Pay £1, get up to 50p off most Pret & Starbucks drinks EVERY time

Updated 3 May 2022 | Created 19 May 2017

Many of us regularly reach for a cup of coffee or tea to give us a caffeine boost, but if you’re out and about and can't bring a thermos from home, the cost of this can quickly mount up.

You can cut the cost though, and save up to 50p on every takeaway drink served by the barista – teas, coffees etc – EVERY time by providing your own reusable cup with a secure lid at Starbucks and Pret. Of course, you’ll be helping the environment too.

What cup do I have to use?

You can use any brand of reusable cup in any of the stores. The cheapest and easiest way is to buy a £1 reusable plastic cup at Starbucks, marked with a line for its 350ml size (known as ‘Tall’ at Starbucks). We’ve taken the Starbucks cup into other stores and it worked fine – though expect a bit of banter with the barista…

You may already have a reusable cup, it just needs to have a lid, be clean and be able to fit into a coffee machine (see image for example).

The Starbucks cup and similar we spotted are medium-sized 350ml versions – though we know coffee shops have weird and wonderful names for their different sizes – so if you’re after a regular-sized drink this works for you. If you want a small, your cup will just be filled to the appropriate level, but if you’re after a large, this would overfill so won’t be for you.

Where does it work?

Pret A Manger – 50p off. At all Pret stores (increased from 25p off in 2018), including cold drinks. Pret started selling its own cups in June 2018, at a cost of £10 each. The discount includes filter coffee, making it £1 a cup as drinks prices have increased in 2022.
Starbucks – 25p off. At any Starbucks store or counter, on hot or cold drinks, including at cinemas and train stations. The discount's 25p but it normally charges 5p per disposable cup (so in total you can save 30p with your own cup). We've checked with Starbucks, and the discount includes filter coffee.

What about other coffee shops, cafés etc?

Paul – 50p off. Paul offers 50p off when you bring your own cup. It sells Paul branded plastic reusable cups for £3.50 (or a glass KeepCup for £11.95), but you can use your own instead.
Leon – 45p off. While Leon uses biodegradable cups, you'll get 45p off when you bring yours. It can be from any brand, but Leon sells its own branded glass KeepCup for £15.
M&S café – 25p off. If you bring your own cup to an M&S café you'll get 25p off any takeaway hot drink (you won't get the discount when you're staying to drink in the café). You can buy a cup for £2.50 from M&S*, but you can use any.
Greggs – 20p off. If you bring your own cup, you’ll get 20p off any hot drink. Greggs also sells its own branded cups for £2, and you’ll get a free hot drink in it when you buy one. If you join Greggs rewards you’ll receive more offers, such as a free birthday cupcake. See our Birthday Freebies page for more free birthday treats and discounts.
Caffè Nero – double stamps. If you bring your own cup, you’ll get twice the loyalty card stamps. Normally you’d have to buy nine drinks to get the 10th free, but with this offer you’d only have to buy five – or get the free drink via O2 Priority nine times (it recently changed T&Cs). See our blog on How to get 50+ free drinks a year using this 'deal stack'.
Costa Coffee – extra bean stamp. If you're a member of the Costa Club app, every time you use a reusable cup you'll get one extra 'bean' on the app to put towards a free drink when you have eight. It's not as good as the previous 25p discount which was removed on 30 Sep 2021, but if Costa's your coffee choice it could be worth it for you as you'd get a free drink after buying four with your reusable cup, instead of eight.
Pure – 50p off. Bring your own cup to London-based café and coffee shop Pure and you'll get 50p off hot drinks. Branded reusable cups cost £9.95, and Pure says it will give you one free drink when you buy one.
Crosstown Doughnuts – 30p off. If you bring your own cup, you'll get 30p off any hot drink. It sells branded cups for £16, but you can use any. You can also pick up a loyalty card if you're buying any of its drinks or doughnuts (including vegan options) and get a free drink or doughnut on your eighth visit.
Ground espresso bars – 50p off. If you're in Northern Ireland, you can bring your own cup to Ground espresso bars to get 50p off with any cup.

Note: some local coffee shops may have similar offers, but as we can't check and list them all it's worth asking politely if you can still get a reusable cup discount.

New. Returnable reusable cup schemes

If you'd like to use a reusable cup, but end up forgetting it, you'll probably be interested in testing out Starbucks' new returnable cup scheme. So far, it's available in four locations in Canary Wharf, and Beckton drive-through Starbucks only, as a test that has been extended until June, but it's planned to roll out further in the future. It works with a £1 deposit on a reusable cup that you can return for cleaning, and pick up a beverage in another reusable cup. At the end of the trial you can either keep the cup, or have your £1 returned.

Costa also piloted a similar returnable cup scheme (which has now finished), so it's worth looking out for again in future.

Is buying a drink at these stores MoneySaving?

It might not be considered to be frugal, but if you're meeting up with a friend for a chat over a takeaway cuppa in the park, it might not be something you should consider cutting from your budget. If you're not able to bring a thermos of coffee from home (see our demotivator tool to see how much you could save if you can) this is a decent trick to nab a discount while helping the environment at the same time.

Free tea and coffee

See our free tea and coffee page if you’d like to stack your reusable cup with free or discounted hot drinks discounts.

Where do you use your reusable cup? Let us know on Twitter.

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