Wednesday, February 13, 2013

"£970 back on ‘09 flight delay", M&S code, £13 specs, £3 roses, unltd calls/data/texts £16/mth, top bank, wedding tips, free eye test, free coffee

Martin's Money Tips Email (can't see this properly? Read it online)
Martin Lewis

MoneySavingExpert.com weekly email

Cutting your costs, fighting your corner Martin's Money Tips Wed 13 Feb 2013
Cards Reclaim Shopping Deals Utilities Banking Travel Insurance Mortgages Income

This week

'£970 back from flight delay in 2009'
5% cashback - 'can you get it?' tool
50 big fat wedding MoneySavers
Grab top 2% savings while you can
M&S Outlet 15% EXTRA off code
Unltd calls, texts, data Sim £16/mth
Financial ed to join curriculum (yay)
Valentine's £3 for 12 red roses
Free £15 eye test
Longest EVER 0% debt shift - 25mth
Blackpool Pleasure Beach 50% off
20% off 8,000 Valentine's takeaways
£13 Bench specs | 2 specs £29
Plusnet b'band & line £12.65/mth
Warehouse 25% off & more codes
Free Valentine's gift cheques
£10 champagne
Permanently cheap energy
Free coffee at BP garages
Free £25 face cream (in £2 paper)
50p Mars 4-pack via app discount
London £7 free tickets credit
Vouchers Index: Restaurants / Shopping
Best Buys: 0% cards | Car insurance
Best Buys: Gas & Elec | Bank Accs

MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter

'Earn £200 EVERY year from your bank account'
Blockbuster best buy bank account, as YOU tell us whose service is tops

Switching bank isn't a big deal, they shift your direct debits and standing orders, you just need to tell those who pay you (for safety, keep the old account open a little while as a precaution). George Osborne's confirmed it'll get even easier from September, with switching in 7 days, but why wait?

Earn 3% cashback on bills, 3% savings interest & get good service. Santander's 123* has always been a financial blockbuster, but we've shied away from raving about it as Santander's overall service rep's previously been so poor. Yet in our latest poll (see below) we specifically asked about 123, and it was up there with the best.

Cashback on bills. Pay bills by direct debit and you get 3% cashback on mobile, phone & broadband; 2% on energy; and 1% on water, council tax and Santander mortgage payments. These should dwarf its £2/mth fee, as someone with typical bills will earn £10/mth, though many will get more.

As Kelly Jackson tweeted me: "I have a 123 account and I'm getting about £18 per month back after my fee - it's fantastic." That's £210 a year.

3% savings interest. It also pays far more savings interest than the best buy savings. If you've £3,000-£20,000 in it, you get 3% on the whole amount. For more on if it's right for you, see our full Santander 123 analysis.
Your favourite bank. Even for a rate tart like me, with day-to-day banking, as you interact so often, service counts. First Direct's won every poll we've done, while until now, Santander's always lost. This time there's a new wooden spoon holder.

Current account service rating, Feb 2013 (for past 6mths)
Rank Provider Great OK Poor
1 First Direct 91% 7% 2%
2 Co-op (incl Smile) 78% 18% 4%
3 Nationwide 66% 28% 6%
4 Santander 123 63% 28% 9%
5 Lloyds TSB 44% 42% 14%
6 HSBC 42% 44% 14%
7 Barclays 41% 45% 14%
8 Santander (all) 44% 37% 19%
9 NatWest/RBS Group 40% 44% 16%
10 Halifax 38% 43% 19%
11 Bank of Scotland 35% 43% 22%
Order calculated by 0 points for poor, 1 for OK and 2 for great. 9,504 votes in total - we've ignored banks with fewer than 100 votes.
serviceFree £100 and untouchable service. If service is what really matters to you, provided you've a min monthly income of £1,500, switch to First Direct*, the untouchable winner. You get £100 for switching to it, a £250 0% overdraft (15.9% EAR above). No in-credit interest though. Full info in Best Bank Accounts.
FREE travel insurance up to age 73. Nationwide* comes 3rd for service and includes European travel insurance (joint account covers both) - a boon, especially for older travellers, whose insurance can cost £100s. Worldwide or family cover upgrades are cheap. Tell it existing conditions, though.
Top 'premier' account - £450 of high-end insurance for £9.50/mth. If you use insurance, this can be a real winner. Co-op Privilege costs £9.50/mth (£114 /yr). It covers up to 4 smartphones (incl iPhone 5) in your family along with high-end worldwide travel insurance, max age 79 (64 for winter sports).
Want to go ethical? Both Nationwide & Co-op (see above) get good Ethical Consumer ratings. Plus 25 local credit unions offer bank accounts, all do savings & loans. See if one's near you in our Credit Unions guide.
Shift your overdraft to 12mths 0%. If you're overdrawn, Halifax Reward offers a 12-month 0% overdraft, plus gives new switchers £100. Yet its service rating's poor and after a year, the overdraft charges jump to a huge £1-£3/day, so you'll need to switch again. If that's too much, there are alternative 0% overdraft options.

For more info and even more options, see Best Bank Accounts.

Blagged for MoneySavers

Did you miss?

Reclaim PPI for FREE
Claims handlers aren't more successful.
Free help & templates: Reclaim PPI

MSE News

Top story: Mortgages hit record lows, but beware high fees
Council tax bills can be spread over a year
Post Office delays cuts after not pre-warning savers
London bus double charge threat
60,000 hit by child trust fund fee hike
Saved cash? Shout it from the rooftops.
If this email's ever helped you, please forward it to friends and suggest they get it via moneysavingexpert.com/tips
Use the Money Mantras If you're skint If you're not skint
The Ones Not To Miss Wed 13 Feb 2013
'Just got £970 back for 2009 flight delays'
Successes from our Reclaim Old Flight Delays guide are pouring in - you can reclaim from up to six years ago

Last October, an EU ruling said if you were delayed over 3hrs, you were entitled to claim £215-£515 per person, per flight. Successes are flooding in. Our Flight Delays Compensation guide shows you how. Here's a taster...

  • flight delaysAre you eligible? Any flight from an EU airport, or to one (using an EU airline), counts. Use the web to check past delays; but the delay needs to be the airline's fault. Bad weather and security issues don't count. See What Counts As A Fault.
  • '£970 back for two passengers' We're finding the feedback's binary. People either get easy payouts, or hit a brick wall that only court action will solve. So it's up to you, but here's MoneySaver Denise to inspire: "Just got £970 from BA for two passengers for delays in 2009. Thanks for telling me about the new legislation." Report your experiences.
  • This could push fares up. The compensation's weighted against budget airlines as it's a flat rate, regardless of fare. A £10 flight delayed 3hrs means £215 compensation, so make your own ethical call whether it's right to do.

M&S Outlet 15% EXTRA off code. MSE Blagged. M&S's web outlet already sells at up to 40% off original prices. This code reduces them further. Full info on the code, and on finding a bargain, in our M&S Outlet Discount Finder.

Ends Today: UNLIMITED mobile mins, texts & data £16/mth Sim. Get a T-Mobile Full Monty Sim* at £16/mth (was £21) and pop it in any unlocked handset (12mth contract). Stonking deal. Full info: T-Mobile deals

Whoop-whoop. Financial ed to go on national curriculum - 118,000 thank yous. We're extremely excited that after years of campaigning, the Govt's announced from 2014 financial ed will go on the national curriculum. Thanks to the 118,000 who signed our petition, a big factor in making this happen. Full info: Fin Ed on National Curriculum

12 Valentine's roses £3 (£21 couriered if you're quick). All cheapest in-store & delivered Valentine's Flowers.

New. Find chance of getting 5% cashback card WITHOUT applying
Can you EARN £100s A YEAR? Our eligibility checker protects your credit score and lets you know your chances

A cashback credit card is one that PAYS YOU when you spend on it. So set up a direct debit to repay IN FULL each month to avoid interest, use it for all spending, and you can make £100s a year just by changing your plastic.

  • 'I made £225 in six months'. Cashback cards done right are a no-brainer, as Leigh Higgens tweeted us: "I've made £225 cashback in the last six months. I pay in full for fuel and shopping."
  • New pre-application eligibility check. Apply for a credit card and it leaves a mark on your credit file. Disgracefully, even if you're rejected, this has a minor impact on future chances of getting credit. Our tool's designed to beat this. It does a 'soft' search YOU see on your file, but lenders CAN'T, so it has no impact. We can then tell you your % chance of success.

    Card Monthly fee Cashback paid Rep APR What chance?
    Capital One World* None Both these cards pay a huge 5% cashback on ALL spending for 3mths, (max £100), then up to 1.25% after 19.9% Eligibility check
    Amex Everyday* None 19.9% Eligibility check
    Santander 123* £2/mth 3% petrol & trains; 2% dept stores; 1% supermarkets 22.8% Eligibility check
    For more cards, full help choosing and much more info, see Best Cashback Cards (Official APR Examples).
  • Cashback card golden rules. 1) Set up a direct debit to repay IN FULL each month to avoid interest. 2) Never withdraw cash from ATMs, as you'll pay interest even if fully repaying. 3) Use for all normal spending to max cashback. 4) It's NOT an excuse for overspending. 5) Ensure you've cash in the bank to cover the direct debit.

Free £15 eye test. Click and print this Optical Express* voucher for a free eye test. More options in Free Eye Tests.

Reminder. Longest EVER 0% debt shift - 25 mths. Accepted new cardholders balance-transferring existing credit card debts to Barclaycard* get 25mths 0% for a 3.2% fee. Repay or shift again before the 0% ends, otherwise it's 18.9% rep APR. FULL help and more best buys (plus eligibility checker tool) in Best Balance Transfers (and APR Examples).

Blackpool Pleasure Beach 50% off & other half-term cheap days out
Blackpool 50% off | 170 free museums | 2for1 UK attractions | Warwick Castle 40% | Diggerland 15% | ALL Cheap Days Out

20% off 8,000 Valentine's takeaways code via app MSE Blagged, or dine-in for £10. Staying in's the new going out. Valentine Meals

50 big fat wedding WOWs
Commit to your (wo)man, not to a debt. Top tips incl dream dresses, free invites, £1,000 all-in packages & more

It's nearly Valentine's - love is in the air. Yet the cost of an average wedding is now a heart-breaking £20,000. So we've 50 Cheap Wedding Tips for loved-up couples, from financing tips to venue hunting and more. To seduce you to read it...

  • wedding savingsFilm star, but frugal gowns. Top second-hand wedding dress sites, a £100 custom made-to-measure dress via eBay and high street bargains. See £100 Dream Dresses.
  • Weddings for under £1K. Holiday Inn, Old English Inns and Britannia hotels have £1,000 wedding packages, eg, the toast, food, drinks & disco for 50 guests.
  • Two-thirds off wedding bling. You can convert £10 of Tesco pts into a £30 Goldsmiths voucher, so a £600 ring costs £200 in vouchers. So reclaim old Tesco points, then see the Top 10 Tesco Redemptions.
  • Don't let your bank grab your wedding cash. A proud dad paid £12,000 to his daughter's account for her big day. Two days later, the bank used £6,000 of it to pay off her credit card debt even though there was a repayment plan in place. It's legal. If you're at risk, see Wedding Money Tips for how to avoid this and other pitfalls.

£13 Bench specs | 2 specs £29 (incl Storm & Kangol). Prescription specs, incl lenses & delivery. Cheap Glasses

Plusnet - part of BT - broadband & line rent equiv £12.65/mth (BT line only £15). MSE Blagged. Plusnet's Essentials* (b'band, eve & wknd calls) is half price at £3/mth for 9mths of the 12mth contract. Pay a year's line rent upfront (£126) and it totals £171/yr. This link gives £25 cashback, factored in it's equiv £12.65/mth. See Home Phones.

Warehouse 25% off, Body Shop £25 off £50, Burton £5 off and more...
Warehouse 25% code/vch | Boden 15% off + free del code | Burton £5 off £30 code/vch | Hobbycraft 25% code/vch
Body Shop £5 off £15, £25 off £50 code | Matalan 15% off £40 code | See ALL Discount Vouchers

Free Valentine's 'naughty or nice' gift cheques. Just print out and fill in. Promise your Valentine a (ahem) massage, brekkie in bed, or walk the dog for once instead of them. Three to choose from. Free Valentine's Gift Cheques

Click the titles for full info and all our top picks
Balance Transfers Car Insurance Cheap Loans Top Cash ISAs
Longest 0%: Barclaycard*
25 mths 0%, 3.2% fee

(18.9% rep APR)

Low fee 0%: NatWest*
13 months 0%, 1% fee

(17.9% rep APR)
Get quotes in this order...

MoneySupermarket*
Tesco Compare*
Direct Line*
Aviva*
Admiral MultiCar*

Sainsbury's Bank* (£5k - £7.5k)
6.9% rep APR



Clydesdale Bank* (£7.5k - £15k)
5.1% rep APR

Cheshire BS 2.5% AER
Min £1,000, inc bonus
Postal. Transfers allowed.

Coventry BS 2.8% AER
Min £1. 60 days' notice.
Online. No transfers

See Card APR Examples & Loan APR Examples

£10 champagne - je t'aime MoneySaving. Need bubbles for sparkle? Cheap Champagne

MSE's permanently Cheap Energy Club - 190,000 now joined, have you? Our new club ensures you're always on the cheapest tariff, by monitoring yours and telling when and where to switch. Join free: Cheap Energy Club

FREE £2ish Valentine's coffee at BP garages. Turn up Thurs at 300 Wild Bean Cafes for free coffee. BP Deals

Free £25 Elemental Herbology 30ml face cream with £2 paper. Or £8ish Shiseido in £4 mag. Beauty Deals

Grab 2% top easy savings while you can
With savings rates lower than a snake's belly - and slithering further down - grab the paltry best of the bunch now

Switching to a new top savings account is easy. Just withdraw cash and put it in a new, hopefully better pot. With rates so dire, it's never been more important to check & boost rates. All deals below have full UK £85,000 savings safety.

  • easy savings2% AER from 'Nationwide' - effective 1.5% min rate guarantee. The top variable payer is Derbyshire BS (min £1,000). Many don't realise this is part of Nationwide, offering an identical rate to its MySave account but with unlimited withdrawals. It pays 2%, of which 1.5% is a guaranteed bonus until March 2014, which effectively means the rate can't drop below 1.5% until then. Diarise to to ditch and switch once it ends, though.

    If you've less than £1,000 to save, Coventry BS is also 2% but limits you to 4 withdrawals a year. Full info and more options, incl how to get 3% in a current account, in Top Savings.
  • Why are rates so low - will it get worse? Today's best buys are 1%-point lower than six months ago. It's mainly due to the Govt's Funding for Lending scheme, which pumped money into the banks for them to lend out, so they no longer need savers' cash as much. There's no sign of the decline ending, so it's sensible to grab the top rate now, as long as it's easy access so you can leave if things improve.

50p 4 pack of Mars/Snickers, 43p Nutella via app. Get £2 products for 75% off. See Supermarket Coupons.

Go out in London? Free £7 credit on ticket-booking app. MSE Blagged. 5,000 available. Yplan lists concerts, gigs, comedy and theatre tickets for the next day (some under £10). This gives you free credit. YPlan Deals


Click the titles for full info and all our top picks
Gas & Electricity Bank Accounts Home Insurance Landlines
Compare, switch & get cashback

Energyhelpline*
£15 per switch

MoneySupermarket*
£30 dual fuel

uSwitch*
6 bottles of wine

First Direct*
£100 bonus and top cust service

Santander 123*
Up to 3% cashback on bills

(£2 per month fee)
Get quotes in this order...

Confused.com*
MoneySupermarket*
Direct Line*
Aviva*

Post Office
with eve & wknd calls
£13.25/mth


BT Line Rental Saver*
£10.75/mth (pay a yr upfront)
Do a Money Makeover Free Budget Planner Free MSE car sticker £16 Travel Insurance

Restaurant vouchers

Discount vouchers and sales

Top deals

The Moneysaving community
The MoneySaving Community

THE GREAT HUNT:
Have you earned cash from homemade YouTube vids?
From make-up tutorials to cute clips of your kids, it's possible to earn cash uploading videos to YouTube. The site places ads next to the clips, and shares the revenue. We want MoneySavers who've succeeded to share tips on how to start, and strategies to max the cash. Share yours/read others': Earn cash from YouTube vids Past topics: View all

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA:
Should I pay to go to a family wedding?

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... A member of my family is getting married. Instead of sticking to a budget (which has come from family donations anyway), she's blown almost the entire amount on a posh venue, resulting in her considering asking guests to pay £15 each for their meals. Part of me feels a little disgruntled that we'd be expected to fork out £30 on top of the cost of a wedding gift, even though it's not much in the grand scheme of things. But the other part of me feels like I should just cough up if she asks. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I pay to go to a family wedding? | Suggest an MMD | View Past MMDs

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK:
Don't fret about your finances if you're a student

This week is the National Association of Student Money Advisers' third Student Money Week. If you're a student with money worries, or in need of funding facts, get in touch with an advisor for info on the financial support you could be entitled to. Spotted a campaign? This space is for MSE to support work by other organisations. Send us a campaign of the week suggestion.

THE GREAT HUNT... REVEALED:
Men, what do you want for Valentine's?

Amusingly, quite a few responses were from women, with details of what they've bought their other halves (all very nice too). But of the men who responded, it seems a "standard gift", similar to what you'd buy for a birthday was popular, as was
a nice card. One suggested using the money towards something practical - unromantic, but definitely MoneySaving.

BOOK GIVEAWAY RESULT:
The Clangers craft book.
25 blagged. Find out if you got one.

CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT:
Airline: Aer Lingus Sale: Up to 50% off Ends: Thu 21 Feb 2013
Our pick this week is Aer Lingus' up to 50% off sale. It's on till Thu 21 Feb 2013, but the 50% discount is applied before taxes and charges. It's for flights from 14 UK airports to Ireland from Fri 1 Mar to Thu 20 Jun 2013. We found flights from Manchester to Dublin for £25.99. To find flights quickly, use the FlightChecker on a £30 one-way max search. Extra charges warning: Avoid payment and check-in charges - see the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance

Quick forum tips

Freebies

Martin's blogs

Martin's appearances

Thursday 14 February
Daybreak , ITV1, 7.35-7.45am.
Deals of the Week.
Thursday 14 February
Shelagh Fogarty, Radio 5, 12-1pm.
Consumer Panel.
Listen to past shows.
Monday 18 February
This Morning, ITV1, 11am-12pm.
Savings.
 

MSE team corner

Board of the week

The Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning Board

Share advice and tips on holiday-related subjects. Discussions include Disneyland Orlando - Restaurants, First holiday as couple - ideas welcome and UK to South of France - travel options/suggestions?

Cheap travel money

UK's Best Currency Rates
£100 will buy you:
Best Worst
Euro Flag 115.81 105.64
US Flag $ 155.23 141.37
Turkish Flag TL 270.25 247.37
Rates correct at 4pm Tue
Find all top currency rates
Compare travel cash

This week's poll: Is it ok to use a 2for1 voucher on a first date?

Imagine Bob asks Sarah to dinner on a first date, saying he'll pay. When the bill comes, he pulls out a 2for1 voucher - what advice would you give Sarah?

Poll results

How do you rate your bank account's service?

Santander's no longer the worst bank for customer service - and its 123 account now ranks among the best. First Direct remains the top dog, with 91% of customers voting it 'great'. But of all those with over 100 votes, Bank of Scotland is now in the doghouse.

- 63% of Santander 123 customers voted it 'great'
- 33% of Santander customers with other accounts (not 123) voted it 'great'.
- 22% of Bank of Scotland customers voted it 'poor'.

9,504 voted. See full results.

Question of the week

Q: I have a spare credit card for emergencies, but I very rarely use it. The issuer's sent me a letter telling me it's increasing my credit limit. Do I gain anything (such as a better credit rating) by letting it do this, or should I use the "do not raise my limit" option? Mike, by email.

MSE Dan's A: Contrary to what you suspect, an increased credit limit is most likely to have a small negative impact on your ability to get new credit, though it varies with each lender - see How To Boost Your Credit Score. This is because other lenders you apply to would see you've a higher amount of credit available to you, so theoretically, you could be that much in debt in one chip & pin's time.

That said, it's not something to be massively worried about. If there's a chance the extra limit could be useful in an emergency, then consider taking it - though never borrow more than needed, and always check you can afford to repay it. Though if it's just a bog-standard credit card, and you need to borrow, you'd be far better getting a new card with a special deal, eg, a 17-mth 0% card.

Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails).

 Archna's free game of the week: Gunbrick

Could you pass GCSE personal finance?

We're still jumping for joy that financial education will join the national curriculum. But how would you fare in the exam if you had to take it now? Bonus if you can do it without a calculator. Take the Personal Finance GCSE, courtesy of the Telegraph.

We hope you save some money,

Martin & the MSE team

Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com works

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of this email and the site. We're a journalistic website, and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques - but can't promise to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong.

What you need to know

  • This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service.

  • We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the section 75 guide for protection tips).

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  • Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion.

Please read the Full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, how this site is financed and Editorial Code. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis. MSE, Money Saving Expert, MoneySavingExpert and Moneysavingexpert.com are registered trade marks belonging to MoneySavingExpert.com Limited.

More about MoneySaving Expert and Martin Lewis

What is MoneySavingExpert.com?

Founded in February 2003, it's now the UK's biggest consumer help website with over 6 million people getting this email and nearly 10m using the site. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple: how to save cash and fight for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 30 full time staff about half of whom are editorial researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE

Who is Martin Lewis?

Martin set up and runs MSE, he's an ultra-focused money saving journalist and consumer campaigner. He has regular slots on Daybreak, Lorraine, Radio 2 Vine, BBC1 Watchdog, Radio 5 Consumer panel and presents ITV Tonight. He is a columnist for amongst others the Sunday Post as well as an author. More info: See Martin Lewis' biog

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santander-products.co.uk, firstdirect.com, nationwide.co.uk, t-mobile.co.uk, americanexpress.com, capitalone.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk, opticalexpress.co.uk, plus.net, natwest.com, aviva.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, directline.com, admiral.com, tescocompare.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, cbonline.co.uk, energyhelpline.com, uswitch.com, confused.com, productsandservices.bt.com.

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