Top Deals From the Weekly Email
Days Out Deals
Read the email this appeared inThis is a daily updated list of vouchers, 2for1 deals, and offers on days out. All have been checked out with the companies involved to ensure they’re legit. Thanks to all MoneySavers who spotted and suggested them (suggest other cheap days out deals).
Includes....
Holidays from £9.50 per person
2for1 Cinema Tickets
Free TV Audience Tickets
Free TV Audience Tickets
Free when you register on the websites - Sign up and get free tickets
There are many websites out there especially designed to get your bums on seats to watch the recording of TV shows, sitcoms, comedies and chat shows. Just sign up online and apply for the tickets for free. Some shows offer travel and some even provide a cuppa and a biscuit when you arrive. Here is a list of some of the bigger ticket companies and examples of the shows you can see for free:
- The X Factor, Britians Got Talent, The Sunday Night Project & others. For big shows like this, register your details with Applausestore. The very big shows such as X Factor and Britians Got Talent operate a reserve list system where you register your interest in the show and if you are successfully chosen one of the site's researchers will be in touch with show dates.
- Deal or No Deal. If you go to the Deal or No Deal website you can apply for tickets to the show, or, if you're feeling brave, you can also apply to be on the show on Deal or No Deal's contestant page.
- Harry Hill's TV Burp & others. Visit TV Recordings. The shows on this site are predominately filmed in the London area.
- The Graham Norton Show, Countdown, The Alan Titchmarsh Show & others. If comedy and game shows are more your thing register with SRO Audiences. The shows on this site are also filmed in London and the South East, but it does also offer tickets for Countdown which is filmed in Leeds.
- Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps & others. The BBC website has tickets for BBC programmes, although these tend to get booked out quickly, and for radio recordings for shows such as Friday Night is Music Night for Radio 2.
- The Paul O' Grady Show, Noel's HQ and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. If you'd like tickets for these shows, register your details with Lost in TV. The shows on this site are also mostly filmed in studios around the South East of England.
- University Challenge & Countdown, Manchester & Leeds. Many of the above recordings are based in or around London and the South East; however, ITV has tickets available for shows in their studios based in the North, including University Challenge and Soapstar Superstar in Manchester, and Countdown and Through the Keyhole in Leeds.
A lot of these shows tend to overbook, so make sure you arrive at least one hour before the show is due to start to ensure you get a seat. Often, if you do get refused entry due to over booking, the organisers will try and arrange for you to get priority seating at the next week's showing. Some of the bigger shows have a waiting list so you might have to wait for a cancellation to get a seat at a very popular show.
Always make sure you check out the lists for these free ticket shows so you never end up paying money for them on ebay or other ticket sites. Depending on availability you should always be able to get them for free.
Cinema
- Orange Wednesdays - 2for1 on cinema tickets - Text Orange to receive a 2for1 code
It's worth noting you can get 2for1 tickets at cinemas nationwide through Orange Wednesdays. Just text FILM to 241 from your Orange phone and Orange'll send you a code which you show to the cinema staff. If you use a different mobile network, why not sneakily buy an Orange SIM card, which cost just £1 to qualify (read the article '2for1 Films for Non-Orange Customers' for a full how to).
- Free cinema tickets – Register online
Companies such as See Film First, The Film Factory, Momentum Screenings and Tell Ten promote new films by offering tickets to advance screenings of films before they’re released. To get tickets, you need to sign up with the companies online and you’ll be sent a code for free tickets when they become available, which you then enter into the website to access the tickets.
It’s worth noting that these free seats tend to go quickly, and there’s likely to be a wait between each set of free tickets. See the Free Cinema Tickets forum and Free Cinema Tickets discussion thread.
Theme Parks - Alton Towers, Chessington & more
There’s no excuse to pay full price at for any of the Merlin Group attractions, which are Alton Towers, Chessington, Warwick Castle, Legoland, The Dungeons, Madame Tussauds and Sea Life Centres. There are plenty of ways to get 2for1 entry. Tickets can cost up to £34, so it's a substantial saving. Do watch out for the exclusion dates on these vouchers.
- 2for1 entry at Alton Towers, Chessington, Thorpe Park and more - On 2litre bottles of Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper - Peel off your voucher and save
On special 2litre bottles of Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper you'll find two 2for1 vouchers for entry into the top Merlin group theme parks and attractions. Just peel off the label on promotional bottles and you'll find your vouchers on the back. Two people can get in for the price of one full paying adult per voucher, not bad for a £1.50 bottle of pop.
The attractions include Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park, Legoland Windsor, Madame Tussauds, Sea Life Centres/Sanctuaries, Warwick Castle and the Dungeons.
The vouchers are valid till 2 Nov 08 at Alton Towers, 9 Nov 08 at Thorpe Park, 8 Nov 08 at Legoland, 3 Nov 08 at Chessington, and 31 March 09 at Madame Tussauds, Warwick Castle, the Dungeons and Sea Life Centres/Sanctuaries.
The exclusion dates for these vouchers are:
Thorpe Park: 30 Oct 08 - 2 Nov 08
Chessington: All Zoo Days
Warwick Castle: 25 Dec 08
The Dungeons: 25 Dec 08
Sea Life Centres/Sanctuaries: 25 Dec 08
Madame Tussauds: 25 Dec 08 and after 5pm
The voucher does not entitle entry into Warwick Castle Ghosts alive, Scream at Madame Tussauds, Fast track at the Dungeons, or the Hotels Waterpark, Spa or Golf attraction at the Alton Towers Resort.
Comedy
There are currently no comedy offers, but we'll update this when there are.
Holidays
- Family holidays in the British Isles from £9.50 per person– Newspaper-based offer
From Saturday 3 to Wednesday 21 January The Sun newspaper (30p) is printing tokens that you can exchange for holidays in holiday parks across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland from £9.50 per person. There are 192 parks to choose from, and you can take the holiday in March, April, May, September, October and November, with some February half term breaks and some in June and July from £15 per person.
It’s worth noting that even if you have a party of less than four you still have to pay the four berth price, making the minimum payment with the application £38. Bookings won’t be accepted from groups of under 21s or all-male and all-female parties under 25. To get this offer, you need to collect ten differently numbered tokens, printed every day in The Sun, and the closing date for applications is Friday 6 February. Check out the full terms and conditions on The Sun’s website.
Day Trips
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2for1s, kids go free and more at attractions across England - Click ‘n’ print online vouchers
Visit England’s official tourism website, Enjoy England, and you’ll find a feature that allows you to search offers on attractions and accommodation across the country by region. There are a variety of vouchers that you simply need to print out and bring with you to the attraction.
Offers on the website include:
50% off Birmingham’s National Sea Life Centre for up to four people until Thursday 30 April 2009 with this Sea Life Centre voucher.
Free child entry with a full paying adult at Bristol Zoo with this undated Bristol Zoo voucher.
£10 off a full day Best of the Lake District sightseeing tour until Tuesday 31 March 2009 with this Lake District voucher.
2for1 entry to Shakespeare’s Birthplace until Tuesday 1 September 2009 with this Shakespeare’s Birthplace voucher.
Half price Virgin Balloons Flights Adventure Packages until Tuesday 31 March 2009 with this Hot air ballooning voucher.
2for1 entry to Diggerland until Tuesday 31 March 2009 with this Diggerland voucher.Make sure you check the terms and conditions and use by dates on each voucher, as whilst some are undated, others are valid for a specific period. It’s also worth checking with each attraction before you go.
Regional Days Out
- London 2for1 days out
There's a sneaky loophole to get 2for1 tickets for a massive range of London attractions (e.g. the Zoo & London Dungeon) through National Rail's Days Out Guide scheme. The catch is you need that day's valid train ticket, yet as the saving can be up to £25, even if you're not using the train you can get a cheap single for £2ish and still qualify to save up to £25.
For example a one way ticket from a Central London station (e.g. Marylebone for Tussauds/London Zoo) is £1.90, but entry to Madame Tussaud's is £23 – a £21 saving. You can print as many vouchers as you like and currently offers are valid ‘til 31 May 2009. Check the individual offer pages for full T&Cs.
- Half term offer - kids travel for £1 on Bluebell Railway steam trains
From Saturday 14 to Friday 20 February kids aged 3-15 can travel for £1 on third class services on Bluebell Railway steam trains. These run along the border between East Sussex and West Sussex, from Sheffield Park to Kingscote. Third class children’s tickets range from £3 for a one stop single and £6 for an all line return.
If you book at least 8 days in advance with Bluebell Bonus tickets you can get 20% off adult tickets, which range from £6 for a third-class one stop single and £12 for a third-class all line return.
You can buy tickets in advance or on the day of travel; go to the Bluebell Railway online shop to book. This offer is not valid on Golden Arrow Pullman or Special Services, including the P Class Specials.
- 2for1s on days out in and around the West Midlands - Click 'n' print online vouchers
Visit the tourist website visittheheart.co.uk and you'll find loads of 2for1s and discount vouchers to be used on days out all over the West Midlands area. Just visit the website, click on your desired location and print your vouchers straight off. Offers include kids go free at Cadbury World with a full price adult ticket, saving you up to £29.85, 50% off at the National Sea Life Centre for up to four people, saving you up to £31, 2for1 at Shakespeare's Birthplace, saving you up to £9, and 2for1 at Coughton Court, saving you up to £9.20.
Just visit the website, choose where you'd like to go and print off your discount voucher.
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If you know of a deal we've missed, then please post it in the discussion and we'll add it to the list above.
As well as the deals above, there are tons of permanent ways to cut the cost of family fun.
Save 75% with Tesco Clubcard
One of the cheapest ways to entertain kids is to spend your Tesco Clubcard vouchers on days out. This way, you effectively get them for a quarter of the normal price. This is because 100 Clubcard points are only worth £1 if you use them in-store.
Yet spend the points on goodies from its Deals Brochure and you get four times the vouchers' face value, eg, £16.75 worth of Clubcard vouchers gets you an annual Legoland pass worth £67.
There are nearly 200 days out on offer, including Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and National Trust Scotland. For a full list of ways to maximise Clubcard points, check out the Loyalty Schemes guide.
2for1 days out in London and the South
There's a trick to get 2for1 activities to hundreds of theatres, museums and theme parks throughout the South, with National Rail's Days Out Guide scheme. To take advantage, you need a train ticket valid on the day you want to visit. Yet with savings of up to £25, buy the cheapest £2ish ticket and you’ll still be quids in.
As an example, London Zoo costs £17 for adults and £13.50 for kids, so entry for a family of four is normally a jumbo £61. But buy a £1.90 single to and from any station, present it with the voucher, and you’ll slash the cost to £30.50, saving £28.60.
You can print as many vouchers as you like and the cheapest person gets in free. Attractions include everything from Madame Tussauds to Les Misérables the musical.
Take a stroll
There’s an innovative free exercise system which involves advancing the feet alternately in bipedal locomotion: walking. Great British country walks are among the best bargain days out, as well as being a great excuse for refuelling with a pub lunch or an afternoon tea. There’re loads of free walking ideas and trail maps on the sites nationaltrail.co.uk, ramblers.org.uk and walkingbritain.com.
Free high-tech treasure hunts
Just go to the website, type in your postcode and a map pops up with all the geocaches near you. Then enter the coordinates of the geocache you want to find on your GPS, and off you go. The treasures are hidden at spots like waterfalls and parks.
Reely cheap cinema tickets
Taking the family to the flicks can burn a huge hole in your pocket, but every Wednesday, Orange customers can go to almost any cinema nationwide and get 2for1 entry. Even if you’re not on Orange, sign up for a £1 pay-as-you-go Orange sim card and you'll be able to bag half price cinema tickets too. Get the full lowdown in the Orange 2for1 guide.
Watch unlimited Cineworld films
Regular moviegoers who live near a Cineworld should check out its Unlimited Card. For £12 a month (£15 including London West End) you can see as many films as you want. Regular ticket prices vary, so compare at your local cinema for savings; as a rule of thumb, the cards are worth it if you see more than one film a month.
Plus we’ve confirmed with the Cineworld press office that the card works with Orange Wednesday codes, so passholders can take mates for free. Do remember that Cineworld makes its money back on expensive popcorn and drinks, so take along your own cheap snacks, provided the cinema's cool with it.
Family flicks from £1.75
Many cinemas run cheap family screenings on the weekends. Some films may have been out a few months, but they're just as much fun for little'uns. Vue's Kids AM' club costs £1.75 per child and one adult goes free with each child (extra adults pay £1.75).
The Odeon Kids' club works in a similar way and costs £2.50 per child, with one adult free per kid and extra adults £2.50.
Halve the cost of London Vue tickets
Lastminute.com sells ‘stand-by’ tickets for selected London Vue cinemas at £5, roughly half-price. To grab one, simply buy and print a voucher before 4pm on the day you want to go.
Then take the confirmation e-mail to the cinema any time from 12pm to book your film; tickets to your choice of movie are subject to availability, so arrive early. The vouchers are valid on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays.
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