Valentine's Day 2021 deals

Look for promotional bottles of Carex handwash (£1ish at most supermarkets), to get half-price entry to three attractions – Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and Sealife Centres and Sanctuaries (norm up to £50ish). This deal is great if you have an uneven number in your party, as it'll work out cheaper than the 2for1 deals.

To get your half-price entry, you must pre-book your tickets online via this special special Carex link and select which attraction you’d like to visit. Once you’ve chosen, you’ll automatically be shown half-price tickets. One promotional bottle gets you one half-price entry, so if you want to use this for multiple tickets, you'll need multiple bottles.

When you arrive at the attraction, you'll need to show the 'v' code which you can find on the back of the promotional bottle. We're not sure if just taking the sticker will be enough, so it may be best to take the whole bottle with you, if you can, or you may have to pay the on-the-gate price. 

Alton Towers allows you to book half-price tickets for up to four adults, four children and two under-threes in the same booking. Chessington World of Adventure’s lets you book for up to 10 adults, 10 children and two under-threes and Sealife allows you to book up to five adults, five children and two under-threes.

The voucher's valid until 31 May 2022, so if you buy a bottle now, you'll have plenty of time to use it. There are some date exclusions though. We're not sure how long the promotional bottles will be around for, so best to buy a bottle soon if it's something you're interested in.

Vouchers from the 2020 promo have been extended till May 2022

If you still have an unused voucher from when Carex ran this promotion in early 2020, it'll have an end date of 31 May 2021 – but Merlin has confirmed it's extended these vouchers to 31 May 2022. 

Prefer a different attraction? See our round-up of current theme park deals which include 2for1 offers and MoneySaving tips & tricks. 

Look for promotional multipacks of Seabrook crisps (£1 at most supermarkets), to get a 'Free Adult Ticket' voucher for Alton Towers. If your party is an odd numbered group, you can still use this 2for1 offer, but to get the cheapest price the odd numbered person should use the Carex 'half-price entry' offer instead. Or alternatively, you could all use the Carex offer. 

To get the free ticket, you'll need to purchase one full-price 'on-the-gate' adult ticket online via this link (norm up to £50ish) in advance, and enter the eight-digit voucher code from the crisp packet when prompted – you’ll then get free entry for one other adult (12+ years) or child. The voucher's valid until 31 May 2022, so if you buy a pack now, you'll have plenty of time to use it. Seabrook has confirmed you don't need to bring the crisp packet with you. It's also told us the promotional packs will be readily available in stores until the end of Sep, after which they'll be harder to find.

You must book tickets in advance, and you'll need to either print your tickets at home and bring these with you to the attraction, or show your e-ticket at the entrance gate at Alton Towers. It's worth checking opening dates and times before your visit, and there are some date exclusions. See the full terms and conditions.

If you're not going in a pair, it’s worth checking to see what other deals are available. See our round-up of current theme park deals to check which is best for you.

Look for promotional packs of Kellogg's cereal and snacks including Corn Flakes, Coco Pops, Crunchy Nut and Rice Krispie Squares (£2ish-£3ish at most supermarkets), to get a 'Free Adult Ticket' voucher for 27 UK Merlin theme parks and attractions. To get the free ticket, you'll need to purchase a full-price 'on-the-gate' child or adult ticket (norm up to £50ish).

The vouchers can be exchanged for entry at Alton Towers, Legoland, Chessington, Sea Life centres, Madame Tussauds and more – see the full list of Merlin attractions. This is the first big 2for1 theme parks deal that most people can get that we've seen since the pandemic. Promotional packs were around earlier in the summer but you may still be able to find them in store.

This deal can be particularly strong if going with a child, and is valid till June 2022

If going with another adult, then effectively this is a 2for1, as you'll need to buy an adult ticket to get the free adult entry. However, this can actually work out better than a 2for1 if you’re going with a child as in this case, the paid-for ticket is a child ticket, and these are cheaper than an adult one at many attractions such as Sea Life, Chessington and Madame Tussauds.

What also makes this deal particularly 'grrreat!' is the voucher's valid until 30 June 2022, so get it now and you've plenty of time to use it. There are some date exclusions per attraction though.

Of course, if you aren’t going in a pair, it’s worth checking to see what other deals are available. See our round-up of current theme park deals to check which is best for you.

Book online to guarantee entry

Attractions are currently having to restrict visitor numbers and we don't know yet how long that will last. To guarantee entry, it's best to book your tickets online in advance at this special Merlin site. Note you'll still need to pay the on-the-gate price for the paid-for ticket. You can do this using the unique 10-digit code printed inside the cereal box.

If there's no code (eg, on snack packs such as Rice Krispie Squares) you'll need to select the 'snack pack or cut out voucher' option when booking, and importantly, you must show your original on-pack voucher when you visit. When we checked, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon won't let you book online without a unique code.

Vouchers from the 2020 promo have been extended till September 2021

If you still have an unused voucher from when Kellogg's ran this promotion in early 2020, it'll have an end date of 30 June 2021 – but Merlin has confirmed it's extended these vouchers to 30 September 2021. This means if you're looking to visit one of the attractions in the next few months, you won't need a voucher from one of this year's promotional packs.

New and existing Vodafone mobile customers can get two Vue cinema tickets for £7 (norm £10ish) via a promo code on Vodafone's 'VeryMe' rewards app. You can claim once per week, every week and the offer will be refreshed on the app every Monday. The offer is currently ongoing but if anything changes, we will update you here.

The code is valid for 30 days once claimed and can be used on standard adult 2D tickets at any time on any day – if you'd like to upgrade to premium seats you'll just need to pay the difference (see 'More info' for exclusions). The deal is available to any pay monthly or small business customer, plus pay-as-you-go customers who have topped up £10 or more in the last 60 days.

How to get the Vue offer

• Download the free My Vodafone App (Android/IOS)
  
• Click the 'VeryMe' button to access a list of available offers and select the Vue deal.
• Click the 'Get deal' button to purchase two admission e-codes for £7
• You'll then receive an email with the e-codes which you'll need to use for general admission tickets either online or at the Box Office.

If you can't get out and about yet, you might like our Free virtual globe-trotting, tours and experiences.

If you register with Days Out Guide and buy a National Rail ticket, you can get 2for1 entry to 80+ UK attractions, including Thorpe Park, Kew Gardens, Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor (see the full attractions list). You must pre-book the attraction tickets – on-the-gate purchases are no longer eligible.

Important: Before booking, make sure to check ahead on the venue's website for Covid measures and changes to opening times.

You'll need to click on your chosen attraction on the Days Out Guide website and register or login. A 2for1 code will generate onscreen. Copy it, and click through to the attraction's own website and use the code right away to book two tickets online. On arrival at the attraction, you'll need to present these alongside a valid train ticket dated for the same day.

If you don't present a valid train ticket at the attraction on the day, you'll be required to purchase your second ticket on the gate.

Before the pandemic, there were 300+ attractions available under the 2for1 scheme. We don't know if the rest will be added at a later date but we have a hunch they might, once more attractions are fully open and allowing pre-booking. Check back at a later date for any updates to the attractions list.

What if I live near the attraction/am travelling by other means?

It's worth doing this even if you are not travelling by train as a cheap single ticket can be available for a couple of quid, far cheaper than the entry ticket price (Legoland Windsor is the most expensive at up to £53).

Just stop by the nearest station on your way and pick one up, then present it alongside your pre-booked tickets at the gate. Crucially, your rail ticket must show that you have travelled to one of the stations nearest the attraction. So for Thorpe Park, you need to have a ticket with an end destination of Staines or Chertsey. 

For savings on travel, see how you can swap Tesco points for discounted Railcards.

Convert Tesco Clubcard points into Tesco Reward Partners vouchers* and on many attractions you get three times the vouchers' face value to use on tickets, eg, £5 in points converts into £15 worth of vouchers. Can be used at theme parks, wildlife parks and more.

Here are some of the theme parks you can select:

Alton Towers
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Chessington
Legoland
Thorpe Park
Edinburgh Dungeons

And some of the wildlife parks:

Eden Project
Blackpool Zoo
Longleat Safari
National Sea Life, Birmingham
Sea Life, Blackpool

For how to fully maximise Clubcard points, see the Loyalty Schemes guide.

Look for promotional multipacks of Cadbury chocolates, including Dairy Milk Freddo and Buttons (norm £1ish), to get a voucher for 2for1 entry at more than 20 Merlin attractions.

If you have a voucher from 2020, Cadbury has told us these are valid until 30 Sep 2021 and any vouchers you've picked up this year are valid for use until 31 Jul 2022. The promotional packs will be readily available in stores until October, after which they'll be harder to find. 

Attractions include Thorpe Park, Legoland, Alton Towers, Chessington, Sea Life centres, the Dungeons, Madame Tussauds and more. Some dates are excluded at selected attractions, including some in August – see 'more info' below.

Just present the voucher at your chosen attraction when buying one full-price on-the-gate adult ticket (usually up to £53) and another person will gain free entry.

Promotional packs (like the ones above) are expected to be in stores until October 2021, but they're subject to availability, so could be snapped up sooner.

How much can I save?

As on-the-gate tickets cost up to £53 at Legoland, this deal could save you £52 if you buy one of the cheapest promotional packs of chocolate and want two tickets. Even compared with buying tickets online in advance, where they’re generally cheaper (but still as much as £44 each at Legoland), you'd save a significant amount with this deal.

There’s also the added benefit of not having to commit to your plans seven or more days ahead – allowing you to wait and see what the weather’s like, and simply rock up at the gate with your voucher.

Before using the voucher, you should compare this offer against others to see if there's a better one for you (see all theme park deals).