How to earn 7+ Avios per £1 at Next, via Directory and in-store

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• oyster says:

  15 Feb15 February 06:11

  It will be a hit on your credit score/account so would only be worthwhile for a regular Next shopper.

  • richie says:

    15 Feb15 February 08:34

    It wouldn’t be negative on your credit score unless you didn’t pay

    • JQ says:

      15 Feb15 February 08:39

      Well it would be initially, but it’s the same as applying for any credit card

      • John says:

        15 Feb15 February 11:44

        True, and unless you’re making multiple applications for credit in a short space space of time, the weight placed on a single form completion is neglible.

        And given that there are three credit ref agencies active in the UK, and many (most?) businesses only access and report data to one of the three, a potential lender accessing your file may well not see all or any of your most recent applications at all.

• Frenske says:

  15 Feb15 February 06:50

  I hatch the similar plan to buy a extremely comfy couch at Next Home 2 years ago. But after finding out it would not fit in the staircase we decided against it. We did not want to break open the balcony window. It took us one and half year to use the £300 gift cards we already bought for the sofa by buying clothes.

• Andrew says:

  15 Feb15 February 07:59

  I’m not sure I’d describe Next as “hugely popular” – there must be a reason they’ve just closed down their Oxford Circus flagship….

  • richie says:

    15 Feb15 February 08:32

    There’s a store in most town / city’s in the UK. With over 700 stores , id class that as popular

    • Worzel says:

      15 Feb15 February 08:44

      So popular in fact that Frenske (6:50 am) was in and out of there for 18 months or more!

    • callum says:

      15 Feb15 February 09:13

      As would I, though for some reason “hugely popular” seems like bizarre phrasing to me. But then singling out Next for an article seems bizarre to me too. Presumably Raffles shops in that sort of place a lot. I remember from past articles that he views House of Fraser vouchers almost akin to cash!

      • Rob says:

        15 Feb15 February 10:29

        Don’t think I have been in a Next shop for 20 years!

        • Andrew says:

          15 Feb15 February 13:43

          Not sure anyone has Raffles – they have a presence on every high street but they’re just another one of those British retailers that’s had its day – time for them to move along now.

        • Rob says:

          15 Feb15 February 14:03

          It is an incredibly successful business if you look at the numbers – £3bn of sale and £695m of profit in 2013, at a time when other retailers were still going bust left, right and centre. And I doubt Hobbs could get people queuing at 4am on Boxing Day for its sale!

        • Pr99 says:

          15 Feb15 February 14:35

          It’s not particularly cheap, but I like their men’s clothes as for the ridiculous queues at the next sales you have to fight through hundreds of hysterical women only to find that all the men’s products have been taken of the shelves and replaced with low quality tat.

        • will says:

          15 Feb15 February 17:30

          nothing wrong with next. I like their mens clothes

  • Worzel says:

    15 Feb15 February 08:33

    ‘Next is a hugely popular mid-market chain……..’ is a fair statement in my view-particularly to inform non-UK readers.

    Perhaps(?) they are encountering a downturn in sales-however they are not alone.

    • flyforfun says:

      15 Feb15 February 09:54

      Their Canary Wharf store shut down recently too. I think it caught Canary Wharf Management unaware as normally they don’t allow “we’ve closed.. Nearest store is…” signs up. They usually take the positive PR spin with hoardings saying “Another new exciting blah blah store opening soon”.

      I never understood Next sales strategy of 4am store openings. The stock was often 2 or more seasons old.

      • Wade says:

        16 Feb16 February 10:18

        Definitely caught me by surprise! “Nearest shop in Westfield” because people will definitely go there on their lunch break…

  • The_Real_A says:

    16 Feb16 February 09:44

    Next is one of the most profitable retailers, forecasting £790m in PROFIT for 2014! Thats popular in my book…

• Scott Smart says:

  15 Feb15 February 08:17

  Why is it a hit on your credit score?

  • JQ says:

    15 Feb15 February 08:41

    Because they search your credit report before allowing you to open an account, because it is a credit product that charges 20% APR if you don’t pay off the balance in full every month.

    • richie says:

      15 Feb15 February 11:21

      Yes but a search from next is hardly going to affect ability to get a mortgage etc. And once you have had it and paid it for a month the affect will be a positive one. I seriously wouldn’t worry about this affecting your credit score. Unless obviously you have credit problems and wont be able to pay in full etc.

    • John says:

      15 Feb15 February 11:51

      Credit reports don’t show the terms of the deal being applied for, eg interest rate.

      Obviously a huge number of searches in a short time may indicate financial stress (or alternatively bargain hunting) but a lot of the concern about searches is being driven by companies selling subscriptions for expensive monthly credit reports, complete with indicative (ie largely imaginary) credit scores. Don’t waste your money on them as every lender had their own formula for granting/rejecting, setting limits etc.

      • Rob says:

        15 Feb15 February 13:29

        Correct. Getting a mobile phone contract leads to a ding on your credit score. Changing electricity provider leads to a ding on your credit score. Other lenders do not know who these people were who asked for your report.

        • RIccati says:

          15 Feb15 February 15:35

          There are misconceptions in all posts above.

          Mortgage quotations is a separate kind of search and lenders will be able to distinguish that search from others. Mortgage underwriters (and lenders like AMEX) might not see store accounts/store cards positively. They know it is not a prime credit product. (On the other hand, store accounts might prove useful in establishing your credit history if you had none/one credit card, etc).

          Other lenders have means to know what kind of credit accounts you already hold, including certain terms. Credit reports do show if there is a balance transfer or promotional low interest rate on the account.

        • richie says:

          15 Feb15 February 18:52

          Yes but the point is . Even if they can see why will it affect your credit negatively?? If you pay it each month and don’t go over your limit its a positive on your file

        • RIccati says:

          15 Feb15 February 19:10

          They do not regard it as a prime credit product.

          As pointed, every lender does the credit scoring differently, there is no single “credit score”. Another store card provider might like it very much to give you the second of those, while a mortgage lender might frown upon a store card account — to give a stylised example, if you need to borrow at above 20% to get your furniture, what does it say about your readiness for a mortgage, a Platinum charge card that allows a 5K swipe?

        • Paul says:

          15 Feb15 February 19:28

          Ricatti – what nonsense you speak!

          John Lewis / Waitrose card…?!! That’s a store card…

          An automated credit scoring system can’t tell the difference between whether you have a Next store account, a John Lewis store account, or if you’ve taken an offer of 0% to buy a TV from Currys etc..

          If you’re paying off the balance in full, or just have a small balance, then the automated system can see that too. And if it goes manual… well… even then if there is a ‘big purchase’ of a sofa at Next [possibly on a promotional rate] it will show this as a promotional rate on your credit file.

          Buy a sofa in Next for £1,000 and pay it off and then close the Next account? I’d argue your credit score with all lenders would increase across the board…

        • Alan says:

          15 Feb15 February 20:28

          Perhaps apart from with Lloyds and previously with Hilton Visa – I’ve found these cards often seem to knock back those with good scores, presumably as they’re looking to make a bit of money on those that miss the occasional payment 😛

        • RIccati says:

          15 Feb15 February 21:19

          Paul, nonsense is yours (always happy to return to people what they give!).

          Store cards/store accounts are on the boundary, somewhat away from the prime credit. Purchasing a large-ticket item and let the balance revolve is similar to a loan. That is why there is an information about promotional rates on the credit record — it is done in favour of a consumer. Without that information, another lender could see a large revolving borrowing as a financial struggle.

          However, having a loan (or loan-like store account) does not increase your attractiveness when looking for a new credit.

          When that loan/store account was completely repaid, that has only a marginal benefit in terms of paid accounts history. It is beneficial ONLY if you have no other credit cards/overdrafts, as I pointed above.

          By the way, JL store accounts have been shut completely in Sep 2014. Partnership card is a Mastercard credit card.

          Alan, if you have a missed payment on in the recent rolling year, you can say “Good bye” to American Express and all those cards with subscription bonuses.

        • Alan says:

          16 Feb16 February 01:21

          Not quite sure what the comment was in reference to me but I’d always setup a Direct Debit for the full amount every month so there’s no risk of missing a payment!

• Anon says:

  15 Feb15 February 08:21

  Similar with House of Fraser too.

  Plus fuelsave! 🙂

• nicjones32 says:

  15 Feb15 February 08:30

  Has anyone had trouble finding 3vs recently? I was wondering if it was because they are undergoing a rebrand (website has changed). I haven’t found any in Kent or London since December!

  • avidsaver says:

    15 Feb15 February 09:39

    Yes! My local Tesco (Suffolk) has always been well stocked but have not had any since before Christmas. Fingers crossed they will be restocked with the new rebranded cards VERY soon!

    • Jason says:

      15 Feb15 February 09:46

      The place, I have had success with finding them recently, only had 2 this week.
      They didn’t have any that had not been put out either, as I asked.

    • richie says:

      15 Feb15 February 11:22

      Newmarket had a few in Jan. As did bury st edmunds

  • Mark says:

    15 Feb15 February 12:32

    I spoke with tesco customer service about 3 weeks ago now and then said that had stop selling the V3 cards. I also email Rob at head4points and he said that tesco were sent a bad batch of V3 cards around Christmas and they should be helpfully be getting a new/replacement stock in soon, but still waiting!! I have looked in South Essex and London with no luck yet

    • Dan says:

      15 Feb15 February 14:13

      Sorry if this is a really obvious question…..but as someone quite new to the points collecting game – what’s the big deal with 3V cards?

      Do people buy them as it allows you to purchase goods at retailers that don’t accept amex? Or is there some way people are using them to manufacture AmEx spend? I.e cash them out to a bank account?

      My local tesco in Leeds always has a rack full – but don’t see much point!

      • Rob says:

        15 Feb15 February 15:08

        You get 360 Avios for every £50-worth you buy so whatever you use them for is earning you 7 Avios per £1.

        You used to be able to pay them directly into your bank account (if it accepted debit card payments) so it was literally free Avios. They could also be used for council tax, income tax etc. That ended a year ago.

        You can still use them for Sky, Vodafone, some utility bills (depends on company) etc. Online shopping is a bit more of a faff but if you spend a lot at Amazon you can buy Amazon gift cards with them, load them onto your Amazon account, and then spend through it at your convenience. My Vodafone bill is about £300 per year for example and it is paid by direct debit. If 3V was easily available near me I could buy £300 of 3V’s, earn over 2000 Avios and pay them to Vodafone online.

        3Vs are especially valuable if you have to hit the spending target on a new credit card.

        • Jason says:

          15 Feb15 February 19:45

          Actually I should see if O2 take them, I pay council tax, gas, electric, water and telephone with them. Although down to last £50 this month, so it’s not going to get me far next month 🙁

      • mark2 says:

        15 Feb15 February 18:05

        You can still use them to pay council tax at some councils (including mine, this year at least).
        I also use them to buy gift cards from HighStreetVouchers for various retailers. This means that Tesco give me triple points when I shop at Waitrose/John Lewis, Sainsburys etc. It is worth it for the irony let alone the 7 Avios per £.

• Nick says:

  15 Feb15 February 08:47

  I don’t understand this article. Why did u single out next. How is it different from buying any gift card from tesco and getting the bonus points!

  • Rob says:

    15 Feb15 February 08:52

    That was only a tiny piece of the article – although the ‘7 per £1’ headline does apply to all other retailers whose gift cards you can get in Tesco.

    The key takeaways are a) you can pay off your Next Directory account with them and b) you can use a Next Directory card to charge in-store purchases to a Next Directory account, and then clear them with gift cards.

    In truth, buying gift cards from Tesco to in-store elsewhere is tricky because you often get lumbered when the shop doesn’t have anything you want in stock. The only gift cards I ever get in Tesco are Pizza Express and Starbucks because those are the only ones I am 100% certain I can use within a few weeks.

    • Stuart says:

      15 Feb15 February 09:16

      I for one was not aware of this handy every day route. So it’s not a big quick way of collecting massive amounts of points immediately but the savvy collector leverages opportunities continuously

      I’ve always questioned why people use next directory but this is an interesting avenue. I am correct that this is different to Debenhams and HoF as you can’t pay off their “credit card” with gift cards?

    • Jason says:

      15 Feb15 February 09:44

      I tend to do the same, although I tend to wait for the pizza express gift card discount of 15-20% every so often.
      I’ve bought other gift cards but they tend to be difficult to use online as its either BHS, or debenhams, who only let you use a maximum of 2 cards to pay, so if you are buying something that’s more than double the gift card, you can only use one card and pay the balance with a debit or credit card.

• RussellR says:

  15 Feb15 February 09:00

  We use this method every month, have netted loads of CC points/Avios for paying a bill.

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