Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

You can now spend £500 of Nectar points (62,500 Avios) at Argos and Habitat

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Back in March, we wrote about an increase in the number of Avios / Nectar points that you could spend in one go at Argos and Habitat.

It seemed that Nectar had jumped the gun, however. Whilst it was promoting a new £500 cap, the Argos website still said £200. It turned out that the company had not fully completed the task of updating all its tills and the website.

It now seems to be working. Both Argos and Nectar are saying that you can spend 100,000 Nectar points (£500) in one transaction at Argos or Habitat, instead of £200.

Nectar Avios light

For HfP readers with large Avios balances, could be very attractive.

You can now convert 62,500 Avios into 100,000 Nectar points and spend them on a £500+ item at Argos or Habitat.

This is potentially a good way to, for example, pick up a new iPhone 12 mini – see here at argos.co.uk for £624.

Remember that the maximum monthly transfer of Avios to Nectar points is 50,000 Avios. If you do want to make a major purchase at Argos you will need to move 50,000 Avios by Monday, in May, and the rest on 1st June.

Avios to Nectar transfers are currently only possible by telephone whilst ‘two factor authentication’ is added to the website. You are told to wait 10 days for the transfer to be processed – many are quicker but some readers are also reporting them taking longer.

Argos will be better value for some people than Sainsbury’s

Whilst a Nectar point is worth the same 0.5p at Sainsbury’s, Argos or Habitat – or indeed eBay, Eurostar or various other partners – some readers felt that you weren’t getting ‘true’ value at Sainsbury’s.

True or false, some people see Sainsbury’s as overpriced or poor value for money compared to Waitrose at the higher end or Aldi / Lidl at the lower end.

You can’t say that about Argos which is well known for its competitive pricing, and of course convenience.

Can I use Nectar points for online shopping at Argos?

Yes.

You need to go to this page of the Argos website and link your Nectar card to your Argos account.

You will then be offered the opportunity to pay with Nectar points during checkout. You can top up your purchase with a credit card as usual, although you cannot pay the balance with an Argos gift card.

As we found out when buying a new monitor for my wife’s home office last year, Argos has a very efficient ‘click and collect’ service. Many items are available for next day collection from your local Sainsbury’s store, including Sainsbury’s Local.

Can I use Nectar points for in-store shopping at Argos?

Yes. You can swipe your Nectar card, or scan your Nectar app, at the till and pay any remaining balance separately.

The Argos website now reflects the £500 limit

This page of the Argos website explains how the Nectar deal works. It is also where you need to go to link your accounts.

It now shows that the maximum Nectar spend is 100,000 points (£500) per transaction. If you look on the Nectar website here it also says, in multiple places, that the cap is now 100,000 points (£500) per transaction.

The Argos home page is here if you want to have a look around for ideas.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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

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

25,000 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 – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Sainsbury's and Nectar

Comments (41)

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

  • Cwyfan says:
    30 May30 May 07:05

    It seems that the agents on the telephone have different interpretations on 50,000 per month.

    I have been told your interpretation, but also that it has to be a month after the previous request before you can request another, or worse still, a month after the date of the actual transfer, before you can request another.

    Who knows which is right, but I have lost one months transfer to date by these cumulative delays since the start of the scheme!

    • Andrew says:
      30 May30 May 07:27

      It’s calendar month

    • Lady London says:
      30 May30 May 13:47

      I’d complain. Their delays are not your problem. Should be 1 request per calendar month you cannot be responsible for their delays in completion.

    • James says:
      30 May30 May 16:49

      You’ve not lost anything. You still have your points and you’ll still be able to covert them. Quit the am‐drams.

  • Andrew says:
    30 May30 May 07:29

    After nearly 5 months of “fixing two-factor” I don’t have much faith that we will ever be able to transfer online so I think we’ll always be calling up.

    • Lou says:
      30 May30 May 07:34

      I don’t think they’ll fix the two-factor authorisation. I think it’s deliberately difficult. Notice also that whilst you can automatically transfer monthly nectar points to avios, you can’t do that the other way around?

      My theory is that BA never conceived that so many people would want to transfer avios out rather than avios in.

      Speaking of which, I’d better get organised and start transferring myself…

      • Andrew says:
        30 May30 May 07:39

        I think you’re probably right. Which is why I’m emptying my Avios account 50k a month in case they switch it off completely. After all it’s not a permanent transfer so if I want to use with BA I can transfer back in an instant online.

        • Lou says:
          30 May30 May 09:16

          Indeed. Nectar devalue by reduced availability. Avios devalue by needing more of them for a transaction. No brainer

  • TimM says:
    30 May30 May 07:35

    “True or false, some people see Sainsbury’s as overpriced or poor value for money compared to Waitrose at the higher end or Aldi / Lidl at the lower end.”

    One aspect is the level of service the customer is paying for at Sainsbury’s. If you get used to the speed and efficiency of the Aldi check-out process, it is a shock at the pedestrian pace and the of offer of help to pack at Sainbury’s. Sainbury’s also always has a customer service desk. Aldi staff are allocated by the minute to different roles within the store according to momentary demand. Sainsbury’s appears more ‘unionised’, regimented and far slower than Aldi in my observations.

    I only buy taramasalata at Sainsbury’s these days.

    • Andrew says:
      30 May30 May 07:42

      I just use the scanner on my iPhone as I go around the store, straight in my bag and quickly to pay at self service, so I don’t have to wait for any staff to serve me. No such options at Aldi where there’s often long queues for the 3 tills they have open.

      • AJA says:
        30 May30 May 08:58

        I use Sainsbury’s self scanners as my shopping list is on my phone. Same result though, I pack as I go around the store. Then pay at the dedicated area. Simple. I shop the same way at Waitrose but Sainsbury’s is much closer. Both supermarkets have their positives and negatives.

        As for Argos’s Click and Collect service it’s actually sometimes possible to collect the same day. I also think it is very competitive on price.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      30 May30 May 09:19

      I can’t work out if all you buy at Sainsbury’s is taramasalata or the only taramasalata you’ll buy is from Sainsbury’s but either way I’m delighted I came here this morning

    • The cyclist says:
      30 May30 May 13:21

      That being the case let’s hope that we don’t have a double dip recession, in which case you’d be stuffed

  • Patrick says:
    30 May30 May 08:10

    “Some people see Sainsbury’s as overpriced or poor value for money compared to Waitrose at the higher end or Aldi / Lidl at the lower end.”

    I have spent more time than is healthy researching these comparisons and have concluded that this is most definitely the case.

    • Lou says:
      30 May30 May 08:24

      It depends on the product I find. Admittedly, I do go to 4 different supermarkets, depending on what I’m purchasing.

      • AJA says:
        30 May30 May 09:00

        That’s the reality and there are some products that you can only get in a particular supermarket.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:
    30 May30 May 08:23

    Argos is very good but I hope you didn’t use points for the monitor Rob. Surely that was a cash transaction to set against tax?

    • Andrew says:
      30 May30 May 08:27

      And surely your wife’s company provides monitors for their staff?

      • Chrisasaurus says:
        30 May30 May 09:18

        You’re making assumptions there as to what she might be monitoring…

      • Rob says:
        30 May30 May 10:02

        They said she could have a pile of cash to buy anything she wanted for WFH purposes, so she got a monitor.

    • Peter K says:
      30 May30 May 08:46

      Reading between the lines…Avios to Nectar started this year and the monitor was bought last year They usually shop at Waitrose or similar, not Sainsbury’s so wouldn’t have had large nectar balances before then I’d have thought.
      I reckon they paid cash and claimed it back while his wife was working from home.

  • mark2 says:
    30 May30 May 09:01

    Our cat has just received the first coupon from Sainsbury’s for a long time: £6 off when spending at least £60.

  • Ry says:
    30 May30 May 09:18

    So let’s say I’m buying an iPhone 12 for £724, I pay £500 in nectar points but I can’t pay the rest £224 by gift card?

  • cinereus says:
    30 May30 May 09:49

    Argos and Habitat are just as overpriced as Sainsbury. You’d be mad to spend anywhere but ebay.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!