Not so rewarding now (Sainsbury's Reward Card)

Member Name: vladimpala

Product:	Sainsbury's Reward Card
Date:	05/12/00 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good cash in options

Disadvantages: Dwindling oportunities to earn

I've held a reward card for over three years now and there is no doubt that it's no where near as rewarding now as it was when I got it.

It works along the same lines as all the rest, you spend a pound (in store or at the petrol station), you get 2 points, you save them up and when you have 500 you can spend them. Some items instore carry bonus reward points to encourage you to buy them. When I first got the card I was often able to get several hundred reward points with every visit to the supermarket (mainly from bonus goods) but in the last 18 months the number of bonus reward items has noticeably dwindled so that I rarely earn any extra reward points. They recently doubled the number of reward points you get per pound and simultaneously halved their value - if I was cynical I would suggest that this was to confuse customers and cover up the dwindling number of points people were earning.

Where the scheme does work well is the number of options you have to redeem your points. For every 500 points you get one reward voucher, as well as taking cash off your shopping (£2.50 per voucher) you can exchange them for a variety of alternatives such as £5 off vouchers for Arcadia stores (Topshop, Warehouse, Burtons etc) or, as I prefer, 40 air miles - which opens up a whole new range of uses for the points. Unfortunately you can only cash in your vouchers at your home store, but if you move they will transfer your account to a new home store.

Another bonus is the provision of personalised money off coupons dispensed from instore machines - these are specifically tailored to you and are activated by swiping your card through the machine. Occasionally you are also sent money off vouchers by post, especially if your home store is undergoing any sort of renovations.

So in summary, if you shop at Sainsbury's anyway it's worth getting a reward card - but it's not worth shopping there just for the rewards.

Summary: