Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 9,600 Avios or 10,000 Virgin Flying Club miles for £40 with a new Tesco Mobile offer

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It’s just like the old days …. a generous Tesco promotion to earn you a chunk of Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles via Clubcard.

This deal is with Tesco Mobile.

Tesco Mobile is offering a generous chunk of Clubcard points when you order a pay-as-you-go SIM card and sign up for a Rocket Pack.

A Rocket Pack is a package of data, call minutes and texts which last for a month.  There is no contract but your Rocket Pack will auto-renew unless you cancel it.  You get the points with your first Rocket Pack, so only one payment is needed.

You could move your existing SIM over to Tesco Mobile if you are not in a contract.  However, the smart thing to do is to:

order a new free SIM from Tesco Mobile

order a Rocket Pack

pop the new SIM in your phone – assuming it is not locked – and make a quick call to ensure it is treated as active

and then pop your normal SIM back in!

There are three Rocket Packs you can buy which come with bonus Clubcard points, each of which lasts a month:

Pay £10, get 3GB data / 500 minutes / 5000 texts and 1000 Clubcard points (2400 Avios, 2500 Virgin miles)

Pay £15, get 6GB data / 1000 minutes / 5000 texts and 1500 Clubcard points (3600 Avios, 3750 Virgin miles)

Pay £20, get 8GB data / 2000 minutes / 5000 texts and 2000 Clubcard points (4800 Avios, 5000 Virgin miles)

Note that no other value of Rocket Pack will trigger bonus Clubcard points.

Here is the small print:

Available to new customers only with purchase & top-up of their Rocket Pack SIM or handset. For purchases between 25 February – 28 April 2019.  Requires the linking of your Clubcard and Tesco Mobile phone number which can be done online at tescomobile.com, points issued within 28 days of satisfying eligibility requirements. Points capped at 2000 depending on value of Rocket Pack purchased. Each Clubcard number is eligible to qualify only twice.  

As you can do it twice per Clubcard account, the maximum number of points you can earn is double the limits I mention above.

If you are wondering why I have written down all the small print, it is because the Tesco Mobile website is up the spout.  

On the ‘SIM only’ home page (click here) you see this:

…. but that’s it.  When you click through, there is no more information.  Nothing.

All of the information I have published above comes from the Tesco Mobile concession inside the massive Cromwell Road shop, where I picked up a brochure and took some pictures of a promotional poster.

The rules make it clear that you can do this offer twice per Clubcard account.  This would mean, if you ordered two SIM cards and bought a £20 Rocket Pack for each, you’d earn 9,600 Avios or 10,000 Virgin Flying Club miles for £40.

(Lloyd makes a good point in the comments though. Whilst the rules say that you can do this twice per Clubcard number, are you actually a ‘new customer’ when you activate the 2nd SIM?)

Importantly, please note that the Rocket Packs roll over each month if you don’t cancel via the Tesco Mobile website.

And the situation gets messier:

The Tesco Mobile is screwed and does not allow you to insert your Clubcard number when ordering your free SIM.  Whenever I try, you get an error message.

Looking at comments on HfP yesterday, this is a known issue.  (EDIT:  looking at the comments below, some people are getting it to work today.)  The call centre encourages you to sign up now to get your SIM and add your Clubcard number later via www.mytescomobile.com.  You must do this BEFORE you order your first Rocket Pack.

I assume that if you sign up via a Tesco Mobile concession in your local store this is not an issue.

Conclusion

What we have here is an excellent offer which allows you to pick up 9,600 Avios per Clubcard for just £40.

However, the Tesco Mobile website is messed up in multiple ways.  Not only is there no mention of the offer, apart from the banner ad above, some people can’t enter your Clubcard number whilst ordering your free SIM.

You may want to persevere now.  Order a free Tesco Mobile SIM via the website here, link it to your Clubcard after you’ve registered it and then order your first Rocket Pack.  You will still have met the terms of the offer as your Clubcard will be linked to the SIM at the point of ordering the Rocket Pack.

On the other hand, you might want to take the view that, as the offer runs to 28th April, Tesco Mobile may get things sorted out and perhaps you should wait.

PS.  For clarity, whilst this article discusses taking Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles with your Clubcard points, my current preferred Clubcard redemption is Uber credit at 3 x face value.  I’d rather swap 2,000 Clubcard points for £60 of Uber credit than 4,800 Avios or 5,000 Virgin miles.  You would also have the option of taking £60 of Hotels.com credit.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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

Get 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

30,000 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 – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.

Comments (175)

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

  • bb0118 says:

    I’ve got multiple clubcard numbers on 1 a/c.
    I used the same clubcard number for 2 sims – as it’s 2 per number apparently.
    The 1st sim used has received the txt with the 2000 points, the other – nothing as yet
    No points added to the pot so far.
    Both sims had rocket packs added 7 days ago.

    • Roddy says:

      Rod – account (single clubcard or more clubcards [hooks])
      Lines – uses of said account.
      It took 7+ days for the first ones to post.

    • bb0118 says:

      4000 added this morning 🙂

  • Antonio Mateos says:

    Is it 2 per clubcard number or 2 per clubcard account?
    I’ve got one account with 3 numbers…

    • bb0118 says:

      As far as we know it’s per account

      • Andy says:

        I’ve received 2 x 2000 using the same clubcard number. Have just done 2 x £20 rocket packs for my wifes clubcard and will do a single £20 rocket pack on the other clubcard associated with my account in the week to see if another 2000 are forthcoming, if so I’ll report back and then get a second pack for this number too. The T&C state each clubcard number twice not each clubcard account so fingers crossed. if it works i’ll ask my wife to get a tesco debit card with another clubcard number for another 4000 points.

        • TheSkintTraveller says:

          Thanks, just remembered I’ve a seperate clubcard no for my tesco credit card, will use that one also.

        • bb0118 says:

          Andy, well done for going ahead with the wife’s! This is the case with me, 2 sims on one number but have 2 more numbers on the acc. Fingers crossed it works – as if it does, the wife is ordering new sims!!

  • Ron says:

    Added Rocket pack today, when will I see the 2000 point in my account? Also, I top up using voucher, so do I still need to cancel next month? They don’t have my back details. As I understood the Rocket pack is a rolling contract. Thanks.

    • TheSkintTraveller says:

      How do you cancel the rocket pack? I paid by card, I clicked on cancel in my account but never received a confirmation email. Can you text to cancel?

    • Andy says:

      Took a week for the points to show in my account, may have a received a text sooner to confirm, but didn’t see it as apart from putting the sim in the phone to receive the code to log in online to register the clubcard and then adding the top up voucher by dialling 4444, i’ve not used the phone since

  • Matt B says:

    Im a little, confused, would appreicate some help!

    So I ordered my sim and put it in a spare phone this evening. I went to the tesco website put in my phone number and it sent me a text with a pin I used to get login.

    I then entered my clubcard number, but when i tried to top up it sent me to another part of the tesco website where it says I need to create an account? Is this just a way of creating a permanent account and do I even need to do it?

    Can I just go into tesco, buy a £20 top up at the till, then ring 4444 to use this top up to buy the rocket pack? I rang that number earlier and it just said I cant top up for the first time over the phone.

    Thanks

    • Andy says:

      Yes you will have to go into Tesco and buy a £20 Rocket Pack, the first top up cannot be done over the phone or online. Once you have the top up voucher, call 4444 and it’s an easy automated process to apply the voucher to your account. you will quickly receive a text to say the rocket pack is active etc.

      • Baz says:

        You can top up online. I never got a confirmation text but a check of my clubcard showed the points posted a few days later.

        • Tilly71 says:

          I managed first SIM top up online, 2nd gave me problems with payment cards so popped down the local PO, paid amex for a top up voucher.

    • MS Kirk says:

      I was able to do my first top up online.

      Create an account and then ‘Top up now’. There was 2 different ways to do this – giving bank details or using a card ( I used a card) You buy £20 and then go back to the ‘Welcome to My Tesco mobile’ page. (the one that you entered the mobile no in and they send you a pin)

      Your top up balance will show there. Choose The Rocket pack option and then choose which one.

      This did take me a while to work out but I got there in the end.

  • Optimus Prime says:

    Do you need to get another SIM to get the second batch of 2000 points or can you buy a second Rocket Pack for the same SIM next month?

    • Grant says:

      The terms stipulate ‘new customers’ and ‘first Rocket Pack’ so I am using new sims for each

  • Wongster says:

    The relevant £20 Rocket Packs – can we buy them in store?

  • Colin Davies says:

    I am pleased to say I have a good news story. Bought 2 £20 Rocket Packs at my local store. Registered them using 4444 and linked my clubcard on line. After previous comments was shocked and pleasantly surprised to see 4000 points after only 8 days.

    • TheSkintTraveller says:

      Anyone got the 2000 points on account that already has a tesco contract phone connected to? I know in the terms it states only new customers but stranger things have happened.

    • jono says:

      Good news indeed. I take it that was with 2 sims.

  • Craig says:

    does anyone have any experience trying to get this to work in the event that you do not have an unlocked phone? So nowhere to put the SIM(s)?

    • Antonio Mateos says:

      The SIM card needs to be activated, and this doesn’t happen until you connect to the network….

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

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