How To Get Cheap Cinema Tickets (Less than £3)
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Do you love going to the cinema? I really enjoy catching the latest movies but a trip cinema can be expensive. Here’s how you can get cheap cinema tickets for as little as £3 per person.
Since our daughter started nursery two days a week, my husband and I have occasionally been sneaking off to watch a movie together when he’s had a half-day at work.
Afternoon cinema trips are the best. It’s usually pretty quiet, you get your pick of seats and going mid-week means you can get a pretty good deal.
However, the first time we did this was a bit of a money-saving disaster. I didn’t book tickets online before we went and although I’d checked prices online beforehand, tickets were almost £5 more when I purchased them on our arrival.
I didn’t have coupons or vouchers that could be used and to be honest, although I enjoyed the trip and quality adult time with my husband, I was annoyed at my own lack of planning.
The first thing I did when I got home was signed up for a year of Meerkat Movies so ant future spontaneous cinema trips would be significantly cheaper.
What Is Meerkat Movies?
Meerkat Movies is a perk that is offered when you purchase insurance and some other products through comaprethemarket.com. You’ve probably seen the ads with the cute little Meerkats running around.
Meerkat Movies and its partner service, Meerkat Meals gives you one year of 2 for 1 cinema tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and discounts on meals at selected restaurants and takeaways which run throughout the week.
This includes offers such as 2 for 1 at Prezzo Sun – Thurs and 25% off at Harvester Mon-Weds.
To use the Meerkat Movies 2 for 1 offer you can either show the code at your nearest participating cinema or copy the code and add it when booking your tickets online.
The easiest way to find your code is through the Meerkat Movies app. Customers get one movie code per person per week.
Pros of Meerkat Movies
- Insurance can be purchased for as little as £1 making this a great deal. One cinema trip and you’ll of saved that outlay back.
- 2 for 1 is available at the majority of cinemas – I’ve not come across one yet that doesn’t accept this offer.
- Easy way to slash the price of going to the cinema.
- Meerkat app makes it easy to find and use codes.
- Tickets don’t need to be booked in advance to get the discount so it doesn’t matter if your plans change or you’re heading out last minute.
- Can be stacked with other offers at some cinemas.
Con of Meerkat Movies
- Only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Not available for use at previews or premium screenings.
- Only one free ticket each week (so you can’t watch two movies and use the code again)
Meerkat Movies Hack
Usually, we have Meerkat Movies from when we buy our house insurance. But this year I forgot to get a new quote (I had a lot going on and got my dates mixed up, I’m not always this bad at being a money blogger, I promise!) and our insurance auto-renewed.
I hadn’t really missed it since the pandemic meant we’d not been out much anyway. However, this cinema trip reminded me just how expensive being out and about can be.
Since we weren’t due to renew our house or car insurance, I took out one-night travel insurance for an upcoming night away we had.
The cost of the insurance was £1.01 for the most basic level of cover. A price worth paying for the potential savings across eating out and cinema tickets for the rest of the year.
Cheap Cinema Tickets: How To Get Meerkat Movies
All you have to do to claim the offer of Meerkat Movies is
- Make a qualifying purchase through comparethemarket.com
- Download and log in to the Meerkat app and confirm your purchase of insurance or other products.
- Click the golden movie ticket to get your 2 for 1 code.
- Either use the code to book tickets online or show it when your visit your local cinema.
Stacking Meerkat Movies With Other Offers
I recently discovered that occasionally it is possible to stack Meerkat Movies with other offers at some cinemas.
For example, at VUE cinemas, you can stack Meerkat Movies with the £4.99 saver tickets (which are already half the price of standard tickets at Odeon!)
So booking online means you pay just £4.99 for two tickets plus a booking fee of 90p, meaning it’s under £6 for two people to go to the cinema.
Of course, this only works if you have a VUE cinema near you and you can visit on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.
So let’s take a look at a few other ways you can save money at the cinema by putting aside the 2 for 1 Meerkat Movies offer.
How To Get Cheap Cinema Tickets
Look For Saver Nights
My local cinema has a weekly saver night where tickets are £2 cheaper than usual and this is definitely something that a lot of the smaller independent cinemas do.
Try Kids Clubs
Most cinemas now offer kids clubs, where tickets are around £2 0r £3 per person but are sometimes as cheap as £1. This can be a great way to take the whole family to the movies even when you’re on a tight budget.
Typically these showings are for films that have been out a while and are not the latest releases.
Take Your Own Snacks
There always used to be this myth that if you took your own food into the cinema you’d be kicked out. While most cinemas don’t permit you to take hot food or alcohol into the screen with you, normal movie snacks such as popcorn and sweets are fine.
If you enjoy sweets at the cinema then keep an eye out for half price pick n mix from Wilkos during the school holidays.
The large tub is amazing a value at just £2 and when I weighed my sweets pictured above the same amount from the cinema would have been £12. Poundland also do cups of pick n mix starting at £1 although they don’t have quite as much choice.
Buy A Monthly Pass
If you’re an avid cinema-goer then it might be worth opting for a monthly pass that allows you access to an unlimited number of movies. At Oden, this costs £14.99 a month with a three-month minimum term. With Cineworld, prices start at £9.99 depending on the location of your local cinema.
Silver Screen
Many cinemas offer cheaper movie screenings during the week for OAPs although most are happy for them to bring along a younger family member to accompany them.
These movies tend to be a mix of classics and newer releases and sometimes include tea and biscuits.
Free Cinema Tickets With o2
Last year o2 partnered with Odeon to give their customers one free cinema ticket a month. While this offer is no longer running it could pop up again in the future so it’s worth looking out for.
