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Bits: Tesco 20% bonus emails, bonus on Flying Blue miles purchases, Marriott / Hertz bonus

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News in brief:

Emails arrive for the Tesco / BA 20% conversion bonus

The mythical emails regarding the new 20% conversion bonus of Tesco Clubcard points to British Airways Executive Club finally arrived yesterday.  Details of this promo can be found in my original article here.

Unfortunately, they left more questions unanswered.

Not everyone has received the email, which came from BA and would therefore be based on your privacy setting with the Executive Club.  I got it but no-one else in my family did.  Are they blocked from the bonus?  Or, as Tesco has been telling people, is anyone who is a member OK?

The £100 cap on conversions is also not clear.  The wording implies that you could make unlimited transfers as long as none of them exceeded £100.  Is this really true?  After all, auto-convert transfers are capped at £100.

If you got the email and plan to convert under £100, you are good to go.  For everyone else, questions remain.

Up to 50% bonus when purchasing Flying Blue miles

Flying Blue, the Air France / KLM loyalty programme, is running a bonus promotion for anyone who is looking to top up their account.  It is slightly worse than the previous offer in July as the threshold for getting the maximum bonus is raised from 20,000 to 30,000 miles.

Until 13th November, the following bonus is available when you buy miles:

  • Up to 2,000 Award Miles = 10% Bonus
  • 4,000 – 8,000 Award Miles = 20% Bonus
  • 10,000 – 28,000 Award Miles = 30% Bonus
  • 30,000 Award Miles = 50% Bonus

Members can buy up to 75,000 miles per year, excluding bonuses. Elite members have no cap.

At the top end, buying 75,000 miles with an extra 37,500 will cost €2,062.  That works out at 1.3p per mile which is not a massive bargain.

At the end of the day, though, I don’t imagine anyone except an existing Flying Blue member topping up an account getting excited by this. It is also worth remembering that Flying Blue is an American Express Membership Rewards partner – why pay for a pile of FB miles when you can take out an Amex Gold and get 20,000 miles free (22,000 if I refer you)?

If you are interested, the link to buy miles is here.

Marriott and Hertz bonus

Finally, Marriott Rewards has launched a new promotion with Hertz.  Hertz is not an Avios partner – although you can collect Virgin Flying Club miles – so this could be an interesting option if you have a Hertz booking coming up.

Until 31st March 2016, you will receive:

  • 2,000 Marriott Rewards points on 2-4 day rentals
  • 5,000 Marriott Rewards points on 5+ day rentals
  • Valid at participating locations in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia and New Zealand

You need to quote PC 169680 when you book.  In theory, you should also use code CDP 154080 to bring up the negotiated Marriott rates with Hertz.

You will often find that PC codes give you the bonus irrespective of which CDP code you use, so if you have access to a cheaper Hertz deal then I recommend you use that.  If you still receive the Marriott Rewards points then that is great.  If you don’t, you have the comfort of having saved hard cash instead.  Full details can be found here.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (52)

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

  • Manuel says:

    How long does it take to see the points in the BA-account? I transferred more than 6 days ago and did not see them.

    • Phillip says:

      Mine showed the next day.

    • harry says:

      24-48 hours. Manuel – you need to query this as points can go amiss. If Tesco balance has gone down as you expected, they may have been sent to a new BAEC a/c in your name.

      Plenty of scope for error as some of us ‘bank error in your favour’ converters are quite happy about 🙂

    • ComeFlyWithMe123 says:

      Hi Manuel,

      Have you Avios points arrived yet into your BA account. For me they usually take 24hrs but now I have gone past 72hrs so just checking to see what you did?

      Thanks
      CFWM123

  • FS says:

    Mine showed the next day but not with the added 20%. How do I raise this to get my bonus? I hadn’t had an email at time of purchase although I have had one subsequently, but the Tesco website advertised the offer of 20% extra.

  • Mattsan1 says:

    Standard points credited for me within 24 hours but no bonus points yet (4 days and waiting patiently)…

  • Lindsay Docherty says:

    It’s listed on the Boost pages as 20% bonus so fair to assume it will apply to everyone. That said, I’ve converted and haven’t yet received my bonus…!

  • Joe says:

    Got the email, but converted £100 5’Novemebrr.

    Only received normal points?

    Guessing my 20% will come promo end

  • Ceri says:

    I transferred on Sunday 1st November. Posted in account next day but no 20%. An email to Tesco got this response:

    ‘I am sorry to hear that you have not yet received your 20% bonus value into your British Airways Avios account. This booking does take a few days to process therefore it may take a while longer to receive the extra 20%. Please note however that this extra “05 will be in your account by Monday 28th of December at the latest.’

    Hopefully they’ll post in due course!

    I’d be interested to know whether there is any answer to the question about transferring a second lot of vouchers…!

    • FS says:

      Thank you for sharing your response from Tesco. Yes, I’m also interested to know if anyone had success on a second transfer.

    • Luke says:

      Thanks for passing on their reply. I emailed them yesterday about this.

      We don’t need them to be sorry. We just need them to understand how the promotion works, understand how their systems work, and put a line in the terms and conditions to explain everything. Then we wouldn’t have to bother them.

      • Luke says:

        Sorry, I misread it and thought you were talking about BA rather than Tesco. I emailed BA, as they’re offering the 20% bonus.

  • AndyGWP says:

    Unfortunately, I don’t think the email is dependant on privacy settings – both my wife and I usually receive identical emails, but this time only she got the email.

    Does anyone know if I can legitimately transfer £100 to her BAEC account from Clubcard ?? (we share the same clubcard account… she is an ‘additional’ card holder or whatever they call it, and I am main card holder.)

    • Liz says:

      I saw your note yesterday Andy, I don’t think anyone knows anything for certain. Try emailing BA with the question. You may get an answer one way or the other from them before the end of the promotion. If they say yes then you will have the proof. Nothing in this promotion is clear!

      • AndyGWP says:

        Cheers Liz. I’ll be honest, and bonus’ etc to one side, it’s the actual possibility to do a pay out (full stop) from one club card account to two baec accounts that is the mystery to me.

        Not au fait with club card at all and know if they get funny about transfers being made to different recipients

    • Wally says:

      I had a similar situation to you Andy. So yesterday I changed the name/DOB details in my wife’s Tesco account to my details (as I received the BA email and she didn’t) – but not the email address – and then did the transfer to my BAEC number. During checkout I also changed the ‘delivery’ details to my details. The transfer has gone through this morning but of course no bonus avios yet (fingers crossed!). I have previously successfully transferred points from the same Tesco account to my wife’s BAEC account.

  • James says:

    Alaska air have a buy miles bonus again, this time up to 50% if you are targeted (I am). Makes them good value if redeemed on EK or CX.

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

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