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The Sun
03-07-2025
- The Sun
All my little-known tricks for cheap tickets that top UK attractions DON'T advertise
THE summer holidays are just around the corner, and as the queen of money-saving mums, I've compiled a list of my favourite tricks for saving cash on day trips in the UK. Like lots of parents, I love to treat my three boys to fun family days out over the long summer break - but budget constraints mean I have to search for the best value passes and tickets. 5 From twilight tickets to summer passes, here are a few hidden hacks that I've used over the years to make our money stretch further. Twilight tickets With the long summer days in full flow, sometimes it makes sense to head to an outdoor attraction later in the day. Often, there are fewer visitors and the sun isn't at full strength, especially as daylight stretches well into the evening now. This makes it less hot and sweaty, and much better if you have young children or babies with you. We love a trip to Gulliver's, which offers rides and play aplenty at four sites in Derbyshire, Milton Keynes, Rotherham and Warrington. Depending on the site, tickets in the summer holidays can cost £22.50 to £24.50 per person. But, if a full day out is a bit too much for your family, you can get an afternoon ticket from 2pm to 5pm for £15 or £16. At Milton Keynes, there's also the option of paying £18 to visit the dino and farm park next door from midday and then go into the theme park from 2pm onwards. This is ideal if you are in a group with different-aged children. Norfolk Museums have cut-price twilight tickets for the last hour of opening at places like Norwich Castle or the Elizabethan House in Great Yarmouth from £1.50 to £2.50 per person. We love popping into the atmospheric Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth, which has loads of hands-on activities that tell the town's tale of fishing, seafaring and tourism. A twilight ticket means a family of four only pays £10 for a visit instead of £28.40 - perfect to while away an hour after spending the day on the beach. Puxton Park near Weston-super-Mare offers a £6 twilight ticket for its last two hours of opening, giving access to its soft play, adventure zones and animal park. A family of four normally costs either £46 or £62 for a full day in the summer holidays. Summer season tickets Lots of visitor sites now offer summer passes that include unlimited entry over the long school holidays, which can be excellent value for money if you're planning to make repeat visits. At Statfold Country Park in the Midlands, the new steam into summer pass costs £70 for a family of four and covers train rides, entry to the National Fairground Museum, soft play and mini golf until the end of September. To visit for a day in the summer holidays would cost £57.50, so it's well worth buying the pass, even if you'll only use it twice. Farm parks can be a fantastic choice if you're looking for a summer pass. At Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park in Essex, two adults and two children can visit unlimited times from July 5 to August 31 for £62.97, compared to paying £42.96 for entry for one day over the school holidays. And we've also had great value passes in the past for soft play centres, which tend to be quieter in the summer months when people are outdoors more. If you live near one of the 70 pubs that host a Wacky Warehouse, you can buy a month-long pass for £14 per child for access to the soft play, with discounts if you buy more than one pass at the same time. 5 Weekly or fortnightly passes If you're holidaying away from home, some attractions in tourist hotspots offer weekly or fortnightly tickets to encourage families to make return visits while they are in the area. Down in Cornwall, you can upgrade a day ticket to visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan into a weekly pass for free on arrival at the ticket office. A ticket booked in advance for a family of four costs £75.50, so you'll want to make the most of your entry fee by visiting several times if possible. If you're heading to Scotland for your holidays, the Historic Scotland Explorer Pass is £100 for two adults and up to three children aged 7-15 for 14 days. It covers entry to lots of sites such as Skara Brae in Orkney and Edinburgh Castle, which by itself costs £74 prebooked or £82 on the day for two adults and three children. So if you're visiting the castle and a couple of other sites, the Explorer Pass could be the perfect way to save money. In Devon, Woodlands theme park offers a seven-day wristband for £123 for a family of four, compared to £86.72 for one-day entry. 5 End of summer sale When my boys were young, we used to love chugging around the tracks at Audley End Miniature Railway near Saffron Walden in Essex. But with tickets costing £18 per person this August, it can be quite an expensive day out, especially towards the end of the school holidays when funds are dwindling and you'll need to buy new school uniform for the academic year ahead. Last summer, the visitor attraction offered 30 per cent off for the last week in August, making a final day of family fun before the kids go back to school more affordable. It's worth waiting to book your tickets to see if a similar discount code is available this year, as it could take tickets for me and my three boys from £72 down to £50. Another place I like to look out for discount codes is at indoor attractions like waterparks or adventure golf. These tend to be quieter over the summer months while people are out and about in the warm weather, so they sometimes do discounts at the end of the summer to get visitors back in before the autumn. We often visit Moorways Sports Village in Derby using discount codes, which can take the price for a waterpark session down to £8 per person. That's a similar price to a round of indoor adventure golf near us, which sometimes offers a 20 per cent discount code towards the end of the school holidays. Sign up for the social media pages of your local attractions to make sure you hear about these offers when they are launched. It's also a great time to look at venturing further afield to places where term time has already begun and prices have returned to off-peak. If you live south of the Scottish border, it could be worth heading north at the end of August as schools in Scotland start back in the middle of the month. Here in Leicestershire, we have a similar situation, with prices dropping for the last week of August once term has begun, even though all the children in neighbouring counties are still off school. So make sure you do your summer holiday maths and work out what ticket works best for your family before you splash the cash. Waiting until the last-minute to book a twilight ticket or use an end of summer discount code could be better for your budget. Paying a bit more upfront could end up saving you a pretty penny in the long run. 5
The Sun
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Martin Lewis reveals whether you should pay in pounds or euros while on holiday
MARTIN Lewis has issued an urgent warning to millions of holidaymakers that could save them hundreds of pounds while abroad. The money saving guru shared the quick tip to save money while overseas in his popular MoneySavingExpert newsletter. Holidaymakers are often given the choice to pay in pounds or euros when using their debit or credit card in Europe to buy something in a shop or withdraw money at an ATM. But if you get the decision wrong you could end up paying up to 13% more, according to NatWest. Martin Lewis said: 'When you go abroad and you pay on plastic and the overseas cash machine or shop asks you: Do you want to pay in pounds or euros? What do you do? 'Well, the correct answer is you should always pay in euros or whatever the local currency is.' The consumer champion explained that by choosing to pay in euros your credit card company or bank works out the currency exchange rate for you. But if you choose to pay in pounds then the calculations are left up to the overseas bank, shop or restaurant's bank. This is known as dynamic currency exchange and could mean you end up paying a much worse exchange rate. Martin Lewis added that the best situation would be if you had an overseas debit or credit card that gives you a near perfect exchange rate. These cards are designed for spending or withdrawing cash in foreign currencies while you are travelling abroad. The cards often come with no foreign transaction fees and competitive exchange rates. But even if you don't have one of these cards then you will still save money by paying in euros. Martin Lewis added: 'Even a bog standard card is beating most overseas ATMs or shop's exchange rates. 'So you want it to do the conversion which means you must always pay in the local currency.' How do I know which card to bring on holiday? We have rounded up the best debit, credit and overseas spending cards to help you save money while on holiday. How to avoid roaming charges Simrat Sharma, a mobiles expert at Uswitch, said switching to an eSIM - short for embedded SIM - can be cheaper than using international roaming. 'eSIMs make it easier to change networks," she said. "So for example, if you're abroad you can quickly connect to the local network to pay local rates - without having to add or swap a physical local SIM card for your device. "This means travel eSIMs are almost always cheaper than using international roaming, as users are effectively tapping into the same network plans as locals. If you're regularly switching numbers or travelling to different locations, you'll be able to keep them all safely in digital format rather than carrying around a number of small cards. 'The software can easily be accessed via your device's app store and uploaded to your phone in a few quick steps." Several big banks offer cards without overseas fees, so it's worth shopping around to get the best deal. First Direct does not charge fees to pay with its debit card while overseas and there is no penalty to withdraw cash from an ATM. Santander customers with an Edge current account do not pay any fees when using the card to make purchases or withdraw cash while abroad. But the account has a £3 fee and you need to pay at least £500 into your account each month. Meanwhile, Starling does not charge a fee to use its card or withdraw cash while on holiday. There are also several credit cards that let you withdraw money from ATMs or spend in shops and restaurants fee-free. The Barclaycard Rewards Card does not charge you transaction fees when you are abroad. It uses Visa's exchange rate, so you will get the best value on conversions. Meanwhile, the NatWest Credit Card does not charge a transaction fee so you can spend abroad without paying a penalty.
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
18 Handy Amazon Canada Products That'll Help You Save Some Money
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. Saving money can be quite the challenge in this economy. From paying for your monthly Pilates membership to getting the occasional Uber, small expenses can really add up fast. To help you keep your savings account intact, we've rounded up a few items that will definitely help you save money in the long run. Here are a few of our favourite money-saving products you can get on Amazon Canada right now: Sign up for an Amazon Prime account if Amazon Canada is your go-to site for shopping. It costs $99 a year (plus tax), but students can get it for only $49 (plus tax). If you've never tried it out, you can sign up for a 30-day trial period. Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We'll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
How to save THOUSANDS on your next shop: The 'genius' AI trick everyone needs to know about
Aussie shoppers are losing it over a 'genius' money-saving trick that could help you thousands at checkout. Nova 96.9 presenter Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli revealed the simple hack during a recent segment on Fitzy & Wippa with Kate, explaining how he used AI to score a discount on an online order. 'Can I tell you what I did the other day? And it's a tip that we got on this show,' Wippa began, before launching into the trick that left his co-hosts stunned. While online shopping, Wippa said he was just about to complete his order when he spotted the 'coupon' prompt at checkout. Instead of skipping over it like many do, he turned to ChatGPT and asked it to look for active discount codes for the site he was shopping on. 'I went on ChatGPT and said, "Please search for any coupons that could be attached to the website",' he explained. 'It actually worked, I felt like a bit of a scammer... The software fired back five of them (discount codes) - there's always a 'Welcome10' or a 'Thanks15'. I got 15 per cent off my Labubu doll.' His co-host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald was amazed by the discovery, saying: 'That is unbelievable' to which Wippa responded, 'Easy savings, guys.' Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli revealed the simple hack during a recent segment on Fitzy & Wippa with Kate, explaining how he used AI to score a discount on an online purchase The best part? The entire process took just seconds and cost him nothing. The AI-generated codes worked instantly, allowing Wippa to pocket a discount he would have otherwise missed. 'The AI Hack that could save you THOUSANDS,' the radio station said in its caption. While coupon browser extensions like Honey have been around for years, using AI tools like ChatGPT to search for codes on demand is a fresh, user-driven feature that's quickly catching on with savvy shoppers. Social media users have since called the tip a 'game-changer,' with many now trying it for everything from groceries and gifts to clothing and tech. 'I do this all the time,' one confessed. With the cost of living continuing to bite, it's a timely reminder that a few keystrokes - and a little AI assistance - could lead to some seriously savings. So next time you're about to check out, don't skip the coupon box - your wallet will thank you.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Martin Lewis reveals easy way to earn £300 from five big banks
Showing now | Lifestyle 01:57 Holly Bishop Martin Lewis has revealed the 'easy' way to switch banks and earn up to £300 in cash and rewards. The money saving expert appeared on This Morning on Tuesday (3 June), where he revealed that five big banks are offering customers money if they make the switch. First Direct, TSB, Nationwide, Santander, and The Co-Operative Bank are all offering various deals to customers making the move. Lewis explained that as part of a seven-working-day switch service, banks will close your old account for you and move your standing orders and direct debits for you. He revealed that the only transactions that don't automatically switch are recurring payments, such as subscription services, so customers should remember to manually change this themselves.
