Sip & save: bag free coffee with these money-saving hacks

Looking to save on your next caffeine fix? This guide has everything you need to know about how and where you can get free and cheap coffee.

Whether you’re a student looking for ways to stretch your weekly budget or a commuter finding your bank statements are overrun with cappuccinos, we’re here to help.

We’ve got the lowdown on all the major coffee loyalty schemes, including Starbucks, Costa and Caffè Nero. Find out how to maximise your savings, not only at your favourite coffee shops but also on coffee subscriptions, gift cards and more.

How to get free coffee with loyalty schemes

Many of the biggest coffee chains in the UK reward loyal customers with free drinks after they’ve bought a certain number of drinks.

We’ve outlined the most popular coffee schemes below, including a breakdown of how many coffees you’ll need to buy before you earn a reward.

Which schemes you decide to sign up for will depend on what coffee chains you have in your local area. But seeing as they’re all free, there’s no harm in signing up for a few different schemes, or all of them if you want.

You might also like: How to use the Olio app: get free food & household items

Costa Club

 Bring a reusable cup

Every time you bring a reusable cup for your coffee and scan your Costa Card, you’ll earn two Beans instead of one. This means it’ll take you half the time to earn your free coffee, as you’ll only need to buy five coffees instead of 10.

 Refer a friend

Referring a friend is a fantastic free Costa beans hack. If you refer someone else to join the Costa Club, you’ll both receive five bonus Beans when they download the Costa app, sign up and start using their card.

Refer two friends, and you’ve earned 10 Beans… enough for a free Costa coffee.

 Scan your loyalty app for someone else if they don’t have a card

If you’re visiting your nearest Costa with someone who isn’t interested in joining the Costa Club or can’t access their card, why not ask if they’d mind if you scanned your card for their drink?

You’ll get a bonus Bean for the drink they’re buying, as well as the Bean you’ll earn for your own.

 Get a gift card bonus

Costa often run promotions featuring cash bonuses when you buy a gift card at selected times.

For example, on Black Friday 2024, Costa offered an extra £5 credit when customers bought a £20 gift card. That’ll get you a free coffee, or at least a decent chunk towards the cost if you tend to go for drinks with all the bells and whistles.

Starbucks Rewards

Once you’ve reached Gold level, you can enjoy free extra shots of espresso, selected syrups and whipped cream, and also get a free birthday drink.

Make your Starbucks membership work harder with these handy tips:

 Bring a reusable cup

Rather than bonus points, Starbucks reduce the price of your drink if you bring your own cup. You can get a 25p discount on your coffee each time you bring a reusable cup.

In fact, Starbucks even add a 5p extra charge for paper cups, so you’re actually saving 30p per drink. Do this 11 or so times and you’ll have made back the cost of an average coffee.

 Get unlimited cups of coffee

If you’re sitting in to drink your coffee, we've heard you can get unlimited free refills when you buy just one cup of filter coffee at Starbucks. This is ideal for anyone who likes to work in coffee shops for hours at a time or loves to catch up with chatty friends over a brew.

Caffè Nero

You can also link your debit or credit card to the app to make paying for your coffee easier.

To get more bang for your buck, try some of these Caffè Nero hacks:

 Bring a reusable cup

Get double stamps just for bringing your own cup next time you buy a hot drink at Caffè Nero. If you do this five times, you'll earn 10 stamps, and you only need nine stamps to get yourself a free coffee.

 Refer a friend

Refer a friend to the Caffè Nero app and you’ll earn a free barista-prepared drink when they download the app. They'll also get a free coffee for signing up, so it's a win-win

Other loyalty schemes and in-store tricks for free coffee

It’s not just coffee companies that offer free drinks to their loyal customers…

There are other in-store tricks allowing coffee drinkers to save money on their favourite drinks, aside from loyalty schemes.

While Pret don’t have a traditional loyalty scheme for earning free coffee, their baristas are actually allowed to simply give away free coffee to customers.

There are no set rules that we know of as to who gets a freebie and why, so our advice would be just to be polite and friendly, and see if you get lucky.

Even if you’re not the chosen one during your next visit, you can still save 50p when you bring a reusable cup.

If Pret is your coffee shop of choice, there may be some value in signing up for the Club Pret scheme. This scheme was updated in September 2024, so make sure you're clued up on the latest changes:

For £10 a month, you’ll get 50% off up to five barista-made drinks a day. If a Pret coffee costs an average of £3.50, having five half-price coffees in a single day means you'd break even on your monthly subscription in just two days.

If you only have one coffee per visit, you’ll need to make six trips to Pret over the month to break even.

The Greggs loyalty app treats customers to a free 10th item when they've bought nine items in that category. These include hot drinks, sweet treats, sandwiches and bakes.

And that's not all. Greggs offer new app users a free coffee just for downloading the app. You can also save 25p per coffee on future visits when you bring your reusable cup along.

Whether it’s a Saturday morning fry-up or an after-work catch-up with a friend, get unlimited refills on your hot drinks when you visit Wetherspoons. Just pay for one Lavazza coffee, tea or hot chocolate and then enjoy as many refills as you like.

Other schemes offering members free coffee

Are you a member of any of the following schemes? You may already be entitled to free and discount coffee without even realising it.

Vitality x Caffè Nero

Three Mobile x Caffè Nero

With Three Mobile? Did you know you can get a discount coffee from Caffè Nero each week? Enjoy a hot or cold barista-made drink for £1 – that’s about two-thirds off each drink!

O2 Priority x Greggs

If you’re an O2 or Virgin Media Broadband customer, you can unlock weekly O2 Priority Greggs discounts.

Get a hot drink and your choice from a range of savoury treats, for £1 each, once a month. These can be snapped up on any day of the week, although your £1 hot drink must be picked up between 7am and 11.30am, and your £1 savoury snack must be picked up between 11.30am and 7pm.

Check the O2 Priority app regularly to see any upcoming changes to this offer.

More ways to save on coffee

We’ve still not exhausted all of our money-saving tips for getting a bargain hot drink. Check out these bonus tricks.

Earn cashback

TopGiftCards

You can also buy gift cards directly from us and earn cashback on your purchase. TopGiftCards make great gifts for loved ones, or even just a nice treat for yourself.

We revamped our TopGiftCard offering towards the end of 2024, making it even easier for you to earn cashback on your gift cards.

You can now get your TopGiftCard delivered to your email inbox instantly. This means you could literally buy your gift card while in the queue and have it ready to spend by the time you get to the till. And the best part? You'll earn instant cashback on your gift card too.

Take out a coffee subscription

If you’re looking to enjoy top-quality coffee at home, a coffee subscription might be perfect for you.

For those on the hunt for sustainable coffee pods, you can enjoy ethically sourced coffee from Grind or Pact Coffee, as both have a range of ground coffee, beans and pods to choose from.

Buying ‘wonky pods’ is another great way to save money on your coffee. Companies like Wonky Pods collect imperfect pods from coffee suppliers and sell them on to you at a big discount. You can save as much as 50% on your coffee pods and rest assured that they’re all 100% recyclable or compostable.

Many coffee subscription services (including Grind, Origin and RiSE) are listed on TopCashback too, so you can make an extra saving when you subscribe.

Looking to buy a new coffee machine but not quite sure what type to go for? We've got a handy coffee machine guide explaining the pros and cons of each type of appliance.

Get free and cheap coffee if you’re a student

If you’re a student, we’re sure you’re in the habit of checking for discount codes and offers every time you shop already, and your caffeine fix should be no exception!

Caffè Nero offer some benefits for students through Student Beans, Black Sheep Coffee offer 20% off for students with UNiDAYS and Grind give new subscribers £5 off their first three coffee deliveries. Whether it’s an in-store coffee or an online subscription, make sure you check if you can get a discount.

Blue Light Card discounts

If you’re a Blue Light Card holder, you may be entitled to a discount on your coffee at selected retailers. At the time of writing, Starbucks offer 10% off for emergency service workers, NHS staff and teachers with a valid Blue Light Card.

Not sure if you qualify for this scheme? We’ve got a handy Blue Light Card guide that explains how they work and who’s entitled to one.

Add some discounted treats from Too Good To Go to your coffee purchase

If you're planning to buy a coffee in person, why not check to see if the chain you're heading to is on Too Good To Go?

Too Good To Go is an app that allows you to buy discounted food from local supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, hotels, and bakeries. It's usually food items with a short shelf life that will otherwise be thrown out at the end of the day. So, you're helping reduce food waste while also getting goodies at a discounted price. 

If you're headed to Starbucks, you could pick up a Sweet & Pastry bag. We tried this recently and snapped up a blueberry muffin, apple pie Danish and a croissant, all for £2.50.

For more info about how you can rescue delicious food at a discounted price, check out our complete guide to using To Good To Go.

Don’t be bitter about missed savings…

From iced coffee in the summer to iconic festive lattes in December, it’s fair to say we’re a little obsessed with coffee in the UK.

So, whether you’re all about pumpkin spice lattes or prefer to keep things classic with an espresso or americano, why pay full price on your next coffee break?

Hopefully you're now primed with all the knowledge you need to grab yourself a handy deal on your next caffeine fix. 

When it comes to our favourite loyalty card schemes, we think Caffè Nero's app offers the best value. Not only is coffee at this chain generally a little cheaper than Costa and Starbucks, but you also only need to collect nine stamps before you earn your free drink.

This means you'll be spending less and earning more rewards – it's a no-brainer for us.