How to use the Blue Light Card online

Are you a new member to this brilliant scheme? Well, not all discounts can be redeemed by a flash of your card. See how to use the Blue Light Card online so you don’t miss out on some great bargains.

Let’s be blunt here. The job of an emergency worker is generally quite gruelling, with plenty of stress and a terrible shift pattern. And it’s not like you’ll earn enough to retire at 50 to the South of France.

That’s why it’s important that you take any discount on offer with both hands. And there aren’t many better schemes out there than the Blue Light Card.

How to use the Blue Light Card online

Your first step is to register with the Blue Light Card. If you’re eligible to join and accepted, you’ll be sent a physical card and a confirmation email. Clicking on the link in the email will take you to an online portal, which is the gateway to all your discounts.

Finding discounts

You’ll see the term ‘offers’ on the Blue Light Card homepage. Selecting this will give you a drop-down menu with the following options:

• Online discounts
• Giftcard discounts
• High street offers
• Popular discounts
• Offers near you
• Deals of the week

Online discounts

This is probably what you’re most interested in. Clicking on this option will list the featured offers. These aren’t necessarily the best discounts, just those BLC wants to push the most.

You can then browse through all the offers. However, they aren’t listed in any particular order and there are often over 120 pages!

Your best option is to click on the search button in the top right (a magnifying glass with a pink background) and search for the specific company you’re interested in. Although, if you don’t have a company in mind, it is possible to search by category. For example, if you want to buy clothes but you aren’t too fussed about where from, you can just select fashion, and you’ll be given a list of retailers.

But to make matters a little confusing, there are four types of discounts.

Discount link

This is probably the least common of the methods to get your discount. Clicking on the link to the retailer from the BLC site will take you to a specific part of the retailer’s site and your discount will be applied automatically. One prime example of this is Apple.

General discount code

The Blue Light Card website may list a generic code for you to use. This will usually be either a word or a mix of numbers or letters that you enter at the checkout of your chosen retailer.

These aren’t particularly common as they can be shared on online forums and are open to abuse.

Vault code

This is where you’ll find most of your discounts. These are personal codes and can only be used once.

Simply select ‘Request code here’ and your unique code will be sent to you by email. Again, the code will need to be entered at the checkout stage for your retailer.

Giftcard discounts

Some major retailers, like B&Q and Currys, will only give you a discount if you purchase a gift card – provided through a site called Edenred.

All you need to do is enter the value of the card you wish to purchase and the discount will automatically be applied.

But to make matters a little confusing, there are two types of cards – a physical card and an eGift card.

As a general rule of thumb, physical cards can only be used to make purchases in-store, while eGift cards can be used online or in-store. However, it does depend on the retailer. More and more stores do now allow you to use physical cards when buying online.

Fortunately, when you purchase your card you will see this image.

If the image is darker, that denotes where your card can be used.

Blue Light Card app

And don’t forget that there is also an app that you can download for Apple and Android devices. This provides almost the same features as the main site, except it’s far handier to find discounts when you’re out and about.

Why not take a look at my full review and the latest discounts you can find with the Blue Light Card.

FAQs