Budgeting Essentials: NUS Extra, is it worth it?

Perhaps dismissed initially as a scam to make money, the NUS Extra card seems to be one of those things that relatively few Warwick students own. However, for the initial cost of £11 and the hassle of having to go to the SU to pick it up, a vast amount of savings can rack up, which for the savvy student, can amount to hundreds of pounds. At the risk of sounding like an NUS Extra ambassador (I’m not) I’m going to point out some of the best savings they offer and where they can be used around Warwick, to help keep your increasingly precarious bank balance in the black.

One thing that practically every student will do during the year is use public transport. Whether that be to visit your mate in Leeds for a big night out, or to go home to your family during Christmas, most of you will be looking to hop on a coach or train at some point. NUS Extra offers you the following when you’re on your travels: 25% off National Express Coaches, 10% of Megabus coaches, 11% off the cost of a 16-25 Railcard (£3) and 10% off Cross Country advance train tickets. Not too shabby I think you’ll agree!

Another inevitable part of student life is going out. NUS Extra can’t help you save money on your night out (although the next column in this series can), but it can help you save money on your date to the cinema or restaurant. At this point I would advise discretion, apparently being financially astute (a fine feature in any potential partner) more often than not comes across as stinginess, so please, phone in advance or whisper in the waiter’s ear. Anyway whether it is a romantic date to the ODEON in Coventry or a candlelit dinner in one of Leamington’s fine restaurants Zizzi’s, Prezzo or Pizza Express you can pick up a 25% discount from Sunday to Thursday.

Perhaps the best discount available, even though it is a measly 5%, is that on Amazon. Judging by the boxes at the Westwood postroom, Amazon appears to be the capitalist equivalent to Santa Claus so even a 5% discount would probably add up to more than the cost of the card over the year, especially if you avoid the expensive campus bookstore. Another great online discount can be found at fashion website ASOS (for both sexes) where 10% will be deducted from the NUS Extra cardholder’s total, so bear this in mind when trying to fill your wardrobe for the upcoming winter.

Finally a discount that is so good it can scarcely be believed. If you book in advance online you can save an undeniably huge £8.64 on your entrance ticket to the vastly overpriced-in-the-first-place Warwick Castle. No doubt most Warwick students won’t even go to Warwick Castle but this surely must be some incentive, especially if you’re looking for something to do with the parents.

Having sketched out where the average Warwick student can save money, the NUS Extra card appears to be well worth it, so before you start buying your expensive textbooks, order your card and start saving money.