Money Saving Amy: Thrifty tips to cut costs on visit to cinema or trip to the bowling alley
As families struggle to get by through the cost-of-living crisis, the Star has teamed up with ‘Money Saving Amy’ in a bid to help families with some handy hints and tips.
Hello everyone. This week I’ve got some thrifty tips to save you money on a visit to the cinema or a trip to the bowling alley. Over the past few years the cost of a trip out has risen rapidly but luckily there are ways to beat the hikes, writes mother-of-two Amy Grayland.
Firstly, O2 priority is currently offering two Vue cinema tickets for £9 on any day and for any movie, they’re also offering 20 per cent off treats. You can also bag discounted Vue tickets on the Groupon website, with five tickets costing £22 or 10 tickets costing an even better £40 when you split the cost per ticket. And if you’re visiting the cinema with children, Vue offers both adults and children’s tickets for only £2.49 each on selected “mini mornings”. If you’re a sky cinema customer you can now get two free Vue tickets every single month.
Next up is the Three phone network, which is offering £3 adult tickets at Showcase cinemas on a Friday-Sunday. Perfect for a cheap weekend activity. Showcase cinemas also offer an “insider” club, this is their loyalty card and is free to sign up to. This will not only earn you 10 per cent on tickets, snacks and drinks, but you can also get £7.50 tickets after 7pm Sunday and all day Monday and Tuesday. Plus they run other offers from time to time, currently you get £5 extra rewards if you watch two or more horror films until November 10th.
Two discount passes that offer cheaper cinema tickets are a “Kids Pass” or a “Taste card” you can get a free taste card trial online and a £1 kids pass trial. It’s always worth keeping an eye out for even more free trials on these cards as they do sometimes pop up, recently I got a free three month kids pass thanks to a Hungry Horse promotion. Both of these cards will give you access to discounted cinema tickets, as well as discounted food and drink. I recently went to see the new Trolls movie and purchased through the Kids Pass making the adult ticket £7.49, the kids ticket £4.61, a kids munch box just £2.75 and a large ice blast was £3.29 at a Cineworld cinema.
Cineworld also offer a “Cineworld Unlimited” pass, this entities you to watch as many movies as you like, with no booking fee. The price of this card varies depending on what “group” your local cinema falls under, but the passes vary from £10.99 per month up to £21.90 per month, meaning that this pass can pay for itself in as little as two visits. Not only do you get unlimited movies but you also get 10 per cent off drinks and snacks, and this automatically goes up to 25 per cent off after 12 months of being an unlimited member. Ensure you add your birthday to the membership as you’ll receive free popcorn on your birthday. And you can get 25 per cent off selected partner restaurants.
Meerkat movies is another way to get cheap tickets as they offer 2 for 1 cinema tickets on a Tuesday or Wednesday all year round. Top tip if you’re a cinema fan, you can buy a very cheap “single trip” travel insurance and then gain access to meerkat movies.
Finally, to get cheaper cinema tickets you can convert Tesco Clubcard points. Clubcard points double in value when used on their partner rewards so you’ll get more for your money than just using the clubcard vouchers in store. You can use them to get Cineworld tickets.
Now let’s talk about bowling, another fun social activity that can sometimes end up breaking the bank, but it doesn’t have to! I recently went on a bowling trip to a Hollywood bowl and initially went to just buy a family ticket for a single game which came to around £25. I then checked the offers and it turned out that one game of bowling plus a drink was only £5 each! Meaning not only did I save money on a game, we also got to have a drink each. The adults drinks could even be an alcoholic drink.
Tenpin also have great offers running, such as discounted bowling and food on a Tuesday and a Friday. Plus they regularly run extra offers such as 2 for 1 bowling or a meal and bowling for a heavily discounted price. So always be sure to check the offers section on the bowling sites website before booking your bowling.
I hope these tips are helpful to help you all head out for some fun without breaking the bank.
You can find me sharing daily tips and tricks on my Instagram _moneysavingamy and Facebook moneysavingamy.
