O2 Priority Moments throws free booze, tote bags at customers

I saw the best minds of my generation starving, hysterical, naked, dragging themselves though the streets. Happily, if my compatriots are on the O2 network, they can now feed and clothe themselves at a healthy discount, which should calm them down a bit.

O2 has launched a new app for iPhone and Android, along with a web app for feature phones, called Priority Moments. Although it sounds like a range of flavoured coffees, it's actually a location-based coupon service that aims to give you discounts and freebies at various shops and restaurants.  

It's basically vouchers, in the cloud...hold on a sec! It's just like Vouchercloud, which has a section of offers exclusively for Orange customers.

However, O2 also offers some special freebies that go beyond simple discounts, such as a free box of O2 chocolates at Hotel Chocolat.

O2 also tells us that it's negotiated top deals that better those on other apps. We compared a few of its headline deals to check.

• Zizzi restaurant
  A two-course meal for £10 on O2, Sunday to Thursday, and a free glass of prosecco all week. On Vouchercloud and elsewhere it's £12 for two mains.
  
  The winner: Free booze! It's O2.
• WHSmiths
  Fifty per cent off two best-selling books each week on O2. WHSmith is loaded with more offers than a vampire at a Twilight signing, including half price on 84 of the summer's big reads right now. 
  
  The winner: WHSmith's is pretty much anyone's, even without a voucher. No winner.
• Odeon cinemas
  Half-price tickets for adult with O2, Sunday to Thursday. On Vouchercloud and moneysupermarket.com, the offer is 40 per cent off.
  
  The winner: O2 by a 10 per cent margin.
• Harvey Nichols
  Free canvas tote bag when you spend £25, and a free O2 cocktail in its restaurants. We didn't find any similar offers on voucher sites.
  
  The winner: Trusht ush, the cocktail is lovely. O2 by a tote-bag mile.

It seems that O2 is onto something, although this comparison doesn't take the range of offers into account. Big-city shoppers with a Harvery Nicks on the corner are likely to be better served by the O2 app that their country cousins, who are more likely to find something nearby using Vouchercloud. 

To claim your discount, you must wander about with the app open until you see something you're keen on. There are no push notifications and no website to peruse the offers, as of yet. 

Tapping an offer in the app reveals a discount code that a salesperson can type into the register. O2 says that it's also going to be spending a fortune on advertising, which should encourage Zizzi waiters to greet you with a smile and a glass of bubbly, rather than a blank stare.

The app is available now for free on the iTunes store and the Android Market, but you must be a O2 customer to use it. More info is available on the O2 website.