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An avios.com and Tesco competition – but no sign of a BA or Virgin bonus

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There is, so far, no sign on any British Airways Executive Club or Virgin Flying Club transfer bonus for Tesco Clubcard collectors this quarter.

To be fair, this doesn’t mean there won’t be one.  It just means that it hasn’t appeared yet – which means the odds are against it.

Avios.com and BA are running competitions, however.

The competitions are not life changing but better than a slap in the face.  As the Tesco / avios.com page states:

Win 15,000 Avios

We’ve got 25 prizes of 15,000 Avios to give away. To be in with a chance of winning simply exchange £2.50 in Tesco Clubcard vouchers for Avios between 29 January and 29 February 2016. For every £2.50 you exchange, you’ll receive one prize draw entry.

The British Airways competition is different – 1 entry for every £5 you exchange.  This makes me think that they are being run separately and there are two prize pots.

However this does not mean that it is a worse competition as it makes no difference to your odds of winning whether you get one entry per £5, £2.50 or even 1p exchanged!

The ‘Tesco to avios.com’ conversion page is here.  The Tesco to BAEC page is here.

No word of anything from Virgin …….

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus 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 card

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 £15,000 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.

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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 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.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Tesco Clubcard

Comments (124)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • harry says:
    3 Feb3 February 08:54

    O/T still IB store Spain/ Spanish:
    buy a EUR7 prepaid sim card from Tuenti (twenty, get it? 🙂 )
    EUR7 = £5.30
    receive 1400 Avios

    You need to send the sim card to a (random?) Spanish address

    • Jerry says:
      4 Feb4 February 17:35

      You need a Spanish bank account to order the SIM, to guarantee payment of the second and subsequent month’s contract, even though you can cancel immediately.

  • mitpat474 says:
    3 Feb3 February 09:03

    only just converted £550 into BA exec club, the other day….!

  • Andrew H says:
    3 Feb3 February 09:36

    Regarding the Iberia bonuses…. I have been In contact with @Iberia_en on Twitter for a week or so trying to find out what is going on. They tell me that you should allow 45 days for the bonuses to be added to your account. When my 45 days expired yesterday, I contacted them again and was informed ‘they should be uploaded in the next few days’.

    So hopefully the Groupon bonuses will appear shortly.

    I assume the AmazonBuyVIP/Showroomprive avios will turn up in a couple of weeks.

    TBH I’m not holding my breath for any of these.

    I notice on Flyertalk that some people who still haven’t received their Groupon purchases have filed disputes and got their money back via Paypal.

    • Andrew H says:
      3 Feb3 February 09:37

      BTW still no sign of those Pet Insurance points.

      • Tilly71 says:
        3 Feb3 February 09:46

        Only been going a few weeks, think we will be waiting 2 months plus for those.

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:
          3 Feb3 February 10:26

          You have to hold the insurance for 30 days. I cant see them awarding any points prior to the end of the holding period.

    • scottiebhoy says:
      3 Feb3 February 11:04

      I filed a dispute with Groupon.es for a missing 12000. The other vouchers have already posted. They got back to me to contact Iberia Plus. I’m waiting on their response.

      I have just learnt you can claim via Paypal – on it now!

      All my additional points in the IberiaPlus store are still sitting at pending, including the free ones for the AmazonBuyVIP/Showroomprive.

      • scottiebhoy says:
        3 Feb3 February 11:07

        The T&C in the store also say:

        Most transaction will be approved within 40 days, but please allow up to a maximum of 120 days for your transactions to become approved.

  • Brian says:
    3 Feb3 February 10:19

    I may just be a bit dim, but surely the competition you choose does make a difference to your odds of winning. If you are going to convert £5, you’ll get 2 entries using Avios (2 x £2.50) and one for BA. Or am I missing something???

    • harry says:
      3 Feb3 February 10:29

      and my gut feeling is more people will bbe entering the BAEC competition.

      avios.com definitely the one to go for

    • Rich says:
      3 Feb3 February 14:10

      Fun with maths.

      If 100 people convert £5 each to Avios, there are 200 entries, and each person has a 2/200 chance of winning.

      If 100 people convert £5 each to BA, there are 100 entries, and each person has a 1/100 chance of winning.

      2/200 = 1/100!

  • Mark1980 says:
    3 Feb3 February 10:22

    Off topic but looking at a last minute break to dubai. We’ve never been before and have a 10 month old baby – any suggestions where to stay and what to do with a baby? Is everything really expensive? I am not exactly cash rich at the moment with the missus being on mat leave.

    • Rob says:
      3 Feb3 February 14:30

      Good choice. High quality hotels, Waitrose and Boots everywhere so no worry on baby supplies. Outstanding medical care if needed from expats.

      Choose a beach resort though as little public beach.

      Taxis dirt cheap, eating out pricey but loads of casual dining if you want it.

    • James says:
      3 Feb3 February 16:25

      Dubai is a good place with babies, very family friendly and it can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. We went when ours was 5 months old and had no problems whatsoever.

      • harry says:
        3 Feb3 February 20:32

        No personal criticism intended – but Dubai is just somewhere hot, at calendar times Europe may not be hot. There’s not actually anything to do except eat, drink, enjoy the pool & company.

        Which is fine.

        But just by varying your travel time slot by a month or so, you could get the same climate, far more cheaply, by staying in Europe. With vastly superior culture & history, better people, better cuisine & drinks.

        No contest – for me.

        • Mark1980 says:
          3 Feb3 February 22:18

          Thanks all.

          Harry, in a way i agree with you and that’s why we’ve never been bothered about going before. That being said, the missus is back at work mid-march so need to go in the next couple of weeks really and the options are limited for good weather as I don’t want to / can’t afford to go extreme long haul to asia etc.

          However, looking at hotel prices, it may be beyond us anyway.

          Cheers,
          Mark

        • Rob says:
          4 Feb4 February 00:34

          Got a baby? None of the stuff at the end matters!

  • Mat says:
    3 Feb3 February 10:49

    Slightly OT: I’ve just come to the realisation (with the help of HFP of course) that I should NOT be getting my clubcard points auto-converted to avios, however I can’t figure out how to change this preference – help?

    Am I right in the understanding that I should be getting my clubcard points as vouchers and saving them until a bonus comes along?

    Thanks!

    • Gavin says:
      3 Feb3 February 11:00

      That’s the general idea, and what I would do if circumstances permitted. However I convert mine each quarter – my ability to earn avios relies quite heavily on CC points and I use them for RFS to visit my gf who rather inconveniently works a 4.5 hr flight away from London. I get huge cash savings from RFS so there is more value to me in using the avios now. If I was saving up for long haul travel I wouldn’t autoconvert though.

    • mark2 says:
      3 Feb3 February 11:41

      To remove auto-convert open your ClubCard Account and select My Account Details>Options and Benefits from the menu. Delete your Avios or BAEC number (and maybe click on the relevant radio button) and click on ‘Confirm’. Check that everything is now blank.
      This will give you the option to use the virtual vouchers for Avios as required or Virgin points (to convert to IHG or Hilton) or Tesco boost.

  • harry says:
    3 Feb3 February 11:44

    O/T Iberia
    Am I missing something? I’m getting the message
    Your transaction

    Which way do you want to move Avios?
    You can only move Avios from British Airways to Iberia Plus – you cannot move your Avios back again.

    Didn’t realise this…will play around

  • Godot says:
    3 Feb3 February 14:00

    Just got the following from Virgin (I Auto Converted before for the bonus, but currently have it turned off):

    Dear X,

    As you’ve previously chosen to Auto Convert, we’re giving you an additional 20% bonus miles on your converted Tesco Clubcard points this month*.

    With all the extra miles you’ll have coming your way, your everyday shopping really could have you whisked away to your dream destination in no time.

    The Flying Club team

    • Godot says:
      3 Feb3 February 14:01

      For completeness, the T&C for that asterisk:

      *20% bonus mile offer is only applicable to members who convert or Auto Convert their Tesco Clubcard points into Flying Club miles between 1 February and 14 March 2016.

    • Joe says:
      3 Feb3 February 14:01

      Snap

      • Godot says:
        3 Feb3 February 14:02

        hah, I like that there’s three people who’s instant response to getting the email was ‘must tell HFP’

        • Liz says:
          3 Feb3 February 14:13

          Me too !

        • Andrew says:
          3 Feb3 February 18:43

          Cameraderie among…

          Yes, don’t do VFC (well, only ‘free’ points) currently but thought there’d be a few folks on here that do…

          OT: Liz, any surveys from Shopper Thoughts yet?!

          • Liz says:
            3 Feb3 February 19:47

            I contacted them again after they told me my club card number was wrong – I asked them to confirm whether is was now working with 2 x 00’s in front of the 16 digits – I’ve not received any response but today I got a survey request to update all my shopping habits so that at least is progress – hope to get my first survey for points soon. I will post up on the shopper points page when/if I do.

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