These days a visit to the flicks isn't a cheap treat.  By the time you add up the price for tickets, drinks and popcorn a trip to the cinema for a family of 4 can end up costing your around £40-£50.  Well you'll be pleased to know that there are a few ways in which you can go to the cinema either half price or for free!

Most people have mobile phones and if you happen to be on the Orange network you probably already know about Orange Wednesday when every Wednesday you can get 2 cinema tickets for the price of 1.  All you need to do is call or text 'film' to 241 or 80241 from your Orange mobile, you won't be charged to send the text however you will be charged 35p to receive the text with the special code to show to staff at the box office.  For more details visit their website.  Even if you're not an Orange customer you could always get a free Orange SIM card and they'll give you £5 free credit when you add your first £10 top up. So you'll pretty much get your money back the first time you use it to text Orange for the cinema deal.

If you like to be one of the first to see new movies before they are released then register with See Film First, Tell Ten, Metro FilmFirst, Momentum, Metrodome, Paramount and Disney to get free tickets to the latest movies.  As soon as you receive an email with your code act quickly as the tickets are on a first come first served basis.  For invitations to special advance screenings join the Insider Programme with Showcase cinemas, for more information follow the link.

Ever wondered what to do with the kids at weekends?  Well there are a few cinemas that have special offers for kids movies at weekends and during school holidays.  Odeon cinemas have kids screenings every Saturday and Sunday morning and during most school holidays where prices start from £1 for kids and the adult goes free.  Also every Saturday and Sunday morning you can take the kids to Vue cinemas for the amazing price of just 95p per person however each adult must be accompanied by one child.  This great offer is also available during school half-term holidays so it's a very cheap way to keep the kids occupied and quiet for a couple of hours!  They are now doing great deals for 13-18 year olds in their TeenScreen promotion where tickets are only £2 or £3 for a 3D movie on Thursdays and Fridays.  Cineworld also have special Movies for Juniors screenings at 10am every Saturday and there is usually a choice of 3 movies to watch with some pre-show entertainment to get the kids warmed up.  Tickets cost £1 each and every adult must be accompanied by a child!

If you shop at Tesco and collect Clubcard points you can exchange £4 in Clubcard vouchers for an adult's ticket and £2.50 for a child's ticket at Cineworld through their Clubcard Deals website.  Also if you collect Nectar points you can redeem 500 points for a £2.50 discount off the price of a ticket at Vue cinemas.  You can even use your points to pay towards popcorn and refreshments.  Just hand in your Nectar card at the box office or till and let the cashier know how many points you want deducted and they will swipe your card and automatically deduct the points from your account.

Well now that we've sorted out cheap cinema tickets the next thing to think about is food and drink.  Even though it is most cinemas' policies that you may only consume food and drink bought on their premises, personally I refuse to pay £5 plus for a sugary drink and pot of popcorn when you can buy a drink and packet of sweets or popcorn from your local supermarket for less than a couple of pounds.  Besides half of the popcorn usually ends up on the floor as they over-fill it and as soon as you put your hand in the pot half of it falls out!!

CURRENT VOUCHERS AND DEALS