Martin Lewis picks the best student accounts
Free £50 of wine on top 0% cards, top student accounts, PPI warning, cheap cinema tickets and free bread. 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.
Web exclusive: Travelodge 10% off
Go online to Travelodge and enter the code NEXTSTAY by Monday 31 August to get 10% off a one-night stay in a ‘Flexible’ rate room (this allows you to cancel and amend your booking) at all UK venues until 31 December. This is a decent deal if you can’t find a cheaper ‘Saver’ room rate (you can’t cancel or amend your booking). The discount only applies to the room rate itself, not to any extras such as breakfast, and you can’t book to stay that same day.
Free £50 of wine on two top 0% cards
Get selected Virgin Money credit cards until 20 August and either spend or transfer (or combined) £1,000 to it within 60 days and it’ll give you six bottles of red, white or mixed wine (usually £50). Better still, two of its cards are best buys anyway, so if you need to cut the cost of existing debts or (carefully) do new borrowing, they’re winners.
Don’t apply willy-nilly though, as that marks your credit file – instead find your odds of getting each card via Martin’s eligibility calculator first.
The Virgin 3in1 card is the top all-rounder card and a best-buy in three separate categories, giving 24 months 0% on spending, balance transfers (for 1% fee) and money transfers (for a 1.9% fee) followed by 18.9% rep APR after.
Another Virgin card gives a longer 36 months 0% on balance transfers (for a 2.5% fee) and the same on money transfers (for a 4% fee) followed by 18.9% rep APR after. Its 0% spending offer isn’t great though so don’t use it for that.
Yet always follow the golden rules…
a) Don't get new borrowing unless you have to. If so, always budget and plan to repay before the 0% ends. b) Never miss minimum monthly repayments, or the bank can end your 0% deal and charge far more.c) Clear the card or balance transfer before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to your card's standard APR.d) Never withdraw cash. It's not at the 0% rate. It's often far more, and just doing it can hurt your creditworthiness.
Top student accounts 2015/16
The high street banks are competing in a red-hot battle to win students as they’re likely to gain a potential high earner for life. But make sure they earn your custom.
Accepted Santander 123 Student Current Account holders get a four-year 16-25 Railcard worth about £90 and a decent up to £1,500 0% overdraft for three years.
Alternatively, the Co-operative Bank gives a £1,400 overdraft in year one,£1,700 in year two and £2,000 in year three - it says 90% of successful applicants will get the full amounts advertised. HSBC and Halifax both advertise up to £3,000 0% overdrafts, BUT our feedback shows people rarely get close to this, especially in the first year, with only the initial £1,000 guaranteed by Halifax, and £500 guaranteed by HSBC. Though HSBC does give a free £60 Amazon gift card when you open the account.
Martin’s quickies
- Warning: Deadline on PPI claims may be imposed – don’t wait:Worrying newspaper rumours suggest the regulators may agree to impose a time bar to help banks. If there’s a chance you’re owed, urgently check if you were mis-sold.
You don’t need to pay a claims firm to do this, you can do it yourself for free and there’s lots of help and template letters available on the internet.
- Five Odeon tickets for £20: You can get five Odeon cinema tickets for £20, or two for £10, online at daily deals site Groupon. Better still, you don't have to use them in one go and they can be used by different people (great for families), until they expire on 15 October. There are a few exclusions and obviously if you’re in an area where cinema tickets are cheap, don’t do this, but in some areas they can cost up to £14.75.
- Free Warburtons bread: Register with MyMail and print the voucher to get £1 off a small (400g) Warburtons wholemeal loaf of bread. As it’s under a quid at most supermarkets (Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and more), it means you effectively get it free. Very limited numbers are left though, so go ASAP.