Tesco Clubcard and Avios divorce in two weeks – how should you play it?

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As we exclusively broke back in October, British Airways / Avios and Tesco Clubcard have decided to part ways. The option to convert your Tesco Clubcard points into Avios is ending very soon.

(Nothing will change with the partnership between Tesco Clubcard and Virgin Flying Club, for clarity. You can still earn Virgin Points.)

Tesco Clubcard dropping British Airways Avios as a partner

When is Clubcard ending Avios earning?

The last day to initiate a transfer of your Tesco Clubcard points into Avios is 18th January. Probably.

There is some confusion over the date. ba.com says that “You can continue to collect Avios with Tesco up to and including 18 January 2021”.

The Avios page on tesco.com says that “From 18 January 2021, you’ll no longer be able to exchange your Clubcard points for Avios.”

I suspect that BA is correct but, as it is Tesco’s scheme, you might want to convert by the 17th just to be sure.

Hang on …. my next Clubcard statement isn’t generated until 28th January

That is correct, which is why I am writing this article today to explain your options.

By the time you receive your Clubcard vouchers for the November to January quarter, in early February, it will be too late to convert them to Avios.

This is why you need to know about ‘Faster Vouchers’.

What is ‘Faster Vouchers’?

‘Faster Vouchers’ is a feature available to users of the Tesco Clubcard app.

It allows you to convert your CURRENT quarterly points balance into Clubcard vouchers. It is a simple process:

you must have at least 150 Clubcard points to convert

you will have your Clubcard voucher in your Tesco app, ready to spend, within 24 hours of requesting it

There is one thing to bear in mind. Whilst you can order ‘Faster Vouchers’ with a minimum of 150 Clubcard points in your account, you need at least 250 Clubcard points in order to convert to Avios.

It is pointless converting your existing Clubcard points into ‘Faster Vouchers’ if you only have 150, unless you have other unredeemed Clubcard vouchers to allow a conversion of £2.50+.

Here’s an example

The screenshot below is from my own Clubcard account:

I have 157 Clubcard points available to convert, which means that the blue button to order ‘Faster Vouchers’ is showing.

There would be no point in doing this if I had no other points to convert, because of the £2.50 minimum conversion to Avios.

However, I have also other unredeemed Clubcard vouchers which takes my total over the £2.50 minimum for Avios. This means that it makes sense to order the additional £1.50-worth before converting the lot.

What is the timing?

The last day to convert Clubcard points to Avios is 18th January (or perhaps 17th January for the reasons I gave above).

As ‘Faster Vouchers’ are meant to arrive within 24 hours, you should be OK if you order them as late as 16th January.

If you are currently close to 150 Clubcard points this quarter but not quite there, you have another 12 days to do a bit of shopping to ensure you will be at 150 points by 16th January.

(Remember that you will need to be at 250 points by 16th January if you have no other outstanding Clubcard vouchers to convert, because of the £2.50 minimum transfer.)

Who will replace Tesco as BA’s supermarket partner?

I honestly don’t know. We have been bouncing ideas around in our ‘Comments’ section in recent weeks.

My money would be on a combined John Lewis / Waitrose deal, but I haven’t been told anything – except that we will find out after 18th January.

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.

Fenny says:

4 Jan4 January 10:24

I’d love it if Waitrose started doing Avios. I got Virgin points on my spend for a while, using the Virgin CC, but that stopped a while back.

I sent a bunch of printer cartridges to the Tesco recycling scheme about 6 weeks ago to get the points before they stop doing Avios. Nothing so far, so I’m not holding my breath. I’ve got 251 points at the moment, but I’m not wasting another £49 in Tesco to round it up to £3. Not sure what the point of keeping the Tesco CC is any more.
- John says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 10:32
  
  +1 on printer cartridges. Take ages to credit now (if at all).
Vasco says:

4 Jan4 January 10:50

Wish they’d partner with LIDL, but of course I don’t seriously expect this. 😉
- Rhys says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 10:56
  
  I actually quite enjoy using Lidl Plus!
  - Genghis says:
    
    4 Jan4 January 12:48
    
    It’s a decent reward scheme. £12 voucher on £200 spend in a calendar month so 6% extra on top. We only do a “big shop” about once a month but the reward scheme has meant we have changed when – i.e. once at the start of the month, once at the end to see us through the next month and then nothing the next calendar month. Spending the voucher means I even pop in for a few bits to use the voucher (as they expire after a week). Incentives, hey.
  - Navara says:
    
    4 Jan4 January 15:54
    
    Easy to sort with Lidl or any new partner.
    5/10 points per £ on the BA amex instore
  - the_real_a says:
    
    4 Jan4 January 17:04
    
    Electronic receipts are amazingly useful.
  - Vasco says:
    
    5 Jan5 January 22:25
    
    Same, but it’s a bit hard to hit the threshold when you’re living alone. Still, I’d be genuinely happy if it was Lidl, I just think it’s amazingly unlikely!
  - Alex says:
    
    6 Jan6 January 18:19
    
    Have to say Lidl has improved a lot overall over the past few years, digital receipts, food they offer are way better than before.
Sparkley1 says:

4 Jan4 January 10:53

There is no point literally in saving these as hardly any benefit to it
- Fenny says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 11:50
  
  They were kicking about and if I can get points for them, there’s always a point. Now I have to find somewhere else to recycle them.
Aston100 says:

4 Jan4 January 13:01

I honestly don’t see the appeal of Waitrose.
For similar prices, M&S are (in my opinion) superior quality.
However, I would much rather go to a Tesco or Sainsburys to do my grocery shopping.
Perhaps I am in a minority, but I resent the insinuation that people with money don’t shop at ‘normal working class’ supermarkets, or that people with money only live in the South East of England.
Linda says:

4 Jan4 January 13:11

Thanks Rob, I had a useless £2 voucher until I read this. I applied for the faster voucher and got £8.50 into my account within three hours after downloading the points app. At my (goodbye old boy) grandfathered rate I’ve got 4000 Avios I wasn’t expecting to have. Very grateful.
TheBrownGuy says:

4 Jan4 January 13:35

I would love to see nectar as BA’s partner. That would make nector amex redundant but still I think its a readymade solution for BA.
- Rob says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 14:13
  
  It doesn’t solve the ‘we want to be a big fish’ issue though. And a conversion rate of 2:1, which is what it would be give that Nectar points are usually worth 0.5p, would mean 0.5 Avios per £1 spent in Sainsburys which wouldn’t work.
  - Track says:
    
    4 Jan4 January 17:17
    
    Rob, 0.5 Avios per £1 spent in Sainsburys — it is too expensive or too cheap?
    
    Given amount of Nectars in circulation + potential future shopping, it should be closer to 0.33 of one cent per £1 spent in Sainsbury’s..
    
    0.5 Avios per £1 spent in Sainsbury’s would be generous, also taking into account Sainbury’s more expensive than Tesco/ASDA/Lidl, and average spent per visit ends up larger.
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Jan4 January 21:16
      
      Irrespective of cheap or expensive, the bottom line is that it isn’t enough. People will not switch from Tesco for 0.33 to 0.5 Avios per £1. It simply isn’t worth the trouble.
      
      2.4 Avios per £1, yes. Not 0.5.
      - ECR says:
        
        6 Jan6 January 00:26
        
        Personally in these circumstances I would switch as it would be 0.5 avios per £ at Sainsbury v 0 avios per £ at Tesco. Although there are other things that are technically better value I could use Tesco points for, none of them are of enough interest to me to influence shopping habits.
Mark says:

4 Jan4 January 13:39

John Lewis / Waitrose have no footprint in Northern Ireland. Personal political views aside, not a good look for a “National Flag Carrier” to exclude part of the UK with a decision to partner in that direction.

As others have commented, M&S ticks mostly the same boxes with full UK coverage, and would finally give Sparks some sort of purpose in life for customers.
- Andrew says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 15:01
  
  Although its name is British Airways and Northern Ireland isn’t in Britain.
  - Matt says:
    
    4 Jan4 January 15:48
    
    Northern Ireland is part of the British Isles… just not part of Great Britain.
Nick says:

4 Jan4 January 14:34

If it’s Waitrose, I just don’t understand the economics. Tesco is the third biggest revenue stream into AGL, after BA (for flights) and Amex. Huge numbers of people convert to Avios, such that I just don’t think Waitrose can match the volume. They might be going for yield (if JLP will pay more per Avios), but this is the opposite strategy to everything AGL has done recently, which is ‘absolute cash in IAG’s bank now, screw the future’. And JLP doesn’t have any/much money to pay them upfront anyway. Rob’s idea that they’re going for presence sounds the most logical to me… but knowing how much Tesco spend on Avios, it’s a massive gamble as you can’t easily measure ‘marketing presence’ in £ terms and there’s no way JLP will be matching them. Unless of course they’re trying to reduce the number of Avios in circulation (or indeed get rid of the ‘riff raft’ average Tesco spender, which is I suppose also a possibility), but this is a whole other kettle of fish that would have wider implications (and I think is pretty unlikely). Guess we’ll find out soon…
- Track says:
  
  4 Jan4 January 15:37
  
  Seems it is a massive gamble for BA / Avios Group.
  - Nick says:
    
    4 Jan4 January 16:47
    
    BA has nothing to do with it any more. It’s entirely AGL. Seriously, believe it or not, not a single member of BA staff would be able to object, whatever AGL decided.