Why Tesco’s ‘Win 1 Million Avios’ competition is rubbish

Scott emailed me to ask what is a very fair question:

I didn’t see anything on your website about the Avios and Tesco Clubcard email offer I received the other day. Apparently if you exchange a minimum of £10 worth of Tesco clubcard vouchers, before 31st March 2013, BA will enter you into a prize draw to win 1 million Avios.

As Scott is probably not the only person to think this, I should answer it!

Reason 1 is that BA seems to have emailed people about it anyway if they have ever converted from Tesco.

Reason 2 – more importantly – is that it is a bad deal!

At least once a year, Tesco offers a 40%-50% bonus for converting Clubcard points to Avios.

There is not a promotion on now and it is unlikely that one will launch before the competition closes on 31st March. Transferring £10 of CC vouchers today gets you 2,400 Avios. Wait for a 50% bonus, you’d get 3,600. Those extra 1,200 Avios are worth at least £10.

Unless you absolutely must convert your Tesco vouchers now because you want to spend the Avios immediately, you are therefore basically ‘paying’ £10 to enter the competition! Far better to put your vouchers in a drawer and wait for the next conversion bonus.

If you do want to know more about this deal, the details – such as they are – can be seen here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.