Is the Blue Light discount card worth it?

With household budgets squeezed, finding ways to save on everyday spending is more crucial than ever. The Blue Light Card, a discount scheme for health, emergency and social care workers (including retired staff), has now opened its doors to teachers. For a £4.99 fee, it promises access to thousands of discounts.

But for teachers, and indeed anyone eligible, is this discount card a smart financial move, or just another expense?

What’s on this page?

1. Blue Light Card discounts list
2. Who can get a Blue Light Card?
3. Boosting the Blue Light Card value
4. Can teachers get a Blue Light Card?
5. Alternatives to Blue Light Card
6. Is Blue Light Card worthwhile?
7. “How I use the Blue Light Card”

Blue Light Card discounts list

The Blue Light Card costs £4.99 for two years’ membership, and gives access to around 15,000 discounts, from large national retailers to local businesses. You can use the service to save money on shopping, holidays, days out, insurance and phones.  

Many smaller businesses are also signed up, so you can often shop local when using your card. There are also occasional “member-only days” at various theme parks, as well as Warwick Castle, when you can get various benefits as well as smaller crowds.

If you download the Blue Light Card app, you can search by category or choose the ‘near me’ option to find local businesses.

Current Blue Light Card discounts include:

• Apple: Up to 10% off certain gadgets (not the newest models) 
• Burger King: 20% off (except Saturdays) 
• Starbucks: 10% off 
• Uber: £10 off your first ride 
• Virgin Atlantic: Up to £230 off a holiday 
• Wagamama restaurants: 20% off (except Fridays and Saturdays) 
• Greene King pubs: 15% off your food bill

Who can get a Blue Light Card?

Eligible people include:

• NHS workers and volunteers 
• Emergency services 
• Optometrists 
• Dentists
• The armed forces
• Teachers

You can also get a Blue Light Card if you are retired from the NHS, emergency services or armed forces veterans. Retired teachers are not able to join the scheme.

If eligible, you can register via the website, uploading work identification or a payslip to prove that you qualify.

• Find the full list of who’s eligible at bluelightcard.co.uk. 

How to use a Blue Light Card

To use the Blue Light Card, you’ll have to present your card when shopping in-store or you’ll need to show the retailer a discount code (found through the Blue Light Card website or app). When shopping online, you’ll need the discount code, or you may be able to follow a link directly from your Blue Light Card online account.

If you use Google Chrome as your internet browser, you can add the free Blue Light Card Chrome extension, which automatically checks for discounts on the website you’re browsing.

Some retailers don’t offer a discount directly, but instead you can buy vouchers at a discount via Reward Gateway, which is Blue Light Card’s trading partner. Just be aware that, similar to making a purchase with gift vouchers, if the retailer then goes into administration, if your money goes via a third-party voucher provider you may not have the same protection as if you’d bought through a credit card or even a debit card.

Can teachers get a Blue Light Card?

Yes, teachers in schools or colleges for pupils under the age of 18 are now eligible for the Blue Light Card. School support staff are also eligible. The scheme initially opened to teachers in August 2024, but registrations were suspended because of tech issues. But teachers can now register.

Alternatives to Blue Light Card

There are other similar schemes to Blue Light Card. Some overlap, while others are open to different groups.

• Those working in the healthcare sector – or who have retired – can join Health Service Discounts for free, while those working in education (both current and retired) can sign up for Discounts for Teachers. Both of these offer a range of discounts. With either of these schemes you can get a 12-month free Tastecard, worth £79.99 full price, although there are often plenty of Tastecard offers elsewhere. 
• An Ode cashback card is available to members of Health Service Discounts and Discounts for Teachers, as well as members of similar schemes for with carers and charity workers. This is a prepaid debit card that gives cashback at certain retailers. If you use it online it’s similar to cashback websites like Topcashback, although the Ode card can be used in-store as well.  
• Boundless membership is also open to NHS workers and teachers, along with civil servants and government employees. Anyone who has retired from the public sector can also join. It costs £40 a year, which includes a free Tastecard and Kids Pass – handy for days out with the grandchildren, as well as other deals, like unlimited free entry to Historic Royal Palaces (at the time of writing, Blue Light Card members get 30% off). 
• Another newer scheme is Purpl Discounts, which is open to people with disabilities including those with a Blue Badge or who receive Attendance Allowance. Members can currently get 10% off a Morrisons online or click and collect order of £25 or more.  

Is the Blue Light Card worth it?

It depends. You may be able to find better deals elsewhere. If you’re still working, many employers (especially large ones) sign up to other similar schemes such as EdenRed, Rewards Gateway and Perkbox, which don’t have any cost attached. 

You can ‘stack’ the Blue Light Card discounts with other savvy shopping practices to save even more. Using cashback sites, store loyalty cards or cashback credit cards can boost your savings (but make sure to pay your credit card off immediately to avoid interest charges).

Consumer expert Jane Hawkes advises checking with stores whether they accept the card, as it might not always be clear. She says some offers are time-limited, so it’s worth checking the website or app regularly for new deals, and always check the terms and conditions before you splash out.

“Use the Blue Light Card on bigger spends to make your money back quicker, check the app before shopping, and keep an eye on offers as businesses can change or withdraw them,” says Hawkes.

With Blue Light Card, you won’t get a full picture of where the discounts are until you sign up, so it can be hard to know how much use you’ll get out of the card – but the low cost makes that a fairly small risk. If you use a local business that offers a Blue Light Card discount, then it’s likely to be worth getting the card.

Hawkes thinks it’s worth it overall. “The cost of £4.99 for two years is good value, and you only need a couple of good discounts to make that money back.” Compared with Health Services Discounts, she says it is ‘swings and roundabouts, depending where you shop and what you buy’.

“There is no fee for Health Service Discounts, but Blue Light Card is more widely accepted at more retailers. It also offers lots of in-store deals and exclusive offers you won’t find elsewhere. However, all healthcare workers are eligible for Health Service Discounts and members can also apply for a cashback card.”

She adds: “If you have the time, it’s always worth comparing offers with sites like HotUKDeals, VoucherCodes and MoneySavingExpert deals.” If you're unsure, consider trying Blue Light Card for the initial two years and tracking your savings to assess its true value for you.

How I use the Blue Light Card

Sally Potter, 58, a hypnotherapist from Devon, has a Blue Light Card. “I have had the card for around six months, through my work with a local dementia care organisation, The Filo Project. I’m not a massive shopper, but it’s already saved me a quite a lot of money.

“I’m a member of a local gym and the card gets me £10 off each month, taking my membership from £39 to £29. I’ve also used it to buy presents, like shoes for my son. You often get 15% off and sometimes more. “I particularly like the deals I get with local businesses. I got a quote to have the roof on an outbuilding replaced and my Blue Light Card gave me 5% off – that adds up to a lot on a big purchase like that.

“So it’s a great perk that has already paid for itself many times over. I keep the card in my purse and I am using it more now that I have got into the swing of it. “I do get a lot of emails from Blue Light Card, flagging the latest offers. I tend to just ignore them, but they might be helpful for people who shop more than me.”

I use it to get discounts on eating out

Stephen Shaw, 66, a retired nurse from West Yorkshire, has had a Blue Light Card for around seven years. “I mainly use the card to get discounts on eating out – at Greene King pubs, Toby Carvery or coffee shops. One local café used to give free coffees to Blue Light Card holders, so I saved around £120 over the year. “I maximise the savings by using it with other offers.

I am signed up to Greene King’s mailing list and when there are promotions on gift vouchers, I buy them with 20% off. Using my Blue Light Card when I pay gives me a further 20% saving, so I might end up paying £64 for a £100 meal.

For me, the Blue Light Card is definitely worth it. “But there are other places to get offers, which are often better than those with the card. I have a Tastecard, which I always buy when it’s on offer for £1, and often use that to buy one meal and get another free at places like Pizza Express or Zizzi.

I’m also signed up to Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert emails which highlight good deals. “So, while Blue Light Card is good, and definitely worth the money, it’s not the only way to get money off. And, like anything, it’s only a good deal if it’s something I was going to be buying anyway.”