The final rail partners leave the Nectar loyalty scheme

The two remaining rail franchises that still offer Nectar points – TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast – are leaving the scheme at the end of May.

Both franchises offered 2 Nectar points (1.25 Avios) for every £1 you spent.

Tickets booked before the end of May will still qualify for points, even if your travel date is later.

TPE and Avanti were the last in a long line of rail franchises to drop the scheme. GWR pulled out on 30th March. LNER and South Western Railway had left earlier.

The list of companies that have pulled out of Nectar since it launched is huge. The reason why is simple – with no ‘gamification’ (such as Tesco Clubcard’s ability to redeem via partners for 3x face value) the rewards are simply not enough to drive changes in customer behaviour.

The ability to get back 1% of your rail spending in inflexible Nectar points was never going to move the needle when people were deciding how to travel. The drain on the taxpayer – the Government is now taking revenue risk on rail franchises, not the private sector – on the other hand would be noticeable.

Eurostar remains a Nectar partner but purely on a redemption base. Points can be swapped for Eurostar vouchers at the standard rate of 0.5p per Nectar point.

PS. If you don’t have the Nectar American Express credit card, take a look at our review here.