GROCERY shoppers can get more for their cash by boosting their supermarket loyalty points when using Tesco’s Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar and Morrisons’ More. The schemes are all free, so it’s a good way to get rewarded for shopping you need to do anyway. Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of shopping at […]
GROCERY shoppers can get more for their cash by boosting their supermarket loyalty points when using Tesco’s Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar and Morrisons’ More.
The schemes are all free, so it’s a good way to get rewarded for shopping you need to do anyway.
Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of shopping at only one supermarket for the loyalty points because you may be able to get better deals elsewhere.
With shoppers expected to spend £500 extra over Christmas, it could be worth using your points to avoid going into the red over the festive period.
Alternatively, you could maximise your points to pay for next year’s Christmas.
Below’s the lowdown on the best ways and timings to boost your points when using Tesco’s Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar and Morrisons’ More loyalty schemes.
If you’re shopping online, it’s also worth signing up to free cashback websites such as TopCashback and Quidco to get even more rewards for your spending.
If you’re an avid Tesco shopper then it’s really worth getting a Tesco Clubcard.
You will earn points on all spending in store, at Tesco fuel stations, or if you have a financial product with the supermarket, such as a credit card, debit card or mortgage.
With your Clubcard, you generally earn one point for every £1 spent, while you get one point for ever £2 spend on fuel.
Points can then be built up to turn into vouchers, with 150 points getting you a £1.50 voucher when you spend in store.
These are sent out every three months, or you can request it earlier using the Faster Vouchers scheme.
To get them, log in to the Clubcard app or your online account and say you’d like to turn your points into Faster Vouchers.
They’ll appear in your Clubcard account within 24 hours – perfect for last-minute Christmas gifts or if you’re running low on cash.
An even better way to boost your points is to exchange them online via the Clubcard website for days out or restaurant meals.
Until June last year, you could swap your Clubcard vouchers for up to four times the value in rewards at a wide range of Tesco partners, but they’re now worth three times the value in almost every case.
A £5 voucher – 500 points – currently gets you £15 to spend at jewellery retailer Goldsmiths.
While foodies also can triple the value of their points at restaurant chains including Pizza Express and Zizzi.
You can find the full list of partner firms on Tesco’s website.
Tesco shoppers can also earn 25 extra Clubcard points a month – 300 per year – by filling in surveys online about what it’s like shopping at the supermarket.
Once you have finished the survey, you’ll also be entered into a monthly prize draw to win a £1,000 Tesco gift card.
To fill in a survey, go to Tesco’s website.
It’s also worth checking if you have any unused points on your account.
They are valid for up to two years so make sure you don’t lose out by following the tips in the box below.
MOST people lose or forget their Tesco voucher but it's easy to claim back up to two years or unused vouchers.
The supermarket doesn’t remind you of vouchers that you have leftover, so it’s up to you to check.
Log into the Tesco Clubcard website and check for unspent vouchers.
You’ll see a tab saying “my vouchers” and this will list the ones you still have to spend.
You can print the vouchers to use them in store or note down the number and visit the Boost website to exchange them.
Shoppers who get a Tesco current account and debit card get one extra point for every £1 spend – twice as many as usual.
You can get 1 per cent in interest on balances of up to £3,000, but it requires you to pay in at least £750 every month and have three direct debits.
The account doesn’t come with a monthly fee, but keep in mind you’ll be charged 18.90 per cent in overdraft charges if you dip into the red.
The Tesco Bank purchase credit card gives you one extra Clubcard point for every £4 you spend in Tesco, or you get one extra point per £8 spent elsewhere.
That’s on top of the points you’d normally collect.
You could get a better return with a cashback card though – we’ve made a round-up of these here.
Tesco’s credit card offers an interest-free period of 24 months, so make sure you pay off the balance or switch to another card before the time is up.
Also, keep in mind that credit card providers only have to give the marketed rate to 51 per cent of applicants, so you’re not guaranteed the top rate unless you have a good credit score.
The supermarket also launched a premium version of its Clubcard scheme last month, but it’ll cost you £7.99 a month or (£95.88) a year.
Members get benefits including 10 per cent off two in-store food shops each month, with a maximum saving of £40 per month.
Clubcard Plus users will also always get 10 per cent off selected Tesco brands in-store including F&F, Fred & Flo, Go Cook, Tesco Pet, Carousel, and Fox & Ivy.
Tesco Mobile customers who sign up to the loyalty scheme will get double their current data for free.
While Tesco Bank is also rolling out a Clubcard Plus credit card without foreign exchange fees – but this won’t be available until the new year.
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In order to simply break even and cover the cost of the subscription, you’ll need to spend at least £79.90 at Tesco a month over two shops – or £40 twice a month, every month.
If you spend more than that, you’ll save money with the loyalty scheme but that’s only if you do the majority of your grocery shopping at Tesco.
And it’s not guaranteed Tesco is offering the cheapest prices, so it’s worth using comparison site mysupermarket.co.uk before you shop.
Rival Sainsbury’s offers discounts through the Nectar loyalty scheme.
It rolled out a new version across the country in October, which gives shoppers personalised offers to boost points, on top of earning one point for every £1 spend.
Under the scheme, customers are sent a range of points-boosting offers based on their shopping habits every Friday, which you’ll then be able to collect when you buy them.
Shoppers can view all of their tailored offers on the website or app, where they can “save” the ones they want to use before shopping.
In addition to points offered at Sainsbury’s, customers can also boost their points by spending them at almost 400 retailers including Argos, Next and Topshop.
The points will also still have the same value, where shoppers get £2.50 in Sainsbury’s for every 500 points.
Sainsbury’s regularly offers shoppers the chance to collect up to 10 times as many loyalty points when they spend money with the retailer.
To be notified, simply follow the supermarket on social media or subscribe to receive marketing emails.
To claim the extra points, all you’ll have to do is shop and use your Nectar card as you normally would.
The supermarket also runs an annual double up promotion, which lets customers exchange their loyalty points for vouchers worth twice as much.
Customers collect one loyalty point for every £1 spent at Sainsbury’s, which is normally worth 0.5p when you redeem it in store – but this doubles to 1p during the event.
The vouchers can be used to purchase a variety of different ranges including electricals, toys, TU Clothing and homeware.
It’s usually available in October/November to give shoppers a chance to get ahead on their Christmas shopping.
It could be worth saving up your points during the year for the promotion, as one mum nabbed £133 worth of Nintendo games for just £25 using the offer this year.
Meanwhile, another savvy parent bought 108 worth of kids’ clothes for just £8 thanks to the same deal.
If you’re an avid Nectar collector, you can earn more points by getting Sainsbury’s Dual Offer credit card.
It comes with no annual fee and an interest free period on purchases and transfers of 22 months, but you’ll have to pay a three per cent fee if you want to transfer the debt.
Like most Sainsbury’s cards, you’ll earn Nectar points when you spend on the card: two for every £1 spent on Sainsbury’s shopping or fuel and one point per £5 spent everywhere else.
Even better, the combined purchase and balance transfer card comes with a bonus Nectar offer worth up to 7,500 points, worth £37.50.
Each time you spend £35 or more on Sainsbury’s shopping in the first two months you’ll get 750 points, up to a maximum of 10 times.
Another option is the Nectar American Express card, which lets you earn a whopping 20,000 bonus points as long as you spend £2,000 in the first three months.
Just make sure you pay it off in full each month or you’ll be charged 22.9 per cent in interest, which dwarfs any points gain.
The card comes with an annual fee of £25, but you don’t have to pay this in the first year.
Once again, be warned that only those with the very best credit ratings will be offered the marketed deal.
Shoppers can also earn Nectar points simply for using the internet.
For example, once you’ve registered with the Nectar website, you can collect 100 points just by downloading its browser extension.
You get one extra point for every two internet searches you make, up to a maximum of 200 points a month.
Morrisons’ More loyalty scheme pays shoppers five points for every £1 spent in store, online or in the supermarket’s cafe.
You’ll also get five points per litre of petrol purchased at one of Morrisons’ garages.
For every 5,000 points saved – meaning you’d have to have spent £1,000 – you get a £5 More voucher to spend at Morrisons.
Unlike the schemes by Tesco and Sainsbury’s, Morrisons shoppers can’t exchange their points for days out or activities.
By signing up to “More for Students” or “Baby&More“, you’ll get extra discounts and points.
Student will be able to get offers just for them, while parents will be the first to find out about baby sales and events.
Similar to Sainsbury’s Nectar card scheme, you can get personalised offers at Morrisons that will boost your points.
Simply download the Morrisons More app, which is available for both iPhone and Android users, and log in with your details.
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