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A chunk of change off your new JD Sports trainers. A few pounds off your chicken katsu curry at Wagamama. Or the high-tech Dyson vacuum of your dreams for a little less. It’s safe to say that most people associate Blue Light Card with those one-off purchases you make every now and then.
But if shopping and eating are all you’re using your Blue Light Card for, you could be leaving some serious savings on the table. Surprised? Read on to find out why.
We’ve done the maths and figured out that the average Blue Light Card member could save £3,126 a year* when making the most of their membership. So... are you? Chances are, you could be racking up more savings than you are now.
Times are tight, so we want to help keep as much money in your pockets as possible. With that in mind, here are the five ways to use your Blue Light Card that you might not have known about.
Let's talk about bills. Those inevitable monthly costs on non-negotiables like energy and broadband. You watch the direct debits march out of your account every month with a sigh – but there’s a silver lining. You might be surprised to find out that Blue Light Card can help you save on those big expenses.
When it comes to your energy bill, you’ll find that Blue Light Card has deals with voucher incentives for switching providers or tariffs, plus big discounts on solar and battery installation if you're thinking about longer-term savings. We've partnered with the likes of British Gas, EDF, Uswitch, Utility Warehouse and Scottish Power.
As for mobile and broadband? We’ve got offers that reward you for switching providers, comparison services to help you decide what’s right for you, and discounts on both full-fibre and standard options. Our partners include Virgin Media, Sky, O2, EE and Three.
Blue Light Card member Tom’s story is reason enough to check out what’s on offer:
“I got a great deal on my broadband and my phone tariff with Blue Light Card – I’ve saved myself £25 every month.”
Whatever your must-have subscriptions are, it’s worth checking if BLC can help out with them, too. You can save on VPNs, meal kits and streaming services across brands like NordVPN, Disney+, Channel 4, HelloFresh, Audible and many more.
Ready to reduce those outgoings? Explore our household bills discounts to find out more.
Everyone loves a discount code – but the weekly food shop is one of those areas where traditional savings are hard to come by. That's where Shopping Cards come in.
You might have heard the term 'Shopping Card' before without knowing exactly what it means, so let us clear it up. A Shopping Card is essentially a discounted gift voucher. You buy it through the Blue Light Card app, then use it in store or online as the retailer permits.
Let's use an example. With Blue Light Card, you can get 4% off Shopping Cards at top supermarkets like Sainsbury's and Tesco. Retired police officer Mike explains:
"I've regularly been in the supermarket doing the weekly shop and thought, that's about 150 quid's worth in the trolley. So I go on the Blue Light Card app right there in the shop and get a £150 voucher. At the till, you're then saving £6 immediately. Over the course of a month, that's about £25 saved, which is quite a significant saving in the end."
If Mike keeps it up for a year, that 4% off every week will add up to £312 saved – just from grocery shopping with Shopping Cards. That’s equivalent to getting another two weekly shops for free every year.
We've also just launched top-up functionality on certain brands of shopping cards, helping you save quicker and easier so you don't need to faff about using up the last few pence on a card, either. Just add as much as you like, when you like.
What's more, you can stack your Shopping Card savings with your Nectar card or Tesco Clubcard as you would normally. The savings don't cancel each other out – they just pile up.
Blue Light Card is all about saying thank you for everything you do – not just with savings, but by helping you make memories, too.
A Member Day is when we book out an attraction and host a day just for our members. Previous Member Days have been at Thorpe Park, Legoland, Warwick Castle, Alton Towers and more.
Each time we host a Member Day, the attraction is closed off to the public – and open just for you. That means reduced ticket prices, free parking, giveaways, free face painting for the kids and exclusive discounts on retail. They’re brilliant family days out, minus the usual crowds. Sound like a bit of you? Check out our Member Days to see what's coming up.
Caroline is a lecturer at a college and attended our recent Legoland Member Day.
“The Members Days I think are just brilliant. I think it's just getting the opportunity to come to places like this at a reduced cost when it's quieter. That's the best Blue Light Card perk for me.”
As well as hefty discounts on days out, we also love giving experiences away for free. That’s what our ticket drops are all about – spoiling our members with well-deserved free nights out at top entertainment. In the past, we’ve given away tickets to Oasis, Beyoncé, Coldplay and England games at Wembley (yes, really). Just look out for our Event Ballots for your chance to win next time.
Take it from Coldplay fan Merisha: it’s worth entering the ballot.
"I can honestly say it was one of the best concerts I’ve been to. Not just Coldplay themselves, but even the seats. Honestly, thank you to Blue Light Card and to Wembley for the tickets – Coldplay had always been on my list of acts to see, but tickets sell out so quickly or are too expensive, so it was an amazing experience."
Like bills, personal finance is something you might not immediately associate with Blue Light Card – yet. We've been building out our offering across financial and insurance areas because we know they're a common pinch point for frontline workers.
Let's start with insurance. We've got offers covering car insurance and breakdown cover, as well as travel, home and health insurance. If any of your renewals are coming up, we recommend looking around, because comparing your options and switching is one of the easiest ways to save. And if you're already booking a holiday through Blue Light Card, adding travel insurance at the same time is a no-brainer to help protect that precious trip.
Don't just take it from us. NHS worker Debbie shared her savings from using Blue Light Card for insurance:
"I saved £156.50 a year using my Blue Light Card for breakdown cover, and worldwide travel insurance included within that."
There's also the personal finance side of things – the world of loans, bank accounts and credit cards made a little sweeter with exclusive offers for Blue Light Card members.
We've partnered with well-known comparison tools, too, so you can easily see how Blue Light Card offers measure up against the wider market. If you take out a service using one of our offers, you could get a Blue Light Card extra reward on top.
We’ll admit, it can be a little difficult to know exactly what’s available on Blue Light Card, considering we have over 15,000 offers. While we’d always recommend asking whether BLC is accepted at the till when you’re paying in a shop or restaurant, sometimes you just want to check what’s available before heading out. You probably already know you can check for Blue Light Card offers by searching for brands in our app – but did you know you can also list offers by location?
Our BLC Near Me feature lets you explore deals on a map view, so you can see what’s on offer nearby. It’s ideal for finding restaurants, cafes and shops in the area when you need something local and want to save a few pounds. Plus, it’s the only way to see which small businesses in your area have discounts available for Blue Light Card holders. That, and the Blue Light Card sticker you might spot in their shop window.
Keen to give it a go and see which local spots you could be saving at? Open up your Blue Light Card app and tap ‘Deals near you’. And voilà, all the offers within the distance radius you set, ready to check out.
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re all about little extras at Blue Light Card – so we’re adding in one final tip. If you love your Blue Light Card, you can refer your friends and colleagues by creating a unique link and sharing it with them.
Be the one to recommend BLC, and your friend will have you to thank when their savings start to pile up. It's a nice way to pay forward all the savings you’ve made so far to the people you work alongside. Especially the ones still paying full price for their weekly shop!
Want to share the love? Refer a friend now.
*Estimated potential annual savings figure is calculated using our top 10% of offers available during September 2024 to August 2025, using an average combined discount rate of 22% across all our savings categories and applying it against the average disposable income of an average Blue Light Card member based on salary. Average salary information from a range of sources available upon request. Average disposable income based on Office for National Statistics data from April 2023 to March 2024 (FYE 2024) for family spending in the UK, excluding categories of spend where no Blue Light Card offers are available.
