Hi-Life dining card £20 off. 2 meals 4 1. 12 mth membership.Use as often as you like.

CaitlinsNanna

Allexie wrote:

I think in the T & C's it says that you must mention the Highlife card at the time of booking.....

Was not aware of that. It does not state so in the leaflet or their web site. I will update on that once I recieve my card & restaurant directory.

Allexie

Trow wrote:

Surely you would mention it *after* they have confirmed there is a table available.

As in 'can I book a table for x at x o'clock please?'

'Certainly sir, what name would that be in?'

'Mr X'

'Okay Mr X thats a table for x at x'.

'Thank you - oh, I should mention I will be using the Highlife card'.

Would they then tell you that they didn;t have a table? Maybe, I suppose - in the way that airlines only have so many 'cheap seats'.

In my experience the next line would be...." Oh sorry madam we only have a certain number of tables allocated for the Highlife offer...so push off" (well not exactly...but..!)

Apparently the restaurants are allowed to just allocate a certain number of tables for the Highlife offer each day and when that allocation is full...then that's it! At least that's been my experience of them

Allexie

CaitlinsNanna wrote:

Was not aware of that. It does not state so in the leaflet or their web site. I will update on that once I recieve my card & restaurant directory.

They also neglect to tell you how few restaurants honour the card on Saturdays! But, all in all you can save loads...I just have one or two little niggles with them...been with them 2 yrs now!

CaitlinsNanna

That's interesting Allexie.

We never actually book when we dine out. We just walk in & ask for a table. I do hope we wont have to go restaurant crawling to find one that will accept us using the card. We rarely eat out in the evening, usually during lunch time so hopefully we should be able to get seated.

It would be very embarrasing to be seated & then asked to leave once told that we are using our card. Would certainly ruin a meal out.

It does have a no quibble money back guarantee with the card so that's one safeguard I suppose.

keasden

If you eat out just once every couple of months you will easily save a decent amount of money with a Hi-Life card.

I have had one since the very first year it started, I assume their members run into the 10's of 1000's by now, well I was amongst the first 40 members!

There really is no catch so long as you purchase one with the following points in mind,

1. It started in the NW and as such that is where the greatest concentration of participating restaurants are located, although clearly there is now a Yorkshire version

2. The majority of restaurants DO NOT accept weekend bookings, the ones that do are clearly stated in the book. This is fair enough really as the idea of Hi-Life was to tempt people to try someone new at half price on a quiet night and perhaps go back at a later date and pay full price.

3. The offers vary from restaurant to restaurant, some will require you to order 2 or 3 courses each and only give you a free main course (thats the most limited offer and doesn't apply to many) others will let you order just 2 main courses and give one free, while others offer a full 3 courses free. All are clearly stated in the book.

4. Some will accept 2 cards if there are 4 dining, some won't, again clearly stated.

5. The majority require advance booking, the ones that don't are clearly listed

Keep the above factors in mind and you will know what you are purchasing, the card won't suit everyone but anyone who lives in the NW, eats out at least once every 8 weeks, and isn't restricted to just weekends, WILL SAVE MONEY!!!

And the best bit is, a lot of the restaurants won't cross off your card allowing you to use the offer there again, but if this happens it should be considered a bonus and not be expected.

NJO_3

keasden wrote:

If you eat out just once every couple of months you will easily save a decent amount of money with a Hi-Life card.

I have had one since the very first year it started, I assume their members run into the 10's of 1000's by now, well I was amongst the first 40 members!

There really is no catch so long as you purchase one with the following points in mind,

1. It started in the NW and as such that is where the greatest concentration of participating restaurants are located, although clearly there is now a Yorkshire version

2. The majority of restaurants DO NOT accept weekend bookings, the ones that do are clearly stated in the book. This is fair enough really as the idea of Hi-Life was to tempt people to try someone new at half price on a quiet night and perhaps go back at a later date and pay full price.

3. The offers vary from restaurant to restaurant, some will require you to order 2 or 3 courses each and only give you a free main course (thats the most limited offer and doesn't apply to many) others will let you order just 2 main courses and give one free, while others offer a full 3 courses free. All are clearly stated in the book.

4. Some will accept 2 cards if there are 4 dining, some won't, again clearly stated.

5. The majority require advance booking, the ones that don't are clearly listed

Keep the above factors in mind and you will know what you are purchasing, the card won't suit everyone but anyone who lives in the NW, eats out at least once every 8 weeks, and isn't restricted to just weekends, WILL SAVE MONEY!!!

And the best bit is, a lot of the restaurants won't cross off your card allowing you to use the offer there again, but if this happens it should be considered a bonus and not be expected.

So at the end your saying you cant use it more than once at any same restaurant? i thought that was the great deal about this card but if that is the case i dont think its really worth it.

Can you just confirm this any1 who has one already.

Thanks
NJO.

Allexie

NJO wrote:

So at the end your saying you cant use it more than once at any same restaurant? i thought that was the great deal about this card but if that is the case i dont think its really worth it.

Can you just confirm this any1 who has one already.

Thanks
NJO.

As keasden said, very few restaurants actually mark the card to stop you using it again.....think it's only happened twice in the two years I've been using it.

susy_2

have just bought a card for older relatives as a gift, didn't know about the £20 offer though (sulk). Still, they are having a great time with it. Yes, you do have to specify when booking that you intend to use the card, but they have never been refused a booking yet when using the card. The book clearly states what offers are available and when they are available. I too was dissapointed when I realised that each restaurant could only be visited once with the card, however as Allexie and Keasden said - they very often don't stamp the card.

CaitlinsNanna

NJO wrote:

So at the end your saying you cant use it more than once at any same restaurant? i thought that was the great deal about this card but if that is the case i dont think its really worth it.

Can you just confirm this any1 who has one already.

Thanks
NJO.

I have just recieved my card & directory. Each restuarant has a write up. Some require you to book in advance & others do not. Some mark the card & others dont so that you can go there again.

It does encourage us to use other than our usual few restaurants if they only honour the offer once. There are some really lovely places featured in the directory & am looking forward to visiting some of them. We are also lucky that we live a short drive/tram ride from Blackpool & there are loads of places that we can go without having to go too far.

In the back of the directory it also has 12 X brewers fayre 25% off 2 adults dining vouchers, all valid untill the 30/03/06. Valid from mon-thurs & excludes bank holidays. Those by themselves equate to be worth more that the £40 I have just spent on the card.

I have to admit that I was dissapointed when I read that you could only use the card once at each venue. If this was the case with all of them I would still save loads. But many places do not mark the card so it makes it even better value.

I will keep a running total of how much we actually do save using the card. Will be using it for the first time tomorrow. Just have to decide where we are going.

keasden

NJO wrote:

So at the end your saying you cant use it more than once at any same restaurant? i thought that was the great deal about this card but if that is the case i dont think its really worth it.

Can you just confirm this any1 who has one already.

Thanks
NJO.

The card has about 150 - 200 tiny squares on the back, each numbered and each relating to a particular restaurant in the guide book. When you pay for your meal you present your card and the restaurant staff are supposed to cross off their number meaning that you can't use the offer there again that year.

This makes you try different restaurants featured in the guide instead of always returning to the same place, and there are litterally 100's to try. However in reality, a lot of them do not cross off your card meaning you can go there again and use the offer a second (or third!) time if you so wish.

As for not being worth it, two meals out at some of the featured restaurants would recoup the initial outlay, after that is all about saving money.