March 22, 2018

How to Get Free Coffee

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Love a Fancy Coffee? Here are a load of ways to get free coffee – one of them even includes FREE cake!

We Brits love our coffee, with the average spend in Coffee shops alone being around £600 a year. While the occasional posh coffee is absolutely fine, a daily habit can soon add up and start having a negative impact on our finances.

If you really can’t go without here are my top tips for getting your coffee fix for free – there’s even one hack for getting free cake too!

How to Get Free Coffee

There’s nothing I love more than a good freebie and if it ends up saving money on something I would have bought anyway then even better. Heading out for a posh coffee and cake is one of my favourite ways to relax. I’m a regular in my local Costa and Coffee #1 and while the occasional treat is fine if you’re paying for a daily coffee treat it could soon start adding up. But fear not, there are a surprising number of ways to get that coffee fix for free.

Free Coffee Loyalty Cards / Points / Stamps

Most big chain coffee shops have a rewards scheme in place so make sure you are taking full advantage of this.

Many have a simple stamp system where you get a free coffee for every so many bought, usually, the 9th or 10th one is free – make sure to bring your card with you and get it stamped each time.

Free Coffee at Costa Coffee

My personal favourite loyalty scheme has always been Costa Coffee as you earn points on everything, including cakes, sandwiches and frappes too and with 5 points earned per pound spent they do add up quite quickly. Costa also runs regular double and bonus points offers too.

Update 15/09/2021: Sadly Costa Coffee are changing their rewards scheme. If you usually use your points for something other than coffee (such as spending on cakes like me!) then this is pretty disappointing as you no longer earn points on everything purchased either.

Costa was one of the few loyalty schemes that catered to people that don’t drink coffee so this change has really annoyed me!

However, if you usually use your points for coffee it does mean you’ll get your free coffee slightly quicker than before.

More details here. The only new benefit I can see is that you now get a FREE slice of cake on your birthday.

Free Coffee at Cafe Nero

The O2 Priority app has regular offers for free hot drinks from Cafe Nero.

Sometimes you have to buy a cake to qualify for the offer, sometimes it’s completely free and it usually runs on a Tuesday. It’s not just for coffee either, you could also choose to have tea or hot chocolate instead.

Last time I used this offer I was also given a Cafe Nero Reward card that was half-filled in – meaning I only needed to buy another three or four coffees before being able to claim another free one.

They also have app you can use to track your rewards instead of getting a card stamped.

John Lewis

If you sign up to the John Lewis Rewards program they send you vouchers for free coffee and FREE CAKE in their cafe roughly once every three or four months. I usually save ours up for if we’re having a day out somewhere as there aren’t actually too many John Lewis stores close to where we live.

Don’t forget to make sure your partner (if you have one!) signs up too for double the vouchers and double the free cake!

Waitrose

You can help yourself to a free tea or coffee to enjoy while you shop, but you will need to purchase something and show your My Waitrose card at the till when paying. You’ll also need to bring your own reusable coffee cup.

Update: While making some updates to this post I found this info on the Waitrose website – only slightly confusing! I’m assuming the closing of coffee machines was a covid measure which is completely understandable but I think that needs to be better conveyed on the page!

Tesco

Recently I’ve seen a voucher for a free coffee in Tesco’s cafe inside their in-store magazine. I always pick up a couple of these anyway as they are great for coupons and picking up two or three means two or three times coupons/freebies.

Keep an eye out for this offer – it could mean a free coffee before you shop each week.

Don’t Forget!

Even if you aren’t getting your coffee free there are still plenty of ways you can save – most coffee shops now offer a small discount for bringing your own reusable cup – it might only be pennies but if you’re a regular it could add up over the course of a few months or years.

You could also switch a coffee out to one made at home. My husband has recently discovered Nescafe Azira which he loves and makes a big flask of each morning.

A few weeks ago he found the Lidl dupe version which is around half the price and occasionally on offer at £1.69 making it closer to a third of the price. He loves it and doesn’t think there’s much different from the branded product!

Fiona Hawkes

2 thoughts on “How to Get Free Coffee”

Emma Drew May 31, 2018, 8:54 pm

Some great suggestions here. I don’t drink coffee but if I did I’d be there! Thanks for linking up with #MondayMoney.

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Boost My Budget June 1, 2018, 12:03 am

Love these tips! I hardly ever get a coffee out because I feel guilty paying for things I can make at home, but it is such a treat. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the Tesco coupons because we’re in there all the time!

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