Exploiting the 50% Avios conversion bonus with HP inks

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Here is a quick example of how to exploit the 50% Avios conversion bonus I flagged in the previous post, based on the HP inks offer.

However, as you need your points to post by 21st July you really need to order today.

Go to Quidco and then to Tesco Direct to guarantee your 5% cashback
Order 8 x HP 364 Cyan cartridges at £6.36 each, total £50.88
Select ‘Collect In Store’ to avoid delivery charges
Use code TDX-KPHM which deducts £10 from a £50 order for any Clubcard not previously used at Tesco Direct
Place your order

So, where do you end up?

Option 1 – you throw the cartridges away

(Edit: see comments for details of how to easily recycle them for 100 points each!)

Total cost: £50.88 – £10 voucher – 5% Quidco on ex-VAT price (£1.70) = £39.18
Total Clubcard points: 2,000 bonus points + 40 base points = 2,040
Total Avios points at 50% bonus rate: 2,040 x 3.6 = 7,344
Cost per Avios: 0.53p

Option 2 – you sell the cartridges for £5 each on eBay (say £3.50 after eBay fees, postage)

Total cost: £39.18 as above minus £28 (£3.50 x 8) net from eBay = £11.18
Total Clubcard points: 2,040 as above
Total Avios points: 7,344 as above
Cost per Avios: 0.15p

Not bad at all ….

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Tesco Clubcard

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

donkeyk says:

16 Jul16 July 21:44

Not bad indeed, Raffles. Taking the ‘throw cartridges away’ option one step further, if one were to select ‘collect from store’ and never collect them, do you know whether the transaction would eventually be voided through non-collection?
- Raffles says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 06:27
  
  I am not sure if you need to collect before the points go on, probably not. However, they would end up being sent back to Direct. Not sure what happens then! Probably a refund and the points taken back, but your vouchers have probably been issued by then. However, collecting Avios is a long term game … don’t alienate Tesco by doing them over, you will need them again.
Tim nice but dim says:

16 Jul16 July 21:49

I forgot something: don’t forget the 2k bonus avios for it being a Tesco transaction this quarter!
- Raffles says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 06:30
  
  Indeed! You could order enough to be sure you got the bonus this quarter and next quarter, multiplied by the number of qualifying accounts who share your address and surname.
E14 says:

17 Jul17 July 08:17

The completely lazy way is to recycle them for 100 clubcard points
- Raffles says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 08:51
  
  Good point! I forgot about that. Do you reckon you would need to empty them or just send them full?! Recycling link is http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/greener_tesco/ink_cartridge_recycling.page
lepetitlyosha says:

18 Jul18 July 07:34

Hey Raffles,
I wanted to get in on this promotion, however I’m past your “must order by date”
Do you have any idea if it’s still doable? Why July 21st?
- Raffles says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 08:08
  
  If you want to take advantage of the 50% bonus on Tesco to Avios points, you need to convert by 30 August. This means that only your August mailing will qualify, and the cut off date to receive vouchers in the August mailing is July 21st – all points for recent Tesco purchases must have hit your Tesco account by then. You can still take part in the inks deal after this, but you won’t get your vouchers until November and so won’t qualify for the 50% Avios bonus. (Ordering today may still be OK if you could collect them on, say, Friday – it depends when Tesco put the points on your account.)
  - lepetitlyosha says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 08:12
    
    I thought the vouchers were sent out when you asked them to and usually arrived within a couple of days? Any idea if it would be fine to order them even though I’m out of the country?
    
    Do you think that there might be a big Avios promotion pre-December? I was thinking of booking a LHR-DME CW there and First back or vice-versa (any thoughts on that, worth it?) I would need about 31K points, and this would give me a pretty good rate if I sold on Ebay
    - Raffles says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:38
      
      No, Tesco Clubcard vouchers are sent out once per quarter. The cut-off dates for earning are late July (normally last or 2nd to last weekend, 21st July this year), late October, late January and late April, with vouchers arriving 2-3 weeks later.
      - lepetitlyosha says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 08:44
        
        Darn, are there likely to be any more Avios promotions? (if they usually occur regularly) Does it still make more sense to exchange Clubcard Vouchers for Avios rather than just buying Avios straight-up?
      - Raffles says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:06
        
        There has been an Avios conversion bonus every 9-12 months for the last 3 years or so, so if you don’t need the Avios now then keep your Tesco vouchers in a drawer until the next one comes along. Converting during a bonus promotion is a very cheap way of getting Avios. The current deal is 900 for a £2.50 Tesco voucher, so effectively you buy them for 0.27p each. Buying Avios via ba.com can cost up to 1.9p each I think, which is stupidly expensive unless you only need a few thousand to top off a reward.
      - lepetitlyosha says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:15
        
        In that case, I’m shooting for these to clear in time! Any idea how long it usually takes for the points to be credited after the purchase? Especially if I’m planning on ordering for delivery.