Christmas supermarket slots

[CatOfTheLand]

Does anyone know when any of the supermarkets is likely to release these?

Waitrose was around 7th October last year. Others will be along soon who know much more than me!

Thank you! I'm hoping for a waitrose one at least this year. Was too slow last (was also 9 months pregnant so it would have been very useful too!)

Oh dear lord!

Not yet 🎁🎅🏻🎄

@WaterIsBest, you're on the Christmas board; Christmas talk is allowed all year round without people making comment. You're likely lost and / or confused.

@CatOfTheLand do you want delivery for your groceries plus some Christmas stuff, or a click and collect of your Christmas food?

If it's the former, then most supermarkets are 2-3 weeks before the delivery date if you don't have a delivery pass. A bit longer if you do.

Click and collect orders for solely Christmas food tend to open up the first / second week in October.

Im aware of that @NoWordForFluffy Thank you
Im neither lost or confused

Chill your boots

Go back to the threads from last year. Plenty of people discussed it.

[quote NoWordForFluffy]@CatOfTheLand do you want delivery for your groceries plus some Christmas stuff, or a click and collect of your Christmas food?

If it's the former, then most supermarkets are 2-3 weeks before the delivery date if you don't have a delivery pass. A bit longer if you do.

Click and collect orders for solely Christmas food tend to open up the first / second week in October.[/quote]
Delivery- I want a slot on the 23rd, ideally, so need to nip in there quick and get it!

Also, BOTH my children have their birthdays that week, so I need birthday stuff too.

We don't actually buy that much specifically 'Christmas food' - will probably get a pie for Christmas dinner and stock up on veg etc the week before.

I don't drive and because of the birthdays it's going to be a hectic week so would be useful to grab a slot on that day - but not end of the world if not.

My aim was to find out the rough times- even the month - that the supermarkets tend to release their slots so that I remember to look out for them. I almost missed it just year and only managed to get stuff booked in because of this wonderful board and a post saying the slots had been released!

My reason for asking if anyone knew now is because the Father Christmas (never Santa! 🤣) grottos we book every year have announced that tickets are going on sale on Sept 1. And Asda, I think, have released a preview of their Christmas homeware range. So was hoping that someone with insider knowledge of this year's slots might be lured out to post!

I might look at getting a Delivery Pass , I used online shopping in Covid then went back to physical supermarket shopping .
We now do a Saturday morning online delivery which suits us well.

For Christmas shopping do you do a Big Shop a week or so before then buy any last minutes items in the shops .
Or get everything a couple of days before and cross your fingers that they have it all?

(Still judgey about going for last minute fresh food on Christmas Eve and DH saying Oh we have plenty of bread ......we did . It had mould . And buying Extra Special potatoes that tasted like fish . He really should leave me in charge , I have it sorted )

Never mind delivery slots, when are Tesco doing their whole serrano hams ?

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

I might look at getting a Delivery Pass , I used online shopping in Covid then went back to physical supermarket shopping . We now do a Saturday morning online delivery which suits us well.

For Christmas shopping do you do a Big Shop a week or so before then buy any last minutes items in the shops .
Or get everything a couple of days before and cross your fingers that they have it all?

(Still judgey about going for last minute fresh food on Christmas Eve and DH saying Oh we have plenty of bread ......we did . It had mould . And buying Extra Special potatoes that tasted like fish . He really should leave me in charge , I have it sorted )

Traditionally, DH and I (in our child-free days) would meet Christmas Eve at lunchtime when our offices closed and walk home - popping in to every supermarket on route to pick up yellow sticker bargains. One year we had a big argument about whether to get a turkey as big as me for £3 or a small one for £4 that would actually fit in the oven 🤣

We knew we'd get a turkey SOMEWHERE so it was lovely and relaxed.

But now, because I've been pregnant or had a tiny baby for the last few years, I do a big online shop on Dec 21 and a Christmas/birthday online shop Dec 23.

We're not fussed about actually having turkey though and I don't drive so my shopping habits are probably a bit more eccentric than most.

Last year A LOT of people I know had their online Christmas slots cancelled, or their turkeys cancelled due to shortages, or weird substitutions. So it's a bit of a danger shop!

@FinallyFluid

Never mind delivery slots, when are Tesco doing their whole serrano hams ?

🤣 we get ours from Aldi

Do Delivery Passes and Smart Passes cost extra money? Ocado tries to get me to get one but I only use it about 4 times a year.

I’m also scarred from 23 December 2013 when my 6pm Waitrose order didn’t arrive and I had to cancel a restaurant reservation while I spent the evening trying to sort it out. Waitrose finally admitted that they’d left the bags in a corridor and forgotten to load them on the delivery van. Someone eventually delivered my order at 11.30pm but had left the potatoes and the sausages off the order even though I’d paid for them (were probably in the back of his car).

@CatOfTheLand

My reason for asking if anyone knew now is because the Father Christmas (never Santa! 🤣) grottos we book every year have announced that tickets are going on sale on Sept 1. And Asda, I think, have released a preview of their Christmas homeware range. So was hoping that someone with insider knowledge of this year's slots might be lured out to post!

Our local garden centre released their Father Christmas slots a few weeks ago and sold out almost immediately!

@Roundlampshade

We pay £7.99 to Tesco a month, we get a delivery every week, so we are already saving. The Tesco website tells me that so far I have saved £43.06, it doesn't renew until October so I reckon we will break even by then. IMO it is worth it for the delivery slots and not having to go to a supermarket for any length of time.

@Roundlampshade

I have a Sainsbury’s “anytime delivery pass” I paid £60 for 12 months and I’ve usually recouped that money in three months (weekly order for delivery on a weekend morning).

In previous years Sainsbury’s release their Christmas slots to delivery pass holders four weeks before delivery date - if you want 23 Dec then those dates go live on 25 Nov. If you don’t hold a delivery pass then I think it was three weeks before. I’m presuming they’ll do the same this year - I’ve not heard anything different. I think it’s after Halloween that they start putting all the Christmas delivery info on their website so keep a look out for it.

Thank you - definitely worth thinking about.

This from the Sun last year seems quite helpful.

We have an Ocado delivery pass and it means you get early access to book Christmas slots. They also email before they go live, which is handy.

@CatOfTheLand

My reason for asking if anyone knew now is because the Father Christmas (never Santa! 🤣) grottos we book every year have announced that tickets are going on sale on Sept 1. And Asda, I think, have released a preview of their Christmas homeware range. So was hoping that someone with insider knowledge of this year's slots might be lured out to post!

Oh thanks for the reminder about Santa’s grotto just looked and ours is taking bookings from 1st September.