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Cinema deals, tips & tricks
Cut the cost of tickets for Cineworld, Odeon, Vue & more
Updated 5 September 2023
The cinema isn't the cheap date it used to be. If you want to check out the latest big screen blockbusters, it can set you back up to £20 for a ticket alone – more horrifying than a bad B-movie. This guide has tips and tricks to help you save at the cinema almost as many times as James Bond has saved the world, including a year's 2for1 movies for £1, five Vue tickets for £22, and more.
Quickly check which cinema deals you can use on a particular day
We want to make it easy to find the best deal for you, whether you can only visit the cinema on a certain day, or you just want to know when you can use a particular deal.
As you'll see from the table below, there are multiple deals available every day of the week. Select an offer for full information, how to get it, and any exclusions.
Top deals available each day
Have we missed anything? If there are cinema MoneySaving tricks you use that we haven't got in our guide, let us know in the MSE Forum.
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Deals & tricks for multiple cinema chains
Further down we'll look at deals for specific cinema chains, but first, these are the top tricks and offers that you can use at more than one chain or independent cinema.
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Trick to get a YEAR's 2for1 cinema tickets for about £1 – including new releases
![Meerkat Movies.]()
Meerkat Movies has been highly publicised by an enterprising Russian meerkat and his pal Sergei for several years now. Buy certain insurance, switch utilities, or successfully apply for a financial product through comparison site Compare The Market, and you'll get 2for1 cinema tickets on a Tuesday or Wednesday for a whole year.
2for1 cinema tickets should never be your reason for choosing a product such as insurance – use other comparison sites and our insurance guides to check you're getting the best deal. However, if Compare The Market isn't cheapest/best for what you need, we've a trick so you can still get the 2for1 movies...
What's the cheapest product you can buy to qualify for Meerkat Movies?
The answer is one night's UK travel insurance for one person. If the insurance is dead cheap, you can get a one-day policy for when you're not actually travelling/needing it, just so you'll be eligible for the 2for1 deal.
When we did a quick search on Compare The Market on Tuesday 29 August, we found the cheapest single-trip travel insurance policy was £1.01.
At this price, the insurance is far cheaper than the cost of a second cinema ticket, so in most cases you'll save even if you use it just once. What's more, you'll also be given Meerkat Meals, which gets discounts at many big chain and independent restaurants – see our full Meerkat offers info.
Search Compare The Market for single-trip UK travel insurance for one person
Meerkat Movies is valid at most cinemas across the UK – the big chains (such as Odeon and Vue) as well as lots of independents – but not all of them. If in doubt, check with your local cinema before turning up. Unlike some cinema offers, you can use it on the latest blockbusters.
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Six free Odeon or Vue tickets with a Club Lloyds account
Lloyds Bank's Club Lloyds gives you six free Odeon or Vue tickets (normally £35 to £65 depending on the location) a year. The account is fee-free as long as you meet its £2,000 a month minimum pay-in – there's a £3 a month fee if you don't. You can claim the free cinema tickets each year you have the account. Alternatively you can choose 12 months' Disney+, a Coffee Club and Gourmet Society membership, or an annual magazine subscription instead. You can pick six Odeon or Vue tickets at the 'Choose Your Benefit' page when logging in to your Club Lloyds account. Tickets can be used for 2D or 3D movies and are valid for 12 months.
We're highlighting Lloyds here for the free cinema tickets, but NatWest and First Direct banks are currently offering big newbies switch bonuses, up to £200 – see our Best bank accounts guide for full info.
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Up to 40% off tickets via Lidl Plus – but always check it against other deals
![Lidl Plus.]()
New and existing users of the free Lidl Plus app (Android/iOS) can register with The Cinema Society to get vouchers giving up to 40% off cinema tickets. The vouchers can be used at Odeon, Vue, Showcase, Reel Cinemas, Scott Cinemas, Savoy Cinemas, Grosvenor Glasgow and Perth Playhouse. Unfortunately, it excludes Northern Ireland.
How it works
- Sign in to the Lidl Plus app and select 'Partner offers', then choose 'Up to 40% off cinema tickets'.
- Select 'Redeem this offer' by Wednesday 4 October 2023, and then you'll need to register at The Cinema Society website.
- Choose your cinema and buy a discounted voucher (it'll be emailed to you) which you can then exchange for a cinema ticket at the box office or online, depending on the cinema.
You can buy up to 10 vouchers a day, which you can share with friends or family. In most cases, vouchers will be valid for at least six months and can be used on any movie at any time, but there may be exceptions, so always check the terms and conditions carefully. See The Cinema Society for more information.
While it offers up to 40% off tickets, its discounts are based on 'peak-time' prices
In other words, the most expensive full-priced ticket at each cinema. This means it's always worth checking against available deals elsewhere to make sure you are getting a saving, especially if you're not seeing a movie at peak-time.
- Sign in to the Lidl Plus app and select 'Partner offers', then choose 'Up to 40% off cinema tickets'.
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'Free' cinema ticket for someone accompanying a disabled person
![CEA Card.]()
If you're disabled and need extra assistance at the cinema, a CEA Card (developed by the UK Cinema Association) costs £6 a year and allows you to get a free ticket for a companion each time at most cinemas. To get the free ticket, you'll need to buy a full-price ticket for yourself for the same showing.
You can apply for a CEA Card online or by post. To be eligible you must be receiving either Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment or Armed Forces Independence Payment, or hold a Severely Sight Impaired or Sight Impaired registration.
The UK Cinema Association says about 90% of cinemas accept the card, including big chains such as Cineworld, Odeon and Vue – see participating cinemas near you. You'll need to have your card when you book.
See our full guide on 30+ MoneySaving tips for disabled people.
Cineworld & Picturehouse deals
101 cinemas across the UK – find your nearest
Picturehouse cinemas (26 locations across England and Scotland) are part of the same group as Cineworld, so some offers can be used at both chains – we've made it clear below where that's the case.
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Swap Tesco Clubcard vouchers for double the value on Cineworld & Picturehouse tickets
If you've Tesco Clubcard vouchers, you can use them towards Cineworld or Picturehouse cinema tickets*. You'll get twice the value you would if you used them in-store at Tesco, as every 50p in Clubcard vouchers becomes £1 when exchanged for a Cineworld or Picturehouse code.
If you've got at least £10 in Clubcard vouchers, you can use them to get double the value towards a Cineworld Unlimited* card – so £10 becomes £20. See our other top picks to use your Clubcard points on.
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£3 Cineworld or Picturehouse ticket Friday to Sunday for Three mobile customers
![Three+.]()
If Cineworld or Picturehouse is where you go to see movies on the big screen and you're a Three mobile customer, you can get a code for a £3 adult cinema ticket via the Three+ rewards app. It's for any 2D movie once a week at any time on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
How to claim a £3 Cineworld or Picturehouse ticket
- Search 'Cineworld' or 'Picturehouse' in the Three+ app and select 'Get Reward' to be shown your code. When you're ready to use your code, select 'Use reward code now'.
- Claim the code online at Cineworld (95p booking fee) or Picturehouse (70p booking fee), or by showing the code at the box office (no booking fee).
Codes are valid until 11.59pm on Sunday. After that, you'll need to get a new code for the following weekend any time from 00.01am on Monday.
- Search 'Cineworld' or 'Picturehouse' in the Three+ app and select 'Get Reward' to be shown your code. When you're ready to use your code, select 'Use reward code now'.
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Some can pay just £11 a month for unlimited movies at Cineworld but it's a location lottery
Cineworld's Unlimited membership allows you to see as many movies as you want at its cinemas. For some, this will be as cheap as £10.99 a month, but many will have to pay more. Whether you can get the cheapest Unlimited membership prices depends on where you live and if you're happy only using your membership at limited locations.
Cinemas have been split into four groups (check which locations are in which groups below) and you can only use your Unlimited membership at cinemas in your group and any groups below it, without incurring an additional cost. For example, 'Group 2' £16.99 a month membership can be used at all cinemas in 'Group 2' and 'Group 1'.
Group 4, which costs £21.90 a month, gets you access to all cinemas including London Leicester Square.
All price bands require you to sign up for a minimum of three months.
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£2.50 child AND adult tickets for selected Cineworld screenings
With 'Cineworld Movies for Juniors' screenings you can get £2.50 tickets for kids (aged 14 and under) and accompanying adults on weekends and school holidays. If booking online, there's a 95p per ticket fee.
Rather than brand new releases, it's generally recently or previously-released films. What's on offer will vary by cinema. See Cineworld for current listings. -
£4.50 tickets for over 60s for a selected screening every Wednesday at 10 cinemas
If you're aged 60 or over you can get a £4.50 ticket to a selected screening each Wednesday at 10 Cineworld locations as part of its 'CineSeniors' offer (check the link for this week's movie). Cineworld says you'll also get 'free' hot drinks and biscuits. If booking online, there's a 95p per ticket fee.
The 10 participating Cineworld locations are: Boldon Tyne & Wear, Cheltenham, Didsbury, Leigh, Milton Keynes, Poole, Rochester, Shrewsbury, Whiteley, and Witney.
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Odeon deals
113 cinemas across the UK – find your nearest
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Five Odeon tickets for £30 (or eight for £40) – for any 2D movie till 31 October
Have a few movies you'd like to see over the next couple of months? If so, Odeon is offering MyOdeon members (sign up for free) five tickets for £30 (£6 each) or eight tickets for £40 (£5 each). They're available at this Odeon Summer Saver link until 11.59pm on Saturday 30 September.
You can use the tickets for any standard 2D movie any day until Tuesday 31 October. Once you've purchased, you'll find your ticket bundle in the member area of the MyOdeon app or the Odeon website. You can only redeem your tickets through the app, not at the cinema. Odeon says booking fees won't apply when using this offer.
The tickets can only be used for screenings at Odeon's standard cinemas. If you want to visit one of its Luxe-branded cinemas, you'll need to get the Luxe Summer Saver bundle, which is five tickets for £35 (£7 each) or eight tickets for £48 (£6 each). Luxe and Dine Islington is excluded from both offers.
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Save up to 60% when signing up to MyOdeon for free
Sign up for free to MyOdeon and you can get cheaper tickets all-day Monday and on selected screenings on Tuesday to Sunday.
For example, when we checked in August, MyOdeon membership gave us £6 tickets for Barbie at Milton Keynes instead of the normal £14 – a 57% saving.
You can use MyOdeon membership to book at the cinema or online, but Odeon says members will always get cheaper tickets when booking online than they would in-person at the box office.
To get the cheapest tickets, sign in to your MyOdeon account and look for the yellow 'MyOdeon Saver' banner against the movie time. You can then select the MyOdeon Saver ticket when booking and it'll be valid on all tickets in the same transaction, so friends or family can benefit too.
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Odeon MyLimitless membership is now £15 a month (was £18 a month)
![Screenshot for MyLimitless account, for Ellen Ripley, with QR code, membership number and membership start date.]()
Odeon's 'MyLimitless' membership allows you to see as many standard 2D movies as you want in a month at its cinemas.
It was £17.99 a month (£19.99 including central London) but you can now get it for £14.99 a month (£16.99 a month to include London West End cinemas).
Odeon says this is an ongoing price reduction, but of course it could change that at any time. There's a three month minimum term only when paying monthly.
If you know you'll use it all year, it's slightly cheaper to sign up for annual membership at £170, which works out at £14.17 a month.
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£2.50 child AND adult tickets for selected screenings
With 'Odeon Kids' screenings you can get £2.50 tickets for kids (aged 14 and under) and accompanying adults on weekends and school holidays for MyOdeon members booking online (£3 for MyOdeon members booking at the cinema). If you aren't a MyOdeon member, you can sign up free, otherwise you'll pay £3.25 online or £3.75 at the cinema.
Odeon offers a small selection of movies a week (usually two or three, labelled with 'Odeon Kids'). See Odeon for current listings.
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See 'mystery' movie preview screenings for about £6 via Odeon Screen Unseen
![Odeon Screen Unseen.]()
If you'd like a sneak peek of a movie before it's released to the masses, there's a much better solution than streaming some dodgy illegal copy filmed on a camcorder.
If you're someone who doesn't mind surprises, you can catch preview screenings of upcoming movies for £6 if booked online at Odeon with free MyOdeon membership (or £7 in-cinema), or £7 online without MyOdeon membership (£8 in-cinema).
The catch is, you won't know which movie you're seeing until it starts
Odeon says it'll always have a rating from 'U' to '15' and won't be a horror movie – they're reserved for its separate Scream Unseen.
Previous Screen Unseen movies include Free Guy, Another Round, Parasite, Extra Ordinary, and Booksmart – so based on this, you probably shouldn't expect a blockbuster of the magnitude of Avengers, but if you're someone who likes to go see movies in general, this can be a good and fun way to get your hands on a cheap ticket.
Register at Odeon Screen Unseen and you'll be emailed when a movie is available to book.
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£3.50 tickets for over 60s for selected 'Silvers' screenings
If you're aged 60 or over you can get a £3.50 ticket to selected screenings, if you're a free MyOdeon member and book online. MyOdeon members booking at the cinema will pay £4.50. If you don't have MyOdeon membership, it's £4 online or £5 at the cinema.
Odeon says you'll also get 'free' tea, coffee and biscuits before the movie starts. See Odeon Silvers for upcoming screenings and times.
Vue deals
90 cinemas across the UK – find your nearest
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Five Vue tickets for £22 (or 10 for £40) – for any 2D movie till 30 September
![Groupon. Vue.]()
You can grab cheap Vue tickets via deals site Groupon* for any 2D movie showing until Saturday 30 September, such as Barbie, Oppenheimer, Haunted Mansion, The Equalizer 3, Strays, or Saw X (released 29 September).
You can opt for 10 tickets for £40 (£4 each), or five tickets for £22 (£4.40 each).
The discounted tickets via Groupon can be used any day of the week until 30 September, and by anyone – you don't have to use them all yourself. They can be used at the same time or during separate visits.
You'll receive an email with one unique code per ticket – these can also be found in your Groupon account. Make your booking at the Vue website (you can't book at the cinema) and enter your unique code(s) at the checkout. Groupon says there's no booking fee to pay.
Sadly, the tickets aren't valid with the Meerkat Movies deal, which gets you 2for1 cinema tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays – see above for info. If your local Vue sells tickets for less than £8 to £8.80, you may be able to get a cheaper deal with Meerkat Movies on those days.
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Two Vue tickets for £9 to any 2D movie on any day via Priority
O2 mobile and Virgin Media broadband customers can get two adult tickets for £9 (£4.50 each) at Vue cinemas to see any 2D movie each week via Priority.
![Priority. Vue.]()
How to get the deal
- You'll need Priority (Android / iOS). Search 'Vue' and once you've found the offer, select the 'Use Now' button to get a code.
- You'll be directed to the Vue website where you'll be able to claim the code for two tickets for £9. You need to do this by 11.59pm on Sunday, or your code will become invalid.
- You'll be emailed two e-codes which you can exchange at the box office or online (but not over the phone). Your codes are valid for seven days.
The offer refreshes each week at 10am on Mondays, so if you've had a code before, that's when you can pick up a new code to go again. O2 says codes are available for that week until 10pm on Sunday, but could end sooner.
What's particularly good about this deal, is it can be used to see any 2D movie, on any day of the week, including weekends when discounts are rare. However, depending on the price of tickets at your local Vue, you may be able to get a better deal on a Tuesday or Wednesday using Meerkat Movies.
- You'll need Priority (Android / iOS). Search 'Vue' and once you've found the offer, select the 'Use Now' button to get a code.
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£2.49 child AND adult tickets for selected screenings
With 'Vue Mini Mornings' screenings you can get £2.49 tickets for kids aged two to 12 and accompanying adults on weekends after 10am and every morning during school holidays, when booked online or via the Vue app (if bought at the cinema, tickets are £3.49 each).
What's on offer will vary by cinema. See Vue for current listings.
Showcase deals
20 cinemas across Great Britain – find your nearest
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Sign up for FREE membership to save about £5 on Showcase cinema tickets on selected days
![Showcase cinemas' Insider.]()
If you've a Showcase cinema near you (see all locations), you can get tickets to see 2D movies, including new releases, for £7.50 (for £9.50 at Bluewater) from 7pm on Sunday, and all day Monday and Tuesday. Tickets normally cost up to £13.
All you need to do is sign up for free to Showcase's 'Insider' membership. You'll be sent a membership card by post but you can print off a temporary card, or show it on your phone, to use it before it arrives, or use it immediately online.
You can book the cheap tickets by showing your card at the box office, or online by selecting the 'Insider' ticket option (there's a £1 booking fee).
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£5 tickets for over 60s on Mondays before 4pm
If you're aged 60 or over you can get a £5 ticket (£8 at Bluewater) for most movie screenings starting at 4pm or earlier on Mondays as part of Showcase's 'Silver Screenings' offer. Tickets at other times normally cost about £9 so you're saving about £4 with this deal. You can book online or at the cinema, but online bookings include an additional £1 fee.
You can't combine this offer with any other discount, and extra charges apply for screenings in XPlus or 3D, and XLR or Gallery seating. Any screening classed as 'Event Cinema' will cost £8.
Five cinemas across England and Scotland – find your nearest
The Empire cinema chain entered administration on Friday 7 July, and six of its cinemas closed with immediate effect. The five cinemas that remain open are: Birmingham, Cyldebank, High Wycombe, Ipswich, and Sutton.
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£2 child AND adult tickets for selected screenings
With 'Empire Jnrs' screenings you can get £2 tickets for kids (aged 14 and under) and accompanying adults on weekends at selected cinemas. If booking online, there's a 70p per ticket fee.
You can usually choose from a couple of movies each week, which will be recent (but not the newest) releases or classic family movies. See Empire for current listings.
General cinema cost cutters
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