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More on this topic
Restaurant vouchers
Meal deals for dining out or taking away
Burger King hacks
Including £2 off a 'Bacon Double Cheeseburger'
Nando's hacks
Including save up to £10 ordering via different menu
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McDonald's MoneySaving hacks
Updated 16 May 2022
If McDonald's is your go-to fast food favourite, we've rounded up the ways you can save – though we must stress, please eat responsibly.
Bear in mind, some of the takeaway and delivery offers work if you're ordering via the My McDonald's app only – so the discounts mentioned won't apply if you're ordering through Just Eat or Uber Eats.
Get discounts and promotions via the My McDonald's app
Every few months or so, McDonald's offers short-lived promotions which you can get via its app. They usually last for about a week and vary between being available for everyone, or just new app users. There are a few ongoing or longer term offers, too. The app is free to download on iOs and Android.
New users who download and register an account for the MyMcDonald's app (free for Android and iPhone), can get 20% off the entire menu for their first mobile order. McDonald's told us there are no menu exclusions, but there are a small number of excluded restaurants.
Just go to the 'Offers' section of the app and tap the '20% off' button, then place your order via the app within 21 days of registering. This offer is available for mobile collection orders only. You can only use this offer once within 21 days of signing up and it can't be used with any other offer. This offer ends on 31 Dec 2022.
McDonald's runs an ongoing weekly promotion that sees a new offer appear in the app every Monday morning, which can be redeemed up until 11.59pm the same day. Check the details, or turn notifications on, as some deals only apply during breakfast hours, for example. As with all app deals, they're only available when you order through the app to pick up in-store.
A few offers we've spotted in the past include six nuggets for 99p, £1.79 Double McMuffins and a 99p McPlant burger.
Simply go to the 'Offers' section within the app, tap the promotion you want to use, place your order and then head to your chosen McDonald's to collect it. You can order your food at anytime – McDonald's will start to prepare it when you arrive at the restaurant. You're only able to use one promotion per order, and they can't be used with other offers.
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Ongoing McDonald's hacks
Here are our ongoing tips and clever hacks to save at the fast food giant. It's worth nothing that prices can vary by up to 30p depending on location (so savings amounts may differ slightly), but the principles are the same.
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£2.70 off a 'McChicken Sandwich'
You can save £2.70 on a McDonald’s chicken burger by ditching the £3.69 McChicken Sandwich in favour of a 99p Mayo Chicken. If you just wanted a chicken burger, they both do the same job. Here's a comparison:
Okay, the Mayo Chicken's a tad lighter – the one we tested weighed 25% less overall – but as it’s the same ingredients (chicken, lettuce and mayo in a bun), and a massive 70% cheaper, it’s surely worth a try.
You could technically eat three of the Mayo Chicken and still pay less than for one McChicken Sandwich. Though we wouldn’t recommend it.
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Pay 20p, get a Big Mac and fries for £1.99 every time
At the top of most McDonald’s receipts, there’s a ‘Food for Thoughts’ code. Go online and fill in quick a survey to receive a second code, which you can then exchange in the restaurant for a £1.99 Big Mac and fries (normally £4ish). The best part? You can use your receipt from this purchase to do the survey again, and repeat as many times as you like.
If you just want a Big Mac and fries, you can buy the cheapest item on the menu to get your first 'Food for Thoughts' receipt code, a 20p sauce (BBQ, sweet chili or sour cream & chive) should do it. You can then do the survey and order the cheap meal. You only have 60 days from receiving your receipt to do the survey, so you can also use this trick if your Food for Thoughts code has expired.
If you’re not a fan of Big Macs – or fancy something different – McDonald’s says you can ask for a Fillet-o-Fish or Veggie Deluxe instead, and replace the fries with a side salad if you wish.
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£2.10 off a DIY 'Big Mac'
Instead of ordering a £3.69 Big Mac, save £2.10 by creating this MoneySaving version.
To do it, order a Double Cheeseburger for £1.59, and add the following free extras to have the ingredients of a Big Mac: 'extra' onions and pickles, plus shredded lettuce. The add-ons won’t cost extra, so although you might miss that iconic middle tier of bread and Big Mac sauce, we reckon the 55% saving you can make every time is worth it.
McDonald's no longer sells Big Mac sauce for 50p, but mustard and mayonnaise can be a nice alternative.
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Get FREE extra toppings
On the self-order screens, or the McDonald’s app, you can add extra ketchup, mustard, onion, pickles, mayonnaise and/or shredded lettuce for free to any burger. If there's already one of those ingredients in the burger, you get double the amount, or if it’s not normally in there – it’s added in for you. You can also pay 20p for extra cheese or 50p for bacon.
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Dodge the 'sugar tax' on drinks
There’s a tax on some fizzy drinks (see our ‘Sugar tax’ news story), but only one drink at McDonald’s is affected.
If you choose original Coca-Cola (not Diet or Zero), it’ll cost you an extra 8p for a small, 12p more for medium or 14p more for a large. You can easily avoid the tax by ordering any other drink off the menu.
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£2.49 less for eight EXTRA chicken nuggets
Pick up two boxes of six Chicken McNuggets (£3.79 each) and you’re paying £7.58 for a respectable 12 chicken nuggets. However, if you switch these for a single £5.09 McNuggets ShareBox of 20 nuggets, you can get an extra eight nuggets and pay £2.49 less.
If your family or the group you're with want two or more McNugget meals, ordering the ShareBox and fries/drinks separately gets you more for less too.
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Say 'NO' to ice and 'YES' to 20% more drink?
Unless you specifically ask for ‘no ice’, it generally comes as standard in McDonald’s fizzy drinks. The image from the video below show's how ordering without ice can bag you 20% more drink for your money:
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Students get a 'free' burger or McFlurry
If you’ve got a valid student ID or signed up to Student Beans, you can claim either a free Cheeseburger, Mayo Chicken or McFlurry. To get it, you'll need to order an Extra Value Meal from the menu and show your student ID at the till. So not a total freebie, but a nice bonus if you can get it.
The offer's available after 10.30am, except in selected restaurants in the south of England which offer it from 11am. It's one person, per visit and can't be used with other offers.
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Spotted out of date info/broken links? Email: brokenlink@moneysavingexpert.com
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