Companies Are Offering Free Deals During The Coronavirus Pandemic

If you are following the recommended guidelines from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the coronavirus pandemic, it means unless you are an essential worker, you are stuck at home.

Right about now, whether you are working or studying from home, chances are cabin fever has set in. But did you know, that many companies are offering discounts or free trials on their services. Consumers rejoice!

Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill online or sweat it out with a free at-home workout class, these free services will help keep you occupied while you’re hunkered down at home. During this trying time, many companies are extending special deals to consumers. HBO, Verizon, Geico, Ford and many more companies are offering deals during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here is what you need to know.

Auto Discounts

• Ford is offering its “Built to Lend a Hand” program that provides six months of payment relief for eligible new-car customers who finance their purchases through Ford Credit.
• Honda has payment-relief options as well as a few incentives for new cars which defers the first payment on new vehicle sales for 90 days; or, customers can use “Loyalty Purchase Assistance Cash,” which offers $1,000 toward a new purchase or lease.
• Kia is offering customers payment deferral, leases with incentives and customer loyalty programs.
• Hyundai is also offering assistance to customers with payment plans, new-car incentives and job loss protection.
• Nissan customers who qualify can enjoy deferred payments or assistance with payment relief.
• Subaru has options like payment extensions and no-interest financing.
• Toyota customers can take advantage of payment extensions (on a case-by-case basis) and a deferred first payment for 90 days for new and certified-used vehicles.
• Volkswagen is offering to waive up to six months of payments — up to $750 per month for customers who lose their jobs due to “economic crisis.”

Entertainment

TV/Film

• Fios TV customers now have free access to HBO, Cinemax and Showtime for the duration of the month of April.
• Sling TV is offering free access to select shows and movies, with no credit card information at registration.
• CBS All Access is free through April 23 with the code GIFT.
• Focus Features is livestreaming free movies on its Facebook page. Next up is the Kevin Smith classic “Mallrats” on April 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
• Lionsgate Movies will also livestream four movies with host Jamie Lee Curtis, starting with “The Hunger Games” at 9 p.m. Eastern time on April 17. Other movies in the lineup include “Dirty Dancing” (April 24), “La La Land” (May 1) and “John Wick” (May 8).
• Amazon customers can now get titles for kids’ shows like “Arthur” and “Pete the Cat” for free on Amazon Video.
• HBO watch some of HBO’s most beloved shows and documentaries, plus a selection of movies — entirely for free in the month of April.

Sports

• MLB.tv has opened up its 2018 and 2019 archives to stream for free for a limited time.
• The NFL is extending free access to NFL Game Pass through May 31, which includes a plethora of game replays and a library of football TV programming. Touchdown.
• The NBA is giving fans free access to NBA League Passuntil April 22.
• You can stream NHL games on demand for free indefinitely.

Theater and the Arts

• Theater fans can catch some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s greatest hits on YouTube. Every Friday, the channel The Show Must Go On! will post one of the composer’s popular musicals that will be available for 48 hours. Next up is the smash hit “The Phantom of the Opera.” If ALW isn’t your cup of tea, Playbill has a list of other musicals available for streaming. BroadwayHD is also offering free streams of musicals for a seven-day trial.
• The Metropolitan Opera of New York now has free nightly streams of their productions on the Met Opera on Demand app.
• Attention art junkies: Museums around the world, including but not limited to the Louvre, the Vatican Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are offering free virtual tours of their collections on their websites.

On your phone

• Verizon Wireless is giving its customers 15 GB of extra data per plan from March 25 through April 30.
• Interested in concerts? Global Citizen started an Instagram Live concert series, Together at Home, to bring live performances from artists like John Legend and One Republic right to your phone, completely free.
• Tinder Passport, a service typically only available to Tinder Gold and Platinum members, is now free so you can connect with anyone, no matter what country they’re in.

Books and Music

• Scribd now offers a free 30-day trial, giving you unlimited access to books, magazines, sheet music and more.
• Apple Music is offering a free three-month trial.
• Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service is offering two free months of unlimited access to millions of books, magazines and audiobooks if redeemed before April 30.

Educational

• Adobe Creative Cloud is offering free services to students through May 31 in light of college campus closures.
• Coursera has a variety of free online courses from Ivy League universities.
• MasterClass Live is offering one free streaming class per week.
• Scholastic has free online courses on their newly released “Learn at Home” site for K-6th grade. The company also has an updated list of resources for families, including a workbook from the Yale Child Study Center–Scholastic Collaborative to help kids cope during the pandemic.
• Speeko, a public speaking coaching app, is offering free access to its resources.
• PBS Kids is also sending out a daily newsletter with activities for kids ages 2-8.
• Wisdo, a mental wellness app that connects people with similar struggles/experiences to help support one another and offer advice, announced free membership to all college students in the U.S.
• Verizon is giving its customers access to online learning and study support like Quizlet and Chegg.

Health

• Meditation app Headspace is offering free services to all health care workers and has a list of certain meditations you can access for free.
• Aura, a meditation app, is now offering a free three-month subscription when you click this link.
• Peloton is offering new users a 90-day trial on its app. The company announced the closing of its showrooms but began producing content from its new studios in New York.
• Golds Gym is offering free access to its app, Goldsamp, until the end of May, where there are more than 600 audio and video workouts along with DJ mixes get you ready to work up a sweat.
• Planet Fitness is offering “Home Work-Ins” streamed live at 7 p.m. ET daily on its Facebook page.
• If you are looking for something to offer strength and maybe a little stress relief, there are some paid yoga sites that are now providing some online classes for free, including Core Power Yoga and Down Dog.

Insurance

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is returning a $2 billion dollar dividend to its auto insurance customers. That could mean that, on average, most customers will see a 25% policy credit.
• Progressive is issuing personal auto premium credits to its customers, among other perks. So if you’re someone who still has an active personal auto policy by the end of April, you will receive a 20% credit of your April premium.
• Geico is also helping its customers by offering a 15% credit on your next full policy term.
• Allstate is providing its auto insurance customers with 15% money back based on their April and May premiums.
• Liberty Mutual customers will receive a 15% refund on two months of their auto premium, based on their premium amount as of April 7.
• USAA members with an auto insurance policy in effect as of March 31 will be receiving a 20% credit on two months of premiums.

Stores and Restaurants

• UberEats is offering free delivery on all orders.
• Costco is offering a $30 Costco shop card to any nurses or first responders who join.
• Olive Garden brought back its “Buy One, Take One” promotion.
• Starbucks is offering all first responders and front-line health care workers a free tall brewed coffee at participating U.S. locations.
• TG.I Fridays is offering a kids-eat-free discount in which customers can enjoy a free kids’ entree with an online order of $20 or more. Just use the code FREEKIDS at checkout.
• Buffalo Wild Wings is offering free delivery on meal bundles and BOGO boneless Thursdays.
• IHOP customers can enjoy a waived delivery fee through Doordash.
• Chipotle customers can also order with free delivery with a minimum $10 purchase.
• Burger Kingorders of $10 or more also qualify for free delivery at participating locations.
• Panda Express customers can enjoy 4 bowls for $20 starting April 20 through April 30.
• Noodles & Co. is now offering free delivery through April 30 when you order on the app or its website, and for every meal purchased, they’ll donate a regular-sized bowl to health care workers.
• Red Lobster is making biscuit lovers rejoice! Customers can enjoy free “touchless” pickup, and by using the code Lobster42 on its site with a $15 minimum purchase, you’ll receive a complimentary half-dozen Cheddar Bay Biscuits. And, with the code Lobster90, you’ll get a free dessert with a purchase of $30 or more.