20 freebies for your birthday

By Donna Freedman

Disneyland and Disney World will let you in for free on your birthday in 2009.

Houlihan's restaurants give away dinner on your special day each year. Hollywood Video will spot you a DVD rental. And what's a birthday without ice cream? Take your pick, gratis, from shops such as Baskin-Robbins, Friendly's, Carvel and Cold Stone Creamery.

Hamburgers, pizza, burritos, barbecued ribs, deli sandwiches, gift cards, discounts on shoes -- these and other gifts are handed out by national chains through birthday-club programs designed to reward loyal customers.

Not a customer? Not a problem! The word "free" will get you in at least once.

Maybe even more than once: When I signed up at Qdoba Mexican Grill last week, it e-mailed me a coupon for a free order of chips and salsa. Guess where I'm walking this weekend?

"People are looking for free," says John Dillon, the vice president of marketing for Denny's. "The power of the word 'free' really resonates with people."

(He should know; Denny's gave away 2 million Grand Slam breakfasts recently.)

There are freebies, and there are verified freebies

Where people look for free, naturally, is the Internet. Do a search for "birthday freebies" and you'll get plenty of hits. Some of them are strictly regional, though, and some contain information that's outdated or just plain wrong.

Case in point: Please stop asking for a free AutoZone oil change on your birthday.

"We don't even do oil changes," says Ray Pohlman, a spokesman for the auto-supply chain. "That (rumor) got started on the Internet years and years ago. We've been trying to snuff it out ever since."

That's why I personally verified all the offers in this article. Because I couldn't list every freebie out there, I chose a handful of well-known companies with giveaways that don't require a big buy-in on your part. Free dessert at a steakhouse -- well, that's nice, but if I can afford a steakhouse, I'm not sweating bullets over the cost of a brownie with ice cream. But lately, some people may find that a free combo meal at Burger King followed by a free Baskin-Robbins cone is the only celebration their kids are going to get this year.

• Talk back: What's the best thing you've gotten for free?

Not that freebies are limited to children. "People who come to our site typically are looking for something for themselves," says Jeff Spry, the founder of BirthdayFreebies.com. A blogger named Heather who runs Freebies4Mom.com says many giveaways are "really about spoiling yourself."

"For people who don't have any money or who have no room in their budget for these things, it's such a gift," says Heather, whose site features a separate birthday freebies section. "You do pay for freebies with your time. But with (most), you sign up once, and . . . you will get something over multiple years."

Sign up, already

In this economy, who's going to turn down a free lunch? But first, a few strategies:

• Set up a dedicated e-mail for birthday goodies. Even if a business promises not to sell your information to marketers, it will likely send regular messages about sales and promotions.

• Sign up for multiple offers, then s-t-r-e-t-c-h that celebration by dining and "desserting" out as many times as you can in your birthday month. It helps to have understanding friends who don't mind being the buy-one half of the BOGO offers.

• Call to make sure the local store accepts an offer, because some franchisees opt out of national promotions.

• Bring your identification and a printout of the offer, and tell the server ahead of time, not after the check has arrived.

• Base your tip on what you would have paid without the discount, not what you actually paid.

• When your child ages out of the kiddie offers, sign him or her up for the grown-up ones (when appropriate).

• If it's a "no purchase required" offer, such as a free bath product, don't feel obligated to buy something else. Just say "thank you" and go.

And now . . . on to the offers.

Kid stuff

Sign kids up as soon as they're born to get maximum use of giveaways. You're likely to find these on your own by visiting fast-food and family-friendly restaurants, children's museums, theme parks and specialty stores for kids. Look on parenting Web sites, too.

• Burger King, Club BK: free hamburger meal for ages 13 and under. Online registration only; parents must set up account.

• California Pizza Kitchen, CPKids Birthday Club: free meal of pizza, pasta, chicken or salad plus dessert and a drink for ages 10 and under; can be used anytime during the birthday month. Online registration only; parents must set up account.

• Denny's Birthday Club: free kids entree and sundae for ages 10 and under, on the actual birthday only. Sign up in the restaurants, or fax or mail this application.

• Friendly's Birthday Club: free kids meal for ages 12 and under with the purchase of an adult meal; expires in a month. Register online.

• Geoffrey's Birthday Club at Toys R Us: free gift card and birthday card for ages 10 and under; kids who visit a store can collect a crown and a balloon and hear birthday wishes over the store's loudspeaker. Parents get a $5 Toys R Us coupon in advance of the birthday. Click here to register.

Continued: Grown-up giveaways

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