LAST CHANCE: Get 2,400 Avios or 2,500 Virgin miles with the FREE Tesco Mastercard

If you are looking for a way to give your Avios or Virgin Flying Club a little free boost for the new year, this deal is worth a look.

Tesco Bank is still offering a ‘secret’ sign-up bonus on the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard.

This deal is NOT being openly advertised on the Tesco Bank website but it is being offered on some comparison sites and I have permission from Tesco Bank to offer it here.  This is the link you need.

This offer will end on Monday – although I don’t know exactly when on Monday.  I would apply over the weekend if you’re interested, just to be certain.

The card has a representative APR of 18.9% variable.  There is no annual fee.

If you apply via the link above, you will receive a bonus of 1,000 Clubcard points when you make your first purchase or make a balance transfer within two months of receipt.  This is worth 2,400 Avios or 2,500 Virgin miles.

(In reality, because Tesco still runs regular conversion bonuses to Virgin Flying Club, it should be worth 10% or 20% more than 2,500 miles if you convert to them.)

There are a number of different versions of the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard available.  The 1,000 points is only available with the ‘purchases’ version.  This offers 0% interest on new purchases for the first 17 months.

Other versions of the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard are available, some with lower interest rates and some with good interest free or balance transfer deals. 

Your day-to-day earnings rate

The Tesco Clubcard Mastercard is the most generous FREE Visa or Mastercard for earning Avios points unless you qualify for HSBC Premier, although that isn’t saying much.

The earning rate is now one Clubcard point per £8 spent.  The ‘per £8’ is on a transaction by transaction basis and rounded down.  A £7.99 purchase earns you nothing.  A £15.99 purchase only earns 1 point.

This means that you receive:

0.125 Clubcard points for £1 (in reality you get less because of the rounding down) which is 0.3 Avios points per £1 spent

When used in Tesco, you get 0.25 Clubcard points per £1, which is 0.6 Avios per £1 spent

The earning rate, before adjusting for rounding, is higher than the Lloyds Avios Rewards Mastercard (review) which gives you 0.25 Avios per £1 and has a £24 annual fee.  That card does come with the upgrade voucher for spending £7,000, however, which can be valuable.

The sign-up bonus is OK

Whether or not you decide that this is your best option for day-to-day Visa or Mastercard spending, you may want to get one purely for the sign-up bonus and the ‘0% interest on new purchases for 17 months’ deal.

1,000 Clubcard points are worth 2,400 Avios points or 2,500 Virgin Flying Club miles.

It is not a life changing amount, by any means, but it doesn’t require much effort on your part either.

If you take advantage of the 0% interest deal, you won’t be too bothered about the low Avios earning rate anyway.  The real value in a 0% on purchases deal is to spend up to your credit limit, put enough money in a high interest bank account to cover the bill, hide the card in a drawer and then settle the bill just as the 17 months interest free period is about to end.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

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 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

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

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

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

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review