Cheaper flights for 2017 and DIY baubles
Urgent! Today’s the cheapest day to book Easyjet, Santander rate cut, Xmas decorations and 40% off Gap. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Deals of the Week.
Remember, deals can change quickly, even while I’m on the programme. So always double-check the terms and conditions before spending. Plus, while I hope these deals will save you cash, don’t spend if you can’t afford it, don’t need it, or won’t use it.
Today is the cheapest time to book Easyjet seats for summer 2017
Easyjet operates a fluid pricing model prices are fluid and move based on demand for any particular flight. So when they’re usually launched they’re priced cheaply and can quickly change depending on how many are being booked. So if you can pounce when they’re launched, you’re often getting the very cheapest deal.
It releases tickets five times a year and today (Thursday) tickets go on sale for travel between 26 June 2017 to 24 September 2017, so including the summer holidays too.
There is no exact release time – different seats are put on sale at different points throughout the day, so keep checking – and prices can and do change rapidly. So it’s a question of repeated trial and error to see if it looks good.
I can’t guarantee that today will have the cheapest tickets, as if there’s no demand prices might drop later. Though if this does happen (not due to a sale), Easyjet has a policy that you can call it up and it’ll give you the difference back in vouchers towards another Easyjet flight.
I told you the same last time it launched tickets, to huge feedback – like Jason who tweeted “ and Suzanne who said “@MartinSLewis
Santander 123 rate cut – should you ditch it
With nearly 4 million customers it’s been the big beast of the savings world for over four years. Yet in August, Santander 123 announced it’d slash its main interest rate from 3% to 1.5% and that came into effect yesterday. None of the other features if you’re in-credit has changed – it still has a £5/mth fee and pays up to 3% cashback on various household bills, which for most, off sets the monthly fee. Having said that, since it announced its cut, most of its competitors have done the same and they come into effect next January or February.
So unsurprisingly my e-mailbag has been full of people asking me whether they should keep or ditch the account like Jim who tweeted me “@MartinSLewis I'm with Santander. Do you recommend a change of bank with the interest rate cut in half?” Exactly what to do is fiendishly complex, there’s full information in Martin’s full ‘Should you ditch Santander?’ analysis, but here’s a quick summary:
As a very basic rule if you have under £10,000 in it and earn little or no cashback then ditch it – you’ll earn more elsewhere. If you have over £15,000 in it and make around £5/mth+ in cashback, and want an easy solution, then stick with it – it’s still the top payer for you. If you’re somewhere in between the two, the maths gets more complicated.
If ditching, the top alternative current account for savings is the Bank of Scotland Vantage that pays 3% on up to £5,000, though it hasn’t moved since August’s UK base rate cut, so it could still announce one. You’d then put the rest of the cash in a top normal savings account or cash ISA which pay 1%ish.
Though if you’re willing to play a game, you can do better by opening multiple top bank accounts and playing the system by shifting money between them.
Martin’s Quickies
Big 40% off Gap: Go online to Gap and sign up to receive its offers by email, and you’ll be sent a code for 40% off pretty much most full-priced items (not sale items or leather and cashmere items). You’ll get the email within a couple of hours though it can take up to a day, and if you’ve already signed up you should have already received it. Then you can use the code online until 11.59pm this Saturday (5 November) or print it off to show in store until closing time on Monday 7 November. I’ve not seen a discount this big from Gap since Black Friday last year.
3for2 Xmas decorations: Currently goin-store or online to M&S (no end date yet) or Argos (ends 11.59pm Thursday 17 November) and you’ll be able to get 3for2 onselected Christmas items. In M&S it’s on decorations, cards, wrapping paper, home fragrance and beauty gifts, and in Argos it’s on Christmas trees, lights and decorations. No code is needed as the discount’s applied automatically at the checkout and the cheapest item will be free. So to really make the most of the offer, club together with friends and family to buy expensive items (eg, trees) in a shared transaction.
£1.99 DIY baubles: For a bit of fun, to give your tree a hand-made look, go instore to Aldi, and you’ll be able to get six plain baubles for £1.99 which you can then decorate yourself. In the pack you’ll also get a pack of six paints and glitter to festivise up your baubles – a very merry deal. Plus all the profits from the baubles will go to the children’s charity Barnados.