You’ve probably seen the adverts of meerkats promoting free food and cinema tickets – but have you ever stopped to look at how good the offer is?

With a little trick, you can get a years worth of 2 for 1 meals and cinema tickets for just £3.

Cinema tickets at the moment cost you over £10 each, and main meals at restaurants are setting you back £10-15… so it’s more important than ever to find deals to reduce the cost.

This trick is probably one of the best ways to do so – though oddly enough comes as a deal through purchasing insurance.

Insurance companies have competing offers to tempt customers to shop with them. Confused have recently launched their own rewards scheme getting you up to £54 worth of rewards to compete.

But this deal of Meerkat Movies and Meerkat Meals is the best out there. Here’s everything you need to know about them and the trick to get it for just £3.

Related: How to find coupons in the UK

What is Meerkat Movies/Meerkat Meals?

Both Meerkat Movies and Meerkat Meals are offers from Compare the Market, as a reward for purchasing insurance through their website.

Meerkat Movies gets you 2 for 1 cinema tickets on any film on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at most major cinema chains including Odeon, Vue and Cineworld.

Meerkat Meals gets you 2 for 1 on starters, mains and deserts at 1,000s of restaurants nationwide including Frankie & Benny’s, Cafe Rouge, Prezzo and many more independent restaurants. (See the full details of the scheme here)

You can claim the 2 for 1 at breakfast for certain restaurants including Frankie & Benny’s, but the rest are available from lunch onwards.

Both of the deals are valid for a whole year from the day you purchase insurance through their website. You’ll need to download the app in order to claim both of them, using a code that is emailed to you after purchase.

Luckily for you, both of the offers are included when you get insurance – so you don’t have to pick one over another.

How do I get it for £3?

This is a little trick to get you access to the deals, even if you don’t need insurance. This is something you can do each year when your time runs out too.

In order to get the deal, you’ll need to purchase any insurance on the Compare the Market website.

As you can purchase any insurance, it means there isn’t a minimum spend, and you can buy the cheapest insurance on the site. I think you can see where this is going.

After searching around for the cheapest insurance you can get – there’s a great option that only costs £3.

Although you may not need it, if you search for single trip travel insurance in the UK for one day, it should be the cheapest insurance you can get. When I searched, the price came out at £3.19.

Once bought, you’ll receive an email with a code to enter on the Compare the Market app to unlock the deals waiting inside.

How to get 2for1 meals/cinema tickets

Once you have the app installed on your phone, and you have entered the code sent to you via email, you’ll be able to claim the deals.

If you’re looking to get your 2 for 1 cinema tickets, click onto the cinema tab on a Tuesday or Wednesday and you’ll be given a code.

This code you can then put into the online booking form for the major cinema chains, and you’ll get a ticket for free when booking two.

For the restaurants, there’s a giant map telling you which restaurants in your local area take Meerkat Meals. Then click on the ‘2 for 1’ gold logo in the top right corner and show the server your voucher.

Meerkat Meals Restaurants

There are a vast array of restaurants you can use Meerkat Meals on. There are plenty of local restaurants, but the big chains include Prezzo, Pizza Hut, Ed’s Diner, Ned’s Noodle Bar and more.

Usually, you see the likes of Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito and more on there, but due to the happenings this year, they are momentarily paused.

Although it requires a bit of planning – it’s a great deal that you could get a lot of use out of throughout the year.

If you’d rather a voucher for booking insurance, check out Confused for their offer. You can also save money at certain restaurants by using Airtime Rewards too.

Will you be taking advantage of this trick to get a year long food deal? I’d love to know in the comments below, on Twitter @Jordon_Cox or on Facebook.

About Jordon Cox

Jordon Cox is known as Britain's Coupon Kid, and has been saving money since age 15. In that time, he has taught others how to do the same through blogs, public speaking and appearing as a TV expert.

He is best known for doing some crazy things to save money, including getting £600 of shopping for 4p using coupons, and travelling from Sheffield to Essex via Berlin, because it was £8 cheaper than the train.

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