There are many different types of restaurant voucher available, and although they all give you a discount on your food bill, they all work in slightly different ways. It can be helpful to understand how they all work so that you can make sure you use the best one available to give you the biggest reduction when you eat out.

2 for 1 deals
These basically specify that 2 people can eat for the price of 1 person when you go out. Sometimes they are limited to 1 per table, sometimes you can arrange things so you can do a split bill if 4 of you eat together meaning that each couple gets to use the deal.

Buy one Get one Free (bogof)
Very similar meaning to the 2 for 1 deals, but sometimes these can be used in a slightly different way so that if 4 or 6 people are eating every 2nd main course that’s bought is free. I.e. you’re buying the first meal and getting the second free, buying the third and getting the fourth free etc. It’s best to check when you go into the restaurant or by phone before hand which way the voucher works though so that you don’t get any surprises.

Percentage discount vouchers
These discount vouchers give you a percentage of money off your bill. So the voucher might be 20% off, or 10% off it might even be 50% off. This means that when the bill is calculated at the end, it will then be reduced by the percentage stated on the voucher. Sometimes these vouchers specify that you can only use the percentage off once you’ve spent a certain amount such as 20% off when you spend £20 or more.

Fixed amount off vouchers
These vouchers offer a specific fixed amount off your food bill. So if the voucher says £5 discount then you will receive a £5 discount off the bill at the end. Sometimes these vouchers say that you must spend a specific amount in order to get the discount, such as £5 off when you spend £20 or more. Sometimes however they don’t specify a spend amount which means that even if you only spend £5.89 you’ll still have your bill reduced by £5 when you pay.

As you can see, calculating what your meal will cost before the discount and then working out what the discount will be according to the voucher type is important if more than one voucher type is available. In this way you can calculate which voucher will give you the biggest discount. For example, if you have 2 vouchers one that offers 20% off and one that offers £5 off, if you spend £20 then using the £5 off one will give you the best discount as 20% of £20 is only £4. However, if your bill was for £30 then using the 20% discount voucher would give you the better deal as 20% of £30 is £6.