amex in your name in the last two years.

Each offer also comes with a spending requirement to trigger the bonus, so make sure your normal spending will fit this.

The best first Amex card welcome offers

To keep you eligible for additional welcome bonuses, I’d actually only consider one of these two cards, even though you’ll earn less from the bonus. They rarely have boosted welcome deals so I’d go for them at any time.

If you aren’t going to later for a second bonus with the Amex Platinum then you could also consider the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold – though I’d wait until it’s boosted.

Here are the standard offers you can expect, and we share boosted Amex welcome offers here.

CardFeeStandard welcome offerConditionValueOngoing cashback rate
Nectar American Express credit card Free in year one, then £30 a year20,000 bonus Nectar points (+ 2,000 points from spending)Spend £2,000 in the first three months£120 in Nectar points2 Nectar points per £1 (=1%)
American Express Cashback card £25 a year5% cashbackOn the first £2,500 spent in the first three monthsUp to £1250.75% on the first £10,000 spent a year, then 1.25%
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card (review)Free in year one, then £195 a year20,000 bonus Amex points (+3,000 points from spending)Spend £3,000 in the first three months£115 in Nectar points 1 Amex Reward point per £1, bonus points for every £5,000 spent (= 0.5% to 0.75%)

Additional Amex welcome offers

After the Nectar or Platinum Cashback, there’s the chance to get another boosted offer on both the British Airways American Express Premium Plus (as long as you’ve not had either BA Amex card in the last two years) and the American Express Platinum credit cards (as long as you’ve not had the Preferred Rewards Gold or Rewards cards in the same time). I’ve written in more detail about this multiple Amex welcome offer hack here.

However, these cards come with big fees and the bonuses have large spending requirements, so I’d wait until they are boosted and you can earn more points.

If you are a member of Vitality health or life insurance then you will also be eligible for a £100 statement credit when you spend £2,000 in the first three months, even if you’ve got any other Amex.

Here’s what you could be looking at based on increased sign-up offers that have run in 2024.

CardFeeMost recent boosted welcome offerPotential conditionTotal valueOngoing cashback rate
British Airways American Express Premium Plus card£300 a year 60,000 bonus Avios points (see most recent promotion here)Spend £6,000 in the first three months (and earn 9,000 more points)£330 in Nectar points1.5 Avios per £1 (=0.75% in Nectar points)
American Express Platinum card £650 a year 80,000 bonus Amex Reward points
(see latest promotion here)
Spend £10,000 in the first six months (and earn 10,000 more points)£450 in gift cards 1 Amex point per £1 (=0.5%)

The best American Express card for spending

So what do you do once you’ve got bonus (or bonuses) and you’re faced with a fee at the start of the second year? Well, I’d be looking to ditch that card and find an alternative.

But the headline cashback/reward rate isn’t the only thing to consider. You need to take into account whether there’s a fee or minimum spend. And you also need to decide how you want to receive your money back – as cash or points?

Depending on which card you went to for your first card (the Nectar or Cashback), I’d actually then get the other one next or look at the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold which is free in year one.

But after the first year on each of these, the annual fees on all three will eat into your cashback earnings.

But if you want to keep an Amex, then there’s the Amex Rewards card or BA Amex which are both always free. Just don’t get these (or the Gold) if you haven’t yet claimed those additional Platinum and BA Amex Premium Plus welcome bonuses.

Amex cardAnnual FeeCashback/RewardEquivalent rate
NectarFree in year one, £30 after2 Nectar points per £11%
Cashback£25 (first year can be covered via cashback site)Up to 1.25% cashback (paid on year anniversary)0.75% on first £10,000, then 1.25%
Preferred Rewards GoldFree in year one, £195 after1 Amex Reward point per £1, bonus points for every £5,000 spent0.64% to 0.75% if you spend at least £5,000
RewardFree1 Amex Reward point per £10.5%
British Airways American ExpressFree1 Avios point per £10.5% (if converted to Nectar)

Best Amex for extra offers

There’s a final category to consider when choosing your Amex – are there extras that come with the card? And if so, how much will they cost?

This table shows the main additional card benefits you might want to take advantage of.

Amex CardKey additional benefitsAnnual fee
Preferred Rewards Gold2 x £5 Deliveroo credit every month
4 Priority Pass airport lounge visits each year
£195
PlatinumWorldwide family travel Insurance
£200 UK dining credit each calendar year (£100 every six months)
£50 Harvey Nicholls credit until the end of June 2025
Airport lounge access all year
£650
British Airways Premium PlusBA Companion voucher if you spend £15,000 each year (lasts 24 months, and valid in all classes)£300
British AirwaysBA Companion voucher if you spend £15,000 each year (lasts 12 months, and only valid in economy)Free

I wouldn’t keep the Gold card once the fee kicks in after the first year. I’d also avoid the Platinum after the year which includes a welcome bonus.

It’s a harder call with the BA cards. If you opt for the free BA card, it’s only valid for 12 months and only in economy, which might make it hard for you to find a flight you want to use as tickets are released 12 months in advance on the BA site, so you could well miss out on big destinations.

The Premium Plus voucher lasts longer, but you will be paying £300 to get it. From my experience it’s hard to get that back on economy flights, so you’d want to aim for Business.

But, to use a 2-4-1 Companion voucher you need to have enough Avios points to pay for the first flight AND you have to pay for taxes and fees on top. If that’s unlikely then neither are worth it. And you also need to weigh up whether you’ll be able to get a cheaper flight shopping around.

Best Amex to protect your Amex Reward points

If you decide to cancel the Platinum card at the end of your first year, make sure you protect any Amex Membership points linked to it before doing so. You’ll need to swap them or open up a different Reward card to ensure you don’t lose them.

There are two options here. The Reward card and the Preferred Reward Gold card. Remember, do not open up either of these cards before the Platinum if you think you’ll try for the boosted welcome offer on that card at some point.

Amex cardAnnual FeeCashback/RewardEquivalent rate
Preferred Rewards GoldFree in year one, £195 after1 Amex Reward point per £1, bonus points for every £5,000 spent0.64% to 0.75% if you spend at least £5,000
RewardFree1 Amex Reward point per £10.5%
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Best Amex for 2-4-1 flight vouchers

Two American Express cards can earn you British Airways companion vouchers. However, don’t get the free BA Amex card before the BA Amex Premium Plus if you want to try for the higher welcome offer with the latter card detailed further up this article.

With the Premium Plus you’ll need to spend £15,000 in the first year you’ll get a BA Companion voucher. This gets you 2-4-1 flights or an upgrade and is valid for two years and in all flight classes. Remember there is a £300 annual fee.

But after this year you have two options. If you cancel completely you won’t lose your Avios as they’ll have been added to your British Airways Executive Club account. This resets the clock to enable you to (potentially) get another bonus in two years time.

Or you can downgrade to the free BA Amex easily via a call or live chat and this will mean you keep an Amex without a new credit check.

If you choose to keep spending on it you still need to hit £15,000 in a year for a BA Companion voucher to use in economy class, valid for a just one year.

With both companion vouchers, bear in mind you need to have enough Avios points saved up to cover the cost of one ticket before adding the 2-4-1 voucher, and you still pay tax and fees on both tickets.

Amex cardAnnual FeeCashback/RewardEquivalent rate
British Airways American ExpressFree1 Avios point per £10.5% (if converted to Nectar)
British Airways American Express Premium Plus£2501.5 Avios point per £10.75% (if converted to Nectar)

TNT Sports deals and offers (June 2025)

The cheapest ways to watch TNT Sports on your TV or app

If you want to watch Premier League and Champions League football, Premiership Rugby, along with other sports, on TNT Sports, then you’ll need to sign up via your pay TV provider or use the Discovery+ streaming service.

Here are the best offers right now to save you cash.

TNT Sports and Be Clever With Your Cash logos on an orange background

What is TNT Sports?

TNT Sports is the new name for BT Sports. It now sits under the Discovery brand, though you can add just the TNT Sports channels to your Sky, Virgin and other pay TV services.

The channels are:

  • TNT Sports 1, 2, 3, and 4: available in standard and high definition, plus six red-button channels.
  • TNT Sports Ultimate: stream select events in 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos (with a compatible device).
  • TNT Sports Box Office: get pay-per-view access to exciting sports events (for both subscribers and non-subscribers).

You can read more via this link about what the change means for existing BT Sport customers.

Get it via Discovery +

Discovery+ Premium for £30.99/mth

This new tier of streaming service Discovery+ gets you all the TNT Sports channels to watch via the Discovery+ app on your TV, smart stick, games console, computer, tablet or phone.

As well as the main TNT Sport channels you’ll also get Eurosport and lifestyle channels such as TLC, Quest and Discovery.

This is a monthly pass and you can cancel at anytime. This effectively replaces the old BT Sport monthly pass, though the difference is this will renew if you don’t cancel.

Get it via BT

Check if it’s already included

Some BT Broadband customers, usually long standing ones who used to get BT Sports for free, may now have access to the full Discovery+ Premium package for free.

You’ll be able to tell by checking eligibility here.

Add it to BT broadband from £20/mth

If you get your internet services from BT then you can get the TNT Sport channels for an extra charge each month by adding BT TV. The sports packages starts from £20 a month.

Although you can still watch via the BT Sport App you’ll need to move to the Discovery+ app in due course.

If you’re adding it to an existing BT contract then it could mean you start a new contract for all your BT services, possibly for 24 months.

Make sure you shop around for deals that’ll bring the price down, such as using cashback sites for an added bonus.

Get it via Virgin Media

Virgin Media Stream/Flex: £5 per month for the first three months (£18 thereafter)

You can currently get TNT Sport channels for £5 a month for the first three months via Virgin Stream, now rebranded as Flex (although confusingly, the hardware is still called Stream). After the three months it goes back up to £18 a month. It’s a 30-day rolling contract so you can cancel at any time.

However you do need to be getting broadband via Virgin Media to get the deal.

Check out our review of Virgin Media stream to find out more.

Get it with your mobile

If your mobile phone contract is with EE you can buy passes to watch on your phone using the Discovery+ app.

There are add-ons that let you watch it via the BT Sport app on your TV or improve picture quality to 4K.

Check if it’s already included

Some EE and BT Mobile customers that got BT Sports for free may now have access to the full Discovery+ Premium package for free.

You’ll be able to tell by checking eligibility here.

£20 a month mobile pass via EE

EE customers can get access to the TNT Sports via a Discovery+ Premium pass that costs £20 a month. You need to text SPORT to 150 to start your subscription. You can cancel at anytime.

“Free” with EE Inclusive Extras

If you have a reasonably expensive contract with EE (via the Full Works plan) you can choose TNT Sports as one of your Inclusive Extras.

TNT Sports is probably the most expensive of the options, though alternatives include:

  • Apple One Individual
  • Google One Premium AI Plan
  • Netflix Premium
  • Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

Though there will be cheaper SIM deals out there, with EE or another network, it is much less than getting TNT Sports (and Discovery+) direct from the streaming service. The difference though is you’re committing to a 24 month contract, and prices will likely increase each spring with inflation.

Ultimately you’re probably better off shopping around for a cheaper SIM-only deal and getting TNT Sports as and when you need it.

Watch the Europa League, Conference & Champions League final for free (ended)

Though TNT Sports has the rights to show the finals of all European competitions, they’re continuing the offer to watch them for free without a subscription.

  • 21 May: Europa League final (Manchester United vs Tottenham)
  • 28 May: Europa Conference final (Chelsea vs Real Betis)
  • 31 May: Champions League final (Inter Milan vs PSG)

You can watch for free via the Discovery+ app on TVs and devices, or you can also watch via the Discovery+ channel on Prime Video.

If you don’t have an account you will need to register, but there’s no need to pay for any of the packages.

How to watch TNT Sports on your TV

So how do you get these options on your TV? 

Check for an app on your TV or smart device

You can watch TNT Sport on your TV if you have the Discovery+ app (and the right level of subscription).

This is available on the following (though check the full list here in case you have older incompatible models)

  • Amazon Fire Sticks
  • Apple TV
  • Chromecasts
  • Samsung & LG Smart TVs
  • Android TVs
  • Roku devices (including NOW sticks)
  • Sky TV
  • Playstation 4 & 5
  • Xbox One and XIS

Buy an HDMI cable

As long as you have a laptop with an HDMI connector, you can just buy a cable to connect to your TV. This should be the cheapest option – but I prefer the smart stick options!

Sport on other channels

You can also watch sport on Sky, Amazon and Premier Sports. Here’s our guide to the ways to save on each of them.

The best deals

Find our picks of the best offers in our dedicated deals library

Cashback site welcome bonus offers (June 2025)

Get new member bonuses of up to £27.50

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 over £50 in free cash when you first buy something.

Text saying 'Cashback Deals' and the Be clever with your cash logo on a blue background.

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: £20 bonus when you spend £10

You can get a £20 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 2025.

Quidco: £24 bonus cashback when you spend £5 (expired)

**This deal ended 31 May. We hope to get it renewed for early June**

The best deal is for subscribers to our weekly newsletter who get access to an exclusive £24 first-time bonus when they spend £5. 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.

This offer is due to end 31 May 2025, but will hopefully be extended

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.

Cheddar: £2 for signing up

You can get £2 when you sign up for cashback app Cheddar using the referral code CLEVER2 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.

Airtime: £1.50 when you sign up

Another decent cashback site is the app Airtime. New member bonuses are much smaller. You’ll get 50p for signing up with code H9HJCPAY and another £1 when you spend within seven days. Sometimes these are boosted.

Quidco: £10 back when you spend £5 (ended)

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

Quidco: £12 cashback when you spend £5 (ended)

If you don’t want to sign up for our newsletter, this short term offer that can get you £12 cashback on any purchase, as long as you spend £5 or more. So if you spend £5 at any of the 4,300 retailers listed on Quidco – which is pretty much all of them –  you’ll get this bonus back plus whatever the cashback rate is. This ends 31 July 2024.

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.