No more Avios from mortgages as Tesco Bank puts its portfolio up for sale

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It is no longer possible to earn Avios points from mortgages.

There has only been one way to earn Avios from your mortgage, and that was via Tesco Bank.

Tesco Bank quietly entered the mortgage market back in 2014. We never covered it much because there are many factors to consider when taking out a mortgage. Whether or not you will earn Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles via Clubcard points should be very much at the bottom of your list of considerations.

Tesco Bank mortgages

It was all very simple:

You earned 1 Tesco Clubcard point (2.4 Avios) for every £4 of your monthly mortgage payment. This applied to both the capital and interest elements.

You earned 1 Tesco Clubcard point (2.4 Avios) for every £4 of any overpayment you make, as long as it does not fully repay your mortgage

If you were making monthly payments of £1000 you would be earning 250 Clubcard points. This is worth 600 Avios, so about £5-£6 of value. It was not enough to move the needle on which mortgage provider is cheapest.

This deal is no more. Tesco Bank announced yesterday that it is pulling out of the mortgage market. It is no longer accepting new applications and, more importantly, the existing loan book will be sold to another lender. Once the sale is complete it is virtually certain that Clubcard points will no longer be available.

It isn’t clear what the future holds for the rest of Tesco Bank. It has not made much of an impact in the current account market, and the credit card arm is also underpowered. When it launched the current account, Tesco claimed that it was deliberately uncompetitive so that it could offer good customer service. Several years on, that excuse no longer washes.

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

British Airways and Avios, Tesco Clubcard

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

Alid says:

22 May22 May 16:17

OT – Moving Avios from Iberia to BA.

Has anyone been able to transfer avios from Iberia to BA recently? I used to be able to do it via avios.com as an intermediary though my account there has now been closed. Does an Aer Lingus account currently allow one to do this?
- Rob says:
  
  22 May22 May 16:34
  
  Yes, use an Aer Lingus account on avios.com. Works fine.
Jonty says:

22 May22 May 17:14

O/T Any bets on whether BA will offer”kids fly free” this summer? 2017,2018 offer announced by this time of year.
Paul says:

22 May22 May 17:18

O/T: I took the plunge and submitted my (BA) upgrade expenses as “employment expenses” via a P87. Was anyone quicker off the mark than I was and successfully received a rebate from HMRC yet?

Fingers Crossed 🙂
- Rob says:
  
  22 May22 May 18:45
  
  You are assuming that anyone looks at your return and it isn’t processed automatically, as 99% are.
Liam says:

22 May22 May 18:25

OT — not miles/points-related, but in case anyone in London has missed it, Kapten—a taxi service similar to Uber which has existed in France for a while, originally as Chauffeur Privé—has launched in the city and you can get 50% off all rides (max £10 discount) until May 28th with the code HILONDON.

I used it around 10am this morning in West Hampstead and I’m about to use it shortly around Old Street, and it seems like there’s pretty decent driver availability.
- Rob says:
  
  22 May22 May 18:44
  
  Should give them a shout …. they are in our building!
Annabelle says:

22 May22 May 20:15

Sorry OT- If book a Hilton hotel through say hotels.com could you still benefit from your Hilton status? Thank you
- Rob says:
  
  22 May22 May 20:20
  
  No
  - Annabelle says:
    
    22 May22 May 20:49
    
    Thank you Rob!
PaulC says:

22 May22 May 20:54

O/T How long in general does an upgrade to Platinum usually take from Green Card?
- Shoestring says:
  
  22 May22 May 20:57
  
  same as any upgrade, could typically be 4-8 working days though you could get the PP cards earlier
Shoestring says:

22 May22 May 21:03

Raffles – you could have sent one of us to New York in Club to check out the lounges.

Just saying.
- Cat says:
  
  22 May22 May 21:21
  
  Yes, I imagine a number of us would be willing to drink all the Champagne, just to help you guys out Raffles!
  - Shoestring says:
    
    22 May22 May 21:32
    
    Cat – tell me what not to miss in the T3 Oneworld Business lounges – anybody else there on Friday?
    - Cat says:
      
      22 May22 May 22:46
      
      Personally I thought the Cathay business lounge looked very nice, but I didn’t spend any time there really. It does have a decent buffet selection, the usual noodle bar (seriously, that wonton soup…) and a decent selection of wines and cocktails. Qantas is great if you like gin, and I think does better cocktails than the Cathay lounge. Apparently AA does v good food, but I never made it that far!
      Have fun Harry!
      - David says:
        
        22 May22 May 23:53
        
        CX for noodle/dim sum bar, Möet, comfy chairs and apron views. QF for à la carte menu downstairs, and coffee/gin upstairs. American for, umm, fast wifi… and lots of empty chairs. Whatever you do, don’t go to AA if you want a cup of coffee.
    - Jovanna says:
      
      23 May23 May 00:04
      
      There’s a bar down the far end of the lounge. I’ve no idea if it does cocktails or anything else that may appeal but it’s there. I didn’t spot it on my first couple of visits – I can’t think why, other than not straying beyond the noodle bar.
- Rob says:
  
  23 May23 May 08:53
  
  Too risky. If the person fails to show / causes trouble / turns out to be illiterate / unable to take a photo then I stuffed with BA.
Cat says:

22 May22 May 21:16

I once managed to make an immigration official laugh at Boston Logan.
I consider it one of my finest achievements in life!
- Cat says:
  
  22 May22 May 21:18
  
  Sorry, fail – it’s been a long term! That was meant to be in reply to all the comments about egates and grumpy border control staff!
  - Shoestring says:
    
    22 May22 May 21:28
    
    I’m guessing some Irish joke
    - Shoestring says:
      
      22 May22 May 21:59
      
      Paddy rings his new girlfriend’s door bell, with a big bunch of flowers. She opens the door, sees the flowers, and drags him in. She lies back on the couch, pulls her skirt up, rips her knickers off and says ‘This is for the flowers!’ ‘Don’t be silly,’ says Paddy, ‘You must have a vase somewhere!’
      - Cat says:
        
        22 May22 May 22:54
        
        Oh dear.
        If memory serves, when the chap spotted that my passport says I was born in Boston, Lincs, I confirmed that it was the original Boston, where the Pilgrim Fathers set sale from, apologised profusely for all the religious persecution, and then explained that I was a tad on the squiffy side due to the very pleasant almost-in-Boston tea party we had just had on the plane over.
        It’s hard to say whether he was laughing with, or at, me.