Sainsbury’s cutting weekly Nectar (Avios) bonus offers for some

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

There have been numerous reports in our daily chat threads recently about a reduction in the value of weekly Nectar bonus point offers to use when shopping at Sainsbury’s.

Each week, Nectar offers bonus points on a number of personalised own-brand Sainsbury’s products via the Nectar app. These can be very generous, and at times the value of the Avios earned outweighs the cost of the product.

The system isn’t ideal, however. It requires the shopper to install the Nectar app on their phone and to remember to go into it each week to activate the current crop of coupons. In my book, this is too much ‘friction’.

It also makes the value in the Nectar scheme too difficult to see. Anyone considering a switch from Tesco is likely to focus on the headline ‘1 point per £1 spent’ number and decide that the scheme is a waste of space. It is hard for Sainsbury’s to promote the value of personalised offers when they are, well, personalised …..

New offers may no longer arrive every week

Sainsbury’s has confirmed to moneysavingexpert.com that it has made changes.

It said:

“We regularly review the promotions available through our Nectar app to ensure customers are always receiving personalised, valuable offers. As part of this process, some offers may be currently unavailable for a small number of customers and we apologise for any inconvenience.”

Not all members will receive new offers each week. You may well see this in your app:

References to ‘weekly offers’ have also been removed from the app and from the website.

Here are two comparisons of the iOS promotional page for the app – image c/o moneysavingexpert.com:

Let’s see where this ends up. If it leads to a greater focus on in-store bonus point offers then it would be fairer to all customers whilst also making the attractions of Nectar more visible.

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: