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June 25, 2025   |   Articles

The cheapest ways to get Wimbledon 2025 tennis tickets

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From the ballot to the queue, here’s how to get in at SW19

Wimbledon is one of the highlights of my summer, even though getting a ticket to see the tennis isn’t always cheap or easy – but you can do it on a budget.

Here are my top tips for getting a ticket.

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.

Andy Webb at Wimbledon
Me having just got into the grounds in 2018.

1. Go in the first week

In terms of value for money, the best way in my experience is to go towards the end of the first week (which this year starts on Tuesday 30 June). 

At this point, the tournament will be in the second or third round where the players will be much more evenly matched. Round one games, especially with the top seeds, can often be a whitewash. 

If you want to experience Centre Court, the cheapest tickets are for the first couple of days.

2. Try to buy last-minute tickets

If you’re looking to guarantee a ticket before heading out, such as if you live a little further afield, then last minute ticket options might be an option.

Try your luck the day before

Some tickets are typically sold a day or two before, but there’s no details on the website about them just yet. You normally need to download the official Wimbledon app to get them, so it’s worth downloading and signing up to prep. 

American Express cardholder tickets

American Express cardholders might be able to grab themselves some last-minute tickets to Centre Court during the tournament. It’s not been confirmed for 2025 yet, but if it’s running again any sales will be revealed on Amex socials this year, so give them a follow.

Ballot tickets

You might still be able to get access to returned ballot tickets – these will be restricted to those who were unsuccessful in the ballot. Those who are eligible will get an email detailing how to access the resale. 

In previous years you needed to be quick. Several hundred tickets for Centre Court and Court 3 went on sale at 9am the day before. Returns for the same courts went on sale roughly 48 hours before the start of play, also via Ticketmaster. 

It’s a good idea to sign up for the Wimbledon newsletter to be the first to know of any extra ticket releases.

3. Join the queue

The queue is a great way to nab yourself some great tickets on the day. It’s an early start, especially if you live outside of London, but it’s quite an experience in itself – you even get a booklet on how to queue (how British!). 

It’s first-come, first… serve (sorry) so the earlier you join the queue the better. If you want a show court you’ll need to be there overnight. A limited number of tickets are available for Centre, No.1 and No.2 Courts. Only one ticket can be bought per person, so you need to be queuing together to get more than one.

For other tickets, well the earlier the better is still the case. Historically, we’ve arrived at around 7am, and didn’t get into the grounds until just gone 1pm! But for most of that time we were just sat in the sun in a field which was actually really nice – just bring a book! There are toilets, food outlets and water refill stations.

Gates open gradually from 9.45am and play normally starts on outer courts around 11am. There’s usually a comprehensive guide to the queue on the Wimbledon website which details how it’s handled.

This year you’ll need to download the Wimbledon app and sign into a MyWimbledon account so it’s worth doing this ahead of time.

People queuing for Wimbledon
The Wimbledon queue when we arrived just after 7am

4. Get a ground pass

The best way to save money on Wimbledon is to get a Grounds Pass – these let you watch some quality tennis on the outer courts for a fraction of the price. In week two you’ll have fewer singles to watch but don’t worry, there’ll be some great doubles action if you go on a Monday or Tuesday.

If you are early (and quick) there are also some unreserved seats and standing space on Court 3. A ground pass will cost you £30 during the first week, less from the second Tuesday onwards.

5. Get £10 returns

It used to be that extra tickets went on sale from a hut inside the grounds. These became available as people left for the day and donated their ticket to be resold, with profits going to charity. But it meant more queuing!

The good news is this changed recently, and you can now do it via the Wimbledon app. You’ll need to get your phone scanned at kiosks in the grounds or the queue by 2.30pm. Then as tickets become released between 3pm and 9pm, keep an eye out for a text message saying you’ve “won” a show court seat.

You’ve 10 minutes from the text to accept it, and another 20 minutes to pay for your ticket from the resale kiosk by Court 1.

Costs in 2025 were:

  • Centre Court: £15
  • No 1 Court: £10
  • No 2 Court: £10

6. Bring your own food

Once you’re in, it gets very expensive. Check the T&Cs on your ticket and on the Wimbledon website, but to avoid paying high prices for disappointing burgers, bring a picnic. The same is the case with drinks. You’re allowed to bring your own booze – though not spirits – and there are (fairly generous) limits per person. Remember to bring along a corkscrew to avoid taking a bottle of wine on a day trip (speaking from experience).

Don’t forget a bottle of water – there are fountains where you can refill  – and bring along sun cream, or risk paying over the odds for it in the shop. You’ll save near on £20 this way, if not more.

Amex cardholders are usually able to get a discount on purchases in the Amex lounge while last year Barclays customers got free strawberries and cream – so keep an eye out for anything like this.

7. Go there after work

If the sun is shining, there’s every chance play will carry on until 8 or 9pm. Possibly even later now there’s a roof on Court One as well as Centre.

When I went a few years ago there was a discounted cost after 5pm – entrance to the grounds was £14 after during week one, less in week two, so I’d expect it to be not too much more this year. 

However, you can only buy these tickets if people have left the grounds as it’s one-in, one-out. 

8. Look for people leaving show courts

If people look like they’re calling it a night, just ask politely if they mind giving you their ticket. This is the best way to get yourself into Centre Court. It’s worth a shot!

I used to do this as a kid, and managed it again at the French Open a few years ago (using some very poor GCSE French!).

A couple of years ago one bloke a few feet away just shouted out if anyone wanted his tickets as he was on his way out. We just missed out!

9. Ask if you can take empty seats.

Late on, you’ll see many seats empty as corporate guests head home. The likelihood is they won’t hand their tickets in to be resold so there’s no official way to fill the seats.

So a young ‘un, I used to just be a bit cheeky and ask if I could nip into one of the empty seats at the back – and I often got onto Centre or No. 1. It might not work, but you’ve nothing to lose.

10. Get a refund if it rains

We all hope it won’t happen, but there’s rarely a year when play doesn’t get rained off. If you see less than an hour of play due to rain you can claim a full refund. If it’s more than an hour but less than two, you’re entitled to 50% back.

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11. Watch it on the big screen

If you don’t fancy getting up really early, or get there too late, then there are a load of big screens across London, and no doubt other big cities too. They often have deck chairs and a nearby bar! 

A great one is the free Open Air Film Festival from the canal side steps on Granary Square in King’s Cross. The steps are covered in AstroTurf and there’s usually beanbags and cushions. Nip to a nearby shop to pick up a can of Pimm’s and you’re good to go.

12. The Wimbledon Ballot for next year

Most of the tickets for the show courts are sold through a public ballot which generally opens in September and ends in December, with the results announced in February.

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June 25, 2025   |   Deals

Fashion sales and deals

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Here is the pick of the current fashion offers, discount codes, flash sales and deals

Whether you’re looking for a great deal on the high street for your summer or winter wardrobe or searching for something a little more specific, it’s always nice to grab a bargain. Here are some of the best ways to save on clothes.

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.

Sales and offers

Discounts for joining mailing lists

Uniqlo: £5 off in-store

Download the Uniqlo app and you’ll get a £5 voucher to use in shops (not online). There’s a minimum spend of £40.

Download the Uniqlo app

Cashback sites

It’s always worth checking what rate you’ll get from the likes of TopCashback or Quidco. If you’ve not used them before then you can also get a welcome bonus worth up to £20 by joining our newsletter.

Get a welcome bonus from a cashback site
June 23, 2025   |   Articles

LTV & the remortgaging tricks that’ll save you thousands

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Don’t miss out on even better deals when looking for a new mortgage offer.

If you’re on a fixed mortgage deal, you might just see remortgaging as something you need to do to avoid moving on to a more expensive standard variable rate. Of course, doing that will save you money but it’s possible to use remortgaging to reduce how much you pay over the term even more.

I’m not going to go through everything you need to do when you remortgage here – things like check your credit report for errors, get paperwork together and watch your spending and credit applications in the run-up to your application.

This is all very important stuff and could well have changed since you last got a mortgage. So do read up on all of that.

Instead, I’m going to focus here on a few simple things you can do that could make a big difference to the monthly and total cost of your mortgage. And the main one involves something called “Loan to Value”.

Watch this video or keep reading (or both)

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.

What is Loan to Value?

Loan to Value, or LTV, is essentially how much you have borrowed against the value of your house. So if you originally bought a £300,000 house with a £30,000 deposit you would have had an LTV of 90%. That’s a mortgage loan of £270,000.

So why does this matter to remortgaging? Well, LTV is measured in bands. They generally start at 95% (meaning you’ve put down a 5% deposit) and drop in 5% increments down to 60%, though sometimes the gaps between tiers are larger (eg 75% and then 60%).

Mortgage interest rates tend to then drop for each band you move down. And obviously the lower the interest rate you get, the less you’ll pay.

For example, at the time of writing, the lowest available five-year fix is 3.89%, according to mortgage broker Tembo. This is based on taking out a 35-year mortgage term with a 60% LTV. At 75% LTV, the lowest five-year fix available is 4.1%, 4.22% for 80% LTV and 4.32% for 90% LTV.

And over time there’s a good chance your LTV will have changed, meaning you might get a better deal when it comes around to remortgaging.

There are two key changes that could have affected your LTV since you agreed to your last mortgage deal.

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How your LTV could have changed

First, unless you’re on an interest-only mortgage, you’ve been paying into your mortgage every single month, building up equity.

Say you’ve knocked £15,000 off the mortgage in equity payments (don’t forget some of your monthly repayments will have gone towards interest charges), then you have added an extra 5% to what you own. This means your LTV would now be 85% and you can apply for the next tier of mortgages.

And second, your property value could have increased. Let’s say it’s now worth 5% more at £315,000. That’s an extra £15k. Alongside your initial deposit and the 15k in repayments, it would give you £60,000 of equity – roughly 19% of the total value. That means the LTV is now 81%. 

However, in the example above, the repayments and extra value might give an LTV of 81% but it would still only mean getting access to deals in the 85% LTV bracket, rather than 80%.

When you’re really close to a new tier, finding some extra cash from savings or cutting back ahead of remortgaging would be well worth it. Here an extra £3,000 might seem a huge amount but the drop down to the 80% band could be a big saver over time.

Using our example mortgage size, a 0.45% difference between 85% and 80% LTV tiers over five years would be just £2,000, but over 25 years that variation in rate would be worth £15,000.

It’s worth having a go on our mortgage calculator to find out what effect things like different rates have on payments, so it’s worth taking a look at playing around.

How to get a new valuation for LTV

You can get a sense of price changes using a site like Zoopla. You put your postcode in and you’ll get an estimate as to the current value of your property. It’ll be shown in a range which can be quite broad. For example, it suggests my house has gone up by £20k to £79k more than we paid for it two years ago.

You can also get an idea from Zoopla and RightMove as to what other similar properties have gone for recently. Have a nose at the listings online so you can see if it’s a similar layout and standard inside. Remember these are just guides.

For a more accurate idea you could invite an estate agent over to give you their input – there’s no commitment for you to list the house if you do this. You can then put a figure on your application. 

The mortgage lender will then want to do their own valuation (and charge you for it!). This could just be a drive-by looking at the outside of the property, or they might want to come into the house. You probably won’t know which one it is, so make sure everything looks good inside just in case. 

This won’t happen though until you’re already quite a decent way through your application process so if you don’t get what you want to bear in mind you’ll start all over again with another lender. 

Shop around for the lowest rate

Once you’ve checked the LTV you could just remortgage with your existing lender. That might be the quickest option, and it could mean you don’t need to go through as many hoops and cut out some fees. But it could also mean you’re missing out on some much lower deals. 

You can find the best remortgage rates on our comparison tables, which are updated in real time and are really handy to get an idea of what’s out there.

You can also talk to a mortgage advisor, who will be able to give you a much better idea of what you could be offered based on your individual circumstances, and even ways to boost your affordability.

A few extras to bear in mind when comparing different rates:

Find out if you are able to overpay 

It’s really worth looking to see what the rules are in terms of overpayment. Some won’t let you do it at all, while others might have annual limits. Best is complete freedom to pay what you want each month and the ability to clear it completely before the term ends.

Even if you don’t think you’ll be able to overpay by much, if at all, right now, you never know how things could change. It’s really useful to have that flexibility.

And overpaying can save you a fortune in interest charges as well as help you clear the debt earlier. There’s more on whether you should pay your mortgage off early here.

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Watch out for fees

You’ll get charged all sorts of different fees with different mortgages, and they can make good looking deals actually worse than ones with higher interest.

The main ones are the arrangement and booking fees. These facilitate the deal and could be non-refundable. You need to factor in these to the total cost of the mortgage deal.

Do this over the length of the deal (eg three years) to work out what you’ll actually be paying over time, and compare it to one with higher rates and lower fees.

Consider if you want to fix for longer

If interest rates are going to shoot up in the coming years, you might want to look beyond the usual two-year fixes. There are often five and 10-year options available, though you may pay a higher rate for these.

Check how much you’ve left to pay

One reason not to remortgage is when you’ve almost cleared your debt. That’s because the fees that are added to new deals could well wipe out the savings you’ll make by sticking put – even if it’s at a higher interest rate! So work out how much you’ll be paying by sticking put just in case it works out cheaper.

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When to remortgage

It’s worth looking for new deals around six months before your deal ends as it can take time to get the process approved.

Saying that, you can remortgage at any time, though if you do it before your deal ends you may get hit with exit fees – usually known as early repayment fees.

So generally it’s best not to do it early but you might want to keep an eye on any potential base rate changes by the Bank of England.

If it looks like there’s going to be a significant rise you might want to switch your deal early to get hold of lower price deals – but of course you need to factor in any early repayment charge as well as any changes to LTV.

Important

*Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Be Clever With Your Cash may receive a payment from Tembo Money if you complete a mortgage through the link provided. This will not affect the amount you pay for the service.

This broker fee discount of up to £499 is applicable for standard mortgages and remortgages only, more complex cases including guarantor, buy-to-let, adverse credit, and equity transfer may be liable for a fee. The fee you are required to pay will be clearly outlined by your adviser prior to an application being submitted on your behalf. The offer does not cover any other potential fees that may arise during the mortgage process.

Tembo Money Limited (12631312) is a company registered in England and Wales with its registered office at 18 Crucifix Lane, London, SE1 3JW. Tembo is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the registration number 952652. Tembo Money was awarded Best Mortgage Broker at the British bank awards in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Rates are not guaranteed and may change by the time you come to apply. Eligibility criteria may vary by lender.

Our calculator is only an estimate of how much you are able to borrow and does not constitute mortgage advice

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June 18, 2025   |   Articles

How to refill your water bottle for free

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Reuse and refill to save money with a handy app.

There’s no need to keep buying water when you’re thirsty thanks to a scheme that will let you top up at local shops and businesses.

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.

Though the summer is taking a while to get going yet this year (and rain is always around the corner) there have been some been fantastically sunny and hot days in the last month. And that means it’s more important than normal to keep hydrated when out and about.

Yes, a chilled coke can be good, and apparently, a hot drink will help lower your body temperature. But personally I’ll always prefer to have a nice cold water.

But buying bottled water isn’t always cheap. Yes, you can pick up a chilled own-brand 500ml bottle from supermarkets for around 70p, but that’s way more than it would have cost a few years ago. And you’ll be paying way over £1 at coffee shops and corner shops.

For those still commuting to the office, buying just two bottles a day during a working week could easily cost £10, if not more.

And it’s not good for the environment either. The organisation City to Sea estimates that UK households buy 480 plastic bottles a year, and only half get recycled. So it’s better for both your wallet and your conscious is to reuse either a “single-use” bottle, or buy a tougher one designed to be used again and again.

But if you’re not at home or work with access to a tap, where do you top up your bottle? Well, I’ve got some info to help you find out where you can hand over your bottle and get it refilled up for nothing.

Look for the Refill symbol

In recent years I’ve spotted more and more of the Refill logo in the windows and doors of cafes, pubs and even places like gyms. 

This logo means you’ll be able to get a refill of your water bottle for absolutely nothing. You can also plan in advance by downloading the Refill app which has a searchable map.

There are apparently over 330,000 businesses operating as “Refill Stations” in the UK, including brands such as Costa, McDonalds, Starbucks and Greggs.

Look for this Refill logo to get free water

Restaurants and bars – your rights

Of course, not everywhere will have the logo – but that doesn’t mean you can’t get free water. It’s always worth asking places if they’ll top up your bottle, though it’s always better to do this if you’ve been a customer. 

Though spending money doesn’t mean you are entitled to free water. Restaurants and cafes don’t even have to give you free water with your meal unless they are licensed premises.

If they do serve booze then they must have it available, but they can charge for service if they wish. And it doesn’t mean it’ll be very good tap water. I’ve eaten in places where the water is not great at all, and not even that cold. Still, it can help keep costs down.

Find public fountains

The Refill app also has an option to help you locate public fountains.

Filling up at airports

Though you can’t take liquids over 100ml with you then you go airside (though that might be changing), you can bring empty bottles. You should then be able to fill up your water bottles once you’re through security.

Not all airports have fountains, and they’re not always easy to find, but I’ve usually managed to bring a bottle or two through to ensure I can stay hydrated on long-haul flights, and avoid the sky-high charges you get on budget airlines.

Money Saving Expert has a useful list of airports which have fountains and where to find them.

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June 13, 2025   |   ArticlesReview

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card review

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Is this the best Amex credit card?

There’s a healthy welcome bonus for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card, making it one of the most attractive cards at first sight.

Here’s what you need to know about the American Express Gold card, how to hack the point redemption to earn more money and how it compares to other cashback cards.

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 much will you make from the Amex Gold?

Earning Reward points

You earn American Express Membership Reward points rather than cashback. There are different levels when you spend with the Amex Gold Rewards card. You’ll get:

  • 1 point per £1 spent
  • 2 points per £1 spent with airlines or in foreign currencies
  • 3 points per £1 spent at American Express Travel

Personally I’d ignore the double and triple points unless you happen to get the best deal direct with an airline or Amex Travel. It’s better to get a lower price elsewhere even though you’ll earn half the points back. You’ll also be better off using a fee-free card to spend in foreign currencies.

Spending bonuses from 15 October 2025

As well as normal points for spending, you’ll also get additional bonus points triggered by cumulative spending. This is changing from 15 October 2025.

When the new system comes into play, it’ll stagger this bonus so you get 5,000 bonus points for each £10,000 you spend.

The bonus points will be added to your account as soon as you reach the spending threshold. It’s capped at a spend of £20,000 a year meaning the most you could get in a year are 10,500 additional points. Here’s how that works:

SpendBonusCumulative Bonus
£10,0005,0005,000
£20,0005,00010,000

Of course, the two ways to earn points (point per spend and spending bonus points) stack on top of each other, so the real return has to look at them combined.

If you spend £10,000 (ignoring the welcome bonus which I’ll come back to), you’ll actually get 15,000 points, not 10,000. That’s now an effective cashback rate for the card of 0.75%. You’ll get the same rate if you spend £20,000 in a year.

But if you spend a different amount, the effective cashback rate will be less. Here’s how it’d pan out based on different annual spends with the card.

Annual spendPoints earnedAdditional bonus pointsTotal value as gift cardEquivalent cashback rate
£2,500.002,5000£12.500.5%
£9,999.009,9990£57.500.5%
£10,000.0010,0005,000£75.000.75%
£12,500.0012,5005,000£87.500.7%
£15,000.0015,0005,000£100.000.67%
£19,99919,9995,000£124.500.63%
£20,000.0020,00010,000£150.000.75%
£25,000.0025,00010,000£175.000.7%

So really you’re looking at just 0.5% on this card if you don’t spend more than £10,000., and close to 0.75% if you are on or just over each £5,000 threshold. Only super high spenders above £25,000 will eventually earn less than this.

The new system means you’ll work out the same if you spend annually:

  • Less than £5,000
  • £10,000 to £14,999
  • £20,000 to £24,999

Any other spending level will be worse off, but up to 2,500 points (worth £12.50 as gift cards or Nectar points).

Spending bonuses until 14 October 205

Until mid-October, the system staggers this bonus so you get 2,500 bonus points for each £5,000 you spend. Here’s how that works:

SpendBonusCumulative Bonus
£5,0002,5002,500
£10,0002,5005,000
£15,0002,5007,500
£20,0002,50010,000
£25,0002,50012,500

Here’s how it pans out based on different annual spends with the card.

Annual spendPoints earnedAdditional bonus pointsTotal value as gift cardEquivalent cashback rate
£2,500.002,5000£12.500.50%
£5,000.005,0002,500£37.500.75%
£7,500.007,5002,500£50.000.67%
£9,999.009,9992,500£57.500.62%
£10,000.0010,0005,000£75.000.75%
£12,500.0012,5005,000£87.500.70%
£15,000.0015,0007,500£112.500.75%
£20,000.0020,00010,000£150.000.75%
£25,000.0025,00012,500£187.500.75%

Welcome bonus

New American Express customers who haven’t had an Amex in their name in the last 24 months (here’s more on this American Express rule) will get a welcome bonus worth 20,000 Reward Points when they spend £3,000 in the first three months. You have to spend the full £3,000 to get the bonus. Spend even 1p less and you won’t get it.

This would be valued at £100 if converted to a gift card. The bonus is earned alongside the points given for each £1 spent, meaning that the initial £3,000 spend is actually worth £115 when converted at 0.5p.

However, there are also regular boosted bonuses, increasing the welcome points available to 25,000, and sometimes as much as 30,000 or 35,000 (depending on the offer). Unless you really need the card, I’d wait for one of these offers to run. Check our Amex Gold booster offer page to see if there’s an offer like this available right now.

Be aware that getting the American Express Gold card (bonus or not) will rule you out of earning the welcome bonus from the American Express Platinum, one of the only cards that allows a second bonus.

Annual fee and charges

The American Express Gold card is free in the first year. However after this it comes with an annual fee of £195.

I can’t see how it’s worth paying this much when you can swap to a free or much lower fee card and earn a similar amount on your spending.

Other Amex Gold perks

£10 Deliveroo credit a month

There’s potentially £120 back in credit for spending at Deliveroo with the American Express Gold card. It’s actually two lots of £5 per month, each requiring a £5 minimum spend. This offer needs to be activated on your card, and won’t apply to any supplementary cards.

Free airport lounge passes

You also get four airport lounge passes each year. These can be used at Priority Pass locations, which can be hit and miss – it all depends on which airport you are at. I’d treat it as a nice to have rather than a reason to get the card.

Exclusive events

This is something previously limited to Platinum card holders. You’ll be able to book on (and pay for) events and exclusive food and drink deals throughout the year. Personally I’ve never used this on any of my Amex cards.

Other cashback offers

Something I love about Amex are the extra offers you can select via the app and your online account. Though these are retailer specific and won’t always be relevant, they’re well worth a look.

What are Amex Reward points worth?

It’s all very well talking about these points, but how do you use them and what are they worth? The former is easy. You can exchange your points as soon as they are paid via the Membership Rewards website.

But the value of the points depends on how you redeem them. They’re worth 0.45p when swapped for bill credit or used on retailer sites. So 1,000 points will be worth £4.50.

That increases to 0.5p (£5 per 1,000 points) when exchanged for a gift card at retailers such as M&S, Amazon, Selfridges and Waterstones, or converted to Nectar points. This means the cashback equivalent is 0.5%.

You can also swap them to your Avios or other airline schemes at a rate of 1:1. Personally I think most people are better off getting a cash value they can use on everyday spending than be restricted to using them as part of a flight loyalty scheme.

We’ve written a longer guide sharing the best ways to use the American Express Membership Rewards scheme.

Cancelling your Gold Amex

If you won’t want to pay the fee from year two onwards, you can cancel your card. If you miss the anniversary and get charged, you may be able to cancel and get a pro-rata refund of the fee, giving you back the money for unused months. However this loophole is due to end at some point.

However closing the card will mean you lose unused Reward points. Fortunately there’s a free Amex Rewards card you can apply for which will protect your balance. Make sure you do this before ditching the American Express Gold card.

Amex Gold vs other cashback cards

Welcome bonuses

When boosted to 30,000 bonus points, along with 3,000 points for the spending (in total the equivalent to £165) is the highest paying welcome offer without a card fee in year one, as long as you can spend £3,000 in three months.

But, as mentioned, having this card rules you out of later applying for a welcome bonus with the Amex Platinum card, which is often boosted to 80,000 points. This won’t be for everyone, but if you think you might do this, then perhaps you’d be better off going for a different Amex first.

Compared to the other cards, the Nectar will earn you the equivalent of £100 in Nectar points, while the Amex Cashback offers up to £125 (5% on the first £2,500). Get either of these and you can still go for the Platinum at a later date.

Everyday spending

The best you’re going to get with this card is between 0.5% and 0.75%. That’s not bad, but it can be beaten. Right now there are a couple of cards which will pay a better rate.

The Amex Nectar pays two Nectar points per £1, which is effectively also 1%. This has a fee in year two, but only £30, so much cheaper than the Amex Gold!

The American Express Cashback card pays 0.75% on spending up to £10,000, then 1.25% for further spending (it resets each year). It also comes with a £25 annual fee, though this can be wiped out in the first year with occasional special offers or a referral code.

Should you get the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card?

Andy’s Analysis

It’s certainly not a bad option for one year, but if you think you will try the second welcome bonus hack for the Amex Platinum card then I’d go for the Nectar or Cashback first instead.

How to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card

You can go directly and check your eligibility with American Express. Once you’ve done this, I’d check the rates at Quidco and TopCashback, or via refer-a-friend links, to see what extra you can get.

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June 12, 2025   |   Articles

How to get the best value sun cream

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Save money without sacrificing the protection you give your skin.

Is a branded suncreen any better than a supermarket’s own version? And what should you be thinking about other than the SPF number?

I’ve taken a look at how to make sure you’re not overspending but still getting the right protection.

What makes a decent sun cream?

SPF and UVB rays

When you’re going to buy suncream there’s probably only one number you really pay attention to. The big one on the front – the SPF number. Sun Protection Factor.

This ranges from around four or five all the way through to fifty plus. The number which medical groups recommend is at least thirty.

What the SPF number specifically shows is the protection you get against Ultraviolet B rays – or UVB. These are the rays that generally will burn your skin.

Basically the higher the number is, the greater the protection, the longer the protection you’re going to get from these rays.

“Star ratings” and UVA rays

There’s actually more than one type of UV ray coming from the sun. What you should also be looking for when you’re buying your suncream is protection against UVA – Ultraviolet A – rays.

This is the stuff that’s meant to premature age you, the stuff that causes you to get those lines caused by the sun. It will hopefully say both UVA and UVB on the packet.

But how do you know how good that protection is? Because SPF isn’t anything to do with the UVA. Instead, you look for some stars. Bigger packs hopefully have it on the front, though it might be on the back of smaller ones.

You should be looking for at least four stars. That’s going to give you the protection that you need.

Is more expensive suncream better?

Now if you’ve got at least factor 30 on the UVB and then you’ve got at least four stars on the UVA then all the sun creams are pretty much the same. At least they’re doing the same thing anyway in terms of protecting you from the sun’s rays.

So whether you’re going into Aldi or Boots and you’re spending a couple of quid or whether you’re spending more than ten quid by getting some posh brands, they’re not really doing anything different.

I had a look at Which? magazine. They’ve reviewed and tested about 15 to 20 different sun creams.

The best buys were from Boots, Nivea, Sainsbury’s and Superdrug, all relatively affordable. Worryingly, some of the brands didn’t offer the protection promised – and were marked “don’t buy”. These were Asda, Morrisons and one type of Ultrasun.

Broadly, the only real difference they found between the ones that did pass the tests is that some of the cheaper ones can feel a bit greasy when you apply them to your skin. Or they smell not fantastic when you apply them, so you might want to try some different ones and pay a bit more money.

So just because it’s a brand it’s not necessarily any better than an own brand from one of the chemists or supermarkets.

How much should you buy?

One extra thing to think about when you’re buying your sun cream is the size of the bottle. In terms of getting value for money the bigger bottles will often work out cheaper per unit, usually per ml, So you’d think the bigger the bottle the better the deal.

But that’s not necessarily the case. On the back of most of your sun creams, you’ll see a little drawing of a pot. You see it on lots of cosmetics as well. This little round pot with an open lid and in there it will give a little number. If it says “12m” it stands for twelve months. Most sun creams are meant to last between 12 and 18 months. 

Time actually reduces how strong the cream is. The bottle might say thirty on the front but if it’s two or three years old it won’t be delivering that kind of protection.

And it’s worth bearing in mind that if you leave your suncream out in the sun then that’s going to make it last a shorter amount of time as well.

So will you actually use the cream up in that time? Or will you, like I have in the past, have half-used bottles sitting at the back of the cupboard until the next year?

Big families, or people spending a lot of time in the sun, are probably better off buying big bottles at the start of each summer, and then buying smaller ones as the summer ends. And people who aren’t out in the sun much might be better off just buying smaller packs. Of course, it’s important to apply the right amount – so don’t scrimp.

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June 12, 2025   |   Deals

National Art Pass deals and offers

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This card gives you free or reduced entry to galleries and museums.

If you’re an art or museum lover, you’ll know it can be expensive to see all the major exhibitions, especially in London. The National Art Pass is a pretty good way to indulge your hobby for less.

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.

Wording that says 'National Art Pass' with the Be clever with your cash logo on a blue background.

How much is a National Art Pass?

It’ll cost you £83 for the year, reduced to £62.25 if you pay by Direct Debit. Buy a Double membership and it’s £124 a year or £93 via Direct Debit.

Is it any good?

The bigger galleries and museums will probably offer you 50% off with the pass, while smaller ones might give you free entry.

Andy had one before and didn’t quite use it enough. But if you frequently visit galleries and museums, it’s well worth considering.

Where can you use it?

There are hundred of places – from the National Gallery to Tate Liverpool to HMS Belfast. You can search for your favourites or places near you on the National Art Pass website.

National Art Pass deals

3 months for £15

It’s unusual to get a pass for less than a year, so if you want to try it out, then you can currently get a discount for three months. It costs £15 for three months and add a plus one for £5.

This runs until 30 June 2025.

Get a 3 month Art Pass trial

Under 30s discount

If you’re aged under 30 years old you can get an annual pass for £50. (Or £37.50 if you pay by Direct Debit).

You can buy this at any time before you hit 30. So if you’re 29 and your birthday is tomorrow you’ll still get the full discounted membership for a year.

Get an under 30 Art Pass

Student Art Pass for £10

You can buy a Student Art Pass for £10. You need to be over 18 and studying full-time at a UK university or college. You’ll need to prove your eligibility with a uni email address.

It’s worth trying the code TAKE20 for an extra 20% off.

Get a Student Art Pass

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June 10, 2025   |   Articles

Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets all year for just £1 with Meerkat Movies

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This hack will get you cheap tickets every Tuesday and Wednesday for a one-off fee – giving massive savings to film fans. Even better, it could cost as little as £1.

One of the best ways to get cheaper cinema tickets is via the Meerkat Movies 2 for 1 cinema tickets deal – and you can bring the price down even more by stacking it with other deals.

In this blog, I’ll explain how it works, how to get the Meerkat Movies code, and whether you can use it at ODEON, Vue, Cineworld, Picturehouse and other cinemas.

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.

Meerkat Movies 2 for 1

What are Meerkat Rewards

Meerkat Movies is just one perk offered by comparison site Compare the Market. Anyone who’s taken out a qualifying product via the site also gets Meerkat Meals, which offers money off at restaurants and cafes.

How Meerkat Movies works

Once a week you can access a Meerkat Movies code on the app to get “buy-one-get-one-free” tickets at most UK cinemas all year.

You can then use this code on either Tuesday or Wednesday for standard cinema seats – not all cinemas allow you to use it for 3D or premium screens, or they might charge extra to do so.

All the big chains except Picturehouse let you use the code to book online a week ahead – though watch out for online booking fees.

You have to use the code for the same film, so you can’t do a solo double bill, and you can only use one code each week.

And it’s the cheapest ticket which is free. So if you’re one adult and one child, you’ll pay just for the adult ticket.

With your £1 travel insurance policy you also get two for one discounts at restaurants with Meerkat Meals.

How to get Meerkat Movies membership for £1

To get your one year membership you need to buy an insurance policy through the Compare the Market comparison site.

That’s great if you’re looking to sort out insurance for your car or home, but if not there’s a sneaky trick to get you access for just a few quid. Prices vary and normally sit around the £1.20 point – but right now it’s possible to get it for just £1!

All you need to do is get a quote for travel insurance and choose the following options.

  • UK
  • Single trip
  • One night
  • One person
  • No extra cover
  • No pre-existing medical conditions

Follow this and you should be offered a range of policies – just go for the cheapest one. You’re not going to use this insurance so you don’t need to read into any of the terms and conditions. Buy this and you’re now eligible to get 2 for 1 Meerkat Movie codes every week!

Which cinemas allow Meerkat Movies codes

You can search for cinemas in the app, or in this Meerkat Movies map. it looks like you’re less likely to find an independent cinema that accepts the codes, however the following big chains all let you use Meerkat Movies codes:

  • ODEON
  • Vue
  • Cineworld
  • Picturehouse
  • Empire
  • The Light (some locations)
  • Reel

Cinema chains that don’t allow Meerkat Movies include:

  • Curzon
  • Everyman (though you can get 2-4-1 via a Times subscription)
  • The Light (some locations)

All the latest cinema ticket offers

Find out more ways to save at the cinema.

Cheap cinema ticket deals and offers

How to get your 2-4-1 code

The easiest way to get your weekly Meerkat Movies code is via the Meerkat app. If you don’t have a smartphone you can log into comparethemarket.com and print your voucher from there, or just write down the code.

You need a new code every week, and these are released on a Thursday.

Stacking other savings with Meerkat Movies

Two for one is already a great deal, but you can often save even more by combining the Meerkat Movies code with other promotions.

One way to stack is to pay with a discounted gift card. These aren’t that common, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for deals such as 10% off the likes of ODEON, Vue and Cineworld.

Meerkat Movies by cinema

Meerkat Movies at ODEON

ODEON seems to let you use Meerkat Movies with any type of ticket. Look out for discounted locations, with some cinemas charging just £5 a ticket midweek – meaning you’ll pay £2.50 per person with your Meerkat Movies code.

Meerkat Movies is also a great way to save money at the posher Luxe screens, or the refurbished ODEON Leicester Square. You’ll still pay more for these locations though.

Officially the ODEON Limitless card doesn’t work with your Meerkat Movies code, but it’s worth a try. These let you go to as many films as you like, potentially bringing the cost of two people to see a movie every week down to as low as £2.30 per ticket – IF you go every week, and only on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Meerkat Movies at Cineworld

Again, some Cineworld locations are really cheap mid-week – so check the prices near you. You can use Meerkat movies with child, student and senior tickets alongside normal adult ones.

Though it’s not an official policy, regular Cineworld goers with an Unlimited Card seem to have no problems with combining their membership with the code to get 2 for 1 cinema tickets. To save even more, Tesco Clubcard points can be used to save you money on the annual price.

Meerkat Movies at Vue

The supercheap Vue day is now on Mondays, so you can’t combine it with Meerkat anymore.

Meerkat Movies at Picturehouse Cinemas

In my experience, you can use your reduced membership price with a Meerkat Movies code – though officially the chain says you can’t.

I’m a big fan of Picturehouse memberships. You get free tickets to cover around half the fee, then you save around £2 or £3 per ticket on top of that and get 10% off at the bar, plus most will have a cheap ticket day and member previews.

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June 1, 2025   |   Articles

Amazon Prime review: is it worth the money?

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Wondering whether you should shell out for Amazon Prime? Here are the pros and cons.

Amazon Prime is a popular choice of subscription, but it comes at quite a cost. Here’s what you get if you sign up and our thoughts on whether it’s worth getting and when it should be avoided.

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 Prime homepage image

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a paid-for membership to the online giant that gives you a series of benefits that normal customers don’t have access to or have to pay more for. There’s a long list of these extras further down.

How much does Amazon Prime cost?

The free trial

Everyone can try Amazon Prime free for 30-days. It’s best to time your trial for when you think you’ll most need free delivery or when there’s a big promo event such as Prime Day, which tends to be in June or July each year; or Black Friday, which is on the fourth Friday of November each year.

Since every adult in the household can take out a free trial, if there’s more than one of you it’s possible to double up – or more. Once again, you can time these trials for times you’ll need to make more purchases, like ahead of an event or to prep for things like Christmas gifts.

You can repeat your trial a year after a trial has finished, so there’s the potential to do this every 13 months. And sometimes there’s even an offer earlier.

The annual membership: £95 a year

Amazon Prime costs a hefty £95 a year. This is a lot so you’ve got to use at least two or three of the perks for it to represent good value.

There used to be a couple of times a year where you could get the membership for around £59. These were usually in the run-up to Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, though they’ve not happened in recent years. We always list these on our Amazon deals and discounts page, so bookmark it and check back!

The monthly subscription: £8.99 a month

If you don’t want to pay for the full year then you can opt for an £8.99 monthly subscription instead, which you can cancel whenever you want. It will work out cheaper than the annual plan if you pay for nine months or less, or practically the same for 10 months.

There’s a cheaper £5.99 option but this is just for the Prime Video streaming service and not the other features. This can be difficult to find so we have a guide to find Prime Video.

The student / young person discount: £47.49 a year

There’s a cheaper option for students or young people aged 18-22 who aren’t at Uni. They’ll get six months free, then three years at £47.49 a year. A monthly option costs £4.49.

To get this you need to have a student card or age ID (. Sadly, the loophole where anyone could get a student card is closed, though you might be able to get an alumni card.

Or if you’re 18-22 year olds will also get access even if they’re not at Uni.

Again, each household member can have the trial, so you can easily double up if you qualify.

What you get with Amazon Prime

Here are the key extras you’ll get as part of your subscription.

Free next-day, possibly same-day, delivery

There’s no minimum spend for delivery from Amazon when you’re with Prime, except if you want same-day delivery, where there’s a £20 minimum or a £1.99 fee. If you order from Amazon a lot, the free delivery can be pretty handy.

Normally you’d have to pay extra to get things sent through if the order is under £35, or £10 for books. The minimum amount quietly changed from £25 in June 2024, up 40%. This is standard delivery, so it takes a few days.

Generally non-Prime delivery will cost £3.99 for media (books, CDs, DVDs and games) or £4.99 for everything else. You can sometimes knock these down to £2.99 if you get your order sent to an Amazon “pickup location” such as a locker or newsagent.

So if you’re mainly thinking of Prime for delivery, you’ll need to make 20 orders under £35 in a year to break even with the pickup deliveries, or 16 at the higher £4.99 charge.

However, since not everything on Amazon is sold by Amazon, there will still be items that aren’t eligible for Prime delivery.

Two Odeon tickets for £10

Once per month, Prime members can get two Odeon cinema tickets for £10 or two recliner tickets for £15 at Luxe cinemas on Mondays to Thursdays. This can be stacked with discounted gift cards, so for example a 20% off gift card would mean the two tickets cost £8.

There are better Odeon deals and offers available, especially when you consider that tickets at some Odeon venues are typically £5 with myODEON anyway and can be booked with Meerkat Movies, making the tickets half the price.

Exclusive access to flash sales such as Prime Day

In the middle of July, Amazon marks its birthday with Amazon Prime Day. This usually features some big discounts on Amazon products like Kindles, Echos and Fire TV, as well as all sorts of other items. These deals are only open to Prime members.

The Black Friday sale which tends to run for about 12 days, if not longer, is another big sale with extra offers for Prime members.

We find that most of these deals are stock clearance or encourage you to buy things you don’t need. However, there are bargains to be found, especially if you utilise some of the extra vouchers to buy things you actually need.

Early access to ‘Lightning Deals’

As a Prime member, you can buy the daily deals 30 minutes earlier than everyone else. Since stock is usually limited, this could be the difference between getting the item and missing out. Here’s more about how Lightning Deals work.

TV and movies with Prime Video

There are some good exclusive TV shows such as The Boys and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, and plenty of other box sets.

There are also some decent recent and classic movies. Amazon is making more original movies and has purchased the legendary studio MGM, so we’ll see even more films appearing just on Prime.

You can stream from your computer, smart TV or devices such as a Chromecast or Fire TV stick, or download to your phone.

Don’t forget though that Prime Video costs £5.99 a month on its own (without the other Prime benefits), which might be a better option for you.

You can’t get ad-free streaming, though. Amazon introduced an extra £2.99 monthly charge for ad-free Prime Video in January 2024.

Pay less for your streaming

Find out which streaming service is the best value for money

pay less for streaming services

Live Champions League Football

Amazon is also increasing the sports you can watch exclusively via Prime Video. Next season you can watch Tuesday night Champions League football with it, though it no longer offers selected Premier League matches.

You can read more about the cheapest ways to watch football in our summary.

Ad-free streaming with Amazon Music Prime

This included streaming service is better than it used to be. It’s ad-free and has grown to 100 million songs (similar to Spotify) so there’s plenty to keep you occupied if you don’t want to shell out extra for premium music streaming.

The problem is you can only shuffle your tunes. That’s ok if you’re mainly listening to playlists (which you can create), but it can be annoying if you want to hear an album from start to finish.

You can also listen to podcasts ad-free – including our one, Cash Chats.

There is an extra Music Unlimited service which you pay £10.99 for, and there’s a £1 discount for Prime members, however, there’s a trick to pay upfront for a year to get Music Unlimited even cheaper.

Digital books and magazines with Prime Reading

Every month Prime members get access to a few thousand ebooks and magazines to read via a Kindle, Kindle app, or even your computer. There are a few big titles, such as the Harry Potter series, but otherwise don’t expect to pick up all the novels on your reading list.

The magazine offering isn’t bad, but the titles change every month. It’s better instead to see if you can get digital magazines from your library.

There’s also “First Reads” where you can pick up a free Kindle book each month from a selection of six or so titles. But don’t expect any future award-winners. You can see previous ‘First Reads’ titles here.

Games via Prime Gaming

You’ll get a Twitch channel subscription each month, along with some free PC games to play.

Unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos

Amazon’s cloud-based storage will keep the photos you take safe if your computer or phone is lost or stolen. You also get 5GB of storage for other file types with Amazon Drive – the same you get with Apple iCloud, but less than the 15GB with Google Drive.

Free Deliveroo Plus

You can sign up for a year of Deliveroo Plus Silver, which will save you money on delivery costs, worth £3.49 a month. However, there’s still a minimum spend of £15 per order. Here’s more about Deliveroo Plus.

Access to Amazon Fresh grocery delivery services

Prime members also get to order food from their local Morrisons, Iceland or Co-op and from Amazon Fresh. It’s free delivery for baskets over £60 but charges you £2 for orders between £40 and £60 and £4 if the total is under £40 or if you want the delivery within two hours.

Free Hello Fresh delivery

Prime members get free delivery on their Hello Fresh orders for a year. Delivery usually costs £4.99 for each box.

What you don’t get included with Amazon Prime

You’d be forgiven for expecting Prime to give you all the extra services Amazon offers. But no, you need to pay extra for the following:

  • Amazon Music Unlimited – an extra £10.99 a month
  • Kindle Unlimited – an extra £9.49 a month
  • Ad-free Prime Video – there’s an extra charge of £2.99 per month for this
  • Audible audiobooks – an extra £8.99 a month
  • Amazon Channels – costs vary for extra TV channels such as Paramount+ and Discovery+

What’s good about Amazon Prime

People obviously love the next-day delivery, and it’s certainly a service that other retailers find hard to compete with. And there’s much more you can get on top.

If you use most of the features that come with Amazon, you’re getting a lot for your money – effectively £7.92 a month if you pay for the year. Here’s a quick comparison of how this stacks up against some key competitors:

Prime MembershipCost with PrimeAlternativesCost of Alternative
Free next-day delivery£95Paying for delivery charges elsewhere (three orders a month at £2 an order)£72
Prime VideoIncludedNetflix (standard) at £10.99 a month£131.88
Amazon Music UnlimitedExtra £99Spotify Premium (annual subscription discount)£120
Total £194Total £333.88

We’ve assumed three online orders a month with a charge of £2. Often you’ll get free delivery from other retailers, but charges will also vary. And, you might order more or less, and delivery charges might be different too, but this gives you an idea.

With TV and film streaming, Prime Video is cheaper than Netflix, even when subscribed for full Prime rather than on its own.

And even with the extra charge for Music Unlimited, it’s cheaper than buying the same service with Spotify if you are also using the other parts of Prime.

Prime members can also get access to extra vouchers and discounts, which are great if you are going to spend the money with Amazon anyway.

What’s bad about Amazon Prime

There’s a reason that Amazon packs so much into the membership. It doesn’t want you to spend money elsewhere. If you’ve already paid for delivery with Prime, you’re not going to want to make orders with other retailers and pay for delivery, or get it later than you could with Amazon. This stops you from shopping around. And you could easily end up spending more money as a result.

In part, that’s because Amazon isn’t always cheaper. Across my year without Amazon in 2021 I actually saved money on his purchases – even when you factor in the delivery costs.

Plus, you’re much more likely to buy more because you have Prime. Not just because you’re more likely to be on Amazon more often and open to more temptation, but also because those extra discounts encourage you to make unnecessary purchases — such as on Prime Day and during Black Friday.

You also lose the friction that added delivery costs can add to your purchase, which might usually make you think twice before buying something you don’t need.

Let’s also look again at the table above. Yes, it’s potentially a huge difference in spending, but that’s assuming you don’t also pay for the other services elsewhere.

If you do want Disney+ or Netflix, then also having Prime for film and TV won’t be saving you cash – it’s an extra cost. It’s only cheaper if you ditch the others.

And if you need to shop elsewhere (not everything is on Amazon) you’ll pay for delivery on top.

Is Amazon Prime worth it?

So, does Amazon Prime offer good value for money? Well, it can, as long as you use at least a couple of the services. Most people will get enough use from the free delivery and exclusive discounts on Prime Day and Prime Video to justify the £95 fee.

However, if you end up buying more and not shopping around because you have Prime, you’re likely to spend more money having Prime rather than not having it.

Don’t forget you can still shop at Amazon without Prime. Yes, you might pay between £2.99 and £4.99 for items under £25 (it’s under £10 for books). But you’d need to order something under that threshold roughly every fortnight to cover your £95 fee. Do you order low-cost items that often from Amazon?

And of course, you need to consider where else you shop. It ultimately comes down to whether you are dedicated to Amazon or happy to shop and stream elsewhere.

If you don’t want to stop completely, then maybe you could cancel your annual membership and go monthly. And then pick and choose the months you need to use it. So perhaps it’s just around Prime Day, Black Friday and when you want to binge on some new box sets. Just see how you go!

My year without Amazon

Why I cancelled Amazon Prime membership

I actively chose to go without Amazon in 2021, so I obviously cancelled my Prime membership – even though I was paying just £39 a year.

This was largely a step to proactively support other retailers (ideally on the high street). But I also wanted to make sure my money didn’t help Amazon continue to grow its profits while it manages to (legally) avoid paying a fair rate of tax here in the UK and elsewhere.

Of course, you might think that going without isn’t possible, but I’d urge you to give it a try. I found it so much easier than I thought I would, and I’ve been surprised by how much less I bought and how much less things cost at the same time.

You can read more about my year without Amazon and how much money I saved.

How to cancel Amazon Prime

Watch this video to see how you cancel – and why you might want to think about using Amazon less.

Other ways to save at Amazon

Make sure you check out our Amazon deals and offers. This is where we’ll list flash sales, gift card bonuses and other extras. For example, you can often get a free top-up when you buy a gift card. All this and more via the link below.

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