Holidays in Blackpool can be expensive or, as a lot of people will know from ‘bargain loving brits‘, can also be remarkable value for money! With loads of venues competing for the tourist pound during the season there are always deals to be had and discounts you can get by either just asking, planning ahead or knowing where to get vouchers. In this blog we explore some of the options open to you to save money in Blackpool.
Main Attraction Blackpool Discounts……
Discounts printed on the back of tickets
Most venues in the town target tourists and know when in town, the majority of tourists either come by car and park at one of the big car parks in or round the centre else use public transport / the trams to get around, and because of this, venues often print money off vouchers on the back of bus / tram tickets or on car park tickets.
When you first get to Blackpool, make sure you check the car park ticket… or if not parking up, just go and check one of the machines, they often have tickets stuck to them and if you ask a tram conductor, they’ll normally happily give you a blank ticket with a discount voucher on the back….. else…. check the tram floor!!
One other good source of discount vouchers is the train station (north). In the train station they have a stand with a load of pamphlets covering a range of attractions, there might be similar at your hotel or if you pop in any large hotel, the pamphlets tend to have discount vouchers on the back so defo worth a few minutes to grab a handful at the start of your holiday.
The Sun / Kellogs / Brand discounts………..
Keep an eye out as often big brands offer ‘buy one get one’ free deals or free entry to a range of attractions, the Sun do this every year and can save a small fortune for the price of a few papers and we are reliably informed that the Tower often has offers on the back of pouches of chocolates….. get a pouch from a pound shop (there are plenty in the town centre) and save £££’s on entry!!
The Blackpool Pleasure Beach specifically…….…..
We’ve posted this advice on social media a few times as when we found out… we were amazed!! The Blackpool Pleasure Beach offers year round discounts to a wide range of employees, before you book, check if your employer is on the list, they also even offer discounts to people who have certain bank accounts!!
Discounts are on offer on a range of things from the Pleasure Beach…..over and above 10% off park entry (online price)
– 25% OFF The Hot Ice Show (Advance Bookings)
– 10% OFF Nights at The Big Blue Hotel
– 10% OFF Adventure Golf
– 10% OFF Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
– 10% OFF Speedy Pass
– 10% OFF Food in the Blues Brasserie: Big Blue Hotel
– 10% OFF Food at the White Tower Restaurant
– 10% OFF Picento and pictures on the park
– 10% OFF Merchandise on Park Exc: Show and ICON Merchandise
– 10% OFF Meal Deals on Park Exc: Burger King, Madame Crevettes, Oyster Bar, Arena, Costa, Krispy Kreme, Champagne Lounge and Fish & Chips
– Free Skate Hire (At Pleasure Beach Arena) – Saving £2.00
– Preferential rates off corporate and personal venue hire. For example for conferencing & banqueting or for special occasions such as weddings and birthdays.
You can check if you qualify here.
A couple of other tips for saving some cash at the Pleasure Beach……
– Inside the park you can get ‘refillable’ drinks. Buy one and share to save £££s.
– Before the season beings, The Pleasure Beach does discounted weekend, keep an eye out the weekends between half term and easter for discounted entry days.
-Not a big fan of rides? Well, you can buy a park entry ticket to get into the park for around £5 and then, if you want to go on one or two rides, buys additional tickets inside to cover off individually (This option wasn’t available 2020 due to pandemic, we’re not sure on the situation for 2021)
Discounted tickets via your or someone else’s hotel or agent?
So a lot of hotels in Blackpool offer tickets for local attractions as massively discounted prices, ask at reception. We know hotel companies such as Blackpool Promotions can offer up to 40% off Merlin attractions (Madam Tussauds, sea life, tower for example), even if your hotel doesn’t offer discounts, nip in one that does and ask…. they still make money via commission so will be happy to sell you tickets as a non-resident or you could try a reseller such a Little Touches. Little Touches offer up to 50% discount on shows and attractions and also provide a discount wrist band which offers discounts to numerous restaurants, bars and attractions for only a fiver!
Blackpool Discounts Voucher Website…….
If you’ve not been living in a cave for the past 10 years, you’ll be well aware of sites such as Groupon, Wowcher, voucher cloud and so on. They often have good Blackpool discounts for attractions, activities and hotels which can save you a lot of money if timings align. Leading up to any trip, its definitely worth signing up to them and seeing what fall in your in box, as an example, we’ve just had a quick check now and you can get Evolution Magic tickets at the pleasure beach for £10 versus regular price of £14….. that sort of saving adds up for a family and over a week.
Any other tips???
Hotels – theres more hotels in Blackpool than you can shake a stick at and on quiet weekends, hotel capacity massively outweighs demand and its during these periods, you can get some fantastic deals both especially by contacting the hotels direct. Last minute or way in advance, its well worth phoning round and seeing what the various hotels can do for you, even if its not a discount on the room, most will chuck in a couple of freebies such as a drink on arrival….. golden rule, if you don’t ask, you don’t get!
Locals discount – have family in Blackpool? … or just own a Blackpool football shirt 😉 well, theres a load of venues around town that offer special local discounts, if you’re with a local, make sure they have proof of address and ask at the venues you visit. Viva Vegas Diner offer 10% off food and drinks for example but don’t advertise this widely.
Coral Island – kids eat free!! All day everyday!! Well worth planning in a trip. Coral Island provides some high quality food for the family at a reasonable price…. that reasonable price becomes exceptional value when you consider kids eat free with each adult! Buccaneer bar for example does a carvery every Sunday which we’d rank as being up there with the best you can get in Blackpool…. or maybe just fish and chips?? Again, the fish and chips served are up there with the best in Blackpool (honestly!!).
Revolution – One of the main and most popular bars in Blackpool is Revolution. If you’re going for a meal or indeed, a few drinks…. ask about their discount card. Last time we checked it cost a fiver but you also get a booklet of vouchers and deals including buy on get one free cocktails and money off beer!!! A couple of rounds could easily cover the cost of the card.
West Coast Rock Cafe – One of our favourite places to eat and featured in another of our blogs covering what we believe are the top family restaurants in Blackpool have a special offer whereby if its you sign up to their mailing list, you can get a free meal on your birthday………….. so providing your birthday fall when your in Blackpool, there is such a thing as a free lunch (or dinner / tea / whatever you call it where you’re from) 🙂
Travel – Last one that’s sticks in our mind is travel. Getting around in Blackpool is mega easy and simple, the tram lines run all along the way along the promenade from the most southern point of Blackpool all the way to Fleetwood however, travel can be expensive to make sure when you arrive you get a travel card to cover the entirety of you stay or if your comfortable with tech…. download the app and use that 🙂
Tips from our followers………..
So, we asked on social media our followers what they do to keep costs down on a trip to Blackpool, here’s some of their advice………..
- Book in advance….as much as you can. Whilst you need freedom on holiday, if you book meals and attractions in advance, you can get some really good deals.
- Put aside all your 2ps all year to use on the trip to the arcades, doesn’t hurt and over a year, you save up quite a few.
- Get vouchers from public sources around town (don’t buy discount wrist bands off street sellers or any jump the queue passes…. they’re just scams…. same applies to anyone selling you ‘Rag mags’ or ‘charity’ wrist bands!!)
- Tesco points – save up your Tesco club card points to use against your trip to Blackpool.
- Chocolate – Often grab bags of chocolate have 212 entry vouchers to the tower. Nip to the nearest Poundland or similar (theres a couple near the tower) to see if there are any offers open the back of the packs.
- Keep an eye on websites such as Groupon for late deals
- Set out where you are going to eat each day in advance and consider where you can get decent meals cheap / for free vs balancing with cheap junk food (you can get that easily in Blackpool).
- Be ‘cheeky’ and ask for discounts on hotel stays
We do hope you found this BLOG interesting and informative. What are your personal tips to keeping costs down on your trips to Blackpool?
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Some awesome tips here ..I’ve got an app called to good to go it’s basically for various outlets that have food nearing the end of shelf life can pick up some right bargains from Greg’s ,toby carvery etc