Probably deuce! (Boots Advantage Card)

Member Name: anwar7

Product:	Boots Advantage Card
Date:	18/05/04 (428 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

I have had a Boots advantage card for a few years now and have used it on a regular basis, so I guess that qualifies me to review it !

What is it?
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The Boots advantage card is basically a loyalty card issued by Boots. It is very simple to sign up for one, just go into any Boots, fill in an application form and a few weeks later a card will arrive on your mat and off you go? The card itself wouldn?t win any prizes for innovative design, but it is the most generous loyalty card on offer. The Boots advantage card gives you 1 point for every 25p you spend, and each point is worth 1p, so you get 4 points for every £1 spent. When you compare this scheme to those offered by Sainsbury?s (nectar) or Tescos, which only give you 1p for every £1, spent, Boots wins hands down! Points can be earned on all purchases, with the exception of postage stamps, gift vouchers, infant formula and prescriptions.
Points can be earned on boots opticians and dental services too, doesn?t quite go far enough to make going to the dentist fun though!

As you probably know Boots sells a huge range of products including cosmetics, toiletries, toys, baby equipment and some more exciting gift ideas like fun days out. Boots often have extra points events, when you can earn double or even treble points on your purchases, usually during a weekend. These events are well advertised via the media and with posters in Boots shop windows so keep your eyes open.
In many Boots stores you will see a machine, similar to an A.T.M machine. These allow you to view your points balance by placing your card into the machine, in addition you can print out vouchers which give extra points on certain products. Your points balance is also printed at the bottom of your till receipt and updated each time you shop.

O.k. so now you know what a Boots advantage card is, and how to clock up your points, but what can you exchange them for?

Unfortunately you can o
nly exchange your points for certain products sold in Boots (well it would be in Boots wouldn?t it)?! The good news though is that the list of included products is vast, and everyone should find something to spent their points on. I sometimes use mine to treat myself to some make up or perfume if I?ve managed to save up enough. On the other hand you could use points to pay for nappies or even a sandwich.

However nothing is ever really given away for nothing by big companies. So what does Boots get out of this scheme? Well apart from valuable information gained from the application form about their customers shopping habits etc, they also hope they are getting your loyalty. It is easy to be lulled into buying something just because there are extra points on offer! It is still worth shopping around, saving cash to spend on what you want, is better than getting points, and Boots are often more expensive than supermarkets or other chains. To give you an example, yesterday I bought some Boots own sun spray, which was on a buy one get one free offer. In addition the machine had a voucher worth 100 points (£1) for every bottle bought, so I printed out 2. I really thought this sounded like a good deal. The original price of £9.99 for one bottle now worked out at £4 per bottle. However Asda are selling top quality sun spray for under £3 ! So you see, don?t be fooled.

Unlike some other loyalty schemes, you can only pay for an item when you have enough points, it would be nice if you could pay part cash and top up with points, especially for expensive purchases. If you have several items to pay for in your basket, you may not have enough points to pay for all of them with points, or some may not be eligible. It is a real pain to have to have to pay for some items with points and the rest with cash.
Overall I love this scheme, and have had some real bargains. At Christmas I printed some vouchers giving me 200 points for any purchase from Boots botanic
s range. I found some products that had been reduced to under £2, so I actually got them free-advantage me!



Points are also earned in the same way when you shop on line, although you may miss out on the extra points given out from machines in store. Most people will shop in Boots at some time so it is definitely worth signing up for a card!

Summary: