Hello everyone! Regular readers will know we already do a lot highlight the best loyalty schemes in the UK, but one nice side effect of such schemes is that they often provide a little something extra once a year when it comes to your birthday! So we’ve compiled a list of the best birthday freebies in the UK.
We like a good deal – but free stuff you’ll actually use is even better. We’re always keen to add to this list to please do let us know in the comments if you’ve found any others!
(Please note: The Financial Wilderness may also receive a small payout if you make a purchase through a link on this site. It won’t affect the service you receive and we recommend only what we honestly believe to be the best available, not what gives us commission. You can read more about our affiliate policy on our disclaimers page.)
Important note: What UK retailers offer in terms of birthday discounts changes all the time – whilst this list is accurate at the time of writing we can’t guarantee that offers won’t be withdrawn or changed. It’s really helpful to us when you find changes to flag them to us in the comments if possible as it helps us keep everything nice and accurate.
UK Birthday Food Freebies
These are items which provide free food on your birthday – many are entirely free with no further purchase required, but there’s a couple which have an underlying tie in.
Krispy Kreme Free Doughnut
Doughnut Giant Krispy Kreme will give you a free doughnut of your choice on your birthday! This must be redeemed in a Krispy Kreme store rather than an outlet like a supermarket.
To get this, you’ll need to download the Krispy Kreme Rewards App – once you have this, select rewards and then “Birthday Doughnut” and add it to your wallet. Scan your card and you’re away!
Costa Free Birthday Treat
High Street Chain Costa Coffee will give you a free Sweet Treat (I.E. any cake type item from the counter) for a week after your birthday.
To get this, you’ll need the Costa Rewards Club App – you’ll see it automatically appear in Rewards, and just go in, click to redeem your reward and scan your Costa Club pass when ordering.
If you’re not a member, of Costa Rewards Club signing up with our link will get you 5 free stamps on your first purchase – our invite code is MPCCI.
M&S Free Birthday Biscuits or Grapes
Members of the M+S Sparks programme can get some free birthday biscuits or grapes!
You’ll get this as offer in your standard Sparks in app offers – you can redeem this either for one of the “Extremely Chocolately” Biscuit Rounds or a pack or red, white or mixed grapes. Just scan at the till to redeem.
I love this one personally – those biscuits are one of my favourite things with a cup of tea (sorry grapes!)
Greggs Free Birthday Treat
UK favourite bakery Greggs offers a free sweet treat on your birthday, claimable through the Greggs Rewards app (we’ve got a full review of that at the link.
When it’s your birthday, just click into the app and the wallet, make sure the free birthday treat is set to on and scan as normal at the till for it to be deducted.
Cafe Nero Free Birthday Cake
UK Coffee Chain Cafe Nero will also give you a free slice of cake on your birthday – you’ll need to be a member of the Cafe Nero loyalty scheme.
Just click “Wallet” then “Vouchers” within the app and you’ll see you have a scannable voucher in store which you can redeem against the cake.
PizzaExpress Free Birthday Dessert
The PizzaExpress Rewards loyalty scheme will give you a free dessert when spending more than £10 with them either in store or for a delivery order.
You’ll need to be a member of PizzaExpress Rewards scheme and order via the app in order to cash this in, selecting this as your reward of choice when settling your bill.
Subway Rewards Free Birthday Cookie/Crisps or Sandwich
Signing up to the Subway Rewards scheme will also net you a free Cookie or Crisps, and potentially a Sandwich if you’re in the more premium tier of your membership scheme.
Just signup to Subway Rewards, select your free reward and scan at the till.
Lidl Free Birthday Doughnut
Lidl will offer you a free birthday doughnut to redeem at the in-store bakery!
You’ll need to select this as a voucher in the Lidl Plus app (our full review of Lidl Plus in the link) and scan at the till when scanning your shopping to redeem.
Bills Free Birthday Prosecco / Raspberry Spritz
No loyalty scheme here, you just need to join the Bill’s newsletter and you’ll get a code to get a free bottle of Prosecco when dining at Bill’s on your birthday. A non-alcoholic version of a Seedlip Raspberry Spritz is also available.
Just be aware you must pre-book and cite you’ll be using the offer in order for it to apply.
UK Birthday Beauty Freebies
Sephora Rewards Beauty Birthday Gift
US beauty branch Sephora provide a discount via their Sephora Rewards programme. The exact reward you’ll get depends which tier of the scheme you’re in.
In the basic rewards tier this is just a few loyalty points – but at the silver level and gold it’s more substantive gifts!
These change but at the time of writing the silver reward is a Clinique Skin gift set and a SkinFix Cleanser and Barrier at the Gold level.
MyRituals Birthday Gift
So long as you’ve made a purchase from Rituals within the past 12 months, you’ll also get a free birthday gift to claim via the MyRituals programme – the actual gift seems to vary.
Side Note: Just be cautious anything you claim is only done on the Rituals app or in store. I got a text message on my birthday claiming a discounted gift set was available from Rituals as a birthday gift, but it felt suspicious given the web address was not the Rituals website and when I looked it up, it was a scam.
Space NK NULDGE Programme Beauty Birthday Gift
UK Cosmetics Store Space NK also runs a birthday gift scheme via the NULDGE loyalty programme. To qualify, you must have made a purchase in the 12 months preceding.
Most will be unlikely to qualify for this but if you are part of the schemes deluxe tier (which requires a whopping £1,000 spend in a 12 month period!) you’ll get what’s classed as a luxury full size gift on your birthday.
UK Birthday Discounts
The below section isn’t items which are outright free, but offer discounts on major UK shops or brands.
Hotel Chocolat VIP £5 discount
If you’re a member of the Hotel Chocolat VIP scheme, they will usually sent you a £5 discount for a purchase up to 1 month for your birthday.
For this one, you’ll get an e-mail with a barcode you can give to the cashier in store, or a code that you can enter online for the discount.
Tommy Hilfiger 15% off
US Clothing Brand Tommy Hilfiger provides 15% off to members of the Tommy Together loyalty scheme, although you can’t generally use it on items that are already on sale.
You’ll get an e-mail with the voucher in with a code that you can either use online or be scanned in store by the assistant.
Stable Bar and Pizza £5 discount
At growing Pizza and Bar chain The Stable you can get a credit of £5 on your birthday if you’re part of The Stable pizza club.
ZipCar £10 credit
It’s perhaps not the most festive option on this list, but if you’re looking to travel somewhere and don’t have a car, or need a van to move all your presents then you can get a £10 credit at ZipCar for your birthday.
This is done via a code you’ll receive by e-mail and that can be entered in the ZipCar app.
Points based Birthday Benefits
A couple of loyalty schemes also provide some additional points based benefits to you on your birthday.
Double Boots Advantage Club Points
The Boots Advantage Card provides double points for the period around your birthday. We already highlight in our review of the Boots Advantage Card that it’s one of the better loyalty schemes out there (it effectively works out at a return rate of 3%, so the birthday bonus makes this 6%).
As you can combine this with sale purchases, it’s a good opportunity to take advantage to get a little extra when shopping at Boots.
Quadruple Superdrug Health and Beauty Card Points and free treat.
UK chemist Superdrug offers quadruple Health and Beauty Card points on your birthday. That equates to about 4% off everything, unless buying something already on a double points promotion, and lasts for seven days.
You’ll also get a free treat, although Superdrug won’t tell you what it is until you get it (and it seems to vary).
Let us know more!
We’d love to hear from you if you have any other UK Birthday Freebies you’ve found! Just let us know in the comments below.
And that’s it!
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