50% bonus on Tesco Clubcard transfers to Virgin Flying Club

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Here is the first decent promotion of 2013!

Tesco has launched a 50% bonus on transfers of Tesco Clubcard points to Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club. This means that you will receive 375 miles per £1 of Clubcard vouchers you convert, rather than the standard 250.

Full details are here. The deals runs to March 5th, so you will be able to convert your points from the next set of vouchers as well.

Virgin is also repeating its offer of 1,000 Virgin miles for opting-in for auto-conversion of your Clubcard points each quarter to Virgin. Nothing stops you agreeing to this and then cancelling after one quarter!

Virgin Atlantic 747

Virgin miles will become a lot more interesting in 2013. You will be able to collect them on Virgin’s new domestic services which start in March. Virgin is also likely to join the Skyteam alliance in the next 18 months, given that Delta Airlines of the US – a core SkyTeam member – has just bought a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

That said …. the SkyTeam deal is not guaranteed and I don’t recommend you make a conversion to Virgin unless you have a clear idea about how you want to redeem them. Virgin charges similar fuel surcharges to BA, so long-haul economy redemptions are still a bad deal.

Remember too that both Virgin and Avios allow one-way redemptions, so if both carriers serve a route you could redeem for Virgin one-way and BA back. Redeem for Virgin Upper Class from Heathrow and you’d get to visit their Clubhouse lounge, generally regarded as one of the best in the world.

There is also an interesting arbitrage to earn Hilton HHonors points from this promotion. As I outlined in this old article, because you can transfer Virgin miles to Hilton points you can therefore go Tesco to Virgin to Hilton. With the 50% bonus, you would effectively get 3-4 times face value for your Tesco vouchers in Hilton points, if spent wisely.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 2021)

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

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, one has a bonus of 15,000 points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

The UK’s most generous free Visa or Mastercard at 0.75 points / £1 Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 points bonus and the most generous non-Amex for day to day spending Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points:

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 comes with 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 30,000 Virgin Points:

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.

(Want to earn more Virgin Points? Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Category

Tesco Clubcard, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

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

pete says:

4 Jan4 January 10:20

So do you still stand by your 80% certainty on there being a 50% transfer bonus to BA later this year Raffles ? Just wondering if there is any history of a double transfer bonus occuring in one year to two different award schemes?
- Raffles says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 11:32
  
  Aggressive Virgin activity makes it more likely that BA will respond with an Avios promotion!
kuba says:

4 Jan4 January 10:48

I am waiting for Tesco too and would imagine its driven by Tesco’s partners (such as Virgin or Avios) rather than Tesco itself.
Tim Rogers says:

4 Jan4 January 11:46

Raffles, what’s your view on a Amex MR transfer bonus on British Airways/Avios? From what I can tell, the record of this happening is pretty strong, so I don’t want to transfer until there’s a promotion.
- Raffles says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 12:32
  
  There have been 1 or 2 transfer promos a year for the last 3 years I think, so I expect to see another in the Summer. However, they are targetted to selected cardmembers, so there is no guarantee each time that you will be selected.
Ben E says:

4 Jan4 January 13:39

I read there’s also a Tesco to Avios promotion where you get entered into a competition draw if you transfer £10 worth of tesco vouchers in the next 2 months?
Max says:

5 Jan5 January 18:52

Hi Rafles,

I’ve been reading your blog since a few weeks now and this is my first post here. Thanks for the insightful insightful tips.

I’ve come across a good offer on HUKD for a trip to India in Oct/Nov 2013 via Virgin
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/flights-from-manchester-mumbai-for-333-up-round-trip-incl-taxes-ebookers-com-1435422

I was wondering if you can advice as to how I can make the most of my 52K MR from Amex Plat charge card.

I’ve had the card for 6 months and wish to cancel to receive the pr-rata refund on the £450 fees. Will I retain the Priority Pass card after I cancel?

KR
Max
Max says:

7 Jan7 January 06:59

Thanks for your prompt response Raffles.

Any idea what’s the next best Amex card I can apply for, which gives me a Priority Pass and benefits similar to my current card?
Should I apply for the new card now or wait until I’ve cancelled my existing Platinum charge card? Thx
Max says:

7 Jan7 January 21:03

>> if you’ve just got Plat they may turn you down for Starwood until Amex knows you better.<<

I've had the Amex Blue card in the past and still have the Plat cash back card. So yes, they know me for a good while now.

btw can I apply for the BA Amex Premium Plus Card before cancelling Plat Charge card or after?

Thx
- Raffles says:
  
  7 Jan7 January 21:24
  
  At the same time if you want! If you want to cancel Plt first to reduce your Amex exposure, you’d need to wait a couple of months for all traces of the card to go. (A card is not cancelled when you tell them, it is cancelled when you have cleared the last bill and Amex is confident there are no pending charges.)
Max says:

7 Jan7 January 21:51

Sorry, was that YES I can apply for BAPP before I cancel or wait a couple of months and then apply?

btw How much time will I have to bank my MR once I give notice to cancel?
- Raffles says:
  
  7 Jan7 January 22:30
  
  You should be OK either way. However, what I meant was ‘if you intend to cancel to improve your chances of getting the BAPP, then you need to cancel and wait a while’. You can’t cancel Plat on Monday, apply for BAPP on Tuesday and expect the Plat cancellation to have been processed, because it takes a few weeks.
  
  The MR rules are complex. As I remember it – if you have no other Amex-issued Amex, you must empty it before cancelling. If you have another MR points Amex, no problem. If you have another Amex which is not in MR (eg the BA one), you get six months grace to empty your MR account. But get this confirmed by Amex if its important.
  - Max says:
    
    8 Jan8 January 16:39
    
    Brilliant and thanks for your help and patience Raffles
    Much appreciated!