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July 29, 2025   |   Articles

Free and cheap magazines: tricks to save money

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Don’t pay full price when you can get free or discounted magazine copies and subscriptions.

For about 20 years I subscribed to the film magazine Empire, but I’ve not paid at all in the last decade – thanks to different deals and hacks to get it, and other titles, for free. And if they don’t work, there are ways to pay less too.

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

Free magazines tricks

Free digital magazines and newspapers from your library

Libraries don’t just lend books and DVDs – you can also borrow digitally. As well as (non-Kindle) e-books, magazines and newspapers are available. The service will vary depending on your library, but for me I’ve got access to the Press Reader app.

You just need to join your local library, and many will let you do this from their website – even if you don’t have proof of residency. Others will require you to visit the library itself.

Once signed up you can access different magazines that can be downloaded to your tablet, phone or viewed on a computer. It doesn’t take much getting used to reading them on a tablet; an extra bonus is you can zoom in on any bits that are a little too small to read.

I’n the past I’ve regularly download Empire, Radio Times and Wallpaper for free, and my wife has chosen Vogue, Good Housekeeping and Newsweek – and there are dozens and dozens of other options.

Free magazine subscription via a Club Lloyds bank account

Every year with this bank account you have the choice of a free annual magazine subscription, six free cinema tickets or a year of Disney+ with Ads.

Though you’re limited to just one personal account, you can get another as a joint account. That means a couple could have three Club Lloyds accounts, and three freebies. So even if you prefer Disney+ as your first choice, you could easily add a magazine via one of your other accounts.

You do need to pay in £2,000 a month into the current account to avoid a £5 monthly fee, but you don’t have to keep the money in the account, nor does it need to be in one go. We’ve more details in our Club Lloyds review.

There’s also sometimes a switching bonus for Lloyds if you close an account at another bank and move everything over so it’s worth keeping an eye out for that.

Free magazines with the Club Lloyds bank account

The magazines available include (updated 29/7/25):

  • Best
  • Bike
  • Bird Watching
  • Car
  • Classic Cars
  • Cosmopolitan
  • Country Living
  • Country Walking
  • ELLE Decoration
  • ELLE
  • Empire
  • Esquire
  • Garden Answers
  • Good Housekeeping
  • Harper’s Bazaar
  • House Beautiful
  • Improve Your Coarse Fishing
  • Inside Soap
  • Landscape
  • Men’s Health
  • Modern Games
  • Mojo
  • Practical Classics
  • Prima
  • Red
  • Runner’s World
  • Spirit & Destiny
  • Steam Railway
  • Today’s Golfer
  • Trail
  • Women’s Health

Free online magazines with Amazon Prime

A less well-known feature that Amazon introduced for Prime members called Prime Reading. Here you get free access to a number of books and magazines.

The selection rotates each month so you won’t see the same titles featured every month, but there’s a decent mix to choose from. At the time of writing you can pick up 59 different magazines including Top Gear, Elle and Today’s Golfer.

You don’t need a Kindle to read them, in fact they work better if you use the Kindle app on your tablet.

Prime costs £8.99 a month or £95 a year, though you can get a free 30-day trial each year.

Cheap magazine subscription tricks

Try a multi-magazine digital subscription 

If you don’t have the RGB service at your library, you can try a couple of different Netlflix style services where you pay a monthly fee for unlimited access.

The two main ones are Readly and Magzter, and both have free or cheap trials to give them a go. Right now, Readly offers a two-month free trial, while it’s 7-days free at Magzter. Both have thousands of titles, many of them designed specifically for tablets making them a far more interactive read.

Once the trials end it’s a bit pricey at £12.99 and £14.99 a month respectively. However, it’s not bad value if you’d normally buy two or three magazines a month – and even better if you can split the subscription with friends or family. There are often more ways to save, so hunt for deals.

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Buy a cut-price subscription online

If print is more your thing, please don’t pay full price for a subscription. You’ll almost always be able to find a cheaper deal online.

If you have Tesco Clubcard vouchers, you can exchange 50p in points for £1 to spend on a variety of titles.

Sites such as Great Magazines and iSubscribe offer money off full price, though you’re unlikely to get more than 40% off. Occasionally you can also get a free voucher (eg Amazon or Ticketmaster) with a reduced subscription.

Check cashback sites too, as they may have bonuses for orders. And if you’re not already a TopCashback or Quidco member, make sure you sign up via our links for up to £20 extra back on top.

Check for deals

From time to time there are other special offers to help you save, and we’ll share significant ones in our magazines and newspaper deals page. Recent examples have included a huge stack of deals on Which? and £1 a month deals for The Athletic.

Haggle for trials and discounts

Finally, if you’re already paying for a magazine, don’t just auto-renew. As with many other bills, call up to cancel to see what they’ll offer. Turn down their initial deal, and see if they can get prices down even more.

And if you don’t have a current subscription, you can still haggle. In the past I was constantly called by the Empire sales team as a former subscriber. At one point I got 12 issues for less than £10!

Or you can contact the magazine publisher direct. Go to their website to find the number and see what you can get.

Just make sure you cancel before the full Direct Debit starts.

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July 28, 2025   |   Deals

Latest John Lewis offers and deals

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The best John Lewis discounts and sales.

If we spot any standout John Lewis offers or discount codes we’ll share them on this page.

John Lewis logo and Be clever with your cash logo on an orange 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.

More about saving at John Lewis

John Lewis codes and discounts

Daily reward with ‘Treats of Summer’

John Lewis is offering rewards every day between 28 July and 3 August for My John Lewis members.

While not confirmed by John Lewis, the offers are thought to be:

  • Monday 28 July – 15% off John Lewis Nightwear & Swimwear (confirmed)
  • Tuesday 29 July: free pot of Jude’s Ice Cream
  • Wednesday 30 July: competition to win SharkNinja products
  • Thursday 31 July: 20% off Le Creuset
  • Friday 1 August: free pot of Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream
  • Saturday 2 August: 20% off John Lewis summer bedding
  • Sunday 3 August: competition to win a West End weekend break to see Matilda The Musical

Just tap ‘Treats of Summer’ in the app to reveal the reward. Treats expire at midnight on the stated expiry date of each one.

Join My John Lewis

MyJohnLewis vouchers

John Lewis regularly offers MyJohnLewis members (it’s free to join) special deals and discounts.

It’s always worth logging in to see if you have anything worth using, though you might find there’s nothing showing.

We’ve seen vouchers like £10 off beauty and £15 off fragrance, although the offers vary by user.

Check your MyJohnLewis account

MyJohnLewis Anniversary gift

Keep an eye on your MyJohnLewis account around the anniversary of when you first signed up as you’ll usually get a gift, perhaps a £5 voucher.

Sign into MyJohnLewis

£5 off clothes when you donate old items

If you’re looking to buy clothes from John Lewis stores (sadly not online), then it’s worth returning some old items in order to get a £5 discount.

The Fashion Cycle scheme requires you to be a member of the My John Lewis scheme. You’ll need to spend £20 too.

More on this and other recycling schemes

Earn cashback at John Lewis

Both Quidco and TopCashback offer cashback. Though rates change, it’s usually on most items, with some departments occasionally boosted to 4%.

If you’ve never used either site before then you can earn a welcome bonus on top, worth up to £20! You can find the best options here.

Get up to £20 as a cashback site welcome offer

Buy discounted John Lewis gift cards

Apps like Cheddar and Jam Doughnut allow you to buy gift cards to spend at John Lewis and earn cashback on that initial purchase. You can also buy Waitrose gift cards this way to spend at John Lewis. It can be worth as much as 6%.

More on discounted gift cards

The best cashback site welcome offers

Find out how to get a bonus when you first sign up and spend at all the leading cashback sites

July 27, 2025   |   Articles

Travel money: Find the best currency exchange rates

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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’s how you can get the best exchange rates.

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.

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 my “Why 0% currency commission is a lie” article.

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.

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.

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.

Featured savings deal
More Details
Trading 212 Cash ISA
AER (variable)
4.46%
Minimum
£1
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.61% AER to 4.67% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

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.

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July 23, 2025   |   Deals

The best cheap theme park deals

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How to get two-for-one, Kids go free and other deals to save money and get you cheap theme park tickets.

I love a good theme park – but ticket prices for UK theme parks such as Alton Towers and Thorpe Park can be more terrifying than the fastest ride, especially for a family. But it’s actually really easy to pay less.

Here are some of the best deals right now to get cheap theme park tickets.

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.

Cheap theme park ticket rules

These are the basics that should help you avoid paying full price.

Use a promo code

Every single year there are discount codes, usually offering 50% off or two for the price of one tickets, to all the major theme parks. Smaller parks might have smaller discounts, but there are still savings to be found. We’ve listed below some of the best ones available right now from products you’re likely to buy.

Book in advance

Whether you’re using one of the codes below, or just paying full whack (why?), it makes sense to book in advance as prices are much cheaper. Often, the earlier you book, the better, with online prices on the day often more expensive (though still cheaper than buying on the door). You can sometimes stack a 2-4-1 code with these cheaper prices, meaning you’ll pay even less.

The annual pass trick

You can often pick up a season pass, giving unlimited access to one or multiple Merlin theme parks for the cost of a single ticket. Of course, if you’ve used the other promotions listed on this page you should only have paid 50% of the entry price. But if you are going to go at least twice in a year, then you may as well buy the season pass – even if you don’t go again.

Do check again for any restrictions, for example August weekends and special events are often excluded unless you buy a premium pass.

You can get season passes at locations including:

  • Alton Towers
  • Legoland
  • Thorpe Park
  • Chessington World of Adventures

Try for cashback

While you likely can’t get cashback with some of the offers below, as they’re often booked via promotional websites, if you’re going directly to get tickets, it could be worth trying Quidco or TopCashback for a little something extra — this is only 1.5%-2% at the time of writing, but that could stack up when you’re booking a whole family. Plus, if you don’t have either of these sites already, you can get a £20 welcome bonus when you sign up.

Latest theme park special offers

You can regularly get deals on promotional packs of anything from cereal to soaps. Many do have exclusions, including weekends in August and sometimes October half term. So do check. We’ve put in links with the exclusions and also the lists of participating theme parks, where possible.

National Rail Days Out: 2 for 1 or 1/3 off tickets

If you catch the train to a theme park, then you can get 2 for 1 or 1/3 off tickets on the National Rail website. You have to pre-book with a lot of the attractions, and it’s worth checking what else you’ll need. It’ll often specify that you’ll need a ticket to a nearby station on the day you’re booking. For example, to book Cadbury World, you’ll need a valid train ticket to Bournville station for each visitor and for the same day as your visit.

This is valid until 31 May 2026, although this is renewed every year.

Attractions include zoos, museums, theme parks, boat trips, galleries and activities.

See available attractions

Merlin: two visits for the price of one

Merlin is currently offering a slightly different kind of two-for-one ticket. Instead of getting two people in for the price of one, it’s offering tickets to two theme parks for the price of one. So you can get two days out for the family for the price of one.

Tickets cost from £34 if your first trip is to Alton Towers or Legoland, £33 if your first attraction is Thorpe Park or just £32 per person if your first visit is to Chessington. They can be bought on the website of your chosen attraction to go to first – look at the “offers” tab and select “twice the fun” to find them.

Then, once you’ve booked your first visit, you’ll have a barcode on your ticket which you can use to pre-book your second visit at Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park. The first and second attractions don’t need to be the same.

You can get the offer until 17 August.

Book Chessington
Book Thorpe Park
Book Legoland
Book Alton Towers

Legoland: £17.50 tickets via Sky

If you pay for Sky TV, then take a look at the Sky VIP section in your account to get a unique code for £17.50 tickets to Legoland this summer.

Tickets are available throughout the remainder of the season, including Legoland at Christmas, but tickets are expected to sell out fairly quickly. You need to buy them before 31 August 2025. You can book up to six tickets each time.

Get Sky VIP

Merlin theme parks: 25% off with Kelloggs

Buy a promotional box of Kellogg’s cereal or a Snack Pack and get 25% off up to two online advance-priced tickets at 25 participating Merlin attractions, including Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures.

To get it, scan the QR code from a promotional Kellogg’s pack or go to their website. You’ll need to register or login with a Kellogg’s account and enter the 10 digit KPIN code from the promotional pack. You’ll then get a discount code emailed to you with a link to book.

With Snack Packs, you must bring the promotional pack with you, along with your pre-booked e-ticket and show it at the ticket desk.

Tickets are valid until 30 June 2026. Exclusion dates apply and do check the terms and conditions.

25% off Merlin days out

Tesco Clubcard points

If you’re earning points, you can get double value at theme parks, including Alton Towers. Personally, I’d say you’re better off using your points elsewhere, particularly for the Merlin-owned attractions.

That’s because although this promo is in theory the same as the 2-4-1 style offers, the prevalence of the latter means you’re effectively only getting 25% off that lower price. More on Clubcard deals here.

Kids Pass / Little Bird

These subscription-based membership sites offer money off at the major theme parks, including some which aren’t part of the Merlin group. More on them and how you can get cheap trials here.

Expired deals

Adults go free with Kellogs (expired)

Though the wording is different, it’s essentially the same thing, it’s just the adult ticket is free when you buy another full price adult or kids ticket.

Once again it’s for Merlin attractions, so the main theme parks are Thorpe Park, Chessington and Alton Towers.

Any vouchers you collect will be valid until 30 June 2024. Details here. You’ll need to keep the promotional packaging to share at the venue entrance.

How to claim your free adult ticket

Merlin Annual Pass: get £20-£60 off (expired)

Merlin has launched another sale on its annual passes. These run for a full year from when you buy them, so you’ll be able to get until April 2025 if you get one while the deal is on. The sale is on until 7 April 2024.

This gets you into any Merlin attraction – this includes Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, LEGOLAND, Sealife Centre and the London Eye. The different stages of pass have different perks – for example, the Gold one includes parking (usually £5-£10 each time), and there are restricted days on the Silver and Discovery passes. Some of them also have a sign-up fee if you go for a monthly option.

Remember, you’re unlikely to need to pay full price for entrance thanks to other deals, so you’ll need to weigh up whether the pass will represent good value depending on how often you’ll visit the attractions.

Here are the discounts available:

PassSale price (per year)Normal Price (per year)
Discovery£79£99
Silver£129£169
Gold£189£239
Platinum£239£299
Get a Merlin Annual Pass

July 22, 2025   |   Articles

Cut the cost of using your mobile phone abroad

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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.

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.

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 – ended January 2022

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 £15 or a 15-day pass for £20.

EE – ended March 2022

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 £2.59 a day or £15 for seven days if you’re travelling in Europe. If you’re visiting the USA, it’ll cost £5 a day or £25 for seven days. The most you’ll pay is £15 a day if you’re going to Zone 4 countries including Nepal and the Maldives.

If you have a 30-Day plan/Saver plan you’ll need to pay £2.50 a day or £10 for seven days to use your allowances in Europe if you signed up for a new or renewed contract after 7 July 2021. Existing customers before this date won’t see a change.

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 – ended May 2022

This used to be huge money saver when travelling outside Europe. But on 23 May 2022, this Go Roam benefit ended for anyone who took out a new contract or renewed a contract after 1 October 2021.

However, older customers were forced to move from their old tariff, losing the Go Roam benefit.

Now Three offers roaming for £2 a day in Europe, or £5 a day for the rest of the world to use your existing allowances. There’s also a £5 a day Data Passport which offers unlimited data abroad.

Alternatively, Three’s Pay-as-you-go Three SIMs can still get Go Roam. So, you could pick up one of these when you go abroad and switch it over for most usage. You’ll temporarily have a different number, so you won’t get your usual calls and texts.

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
  • Plusnet – free European roaming remains
  • Sky Mobile – free roaming ended in May 2022
  • Smarty – free European roaming remains
  • Tesco Mobile – free European roaming ended for new customers from 16 June 2022
  • 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 – for now at least. 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.

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.

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!

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July 21, 2025   |   Deals

The best birthday freebies and how to get them

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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 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.

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.

Had a birthday while M&S Sparks was down? Marks and Spencer has sent out belated free birthday treats if you celebrated your birthday in May, June and July, so check your app even if it was a couple of months ago.

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
Join Sparks

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.

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!

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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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.

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

July 15, 2025   |   Articles

My holiday finances checklist

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When you go on holiday there’s bound to be something you forget – but I’d much rather leave behind my toothbrush than head overseas without checking off these money matters from my holiday checklist.

It’s all stuff that will probably affect you too, so here’s my finance related to-do list to help you think about what you still need to do.

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.

Find my GHIC

Because of Brexit, the old European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) are no longer valid. But in their place is the GHIC – Global Health Insurance Card. And despite the name, it’s essential for trips to Europe.

One of these cards will get you access to healthcare at the same prices as a local. That’s vital, not just in terms of saving money, but also to ensure your travel insurance will validate any claims.

If you already have one, check the expiry date. Each summer holidaymakers find out too late for their trip that they should have renewed their card.

If you need a new one, watch out for websites charging you to apply – they’re scamming you. Instead, apply or renew for free through gov.uk.

You’ll also need to check that your destination is covered. As mentioned, the name Global is deceptive. It’s still just Europe, and even then not every European country comes under the agreement, so it’s always worth checking.

Check my insurance

Sadly, a GHIC isn’t enough on its own. You still needed full travel insurance.

A mistake people often make is waiting until a few days before they travel to get insurance. Though you’d be covered if something went wrong when you were away, you’re at risk of missing out if your airline went bust, lost your job and couldn’t afford to go, or if you were too ill to travel. So get it as soon as you book!

I know it’s a pain, but do read the summary documents at least so you can see what is and what isn’t covered, and by how much. It’s often a case that cheapest isn’t best, especially if you can’t actually use it if something goes wrong.

If you’re going away multiple times this year it might be worth considering annual policies, but for a single weekend or fortnight then a shorter policy will suffice. Likewise, don’t buy a worldwide policy if you’re only going to Europe.

Also make sure you’re not covered elsewhere. Some credit cards and current accounts come with travel insurance (though again, check what the policy actually covers), while some home insurance policies will include partial cover that might mean you don’t need extras on things like possessions outside of the home.

Check passports and visas

It’s obviously vital to check your passport is still valid, but it’s often not as simple as having not expired. Some countries require you to have at least six months left on it when you travel, while in Europe it can’t be more than 10 years old – even if there are plenty of months left.

It’s well worth checking this regularly, or putting a reminder in your calendar, for a good few months ahead of it expiring or reaching those milestones as delays at the passport office could make it tight to get a new one issued before you travel.

And while you’re at it, make sure you don’t need a visa to enter your destination. There may be a small cost for this.

Buy an international driving permit

Another post-Brexit rule is the requirement in Europe to have a UK sticker on your car if you’re taking it across the channel – that’s the case even if you have a GB or EU flag on your number plate already.

If you’re hiring abroad you’ll need to get a DVLA code, while some countries might also need to buy an international driving permit. These have never been checked when we’ve had one, but it’s worth the £5.50 (plus a passport photo) cost to be safe. You can get one at the Post Office.

Oh, and buying a separate car hire excess insurance before you go will often be far cheaper than adding one on when you get to the car hire desk.

Get a specialist payment card

There are now a number of fee-free cards for both spending and withdrawing cash overseas. I’ve written about them in detail here.

You don’t really need to let your card provider know you’re going away anymore, especially for those designed to be used abroad.

Order travel money

I rarely take much money with me. A lot has usually been prepaid already, and I’ll use my specialist travel credit card where I can, but I also want to have some cash on me.

Usually, I only take a little, just incase there’s an issue with cards at the airport when I arrive. But I’ll check destinations to see if there’s a chance of ATM issues. That’s more likely in far-flung destinations.

The best way to find the top exchange rates is to use Money Saving Expert’s TravelMoneyMax comparison tool. You’ll get the best options in London, though even preordering from the airport will be at a better rate than just rocking up.

Here’s more on getting the best from travel money, including why you should never, ever just exchange when you go to get your flight.

Sort out my phone

Before the days of free-roaming I used to switch off voicemail and turn off any data options before leaving the country – the costs of using both overseas were exorbitant. Sadly for many networks that’s the case once again.

Right now I’m on O2 with the added Volt package that comes from also being a Virgin Media broadband customer so I actually still get to use my allowance in Europe and a handful of other countries. You might not be so lucky.

Check what the deal is for your network and act accordingly. It can often work out better to pre-buy an add-on that gives a certain allowance or caps charges.

If you are trying to avoid massive bills, then my tips on cutting phones costs when you’re on holiday should help. Or you could try an eSIM, which gets you local data, calls and texts for an additional fee.

Read next

July 11, 2025   |   Deals

Takeaway deals and money saving tips

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Pay less for your takeaways when you order in, including special codes for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats

Getting a takeaway isn’t money-saving by any means, but if you are going to order one then it pays to find ways to bring down the total cost.

Below we’ve got a few tips to help you cut the price and some top deals.

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.

Ways to save money on takeaways

Go direct to the takeaway

You can often avoid the fees that come with Deliveroo and Uber Eats by ordering direct from the restaurant. You might even find items are cheaper too!

Collect your order

If that fails and you are happy to pop out you can often save on delivery charges by picking up your order yourself.

Obviously you can do this when you order direct, but you might also be able to combine it with discount codes via the main takeaway apps.

Look for discount codes

It’s often possible to get codes to bring down the cost of your order – especially if you’re a new customer.

Keep an eye on your emails and app notifications as you often get send special offers by the big takeaway brands.

I’ll list the best special offers I spot below.

Use cashback sites

A few of the big takeaway brands are on Quidco and TopCashback. You can earn money back on purchases from Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, Dominos and Pizza Hut.

If you’ve not used those sites before you can also nab up to £17 back as a welcome bonus, on top of the cashback you’ll earn for your takeaway purchase. Here’s more on getting those bonuses.

Delete the apps

If you tend to regret ordering a takeaway, adding a bit of friction can help you buy them less often. The easiest way is to delete the apps. Doing this doesn’t stop you from ordering but it can take away temptation.

Just Eat discounts

JustEat+: 3 months free delivery for £5.99

Just Eat has launched a brand new service to rival Uber One and Deliveroo Plus. The service, called JustEat+, gets you 90 days of free delivery for £5.99 for orders over £15, as well as additional freebies and extra deals, some of which are listed below.

You can use it as much as you want during that period. It’s not a subscription, so it won’t auto-renew when it ends – brilliant if you have a takeaway hiatus, as you won’t then be endlessly paying for a service you’re not using.

If you want to continue it once it’s finished, you can just add it to your next order.

That’s not all you get, though. There are also some restaurant-specific extra deals you can get, including:

  • A free sausage roll from Greggs on orders for £15
  • Free everyday essentials from the Co-op on orders over £20
  • Free snacks on orders over £15 at One Stop
  • Freebies on orders over £25 at Asda Express
  • Buy one, get one free starters at Pizza Express on orders over £15
  • Up to 30% off with minimum spends between £20-£25 at Leon, Island Poke, The Breakfast Club, and Busaba
  • 15% off German Doner Kebab orders when spending £15+
  • Free footlong cookie on orders over £15 at Subway
  • Buy one, get one free on selected items from Patty & Bun when spending over £20
  • 40% off total orders from Butchies when spending over £20
  • Free chicken dippers from Hop on orders over £15
  • Free chicken bites from Shake Shack on orders over £20

Is it worth it?

When ordering from Just Eat, it usually costs at least £2 for delivery, sometimes as much as £4.50. So you could easily start to save money on your second or third order, and the extra freebies might be nice if you tend to order from any of the places above.

If you have three takeaways a month, paying £3.50 for delivery each time, you’d spend about £31.50 on delivery alone. With JustEat+, you’d only spend £5.99 (assuming your chosen restaurant isn’t excluded).

However, be careful not to spend more money on takeaways because you’ve got this membership. And it’s still worth seeing if it’s cheaper to go directly to the restaurant or via another delivery company.

To get it, you just add it to your order when you check out. It expires after 90 days and won’t auto-renew.

See the T&Cs

Just Eat: 20% off on Tuesdays

Every Tuesday selected restaurants are part of a 20% off deal with Just Eat. There’s a minimum spend of £15 and the discount will be automatically applied.

Your choices can be limited, but it all depends on where you live. It’s well worth checking.

More on Cheeky Tuesdays

Just Eat: £8 off (ended)

Until 30 June 2025, Just Eat is offering £8 off orders with the code JUNE8.

You need to spend £25 or more to use the code. There are thousands of participating restaurants, from locals to national chains like Five Guys and Pizza Express.

It can only be used once per person.

See the full T&Cs

Deliveroo promo codes

Deliveroo: Delivery pass

You can pay either £3.49 or £7.99 a month to get free delivery, depending on the size of your order. If you’re tempted by this Deliveroo Plus subscription, make sure you check out this review to see if it’s worth it for you.

Deliveroo Plus review

Deliveroo: free delivery with Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime members can add on a free year of Deliveroo Plus – but only the tier that gives free delivery on orders over £15. We’d definitely get this if you have Prime, but don’t be tempted to order more often, or spend more on orders, just to get free delivery.

Not got Amazon Prime? You can sign up here for a 30-day free trial, then £95 a year. If you cancel Prime you’ll lose your Deliveroo Plus membership.

Sign up for Amazon Prime

Deliveroo: £10 cashback from Amex each month

Anyone with an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card can now add an offer to their card to get money back at Deliveroo every month.

You’ll get £5 back on the first two transactions each month. There’s a £5 minimum spend.

Here’s more on the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card.

More on the Amex Gold card
Featured savings deal
More Details
Trading 212 Cash ISA
AER (variable)
4.46%
Minimum
£1
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.61% AER to 4.67% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Uber Eats promo codes

Check the app and your email for user specific codes that happen fairly regularly.

Uber One: free delivery via subscription

Uber also has it’s own scheme – Uber One – which offers discounts on takeaways, as well as rides.

Our Uber One review

Uber Eats: £3 off first order

Use the code eats-5ngkw and you’ll save £3 when you spend at least £20.

Uber Eats: 20% off with Three

Three customers can download the Three+ app to save 20% every week. Minimum order of £15 excluding delivery. More on the Three+ app here.

Free Uber Eats credit for NHS workers (ended)

Link your NHS/HSC email address to your Uber Eats account by 11.59pm on 20 December and get sent promo codes for free food and Uber rides on 23 December to be used over Christmas.

You’ll be able to claim £10 to spend on a meal or groceries via Uber Eats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

And if you link your Uber account to your NHS/HSC email you can also claim two £10 Uber rides to or from work on the same days.

Link Uber Eats account

Pizza Hut offers

Pizza Hut: 50% off via Tastecard

There’s a trick with Tastecard to get half-price pizza every day of the week at Pizza Hut. You simply need to get a Tastecard and there’s usually a three-month free trial. 

Dominos offers

Dominos: 50% off via Tastecard

Tastecard will also give you 50% off pizza every day of the week at most Dominos. Get a three-month free Tastecard here. 

July 1, 2025   |   Articles

Is your holiday protected?

Written by

You need to make sure you’re covered in case something goes wrong before or when you go away.

Whether you book your holiday through a travel agent or do it yourself, things can always wrong. Hopefully they won’t but if they do, there’s every chance you’ll lose your money.

That is unless you do the following. Though there are always complications, it’s better to have as many protections in place to help you get any lost money back or reschedule your trip with limited, if any, extra costs.

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

Book your insurance

It’s so important you book travel insurance, and you should do it as soon as you book your holiday, too. That’s because it’s not just about cover while you are away, you’re also partly paying for cover in case you can’t go on your trip.

You could break your leg, have a close relative pass away or see your airline collapse – all of which could prevent you from travelling. But with insurance in place you should be covered to get your money back.

Having the insurance when you’ve booked will also help if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) later declares a destination as unsafe to visit. And this isn’t just about obvious danger zones like war zones. During the height of the pandemic many countries were off limits. You can see the latest list of places with warnings here.

A few more quick things on travel insurance.

Do read the policy documents to check exactly what you’re covered for. A few years ago I wasn’t covered for coming back early from the USA when I hurt my back as this was categorised as curtailment – and only unused costs were covered, not new costs. So though my original flight home was refunded, the more expensive earlier flight I did take, wasn’t.

Check for cover for things like natural disasters (remember the ash from the Icelandic volcano) and pandemics too – these could be excluded. It’s worth paying a little more for this cover.

In fact, lots of people might think they are covered by a policy that comes with their bank account. You might be, but check those extra terms and conditions to be sure.

In addition, you must declare any pre-existing medical conditions. If you get ill and the insurance company discovers you didn’t declare you’ve had treatment – even if it’s not for the thing you’re ill with on holiday – they will likely reject your claim. It can be more expensive to find a policy if you have been ill before, but it really is worth getting the right one.

And if you’re going to take two or more trips in a year, annual insurance could work out more cost-effective. The problem you get here is do you need to get just European cover, or are you likely to go worldwide. If there’s a strong chance of the latter then make sure you get cover for this. And don’t forget things like winter sports too if you’re going to be getting involved in those kinds of activities.

Look for extra legal protections such as ATOL and ABTA

Though I tend to book everything myself, if you’re looking at a simple holiday, packages can be the easiest way to book – and they can come with added protection.

The biggest of these is ATOL. If you’ve bought your hotel and your flight – whether as a package from a travel agent or since the 1st of July 2018 from the same website at the same time (e.g. Expedia) – then you will have ATOL protection.

With ATOL, the big benefit is if something goes bust – whether with the hotel, flight or tour operator – then you will either get your money back before you go, or you will be flown home if already abroad (though as we saw with the Thomas Cook collapse in 2019, that’s not always straightforward).

So it’s important to look for ATOL certification when booking, and you can check it’s the real thing via the Civil Aviation Authority website.

Package holidays also give you consumer rights if the holiday isn’t what you expected – say there was constant building work you weren’t told about. You can claim compensation.

Now if your holiday doesn’t involve a flight, say it’s a cruise or a coach tour, look for ABTA membership as you’ll get support if something goes wrong. Again you can check the ABTA membership is the real thing, this time on the ABTA website.

Of course you don’t get ATOL if you book the flights and hotels separately from different companies, so it’s worth making sure your travel insurance covers things like airline failure and consequential losses.

However, although it’s not defined as a package, if you bought your flights and hotel from the same website or travel agent within 24 hours but in separate transactions you can also claim money back if one of the providers goes under.

Pay with a credit card

Whether it’s a package or a DIY holiday, if any part of it costs more than £100, pay for it with a credit card. Do this and if there’s a problem, such as the hotel going bust, then the credit card company is equally liable for any losses you make. This is thanks to something called Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

But there are two things to keep in mind. First, the £100 minimum relates to each individual item purchased. So let’s say you are buying two single flights. If one is £120 and one is £70, it could be that only the first flight gets this cover – even if you brought them from the same operator at the same time. However, if it’s a return flight at £190 then both are covered.

Secondly, this is only if you have a direct relationship with the provider. So buy EasyJet flights from EasyJet then yes, you get this protection. But buy them from a third party such as Lastminute.com then you won’t.

And of course, with credit cards, make sure you can clear that debt each month before interest charges are added.

Get a GHIC

The Global Health Insurance Card is essential if you are going to Europe this summer, and replaces the previous EHIC that ended under the Brexit aggreement.

With a GHIC you can access the same health care as locals at the same price they pay, which isn’t necessarily free. But without one it could cost you a fortune – and most travel insurance policies require you to have one too or they could reject any claim you make.

These are free – so don’t fall for dodgy websites charging you to get one. Instead go via the NHS website.

Read next