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Clubcard and Nectar news: 6000 Avios from pet insurance, Booker 3% cashback deal

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We decided to pause our sister site, Shopper Points, at the end of 2019 due to the lack of relevant points-driven content coming out of Tesco Clubcard and Nectar.  We’ve kept the site intact and we’ll bring it back if there is a sustained pick up in activity.

For today, I wanted to run through a few things which are not strictly HfP related and which would have gone onto Shopper Points in normal times.

Get 6,000 Avios with Tesco Bank pet insurance

The Tesco Bank pet insurance offer ends in a couple of days.

You will earn 2,500 Clubcard points, which converts into 6,000 Avios or 6,250 Virgin Flying Club miles, when you take out a policy.

A lot of readers have succesfully applied since it launched in January, with the Clubcard points arriving on schedule after 35 days.  Once you have the points, you can cancel the policy.

Full details are on the Tesco Bank website here.  The offer is open to all Clubcard holders and does not say it is targeted.  Note that the cheapest ‘Accident & Injury’ policies do not count.

The last date to apply is 31st March.

Oxfam leaving Nectar on 31st March

Oxfam is the latest business to bail out of Nectar.  The partnership ends on 31st March.

This was always a tricky partnership for us to cover.  Oxfam used it to promote their ‘Tag Your Bag’ initiative.  This allows Oxfam to claim Gift Aid from the Government on items you donate for resale in its shops, but in order to do this all donors have to be registered and all items of clothing registered.  Only items donated by UK tax payers are eligible for Gift Aid.

This offer worked both ways.  Oxfam emails you every few months and tells you how much your items sold for.   You can then enter this sum on your tax return under ‘charitable giving’ and get 20% of the sum deducted from your next tax bill.

What was good for Oxfam is that it got to promote ‘Tag Your Bag’ to the huge Nectar customer base.  The ‘downside’ was that Oxfam had to pay Nectar for the points that were issued every time your clothing sold.

Oxfam must have been happy with the results because the deal ran for seven years.  Someone has clearly decided to review the expenditure, however, and the offer ends next week.  With Oxfam shops closed anyway, the deadline is a moot one.

Our review of the American Express Nectar credit card is here if you are interested in other ways of boosting your Nectar points.

Tesco offering Booker / Makro customers 3% cashback if they refuse Clubcard points

Tesco bought the cash and carry group Booker in 2017 for almost £4bn.

If you have a Booker or Makro card, Tesco is offering 3% cashback if you scan it at the supermarket check-out.  The cashback is added to your existing Booker / Makro account.  Vouchers are issued every quarter and can be deducted from the cost of your next purchase at Booker / Makro.

You can’t, for clarity, use the cashback vouchers in Tesco.

You cannot claim cashback from online Tesco shopping.  It is only valid on in-store purchases.

You need to choose between earning Tesco Clubcard points and Booker / Makro cashback.  The maths is relatively similar:

You get 1p of Clubcard points for every £1 you spend in Tesco, but via Clubcard Boost you can triple this to receive 3p of credit for Pizza Express, Hotels.com etc etc

You get 3p of Booker / Makro credit for every £1 you spend in Tesco

At the end of the day, it comes down to which is most convenient for you.

Changes to how Clubcard points are calculated

A change in the way Clubcard points are awarded

Finally, Tesco is making a small change to the way that Clubcard points are awarded on 20th April.

The value of any money-off coupons or Tesco Clubcard vouchers will be deducted from your total spending before points are awarded.

This means that if you spend £20 but use a £5 Clubcard voucher and £2 of coupons, you will only receive 13 points.

Of course, you should not be using Tesco Clubcard vouchers to pay for your shopping anyway.  It is not sensible given that you can get 3 x face value for them with a Clubcard Boost partner.

Comments (50)

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

  • SammyJ says:

    Thanks for the reminder – still not got my points for pet insurance. Who should I contact, pet insurance, or club card?

    • Hunter says:

      Club card site says call this number for missing points 0800591688

      • Hunter says:

        I had forgotten doing this too, but have checked and my points are there. Am new to club card – is there ever a bonus to convert to Avios, and if so how often?

        • Genghis says:

          There used to be but not for a long time. Maybe IAG will need some more cash soon…

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        I reported in “Chat” yesterday that I contacted Tesco about my missing 2500 bonus points. They replied it takes 35 x days from when you take out the policy, then it can take up to another 25 x days for Tesco Bank to apply the points to your account, in total a max of 60 x days.

        • Lady London says:

          Does that mean a need to keep the policy 60 to be safe?

          • Secret Squirrel says:

            If points have posted then safe to cancel policy.
            They stated to me up to 60 x days from taking out policy.

      • ankomonkey says:

        Hey! That’s my sister’s number!

    • Craig says:

      38 days for me, I shall give it another week or two and then make enquiries.

    • Hugh says:

      My Pet insurance actually came up for renewal yesterday. I completed the form but it never asked my for my Clubcard number, what did I do wrong?

  • Hilly says:

    OT but still Clubcard related. My Japan holiday next week is of course cancelled. over £1000 of accommodation was booked with Hotel.com with Clubcard. I’ve been refunded only
    the tax and stand to lose the £1000 worth of Clubcard vouchers. Anyone had any experience of gestures of goodwill from Clubcard on this type of Covid-19 related loss? Or anyone seen a statement from Clubcard that helps?

  • STJ says:

    Apologies if discussed before but what’s the easiest way of cancelling the pet insurance?

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      Call them is best. Just remember your pets name as they ask you this oh and always remember to cancel DD after the call.

  • Alex W says:

    “If you’re a Clubcard member and take out Premier, Extra or Standard Tesco Bank Pet Insurance for the first time, you’ll collect 2500 Clubcard points.”

    Can anyone report success or failure having applied for the 2nd time?

  • Alice says:

    Not sure what the relevance of the Chinese Tesco advertisement image is. Tesco left China last month, and there’s no reference to that in the text.

  • Ben says:

    That seems like a very generous offer from Tesco. From people’s experience, can you really just cancel it after one DD has gone out? Must be all sorts of fanciful cats and dogs in their database..

  • The Original Nick says:

    I received my 2500 CC points on day 37. Then I cancelled because my dog didn’t except having a cat in the house so gave the cat to a friend.
    Thanks to Harry for giving me advice on this even though he’s getting some stick at the moment.

  • lumma says:

    Got a quote for £3.42 a month for my “cat”, when do you add the Clubcard number? I get to the payment page and it hasn’t asked for it yet

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

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