Paris or Butlins You decide? (Tesco Clubcard)

Name: freediveheaven

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Product:	Tesco Clubcard
Date:	29/03/05 (3810 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: deals

Disadvantages: standard rewards

Loyalty cards have been around for a few years now. The benefits to the company are obvious, increased sales, an understanding of their customers buying habits and increased loyalty from the customer. Often though the benefits to the customer are less tangible with the actual reward requiring a large amount of spend with a return of only 1%.

On the face of it this is the case with the Tesco Clubcard scheme where your spend is rewarded with vouchers that can be used towards the purchase of future food shops. However Tesco also provide the opportunity to purchase a whole range of services including air miles from it’s catalogue and if you use this option you receive goods to the value of 4 times the face value of the vouchers, more on this later.

How It Works

Signing up for the card is easy. Cards are contained in leaflets around the store and once you have completed an application form and handed it in to reception the card is activated and you can begin collecting points. Simply present the card before paying for any purchases either in the store or petrol station and points will automatically be added to your account. Points can be earned on most purchases in all types of store with only a few exceptions such as lottery tickets. Purchases through Tesco.com also earn points.

For every complete pound spent you earn one point so this is the basic 1% return on spend which is not overly generous.

Once a quarter you receive a mailing containing vouchers. Normally you will receive three vouchers, which breaks down the total number of points that have been converted. These are normally in whole pounds or 50p values. For example £19 would be converted into two £6.50 and one £6.00 voucher. Any unused points are carried forward to the next quarter.

In your mailing you will also receive small vouchers, which either give you money off, or additional bonus points for certain purchases.

Each voucher is valid for two years, which gives you plenty of time to save up vouchers for a big purchase.

Vouchers can be used towards the full or part payment of purchase however if the value of the voucher is more that the item being purchased no change is given.


Other ways to collect points

There are a number of other ways to earn extra points either through purchasing other services from Tesco or other retailers.

Using a Tesco credit card earns addition points at a £2 foe one-point rate and the credit card also doubles as your club card.

Other places you can earn points are MFI, Marriott, D&A Opticians, Avis, and Powergen to name a few.

The Rewards

As I said before there are two ways to get rewards. Either you can simply use the vouchers towards your food shop. If you do this you simply get the face value of the voucher. As the vouchers have a two-year lifetime they can be saved towards that big Christmas shop.

My preferred way of using these vouchers is to use them to purchase items from the catalogue. By doing this you get 4x the face value of the voucher in new vouchers to use for whatever you choose.

I have found this an excellent way of funding days out with the children and short breaks. The range of companies is extensive, everything from trips to Alton Towers, magazine subscriptions, Cresta holiday vouchers, MFI vouchers, Moat House Hotels or Air Miles. There are really too many to list without boring you to death.

One of the best buys is an annual pass to Taussauds Group providing unlimited access to all the sites for £20 in vouchers per person. These passes cost about £80 normally. This means all three of us can attend for a year for £60 in vouchers.

So far I have used the vouchers to fund numerous day trips to Alton Towers, the Space Museum, Tower of London, Drayton Manor Park, The Dome and two short breaks at Butlins. Next year we should have enough to go to Paris on Eurostar.

Redeeming Vouchers

To exchange your vouchers for products simply complete the application form detailing the vouchers that you require and the value of these. Then send enough Tesco vouchers to cover the order. Any unused points will be added back to your statement. You need to allow 8 days for return however normally they are back with you within 14 days. If you are sending a large number of vouchers it is sensible to send them recorded delivery as effectively they have a cash value.

Using the vouchers that you get back will depend on the instructions you receive with them, for some venues you simply produce them when you pay for entry with others you have to pre-book and send them off in advance.

One warning note is that often you cannot combine the vouchers with any other offers the company may have and sometimes particularly in the case of some of the holiday companies there is a minimum spend required. Like everything in life you need to do a bit of research to ensure you are getting a good deal.

Conclusion

If Tesco is already your shop of choice for groceries then there is no reason not to collect points. My personal preference is to transfer them for deals as this increases the value of the reward beyond the standard 1%.

The club card deals are a great way of funding family days out or just treating yourself to a bit of pampering.

I hope you have enjoyed my review.

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