The new ‘Tesco to Avios’ conversion incentive is ….

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• Leo says:

  14 May14 May 08:40

  Is there any benefit in having your points credited directly to your Virgin account? I chose that option a few months ago and I’m still waiting for my points to post. Is this normal?

  • JoshBosh says:

    14 May14 May 18:39

    Double check the settings inside the clubcard account. I had mine set to automatically convert to BA avios, and it worked for one period, then the next it didn’t. Turns out the account had managed to keep the automatic conversion, but lose any exec club number.
    A call to the clubcard hotline, and about a 6 week wait ensued before the vouchers were credited back to my clubcard account.

  • Fenny says:

    14 May14 May 19:17

    It can be quick or it can take a while. I’ve had autoconversions go through in a few days. This time round, I set up an auto conversion to Virgin to get the extra 1000 points for opting in, but the transfer hasn’t gone through yet. I know I put my Flying Club number in when I changed the settings, but last time I did a manual conversion, it took 3 lots of chasing Tesco to get the points to appear.

  • Fenny says:

    17 May17 May 11:20

    Mine appeared in my Virgin account today, but the transaction was dated 11 May.

• TrollBasher says:

  14 May14 May 09:40

  Count me as another in the “Unimpressed but not surprised” camp, if there’s room for one more…

  Tesco seem, at the risk of stating the bloody obvious, to be in cahoots with BA in intentionally pushing people away from the Clubcard partnership they have; there are so many better alternatives out there now and incentives to stay are as rare as rain in Southern California.

  If your travel is focussed stateside or to your non-dom plushville somewhere in the Caribbean, then hopping over to Virgin is very tempting, even from the regions now.

  Going the other way, one of the ME3 megalomaniacs is always trying to outdo one of the others with crazy deals, and it makes sense to spend cash than burn miles.

  But, like the lemming I am, and many others are, I’ll give them “one more chance” and tuck the points away in the hope, vain or hopeless as it maybe, that there might be a bonus or reward coming round the corner some time soon…

• The_Real_A says:

  14 May14 May 09:57

  And dont forget Tesco double up begins on Monday. This makes every point worth 2p avilable in a number of deptartments across the store.

  To me, i see better value in making up a couple of frames of glasses than Avios!

  • Rob says:

    14 May14 May 10:01

    Are the categories out yet? Need to have a dig.

    • The_Real_A says:

      14 May14 May 10:35

      From MSE:

      Garden & BBQs
      Opticians
      Clothing
      Toys
      Home, cook & dine
      Mobile phones & accessories
      Skincare, cosmetics & fragrance
      Electricals
      Entertainment & books
      Gaming
      Sports & leisure
      Travel & camping

      • James67 says:

        14 May14 May 11:01

        If the amazon fire tv stick falls in this will I still get the 500 bonus clubcard points if I use vouchers?

        • pj says:

          14 May14 May 12:26

          Yes

        • James67 says:

          14 May14 May 12:49

          Thanks. Just been reading up on it though an mirroring on fire stick seems very problematic so will likely oot for chromecast.

        • Mark says:

          14 May14 May 16:57

          Didnt this deal of 500pts finish yesterday??

        • Dan says:

          14 May14 May 18:24

          Yep – think it did unfortunately!

• Steve says:

  14 May14 May 13:23

  As someone from north of Watford Gap & the preferred destination West, Virgin is an obvious choice now
  W
  e are keeping a few Avios back on the off chance we can get Monarch availability to Europe or internally within the US

• pj says:

  14 May14 May 14:59

  The Pay.com cards are now getting distributed in Tesco. Widely reported.

  (3V replacements).

  Anybody seen them? Where?

  I’ll have a look tomorrow but not holding out any hope that usability will be any better (ie council tax etc) than 3Vs.

  • Rob says:

    14 May14 May 15:17

    When I find one, I will write it up!

  • Liz says:

    14 May14 May 15:45

    I’ve started paying my council tax at the Co-op with Paypoint using my Amex – no problems!

    • sandgrounder says:

      14 May14 May 16:03

      Co op are generally quite flexible, but staff have been briefed against taking amex for paypal. Only one vigilant lady has ever mentioned this, but she was overruled by her supervisor 🙂

      I have also heard that the stores in East Anglia don’t take Amex, but this is second-hand info so I am not sure if this is correct.

      • Kai says:

        14 May14 May 16:10

        I live in Chelmsford, and the local Co-op doesn’t take Amex!

      • Kai says:

        14 May14 May 16:17

        BTW, after trying the local Co-op and post office with no avail I gave up and paid my council tax with IHG Visa (somehow it’s recgonised as a debit card and no premium is added). Do you know if Co-op widely accepts Amex and East Anglia is only an exception? Might bring the pay card with me and try it out in London if they accept Amex there.

        • pj says:

          14 May14 May 16:19

          Most Co-Ops take Amex for PayPoint transactions.

        • sandgrounder says:

          14 May14 May 16:30

          Co op has a regional structure and as far as I know it’s only East Anglia that don’t accept Amex.

        • Kai says:

          14 May14 May 16:44

          Thank you guys!

        • Liz says:

          14 May14 May 16:58

          I am in Dundee – I tried it out on my mother-in-law’s council tax first as she normally pays hers by cheque. It worked so I cancelled my direct debit and got the council to send me another bill with the bar code on it. Paid for my own now as well for the month of May. Got 2 target credit card spends to get through in the next 2/3 months so it will come in handy!

        • Fenny says:

          14 May14 May 21:43

          Went into my local Co-op this evening to attempt to pay Pa’s council tax. They said I could only pay with cash, not credit card. Seems a bit odd to me, but I wasn’t going to argue. I’ll either find another one, or I can use 3V cards. I checked it out last night and paid 3 x £25 onto his account. I’ve got a few I bought the other day from Boots to get the Amex credit and I’m hoping my local Tesco will get a stock of the new Pay.com cards any day now.

      • jonathan smy says:

        14 May14 May 18:36

        I live in Ipswich and they don’t take Amex.

        • pj says:

          14 May14 May 18:51

          You can use PayPoint to pay your CT anywhere in UK so if Ipswich is no go, think about next time you visit civilisation, bring your bill and pay some CT thru Co-Op then?

  • The Urbanite says:

    14 May14 May 17:07

    I found 20 in Lewisham yesterday. Had 18 of them – one wouldn’t activate, so I left it and another behind. None in Woolwich or Old Kent Road, which is going through a gift card store refurbishment. I’ll be busy sweeping out the remaining South East London stores tonight if someone hasn’t beaten me to it.

    • Liz says:

      14 May14 May 17:26

      Do you get the 150 clubcard points for buying £50 worth ?

      • The Urbanite says:

        14 May14 May 17:28

        Yes, all showing on every receipt!

        • Liz says:

          14 May14 May 17:47

          I know about the other ones – just wasn’t sure about these new pay.com ones – will keep a look out in Dundee for them!

        • sandgrounder says:

          14 May14 May 21:11

          They are really the same product with a different name. Same design, same website with a different address (although the old one still works too).

      • pj says:

        14 May14 May 17:28

        yep

    • Tom H says:

      14 May14 May 18:42

      Damn you! I live near Lewisham and was wandering who had all the cards!

• RT says:

  14 May14 May 16:53

  has anyone actually had the experience of actually winning this before??..

  • pj says:

    14 May14 May 16:58

    suggest read thread

  • Rob says:

    14 May14 May 23:35

    A HFP reader won 1 MILLION Clubcard points once – https://headforpoints.com/2014/02/01/hfp-reader-wins-one-million-clubcard-points/

• Robbie says:

  14 May14 May 17:19

  Ouch, people still collect Avios then I take it? Condolences.

  • pj says:

    14 May14 May 17:34

    There are (at least) 2 ways of looking at it:

    1. What value you are getting per Avios vs other ways to get/ pay for the same flight/ deal.

    2. What you actually paid to get the Avios in the first place vs other ways to get/ pay for the same flight/ deal.

    Ie when I paid (say) 0.3p each to accumulate my Avios and have therefore got myself a European flight for about £25, I am relaxed & sanguine.

    • pj says:

      14 May14 May 18:54

      I know others could argue: Avios is a de facto currency, so when you buy a European flight for 7500 Avios, you are spending £x actual, not £y based on what you paid for that currency.

      But my (nearly) sole purpose in accumulating Avios is to pay for European flights.

      So I stand by my logic.

      • James67 says:

        14 May14 May 21:15

        So are you near LHR pj or has your investment been hit by half following devaluation?

        • pj says:

          14 May14 May 21:20

          I use LHR.

          As mentioned elsewhere here, I tend to accumulate Avios @ 0.3p/ unit so the scheme still represents great value for us.

          European flights on BA from LHR – scheduled x 3 daily – food/ booze/ luggage – @ £25/ flight = pretty good value vs the cheapies.

        • idrive says:

          14 May14 May 22:58

          I kind of agree with you pj, de facto Avios availability means i can cap my flight expense and allows me flexibility (cancellations or last minute booking). i tend to option myself sometimes as I am not sure where I will end up (my family is spread so i never knw where next Christmas would be, but a cash ticket would cost 200-400£ on the spot if bought over the last couple of months. I tend to value based on the Cash price of the flight most of the time but if I am not willing to spend more than X for a trip, that helps me. I use LHR and LGW. Also this means i can travel more than expected otherwise. My strategy indeed got hit by devaluation for the LH premium class I was after…BUT i will definitely find a way to make the best use of Avios/Tesco CC in any case! for example, if I wanted to go to Ibiza and benefit of the current Monarch promo, I would get 2p on the spot easy. In terms of fidelity to BA, well that to say..I am now pondering every decision…but to be honest, as I travel with luggage, i still find value by selecting seats and bringing more luggage if needed. Also, I am very lucky as I never travel in peak periods so less troubles and more availability.

      • Polly says:

        15 May15 May 00:14

        Agree, I am always glad of them for last minute trips to Dub for family stuff. Really good value, so well worth still,collecting them. not a sign of the new pay.com in my big tesco today. Is the long wait over then? Have been using my amex and tesco cm in the meantime to keep paying the bills.

• Kathy H says:

  14 May14 May 18:07

  Just got the email to say the “incentive” is now available. Don’t all rush at once.

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