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YHA membership for a fiver. Normally £16
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The Youth Hostel Association has substantially reduced its membership costs for those joining until the end of July. It costs £5 a year, but gets you £3 off a night in most UK and many worldwide hostels.
Plus right now anyone getting a new Young Persons or Family & Friends recards (which cost £24) online you get it for free.
Reduced Cost Membership
The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) is offering annual membership for for £5 per person or £10 for a family. It normally costs £16 (individual), £23 (family), or £10 (under 26).
Membership saves you paying the non-member supplement of £3 per person per night all at YHA hostels across the UK, as well as those run by its international umbrella organisation, Hostelling International.
As hostels can offer massive savings over hotel prices in the first place, this represents a brill saving.
But aren’t all hostels really grim?
No! These days it’s not all chores and cold showers, hostels are most usually clean and friendly, often with free internet access and breakfast.
Plus don’t think you’re automatically staying in a dorm bunk; many offer single, twin and double rooms. The YHA also has some rather glam new properties including converted castles and churches.
How to grab the cheap membership
Simply call 01629 592700 and quote ‘SUMMER BLITZ 08’. The offer’s valid for new members only, and expires 31 July 2008.
Where is this code from?
When we spotted a code, we checked with the YHA about the deal. It asked us not to use other codes and links, but wanted to use this one so it could track how many people used the deal. Whilst it's a special code, there is no commercial relationship between MSE and the YHA.
Get free membership with a railcard
The YHA is running another offer to get free annual family membership, when you by a Family & Friends railcard or youth membership with the Young Person's railcard provided you get them online.
Both railcards cost £24 and entitles you to a third off all tickets. These are a good buy anyway if you spend over £72 a year on train travel (for a full guide and details of when and where they're valid, read the Cheap Train Tickets article).
To get your membership, sign up for a card online before 31 October 2008. Full details on how to claim your membership, including a telephone number and special code will appear online after you make your purchase. Read full terms and conditions for the Family & Friends card & Young Person's card.
More hostel, hotel & flight savings…
For more on finding super-cheap hostels and hotels, read the Cheap Hotel Prices guide and if you want to try and find super cheap flights to get there use the FlightChecker.
Don't forget YHA membership and hostel accommodation can also be bought with Tesco deals - So you might be able to get membership for an effective £1.25 and stay in a hostel for as little as about £4!!!!
Cheaper than camping - that can't be bad!!
Last edited by merit_mark; 25-06-2008 at 9:14 AM..
Reason: browser problems
Whilst I actively encourage the use of YHA hostels in the UK, dont even consider staying in YHA Hostels abroad, there are loads of private hostels that offer much better accommodation at a much lower price. The best place I have ever stayed in was a private hostel in Prague for £6 a night. Give hostelworld.com and hostelbookers.com a try.
The Following User Says Thank You to TWR88 For This Useful Post:Show me >>
TWR88, that's a pretty big generalisation you've given there I've stayed at many different hostels around the world; Hostelling International places might not be the cheapest but I've never felt they gave anything other than value for money. The YHAs in Australia are especially good. Amsterdam's Stayokays are clean and efficient and good value too, although I personally prefer to stay somewhere a bit rowdier in that fine city
The timing of this offer is a bit of a pain for me as I've just got a £10 Tesco YHA voucher so I can join up! Does anyone know if Tesco vouchers can be used in conjunction with this summer blitz offer, and could I use my £10 to buy *2* years membership? Also, is there a special rate in this offer for lifetime membership or is it for annual deals only?
I'd just like to point out that the Scottish Youth Hostel Association offer free membership for students. To top it all they'll issue membership for any student with an address in the EU, not just Scotland. They are a full Hostelling International member, so you can use it to get your YHA discount in the UK!
You need to ring them and answer some eligibility questions to apply.
Also, you don't get any of the benefits of being a YHA member, apart from the discount for being a HI member from a different country, so if you are a heavy English hostel user, or can get free membership through the railcard scheme anyway, you're probably better off there.
Finally, if you're in Northern Ireland, don't forget about HINNI: http://www.hini.org.uk.
i started using hostels two years ago and wished i'd started 15 years ago. They are brilliant, better than most hotels i've stayed in. Always welcoming and a lot of english hostels do excellent food and some include breakfast in the price.
Don't forget YHA membership and hostel accommodation can also be bought with Tesco deals - So you might be able to get membership for an effective £1.25 and stay in a hostel for as little as about £4!!!!
Cheaper than camping - that can't be bad!!
I've called up and they won't accept Tesco deal vouchers as payment for this special offer.
The offer is not available online - you have to phone up if you want to use the code (see phone number in OP). I've just signed up for a family membership and booked a week in York and Whitby for October half-term. Absolutely gorgeous buildings and good reviews on tripadvisor. Really looking forward to it!
I would generally agree with the poster saying that a lot of HI hostels abroad are way overpriced (and i'd actually include the Australian ones unlike another poster), but while we were in South America a lot of the decently priced and best kept were HI hostels (tho there were several nice ones that weren't), and the card saved you quite a lot at each.
Essentially there's no substitute for doing your research, but the card will save you money if you use HI hostels more than once a year.
It's also worth noting that in many countries a HI card will also get you further discounts outside of the hostel.
grocery challenge, started Nov 09, see how we go.
hoping to get onboard with MFW in the new year. one step at a time!
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Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.
YHA membership for a fiver. Normally £16
Tesco deals
I've stayed at many different hostels around the world; Hostelling International places might not be the cheapest but I've never felt they gave anything other than value for money. The YHAs in Australia are especially good. Amsterdam's Stayokays are clean and efficient and good value too, although I personally prefer to stay somewhere a bit rowdier in that fine city 
i started using hostels two years ago and wished i'd started 15 years ago. They are brilliant, better than most hotels i've stayed in. Always welcoming and a lot of english hostels do excellent food and some include breakfast in the price.
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