I imagined there would be all sorts of free stuff I could get when I turned 60. There are indeed a few freebies and offers though not many as I reviewed in blogs earlier this year.
Truth is, partly because of Covid, the only discount I’ve availed myself of, so far, is free prescriptions. Welcome though this is, I can hardly gorge myself on free heartburn tablets and inhalers.
That’s why I was quite excited by my free membership of Saga Possibilities that came with the Saga motor insurance I took out.
I’ve just checked out the Possibilities website and counted over 60 money-saving offers which are organised under four categories – Travel, Food & Drink, Home & Garden and Health & Beauty. What more is there to life!
The travel section included a number of worthwhile 20% discounts on stays at popular hotel groups including Ibis, Mercure and Novotel.
Travel
Being cynical as I am I was half-expecting that the exclusions would render the offers useless – things like you couldn’t combine them with other discounts or they’d only be available on weekdays but I was wrong. Here, for example, are the Ibis Budget terms which seem fair enough to me:
- Save 20% when you book at least 15 days in advance
- Save 5% when you book 5 days in advance
- Discounts are on top of best available rates meaning you could save up to 35%
- Offers are available with or without breakfast
- Offers applicable 7 days a week
In addition to hotel groups there are discounts on river cruises via Titan Travel, holiday villas, car hire and airport shops.
Food & drink
Under Food & Drink there is a tempting offer a Free Case of Craft Beer – might go for that though must remember to cancel the required subscription. Other freebies, in return for subscriptions, are a free bottle of wine and a Simply Cook trial box.
There are also some worthwhile offers from well-known restaurant chains including Prezzo, Harvester and Chef & Brewer which I’m sure we’ll make use of at some point.
Home & Garden
I was less enamoured with the Home & Garden section with subscriptions to magazines and courses that didn’t appeal. Other offers were a somewhat eclectic mix covering phones, car washes, personalised cards and flowers. Shame the hoped for offers for DIY and Garden Centre products weren’t there
Health & Beauty
Health & Beauty had a couple of offers that did attract including the free Covid lockdown inspired workouts with the admirable Dame Kelly Holmes, who turned 50 years-old earlier this year.
I really enjoyed listening to her story about how she got into athletics that introduces her first #notgoingoutclub exercise session. I might well give these a try, as I need to add some variety to my 20k a week of running. The 30% off ‘Active Ageing 12 week online exercise journey’ also appealed.
Other offers include worthwhile savings on a range of health and beauty products plus I might be tempted for free delivery of my free repeat prescriptions via Pharmacy2U.
Not a bad range of offers, I’d say, for an insurance service I would have paid for anyway.