Confession time …. how I just used a pile of Clubcard points

Back in June I ran this article discussing other possible travel-based uses for Tesco Clubcard points which may be worth a look. After all, they offer a huge variety of options and it would be foolish to be blinkered to other uses apart from Avios or Flying Club miles.

The general conclusion – if you read the comments to that post – was that airline miles still offer the best travel use of Tesco Clubcard points, given the small print attached to a lot of the other deals.

However, on a quiet Sunday evening recently I decided to trawl through the Tesco website. And I remembered something which I knew but which I’d forgotten – Tesco is a partner with Safestore!

Now, we have a huge pile of stuff in this warehouse conversion in London:

…. which simply does not fit in our house. It costs a lot of money as well, albeit it costs a lot less than a bigger house! We only keep the stuff because, as some point, we will move and finally get it all back into use.

Anyway, Tesco is a partner with Safestore. And, for once, there is no small print, no nasty conditions. You get 300% of the face value of your vouchers knocked off your Safestore invoice.

So, yesterday, I turned up at the centre and settled a chunk of my latest bill with Clubcard tokens. (Cue the usual wide eyed look from the staff as I wiped out 75 per cent of my bill. Sadly they didn’t take Amex to settle the balance!)

The maths works for me:

This is a bill I have to pay in cash if I don’t use the vouchers

I get a full 3 x face value for my Clubcard points

My Safestore contract is already in place – they are not charging me an inflated price because I am using vouchers

Every £100 of Clubcard vouchers got me £300 off my Safestore bill.

I could have got 24,000 Avios for those vouchers. However, I would effectively have been paying 1.25p per Avios, and that is far too high – I tend to value Avios at 0.75p based on how I use them. Even if I waited for a 30% Tesco to Avios conversion bonus, I would still be paying more than 0.75p per Avios.

And, of course, I get to free up some ‘real’ cash, which is always useful.

In fact, I am so pleased with this deal that I will ensure that I try to generate enough points each quarter to cover my future Safestore bills.

Obviously not a lot of other Head for Points readers are likely to use their vouchers this way, but the lesson of the day is that it is worth seeing what else is available. I also realised that Clubcard offers massive discounts on London Zoo tickets, a fortnight after my wife took my daughter and paid full price.

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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.