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November 25, 2024   |   Deals

Tastecard & Gourmet Society trials & offers

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A Tastecard membership gives you 2-4-1 and up to 50% off meals and cinema tickets across the country

Tastecard, Gourmet Society, Dine Card and Hi-Life Dining are the leading restaurant discount schemes, which often also come with savings at the cinema. Here are the latest offers, as well as more about how the memberships work and whether they are any good.

The bulk of these offers are for digital memberships, which means you access your card via the app on your smartphone. However, at times there are a couple of deals which come with a physical card – but do check when you click through.

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.

Tastecard logo

Top Tastecard offers

Most Tastecard offers are 2 for 1 or 50% off food. For when there aren’t any free trials of Tastecard, it’s got a £2.99 monthly membership option, which means you can still give it a go without paying for a full year.

Tastecard: Free 90 day trial with Lidl+

If you have the Lidl+ app then you can get a 90 day free trial of Tastecard. You’ll need to click through via the app. This is available until 19 January 2025.

Get the Lidl+ app

Tastecard Black Friday: 90 day free trial

There’s currently a free trial on offer through the link below where you can get a Tastecard membership free for 90 days. The membership will auto-renew at £29.99 at the end of the trial unless you cancel it, which you can do at any time.

Unfortunately we don’t know when this offer is ending.

Get a Tastecard free trial

Tastecard: £2.99 per month

If you want to give Tastecard a go without committing to a full year, then you can opt for the monthly membership for £2.99 per month, but remember to cancel it if you don’t use it.

Get Tastecard for a month

Tastecard: One year for £29.99

Here’s a reduced option for a whole year if you know you’ll want it for a full 12 months. Sometimes there are offers to lower this further.

Get Tastecard for a year

Tastecard: Free with Totum student card

If you’re a student, or if you’ve ever had a Totum card from NUS or graduated in the last three years, you can buy an NUS Totum card which now comes with a free Tastecard. You’ll also get discounts at Apple, Co-op and more.

How to get a student card when you’re not a student

Top Gourmet Society offers

On the surface, Gourmet Society looks like a similar offering. But the deals can be different. For a start, it tends to offer 25% off the full bill including drinks, which could work out as a bigger saving for you. So do check the restaurants and deals before deciding which is best for you.

Gourmet Society: 60-days free membership

This free trial will get you 60 days. When the deal ends it will auto-renew at £5.99 a month.

Get Gourmet Society free for 60 days

Gourmet Society: Free with Club Lloyds current account

You can get a year of Gourmet Society membership as a ‘Lifestyle Benefit’ via the Club Lloyds bank account. However, you might be better off choosing free cinema tickets or a magazine subscription. More details here on the account and the different benefits.

Compare different Club Lloyds lifestyle benefits

Other dining club deals

These are similar, if not the same, as Tastecard and might represent better value depending on where you live and places you eat at.

Meerkat Meals: One year for £1(ish)

If you buy a one-day travel insurance product via Compare the Market you get access to both Meerkat Movies and the new Meerkat Meals. It’s more restrictive than Tastecard and Gourmet Soc, but it’s not a bad deal when paired with the movie offer. We’ve written more in detail about what you get with Meerkat Meals and how it compares.

What is Tastecard?

Tastecard restaurant offers

Tastecard is a membership scheme primarily offering money off at restaurants in the UK.

There are thousands of restaurants listed on Tastecard, from your local Indian to chains such as Pizza Express and Prezzo. They offer up to 50% off or 2 for 1 discounts. Do look for exclusions such as weekends or the number of people you can use the membership for on a table.

The membership is digital only, which you access via the Tastecard app. You simply show the card in the participating restaurant, normally before you order and certainly before you ask for the bill. Some restaurants require you to book in advance and to tell them you are using Tastecard. If this is the case, it will be listed on the specific restaurant tile on the app.

Tastecard + cheap movie rentals

A recent addition to Tastecard is the ability to get £1 off e-vouchers to use on movie rental site Rakuten. 

Tastecard + cinema deals

You can get discounted tickets at Showcase, Odeon, Vue, Picturehouse and Cineworld. Though do compare the discounted price with the box office price – it’s not always cheaper!

Gourmet Society and other schemes

Gourmet Society, High Life and Meerkat Meals are all run by the same company as Tastecard, and have a lot of similar deals. But each offers a slightly different discount and a few different restaurants, so it’s worth comparing them all to see which is best for you. Read our comparison of Tastecard, Gourmet Society, High Life and Meerkat Meals.

Are dining membership cards worth the money?

At full price (£79) I don’t think a Tastecard is worth the money, but around £30 isn’t a bad price as you’ll be even after a couple of meals out. Then the savings start. I’d definitely try a trial offer first just to see whether you’re likely to use it.

Before buying, check the Tastecard site to see what restaurants are included near you. If that looks good, take advantage of the offers below and go grab it!

For more details check out my comparison of all the different restaurant cards.

Cancelling your Tastecard

In the past, there have been issues with people forgetting to cancel before their free trial or annual membership ends.

Tastecard auto-renews your membership but you can cancel at any time in the app. To be safe, do it more than four days before your renewal date.

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November 25, 2024   |   Articles

The best ways to collect and spend Nectar points

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If you have a Nectar card, are you making the most of your points?

If you shop at Sainsbury’s you may as well collect the points. Unlike Clubcard and other loyalty schemes, you can rack up points at other retailers including Argos.

And if you’ve got points, you’ll need to spend them. Most of the time they’ll be exchanged at face value, though you can now swap them for Avios points.

In this article, we’ve explained how Nectar works and how you can sign up, plus we’ve shared more tips for both collecting and spending Nectar.

Nectar logo

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.

Earn Clubcard points instead?

How Nectar points work

One Nectar point is worth 0.5p, meaning if you earn 1 point from a purchase it’s the equivalent of 0.5% cashback. 100 points are therefore 50p, 200 points £1 and so on.

This is half the value of a Tesco Clubcard points. We’ve written more extensively about the value of different points in this loyalty cards article.

Value of Nectar points

  • 1 Nectar point = 0.5p
  • 2 Nectar points = 1p
  • 100 Nectar points = 50p
  • 200 Nectar points = £1
  • 500 Nectar points = £2.50
  • 1,000 Nectar points = £5
  • 2,500 Nectar points = £12.50
  • 5,000 Nectar points = £25

How Nectar works

Nectar is the loyalty scheme for Sainsbury’s and Argos. It’s actually owned by Sainsbury’s, though points can be collected and redeemed with other brands.

How to collect Nectar points

You earn points when you shop at participating retailers. We’ve listed the best places to earn Nectar points below.

When shopping in stores you’ll need a Nectar card, which can be a physical plastic one or a digital one stored on the Nectar app. Online you’ll need to either connect your Nectar card to the relevant account, or shop via the Nectar website.

You can also earn them on all spending via a couple of Nectar credit cards, or by converting Avios points.

How to spend Nectar points

Your options for using Nectar points are quite limited. It’s most likely you’ll use them in-store at Sainsbury’s and at a handful of partners.

Most of the time you’ll swipe your card to redeem your points in-store, or select to use them online. With some partners you need to convert your points into vouchers. You can also swap them to Avios points.

How to sign up to Nectar

You can get a Nectar card online, via the app or by picking up a form in a Sainsbury’s store.

Once you’ve done this a physical card will be posted out, though you’ll have a digital card via the app straight away.

How to check your Nectar points balance

Not sure how many Nectar points you have? The Nectar app and website both contain your current points total, as well as a record of where and when you earned your points.

The best places to collect Nectar points

Sainsbury’s

Earn points as you spend

You’ll get one point for every £1 spent at Sainsbury’s. 500 points are worth £2.50, so this works out at 0.5%.

Swipe at the till to get your points, and keep an eye on the app or digital account for special offers which boost the number of points you’ll get.

You might also get vouchers for extra points at the till, sometimes double or triple points on your next transaction. If you can be bothered to buy a single, cheap item at the start of your shop, you should then get any vouchers printed out ready for you to use on the rest of your shopping.

Get bonus points via weekly offers

As well as generic offers, you’ll also get ones tailored to your shopping habits. These change every Friday.

You have to save the offers to your account, though there’s a handy “save all offers” button. And of course you still have to scan your card at the till.

Nectar Prices

Nectar Prices are discounts for Nectar holders, similar to Tesco Clubcard prices. To get these, you just shop as normal, looking out for the Nectar price on the shelves. At checkout, you need to make sure you remember to scan your Nectar card and the discount will be applied. You can read more about Nectar Prices here.

Your Nectar Prices

This seems like it’s the same as above, but Your Nectar Prices is specific to you. These come through weekly and will be based on your shopping history, potentially saving you money on things you’ll actually buy. There are only a few offers each week, but it’s worth having a peek when you get the notification.

Argos

You can also earn points at Argos. It’s one point per £1 spent, though it’s occasionally doubled. You’ll need to link your Nectar and Argos accounts.

ESSO

Esso replaced BP on Nectar back in 2019. You can earn 1 point per litre of fuel, or swipe in-store to get two points per £1 spent on other things, so roughly 1% back in points.

Currently you can get 3x points when you fill with Supreme+ fuel at Esso. Ends 19 Feb 2025.

Avios

You can convert 400 Avios points to 400 Nectar points, which is handy if you’ve got a surplus of Avios points that you won’t use. You can also swap them back the other way (you’ll only get 250 points though). This is also a way to boost the value of Amex Reward points. Find out everything you need to know in our step-by-step guide to convert Avios to Nectar points and vice versa.

Via Nectar credit cards

If you shop at a Nectar store a lot, it might be worth getting a Nectar credit card. There are two main options.

The American Express Nectar credit card is the best bet and will earn you up to two points for every £1 spent, worth 1%. You’ll also still earn a point per £1 spent at Sainsbury’s and Argos. There’s also a bonus worth £100 pounds when you first sign up and spend £2,000.

If you’re thinking of getting a Nectar credit card, check out our guide to the best cashback and reward credit card promotions.

Via Amex membership rewards

You can convert American Express Rewards points to Nectar points at a value of one to one, meaning one Amex point would be worth 0.5p. This could be a good use for large Amex welcome bonuses, which can be worth between £100 and £500, depending on the card.

Via utilities & insurance

You can earn bonus points for signing up for other Sainsbury’s Bank products such as home insurance and also Sainsbury’s Energy. Though they could be worth it, these offers shouldn’t be a reason to choose Sainsbury’s over other providers as they could work out more expensive than options you find via a full comparison.

Other retailers

You’ll see many other brands listed on the Nectar website, such as Expedia and Very. To earn points via these retailers you have to click through via the Nectar portal. Most of the time you’ll get two points per £1 spend, so the equivalent of 1% back, but they can be more or less and there are often boosted points offers.

Retailers include:

  • ASOS
  • Just Eat
  • Booking. com
  • Expedia
  • Groupon
  • Europcar
  • Very
  • Dominos
  • Wayfair

These extra places to earn points might sound appealing but I would avoid using them since you can usually beat these rates by clicking through a cashback site instead. Here’s our guide to the best cashback sites and welcome bonuses.

Where to spend Nectar points

Caffe Nero

The Caffe Nero offer is pretty decent compared to other Nectar partners. Currently, 400 points can be exchanged for a free hot drink (which costs around £3 or more).

That works out to about 0.81p in Nectar points for a regular Americano priced at £3.25, which is much higher than the standard 0.5p per point offered at other retailers.

At the current redemption rate, as long as the drink you buy is priced at more than £2 you’re getting better value than using points at other partners.

Sainsbury’s shops

To use your points in Sainsbury’s stores you must have used your Nectar card in that specific store in the last year. You can also use them online on the Sainsbury’s website.

They can also be used on petrol but you have to pay in the kiosk, not at the pump.

Argos

You can use multiples of 500 points at Argos, each worth £2.50. To spend them in an Argos store you swipe your card; online you must have connected your card.

Converting to Avios points

We think that most people are better off using cashback credit cards and air mile reward credit cards. You’ve got the flexibility to use your earnings how you want, and not be restricted to certain flights.

However, if you are an Avios fan, then you can boost your points by converting 400 Nectar points to 250 Avios.

Donate to charity

Nectar Donate allows you to give your points to charities using Crowdfunder. The points are worth the same as usual, so 1000 points will be a £5 donation. There’s a minimum of 200 points, and it must be in multiples of 200.

Other Nectar points redemptions

There are a fraction of the partners you get with Tesco Clubcard, and few opportunities to boost the value.

Once more 500 points are usually worth £2.50. You also have to spend them in chunks (usually 500 points or 1,000 points) rather than choose how many you’d like to use.

You can exchange them for the same value at the following retailers:

  • Vue – 500 points for £2.50
  • Eurostar – 500 points for £2.50 (minimum 2,000 points)

Poor options include swapping for movie rentals at Sky Store since you can get far cheaper rentals elsewhere. We’ve summarised the cheapest ways to rent movies here.

Some of these retailers let you swipe your card or link your card to use points. Others require you to exchange the points for a voucher or code via the Nectar website.

Nectar points special offers

Occasionally, there are increased points offers at Sainsbury’s and other partners, both to earn extra points and sometimes (though more rarely) to use them.

You can usually find these in the Nectar app and website, so it pays to check every now and again.

When we spot any really good ones we’ll share them on our loyalty scheme offers page.

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November 25, 2024   |   Articles

The best ways to use and earn Tesco Clubcard points

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You can get up to double value of your points

If you shop at Tesco, you probably already have a Tesco Clubcard. But how do you spend the points to get the best value?

Tesco Clubcard image

What are Tesco Clubcard points worth?

You’ll get one Clubcard point for every £1 you spend at Tesco.

If you spend them in-store on your groceries, 100 Clubcard points are worth £1, so that means they have a base value of 1p each. And if you’ve got 1,000 points then that’s worth £10. And so on.

  • 1 Clubcard point = 1p
  • 2 Clubcard points = 2p
  • 100 Clubcard points = £1
  • 200 Clubcard points = £2
  • 500 Clubcard points = £5
  • 1,000 Clubcard points = £10
  • 2,500 Clubcard points = £25
  • 5,000 Clubcard points = £50

This means earning Clubcard points is the equivalent of getting 1% back on your shopping at Tesco.

But they can worth more through Reward Partners (previously called Clubcard Boost). Here you swap your Clubcard points for vouchers to spend elsewhere.

There used to be variable boosts. Some doubled your points, some tripled and some even quadrupled. However, this changed in June 2023 so points are now doubled when swapped with reward partners.

How does Clubcard compare to other loyalty schemes?

How to get a Clubcard

Tesco Clubcard is a free reward scheme. You can sign up on the Clubcard website or download the Tesco app.

How to use Tesco Clubcard points

You can’t spend Clubcard points until they have been converted into Clubcard vouchers. And to do this you need a minimum of 150 Clubcard points (the equivalent of £1.50). Points will only be swapped in multiples of 50.

You used to get sent these in the post with your Clubcard statement, which is sent every three months in February, May, August and November.

However this moved online for most customers in 2022. If you’ve used Tesco online you’ll get your statement and vouchers via email, unless you actively tell Tesco you still want them in the post.

A better way to convert points to vouchers is via the Faster Vouchers process as you don’t have to wait for the statement. You’ll only get a digital voucher via this method. Again you’ll need at least 150 points to convert them.

Whether paper or digital vouchers you can spend them in any Tesco store or on the Tesco online as part or full payment towards your shopping.

If you swap them with a Reward Partner you need to do this via the Clubcard website. These boosts will often have minimum levels (e.g. 50 points), and you can only swap increments of that amount (e.g. if you have 120 points you can only use 100 points)

How long Clubcard vouchers last

When you’re issued a Tesco Clubcard voucher it’s valid for 2 years. Faster vouchers last 21 months from when they are exchanged.

You can check if you’ve any vouchers and their expiration dates in your Clubcard account.

Clubcard deals and promotions

There are a few ways to use your Clubcard to save more money at Tesco.

Tesco Clubcard coupons

Some customers have access to personalised coupons via the Tesco app. These coupons are tailored to your shopping, so hopefully that means you’ll see discounts for products you buy. They won’t all be money off, some could be extra Clubcard points. If you do get the vouchers, you’ll find them via the Clubcard tab, in a section called coupons.

Tesco Clubcard Plus

This premium service costs £7.99 a month, and benefits include 10% off two shops every month. It looks like a good scheme for regular Tesco shoppers. Here’s a full review of Clubcard Plus, including details on how to get it.

Tesco Clubcard Prices

Tesco lets you use your Clubcard to access lower prices for selected groceries in-store and online. You don’t need any points on your Clubcard – you just need to have one.

See the latest Clubcard Prices deals at Tesco

The best ways to spend Tesco Clubcard vouchers

There are actually hundreds of options, so we’ve scanned through them to find the best uses of your Clubcard points.

Charities

New to Clubcard is the choice to donate your points to food poverty charities Fareshare and The Trussell Trust. You can also give to the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and Diabetes UK.

Sadly Tesco doesn’t boost these donations as they do with other offers, which I think is a shame. Still if you have at least 50p in vouchers you can swap them.

Disney +

You can swap £13.50 worth of points for a three month standard Disney+ subscription or £7.50 worth of points for a three month standard with ads subscription. Both new and existing Disney+ users can take advantage.

Sometimes the offer is temporarily improved, for example, six months for the same price. Here are other ways to save on Disney+.

Days out

Fancy paying less when going to the zoo? A theme park? Museum? All these are available at a discount.

A lot of the “days out” used to be quadruple points and have been reduced to double – but they still represent decent value. It’s worth checking to see there isn’t a better offer out there, though one saving which is hard to beat is using your points for double credit towards an English Heritage or RHS membership.

It’s worth checking out other ways to save on days out if you go out a lot, as some discounts might be greater.

Cinema tickets

You can use your points to get cut-price cinema tickets, again at double value. So 50p in vouchers will get you £1 to spend. It’s only for Cineworld or Picturehouse.

You can also use your points towards the Cineworld Unlimited pass.

Check out our list of other cinema discounts and deals

Theatre tickets

The current theatre offer is for Back To The Future The Musical tickets. The 2x value applies to vouchers to use on the booking page of the show.

Check out our list of other theatre ticket offers

Railcards

If you regularly travel by train then a railcard can save you money every time you travel, and one of the cheapest ways to get one is using your Clubcard points.

You can trade £1.50 in vouchers to get £3 credit towards your railcard. It works for most types of railcard, though an exception is the 26-30 card.

Bonus airline points

If you already save airline points, this is a great way to get more. You can convert your Clubcard points (with a minimum value of £1.50) to Virgin points at twice their value, that is 1 Clubcard point is worth 2 Virgin points.

There are often bonus offers when you sign up to auto-exchange your Clubcard points to Virgin points for the first time, so it’s a good idea to wait for one of those before setting up the auto-exchange.

Magazine subscriptions

You can convert a minimum of 50p in Clubcard vouchers to get a £1 voucher to go towards a subscription.

So if you wanted to sign up to a year of Empire completely (at a cost of £68.25) via Clubcard points you would need £34 in points, and top it up by another 25p from your bank account.

Of course you can get other subscriber deals elsewhere which give good discounts. A quick search for Empire shows you can pay £55, so the Clubcard deal really saves you just £21.

It’s a similar story for other magazines available via Clubcard, including Good Housekeeping, Elle, Garden Answers, Golf and Esquire.

This isn’t the best way to save on magazines though – you can get them for free! Read about our hack to get free digital magazines 

Tesco Mobile bills

You can use your points to reduce the cost of your mobile bill. It’s only 1:1 rather than double, so you may as well use your points in-store.

At Tesco

There was a time, not too long ago, that you’d be a fool not to swap Clubcard points with a reward partner. But in the last few years the best offers have disappeared.

There are still lots of options, but whether they’re worth it comes down to two factors. One: Do you want or need what you’re swapping for? Two: Can you get that partner offer discounted elsewhere?

If it’s no for the first, or yes for the second, then you’re most probably better off using the points at Tesco – at least you’ll actually need food and drink!

Clubcard deals to avoid

Though you can save money by boosting your points in these areas, I think you can get similar savings elsewhere – meaning you should boost your points on the more valuable discounts listed above.

Restaurants

Even when these were 4x value, we advised that you could spend your points better elsewhere than at the chain restaurants included in Clubcard Boost. And now they are double instead, the deal is worse.

That’s because you can get decent discounts for the likes of Pizza Express and Bella Italia elsewhere. A simple google often brings up voucher codes for 40% off or two for one. Plus you can save at more places more often with a Tastecard trial.

So let’s say you’ve gone to Pizza Express and the final bill came to £30, it would have cost you £15 via Clubcard vouchers, or £15 via Tastecard or another voucher.

You may be able to double up these discounts though there’s no guarantee.

List of Tesco Clubcard restaurants:

  • Ask Italian
  • Bella Italia
  • Brew Dog Bars
  • Cafe Rouge
  • Chef & Brewer
  • Hungry Horse pubs
  • Pizza Express
  • Prezzo
  • Zizzi

Hotels

It’s similar with converting your Clubcard vouchers to spend on hotels. Though you can get double value on points to spend at Hotels.com and one or two other brands, you’re locked into booking direct with those websites, which might not offer the best rates available. We think you’re better off searching for the lowest prices elsewhere, and then using your points at one of the options above.

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November 22, 2024   |   Articles

How to get free delivery: 6 delivery hacks

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How to avoid paying for postage and packaging

One of the most infuriating parts of online shopping is having to pay for delivery, and most of us are no strangers to shopping elsewhere if delivery is an additional cost.

But before you close that tab, give some of these tips a go to get a discount on your delivery fees.

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.

amazon delivery on a mat

Top up your order with everyday essentials

Some shops only offer free delivery if you spend above a threshold. This is often really annoying, especially when you’re just a few quid out.

Try to avoid websites which help you find random cheap items such as washers that you don’t need – you’re still paying extra when you do this and these items are likely to just end up in the bin.

Instead, keep a list of those everyday essentials you know you’ll need at some point, like stamps, batteries or hand soap – all of which can be bought at Amazon, Tesco, Ocado, and other major supermarket websites. When you’re falling short, just add some of these in.

Top up your order with returnable items

An alternative is to add items you know you don’t want with the intention of returning them. Andy’s done this with John Lewis to get to the £50 threshold before.

Since anything you buy online can be returned within 14 days of you receiving the goods, the shops have to refund you. The only exception is anything that has been customised or is perishable.

Watch out for return charges

It’s not just delivery where you could have to pay – more and more retailers will now charge you for returns. And some places might later charge you for delivery if what you keep ends up below the free delivery threshold.

If you’re not sure whether you’ll keep what you buy, especially if you are trying multiple sizes and styles, then it’s worth shopping around to compare return costs.

It might even be worth paying a little more if you know you’ll pay less to send the items back.

Sign up for a delivery pass free trial

A few stores will offer a free trial of a delivery pass, usually giving unlimited deliveries or at least some money off. 

However, be careful that this trial doesn’t become one you pay for afterwards if you don’t think it offers value. And even then, the idea behind this type of membership is to encourage you to keep shopping with them, as opposed to shopping around, which might work out cheaper even if you have to pay for delivery.

Collect in-store or at a locker

Another option to reduce delivery fees is to order online and then collect in-store or at a locker, with this often done for free. Yes, this does mean you have to go to the shops, but at least you know what you are buying will be there when you arrive, and you’re much less likely to throw extra impulse items in the basket.

Plus, you can check your purchase at the shop. So if you don’t like it or it doesn’t fit you can usually return it there and then, saving an extra trip. 

Rather cheekily, some retailers still charge for click-and-collect, but it’s worth a go.

Get a free delivery code

This can be a bit more work, but some retailers often have a free delivery code. The best bet is to have a little Google and see what comes up. If you’re signed up to their mailing list, check if you have an email offering free delivery.

Be careful if you are using a cashback site, as you might find the cashback claim is rejected for combining offers. Be sure to check the terms and conditions.

There are also some browser extensions available that will notify you if they find a deal – Zoe in the team has had some good luck with PayPal’s Honey in the past.

You could also try asking for a free delivery code on live chat via the website and see if they can do something for you. 

Or, put the items you want to buy in your basket, leave it a little while, and see if the retailer pops you an email to ask if you’ve forgotten to check out — there’s sometimes a discount code or free delivery code to give you that extra push.

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Check other retailers

It’s also worth checking that the item isn’t for sale at another shop with free or cheaper delivery. Even if the item itself costs more, the total amount including delivery could well be less.

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November 22, 2024   |   Articles

Energy price cap to increase by 1.2% from January 2025

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The average household will pay £1,738 a year

The energy price cap is going up, taking a typical bill to around £145 a month. Energy prices will be slightly lower than January-March last year, and are well down on their peak, but still roughy £500 higher than 2021’s pre-Ukraine invasion levels.

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

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 the energy cap works

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

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

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

The quoted “cap” (£1,738) is an annual price based on a typical household. If you use more energy, you’ll pay more than the cap every year. Use less and you’ll pay less.

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

The cap will also vary depending on where you live in the UK. Prepayment caps have always been a little higher, though that changed earlier this year. The new energy price cap also applies to those with a prepayment meter. 

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

What is the new energy price cap?

The latest announcement is rise to the price cap from 1 Januaryuntil 31 March 2025.

The new cap for a “household with average use” is £1,738 a year. This is up by about £21, or 1.2% from the current rate, but bills are still 50% higher than pre-Covid levels.

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

  • Electricity standing charge: 60.97p per day
  • Electricity unit charge: 24.86p per kilowatt hour (kWh)
  • Gas standing charge: 31.65p per day
  • Gas unit charge: 6.34p per kilowatt hour (kWh)

The Ofgem website has a full breakdown of the regional caps for all standing charges and units.

What is the monthly price cap?

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

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

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

For the latest cap, the average monthly bill will be £144.83 which is £1.75 more every month than the current cap.

What is the current energy price cap?

The current price cap (1 October to 31 December) is £1,716 a year, based on the average household. This is with the new typical use figures.

This was increased by 9.5% from £1,568 compared to the previous three months.

When will the new cap come into play?

This new energy price cap will come into play on 1 January and will remain in place until 31 March. In February 2025, there will be another announcement which will detail what the price cap will be from 1 April 2025. 

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

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

If you want to get a rough quick idea, you can add 1.2% from what you pay at the moment (multiply your current monthly bill by 1.012). This doesn’t take into account the balance between unit and standing charges, or whether you’ve got an accurate direct debit set-up, but it could give you a sense.

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

If you’re on a variable tariff

Broadly, anyone on a standard tariff will be charged more per unit of energy from 1 January 2025. Of course, the bill itself will be based on your actual energy use. 

If you’re on a prepayment meter

The really good news is that there is no longer a significant premium for those with prepayment meters. In fact, it’ll be slightly less at £1,690 on average for the year.

If you’re already on a fixed tariff

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

Should you fix your energy?

We’ve seen more fixed deals returning to the market this summer. It be worth checking them out to see if you’ll save.

You’ll be comparing prices based on the price cap now, rather than January’s one, so it’s likely most fixes will say you’ll pay more.

But if the increase shown on the fix is lower than 1.2%, you’ll be paying less for January to March. Since we all use the most energy in these months, it’ll represent a bigger saving.

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

There are also some tariffs that track at below the cap, so you’ll always pay less. At the time of writing these are from Eon (no exit fees) and EDF (£50 exit fees).

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

Will bills go up again?

The current predictions are that the price cap will fall in April 2025 by about 1.4% bringing bills down to £1,713 a year, but a lot can change in that time.  

When is the next price cap change?

The price cap is reviewed every three months (though prior to October 2022 it was every six months).

The price cap will next change on 1 January 2025. We already know that this is £1,738. After this, it’ll change again on 1 April 2025, a change that will be announced in February 2025.

Price cap announcements & changes

  • Announcement by 25 February 2025 for 1 April 2025 change
  • Announcement by 26 May 2025 for 1 July 2025 change
  • Announcement by 27 August 2025 for 1 October 2025 change

How you can reduce your bill

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

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

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

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

The energy price cap vs the energy price guarantee

In October 2022 a couple of government subsidies were introduced, which meant no one was actually paying the cap. First, was a £400 discount added to all gas and electricity accounts, saving everyone £67 a month for six months, with the last payment hitting accounts in March.

Combined with this was another price limit called the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG). The idea is that the government pays the difference between the two rates if the EPG is lower than the price cap.

Until July 2023 the EPG was £2,500 a year (on average). It was then raised to £3,000.

At the same time, the price cap fell to around £2,000, meaning prices were governed by that lower cap rather than the EPG.

How has the price cap changed?

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

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

DateCost per year with new typical use figuresEPG & grantsAverage monthly billChange (+/-)
January to April 2025 £1,738£3,000 EPG£145+1.2%
October to December 2024£1,717£3,000 EPG£143+9.5%
July to September 2024£1,568£3,000 EPG£131-7.2%
April to June 2024£1,690£3,000 EPG£141-12.34%
January to March 2024£1,928£3,000 EPG£161+5.13%
October to December 2023£1,834£3,000 EPG£153-7.95%
July to September 2023£1,992£3,000 EPG£166-17.04%
April to June 2023£3,151£2,402 EPG£200+50.33%
January to March 2023£4,110£2,402 EPG & £67/m grant£1330.00%
October to December 2022£3,409£2,402 EPG & £67/m grant£133-15.62%
April to September 2022£1,893£158+54.35%
October 2021 to March 2022£1,227£102+12.21%
April to September 2021£1,093£91+9.21%
October 2020 to March 2021£1,001£83-7.46%
April to September 2020£1,082£90-4.50%
October 2019 to March 2020£1,133£94-5.98%
April to September 2019£1,205£100+10.29%
January to March 2019£1,092£91
Estimated costs, due to the change in the typical domestic consumption

Historical energy price caps

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

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

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November 20, 2024   |   Deals

Magazine and newspaper deals

Written by

From digital to physical copies I’ll share top deals to save on your regular reading.

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.

Magazine offers

Which? Magazine: deal stack

You can combine up to three different deals to bring down the price of an annual subscription to Which? magazine.

Not everyone will be able to get the Amex offer (you need to check your card offers and add it to the card if it’s showing), but the other two options are there for all.

It means you’ll pay Which? £49.50 for a full access subscription, and then get between £15.84 and £16.34 back from the cashback site (the rate varies so check both). Remember to apply via the cashback site and close any Which? tabs that are open.

If you have Amex you’ll save more again. We’ve seen offers such as 55% off a £45 spend and 50% off a £30 spend – these vary by cardholder, and there’s a chance you won’t see the offer at all.

But say you get 50% off the price paid, that’s another £25 off, meaning all in you get the subscription for around £8.50. There’s a chance this last part is dependent on clicking through from the Amex app, but it wasn’t when Andy did this in December 2022, so it should be fine this time too.

Bear in mind you’ll be charged the full £99 after 12 months if you don’t cancel.

And if you’ve not used Quidco or TopCashback there’s a new welcome bonus worth up to £20 you can nab on top.

Subscribe to Which? magazine

Free magazine subscription with Lloyds bank

You can get a year’s subscription to a number of titles if you open a Club Lloyds current account. I use this to get a year of Empire, though you might be better off with the alternative freebies such as 6 cinema tickets or a year of Disney+ Standard with Ads.

Here’s more information in our review.

Find out more about the Club Lloyds freebies

Digital magazine offers

Free digital magazines from your library

Most libraries have a way to get free access to dozens of titles via your phone or computer. I’ve written here about how you can get a load of digital magazines via your local library.

Read more about getting free magazines from your library

The Athletic: £1 per month for a year 

The Athletic is offering access to the site for £1 per month for a year.

After the year ends, you’ll be charged £7.99 per month, so make sure you cancel beforehand if you don’t want to pay full price. 

Sign up for The Athletic

Magzter: One year for £19.95 or less

Magzter is an online digital subscription where you can access more than 8,000 magazines. You can read the magazines on any iOS or Android device via the Magzter app.

This offer on Groupon gives you access for £19.95 rather than £99.99. And if you combine it with a code you might be able to save more.

There are plenty of UK titles such as Total Film, Reader’s Digest, BBC Good Food, Marie Claire and Woman & Home, as well as international faves such as Entertainment Weekly. There’s also randomly Spurs and Everton match programmes!

You can have five separate accounts with the subscription so it’s a good option for a family. 

It does auto-renew after the year so be sure to cancel it before the year is up.

Buy a year of Magzter

Readly: Two-month free trial

This subscription service costs £7.99 a month. You can currently get a month for free. Or sign up for the free Lidl Plus app and you can access a two-month free trial.

Get the Lidl Plus app

The best deals

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

November 20, 2024   |   Deals

Theatre deals and discounts

Written by

Tickets to shows may be pricey, but there are ways to save

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

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

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

Annual sales and offers

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

Official London Theatre See It Live (December 2024 to March 2025)

Official London Theatre holds a New Year sale semi-regularly, with some big shows at least 20% off. It’s been rebranded this year to See It Live (previously it was Get Into London Theatre or the London Theatre New Year sale).

Tickets are either £10, £20, £30, £40 or £50, with no booking fees.

This year it’s running from 10am on 26 November 2024 for performances until February. It’s often extended into March.

Buy See It Live tickets

Kids Week (June to September)

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

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

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

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

Get Kids Week tickets

London Theatre Week (August to September)

Twice a year, TodayTix and other sites offer discounts at a decent number of West End shows in an event called London Theatre Week. It ran from 20 August to 8 September in 2024, an extension on the initial week it was running for.

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

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

Expect it to also return late February 2025.

Buy London Theatre Week tickets

Love Your Local Theatre (March to May)

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

However, unused tokens from March were made available again, with a final chance to get tokens taking place in May.

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

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

This event did not take place in 2024 so hopefully it’ll make a return in 2025.

Get 2-4-1 local theatre tickets

Flash promotions & sales

These offers are special deals that we’ve spotted

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

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

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

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

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

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

Theatre Tokens gift card discounts

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

Theatre Tokens: 10% off

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

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

Get 10% off

Previous offers

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

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

Get tickets at TodayTix

TodayTix: 25 shows for £25 each (expired)

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

Book via TodayTix

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November 20, 2024   |   Articles

How to get cheap theatre tickets

Written by

Everything you need to know to save money when going to a show

A trip to the theatre isn’t a cheap night out. Tickets for Hamilton go as high as £250. That’s for one ticket. Crazy prices. But there are ways to see West End and local theatre productions for less.

I obviously don’t pay that kind of price. Yes for the hottest shows that means I might go without, but there are plenty of ways to see top-quality West End and local theatre productions for less.

image of a theatre audience

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.

Hunt out the best deals

There are some big sales throughout the year which are always good bets. The biggest – Get Into London Theatre usually takes place from December to March, while Kids Week is every August.

Ad hoc sales and offers pop up on TodayTix, while TimeOut has the occasional deal (it used to be better). There are sometimes flash sales at Ticketmaster too. Lastminute.com isn’t as good as it once was, but it’s worth a look.

Generally, avoid sites like TasteCard+, which offer money off tickets as part of the membership. Each time I’ve looked the deals can be beaten elsewhere or aren’t even discounted at all.

When there are any really good deals on lots of productions, I’ll list them on my theatre tickets deals page.

Pay with discounted gift cards

This trick won’t always work – sometimes the best prices are on sites that don’t accept gift cards (e.g TodayTix). But there are often deals to save here or there on the likes of Ticketmaster and Theatre Tokens.

Thanks to this I managed to get 50% off seats at rarely discounted shows Cabaret and Hamilton (though sadly it’s rare to see such a huge per cent off).

Choose the best value seats

If there’s a play I want to see my first stop is often always the excellent Theatre Monkey. The website provides seating plans for each theatre, with crowdsourced feedback from readers telling you which seats are good value, and which are bad. Often a ticket might be cheap because you can’t see half the stage!

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Get a cheaper day or rush ticket

A number of shows offer reduced tickets on the day, often called rush or day tickets. Sometimes these have been held back for the day, or they could just be returns. For the really popular shows this is a great way to get tickets.

It used to be you’d have to rock up at the box office very, very early. But now most of these are sold online. Theatremonkey has a list of how it works for each show, along with reader feedback on success rates for those queuing in-person.

However, the majority will be sold through the TodayTix where you unlock “rush tickets” at 10am. Most cost £25, but could be as low as £15.

The seats could be anywhere in the theatre, from restricted view through to the the top-end VIP seats. It’s first come first serve, though I’ve managed to get tickets as late as 5pm (obviously not for the most popular shows).

Some theatres have larger numbers of reduced tickets on set days. Over at The Royal Court there are cheaper seats every Monday (on sale 9am online on the day).

Try a lottery

Lotteries for plays can get you cheap tickets to performances, even the most popular and sold-out shows. However, as the name suggests, it’s a lottery as to whether your name is chosen to buy the tickets.

Over the years I tried for shows like Book of Mormon, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton and Cabaret – with no success!

They used to take place at the box office. You’d just turn up at the box office a few hours before the show and give your name… and hope! Now most are online.

More often these are also run via the TodayTix app. Some still offer them on their own websites such as the one for Matilda or The National Theatre’s £10 Friday Rush promotion.

Check in advance what the rules are. Some take place once a week for all performances the following week, others are daily. There’s usually a cut-off time to submit your entry and if you’re successful you’ll likely only be able to buy two tickets.

Be a seat filler

I’ve nabbed dozens of free tickets for my parents through sites like Show Film First and Central Tickets often for big West End shows. The reason? Theatres want to fill up the seats.

This tends to happen at the start to help spread word of mouth, or near the end of a run when less people are going. There’s usually a £4 to £10 fee per ticket – a fraction of the actual ticket cost. Here’s my guide to how seat filling works.

Buy resale seats

The Twickets website is a great place for people to sell on seats they can no longer use. Though sellers can’t inflate the selling price (it’s an anti-tout company), there are Twicket fees on top, so it’s always worth checking you can’t get the ticket for less direct.

However, the closer it gets to the performance date, sellers can reduce their asking price or allow offers. So if you can go last minute you might be able to nab a bargain. At the time of writing I spotted Hamilton tickets for tonight’s performance going for below face value.

The best deals

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

Go to theatres with special rates

The National Theatre offers hundreds of tickets at each performance at just £20. They go quick but you can sign up for alerts.

Meanwhile, The Globe has 700 £5 tickets for every performance (though they are standing) and The Young Vic has £12 Lucky Dip standing tickets that could be upgraded on the night to an empty seat.

You can of course avoid the West End and see something on the fringe, which will be much cheaper. The Arcola has a “Pay What You Can Tuesdays”, with a suggested price of £5.

Visit the official theatre booth

From when I was a kid through to just a few years ago I always used to head to the official TKTs Theatre Booth in Leicester Sqare to get my tickets (as long as I was flexible about what I saw). Unsold tickets for that day’s performances were often half-price – though there was usually a queue.

Recently the prices don’t seem as competitive as they once were, but they’re still worth a look if there are a few London shows you’d like to see. Don’t confuse it with other “discount theater booths” nearby.

And you don’t have to visit in person now. I picked up tickets online to Dear England on the train down to London for that evening’s performance.

Go to a less expensive performance

If you can go on a midweek afternoon – usually a Wednesday or Thursday – you’re more likely to find availability in the cheaper seats. The same goes for evening shows at the start of the week.

Previews are often discounted as they’re essentially ticketed dress rehearsals. Most shows will be cheaper. However with full prices already so high, you could still pay a fair amount.

Cut your booking and delivery fees

A good way to save is to collect your tickets at the box office on the night of the show. If there are no special deals or discounts, head to the theatre box office where you can normally avoid booking fees too.

If you can’t do this and have to buy online then do shop around as you might find See Tickets is cheaper than Ticketmaster for one show, but more expensive for another!

Buy a cheap seat and ask for an upgrade

Buy a ticket in the cheapest part of the theatre – usually at the top of the upper circle or similar then you could be automatically upgraded. For less-busy shows these parts of the theatre are often closed and the tickets redistributed.

I’ve had this happen a few times. A few years ago I bought £10 tickets (to Let The Right One In) via Lastminute.com. They were meant to be restricted view in the top circle level, but when we arrived we found we’d been upgraded to £50 stalls tickets to fill those seats (the circle was completely closed).

This is more likely to happen on less popular productions in larger theatres for performances happening earlier in the week,

If that hasn’t happened automatically and the theatre isn’t too busy, you can always ask when you collect your tix. Or just see if you can move in the interval – though you might be asked to move back by staff.

Ditch the West End

Yes theatre does exist outside central London! There are lots of top theatres, especially in Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Stratford-upon-Avon and Chichester.

Plus, many shows will tour the UK before moving to the West End, or will be revived a few years later. Seats will pretty much always be cheaper this way.

Watch it at the cinema or at home

If you’re not in London or can’t afford West End prices even when they are on offer, then your best chance to see the top plays is in the cinema. Tickets generally range between £15 and £20.

And there are streaming services that allow you to watch productions from your sofa.

Read next

November 20, 2024   |   Deals

Save money on toys: sales, offers and more

Written by

Here are the best deals to save money on toys

If we spot any decent offers on kids toys we’ll share them here.

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.

Toy sales

Hobbycraft: 50% off puzzles

If you like to crack open a jigsaw in the winter period, Hobbycraft is offering 50% off puzzles. Almost its entire range is in the offer, including ones for kids to puzzles with 2,000 pieces.

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

Get a puzzle

Smyths: up to £10 off

Smyths is offering £5 off a £50 spend and £10 off a £100 spend until 24 November 2024. You don’t need a code, the discount will be given to you at the checkout, whether you shop online or in-store.

You can’t use it with video games or consoles.

Buy toys at Smyths

Discount codes

The Entertainer: £10 or £20 off (ended)

Until 30 April 2024 you can save £10 off £60 or £20 off £100 at The Entertainer with the code SAVEMORE. It does however exclude Lego, and it’s online only.

Shop at The Entertainer

John Lewis: £10 off a £50 Lego spend (ended)

Use code LEGOSPEND at John Lewis to save money on selected full-price Lego products. The offer lasts until 31 October 2023 and gets you:

  • £10 off a £50 spend
  • £30 off a £150 spend
  • £50 off a £250 spend

You’ll just need to add the promo code at the payment stage of the checkout. You can only use one promo code per transaction but it can be redeemed more than once.

Save on Lego

Argos and Sainsbury’s: Up to 50% off toys (ended)

Get an early discount on toys with Argos and Sainsbury’s offering up to 50% off selected items for a limited time only.

From Barbie to Lego, you can find a wide range of discounts on popular toys. You don’t need a discount code to get money off with this deal.

Get up to 50% off toys