Tesco Clubcard devalues Cosmos holiday rewards – what next?
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This is a slightly peripheral article for Head for Points, but in the last few days Cosmos has drastically reduced the value of Tesco Clubcard points if you use them for a holiday.
Historically, you could convert your Clubcard tokens into Cosmos holiday vouchers at 3x face value, with a £300 per person cap. This was a very good deal, if Cosmos if your ‘thing’.
The deal has now worsened dramatically. You can now only convert your vouchers at 2x face value. More drastically for heavy points collectors, the maximum discount you can have per person is just £100.
Over the last couple of years, the overall value of Tesco Clubcard has been sharply reduced. If you converted to Avios or Flying Club miles, you won’t have realised it, but it has been going on.
Of course, some of the jumbo deals in the past were just too good to last. When Motorpoint joined, they were letting you get a discount on a car for 4x the face value of your vouchers, with no cap. Plenty of heavy collectors got a free car!
Similarly, Virgin Holidays let you redeem at 4x face value with no cap. Lots of people got a lot of totally free holidays from that.
Most Clubcard deals are now just 3x face value. It is difficult to see where the real value is these days. I would suggest:
Goldsmiths still let you buy watches and jewellery at 3x face value with no cap
Safestore (where I have been redeeming recently) gives you 3x face value with no cap
Some of the cruise offers still give 3x face value, with no cap
This article from last year looks at the other travel deals you can get for Clubcard points and whether they are worth a look – the answer was generally ‘no’!
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 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:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review
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.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable 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
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
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.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) and free for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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