Tastecard: Your Questions Answered

Tastecard is a diners club which offers discounts on dining, entertainment and more. I’ll be looking at the offering in detail, comparing the programme to Meerkat Meals and sharing how you can get Tastecard for free (or even make a profit). All this and more in this ultimate Q&A Guide.

Contents

• What Is Tastecard?
• What Is Tastecard Plus?
• Physical vs Digital Card
• How Much Does Tastecard Cost?
• How Can I Get A Free Tastecard?
• Where Can You Use Tastecard?
• Tastecard vs Meerkat Meals
• Can I Save Money When Dining Alone?
• Are My Food Options Limited?
• Get Tastecard Through Natwest or RBS
• It Tastecard Worth It?

What Is Tastecard?

Tastecard is a diners club available in the UK and Ireland. Tastecard members get either 50% off of their total food bill or 2 for 1 on starters, mains and desserts (cheaper item free). Tastecard Plus offers some additional benefits.

What Is Tastecard Plus?

The basic Tastecard offers you discounts on dining. Tastecard Plus, which sometimes comes at an additional membership cost (see more on that below), gets you access to additional offers. Money off of theatre, concert or cinema tickets (bear in mind there are a multitude of ways to save at the cinema), hotel discounts, airport lounge discounts etc.

You can check out the current Tastecard Plus offers on their website or through the app.

Physical vs Digital Tastecard

When you sign up to Tastecard, you can choose between a physical card or a digital card.

If you want to make your wallet a little lighter and slightly reduce your carbon footprint, go for the digital version.

Just download the Tastecard app, search for a restaurant and show your digital card to get the discount. The digital Tastecard can’t be added to smartphone wallets at this time. You’ll need to use the app each time you want to use the offer.

How Much Does Tastecard Cost?

Tastecard membership prices vary (in terms of length of membership and with limited offers throughout the year).

In general, without any limited offers, here’s what you could pay:

• Tastecard 60 Day Trial - £1

• Tastecard Monthly - £6.99

• Tastecard Annual - £79.99 (£3.89 cheaper annually than the monthly rate)

• Tastecard Plus - Membership fee + £24.99 annually

But remember, there are offers on all the time. And there are a few ways to get it for free (see below). Here’s one early 2020 offer from their sign-up page:

• Tastecard Monthly - £4.99 + Tastecard Plus membership free

• Tastecard Annual - £39.99 + Tastecard Plus membership free

How Can I Get A Free Tastecard?

There are three ways to get a free Tastecard. Two of the three ways actually make a profit:

• Free Card - Natwest or RBS Student or Graduate Account Benefit (more on that below)

• Free Card + £2 - Quidco - £3 cashback when you pay £1 for 90 day trial (+£10 referral bonus)

• Free Card + £2 - TopCashback - £3 cashback when you pay £1 for 90 day trial

Where Can You Use Tastecard?

Some of the restaurant and takeaway chains which participate in the Tastecard offer include:

• ASK Italian

• Banana Tree

• Bella Italia

• Byron Burger

• Café Rouge

• Chiquito

• Coast To Coast

• Domino’s

• Filling Station

• Frankie & Benny’s

• Giraffe

• Harry Ramsden

• Pizza Express

• Pizza Hut

• Prezzo

• Wildwood

• Yo Sushi (Yo!)

• Zizzi

A huge number of independent restaurants are also eligible for a Tastecard discount. You can search for restaurants near you on their website.

The discount differs precisely restaurant-to-restaurant. You’ll get 2-4-1 on each course (cheaper free) in a lot of locations. But you might get 50% off the total bill in others (which usually works out as a better saving). Some restaurants offer a discount on Sundays or Fridays, some don’t. Some don’t offer discounts in December, some do. Some offers are only applicable to a limited number of guests, some aren’t. It all depends on the restaurant.

Tastecard Vs Meerkat Meals

You might be wondering, is Meerkat Meals the same as Tastecard? The simple answer is no.

Meerkat Meals, the Compare the Market offering which also gets you 2-4-1 on movies, also offers 2-4-1 on dining. However, some restaurants included in Tastecard aren’t included in Meerkat Meals. For example, ASK Italian, Harry Ramsden, Yo! and Zizzi are part of Tastecard but not Meerkat Meals.

Looking at it from the other way around, you’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant included in Meerkat Meals which isn’t eligible for Tastecard.

But bear in mind that you can get access to Meerkat Meals and Meerkat Movies for just over £1 per year using this little trick.

Can I Save Money When Dining Alone?

You can, yes. But only where the offer is 50% off the total bill. If the offer is 2-4-1, you’d need a second person to take advantage of the meal.

Pro Tip: If you are dining alone in a Tastecard 2-4-1 location, check if you can get a second main course to take with you for free. We’ve used this trick with Meerkat Meals when dining with 3 people. We get one free meal plus a fourth to take home with us for free.

Are My Food Options Limited When Using Tastecard?

Mostly, no. You can use your Tastecard to get a discount on all individual items on the menu (there aren’t any specific item restrictions). However, you don’t get a discount on sharing dishes and you only get side dishes discounted when the offer is 50% off the total bill (not 2-4-1).

Also, the offer only applies on items from the à la carte menu. If you order off the set menu, this is treated as though you’ve already received a discount, so it won’t be eligible for a Tastecard saving. In most cases, it therefore makes sense to order off of the à la carte menu.

Get Tastecard Through Natwest or RBS

RBS and Natwest, both subsidiaries of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, offer Tastecard as a benefit to some of their account holders. You have to be a Silver, Platinum, Student or Graduate account holder. Here are the details:

• Student: No Monthly Account Fee - Choose Tastecard, Amazon Prime Student or a National Express Coachcard

• Graduate: No Monthly Account Fee - Tastecard or National Express Coachcard

• Reward Silver: £10 Monthly Account Fee - Tastecard, Euro travel insurance, cinema discounts, mobile phone insurance, fee-free purchases abroad

• Reward Platinum: £20 Monthly Account Fee - Tastecard, worldwide travel insurance, UK car breakdown cover, 2 airport lounge passes,

Is Tastecard Worth It?

If Tastecard was living in a vacuum, in other words, no other offerings were out there, Tastecard could make some sense. But in reality, you’re not normally going to see much benefit unless you dine out very often (and in the right places).

Whatever you’re paying, you’ll have to at least make up the cost of the card to make an actual saving. And that’s actually harder than you might think. The reason being that you can use Meerkat Meals (which you can use in a large number of restaurants) for a fraction of the price (either free when you buy insurance or just over £1 for the year).

So, when calculating potential savings, make sure that you’re not including Meerkat Meal-eligible restaurant savings in the calculation.

You will likely find positive value in the card if you paid a discounted price (or got it for free, outlined above) take advantage of the other savings (ie. Tastecard Plus savings if that’s included in your membership) and eat out very regularly in non meerkat meal-eligible restaurants.