Don't miss out on FREE money... £4.5bn in loyalty points that could be spent on flights, holidays or days out lies unclaimed
In the second part of our cash-saving Get A Better Deal campaign, LAURA SHANNON reveals how much ‘free’ money is wasted because of loyalty scheme fatigue – and how to recover lost shopping points
Next stop New York? Billions of pounds worth of retail loyalty points that could be spent on flights, holidays, days out or groceries are sitting idle on forgotten cards in wallets and purses
Billions of pounds worth of retail loyalty points that could be spent on flights, holidays, days out or groceries are sitting idle on forgotten cards in wallets and purses.
The overwhelming majority of British adults are members of one or more loyalty schemes, whether it is with a supermarket, coffee chain or credit card provider.
But nearly a fifth – around eight million people – have not redeemed their points in the past 12 months and around three million have never cashed them in, according to Loyalive, a new app designed to reunite people with their points.
It estimates that about £4.5 billion worth of loyalty points are lying dormant across three popular schemes – Tesco Clubcard, Nectar and Boots Advantage.
Mark Kanji, the app’s founder, says: ‘People are not making the most of the rewards on offer.’
Reasons cited for this include forgetfulness, lack of time and too few reminders from providers.
DIFFERENT SCHEMES
Among the best known are Tesco Clubcard, Nectar, Boots Advantage and Avios (formerly Airmiles).
Tesco Clubcard customers and Nectar customers shopping in Sainsbury’s earn one point per pound spent in-store.
Nectar customers can collect more points when spending money with selected companies. Buying train tickets from Virgin Trains, for example, adds two points per pound.
Each Clubcard point is worth one penny and Nectar points are worth half of this. But customers can squeeze better value out of both schemes depending on where they spend the points.
Avios points can be collected using Lloyds Bank or TSB’s Avios Rewards credit cards, by filling up cars with petrol from Shell garages and by converting Tesco Clubcard points into Avios.
A £2.50 Clubcard voucher can be turned into 600 Avios points. For a return flight to Barcelona, an Avios collector would need 15,000 points and pay a flat £35 fee towards taxes and other expenses.
Boots Advantage points are the most generous – with four points awarded for every £1 spent, and each point worth one penny.
Check reward websites and smartphone apps to discover ways of making your points stretch further.
For example, Tesco Clubcard and Nectar bump up the value of points when they are spent with selected partners.
Clubcard points are worth four times more when used in restaurants Prezzo or Bella Italia.
And until the 11th of next month, Nectar will swap £5 worth of points for either two Vue cinema tickets or two pizzas from Pizza Express.
STORE LOYALTY POINTS IN ONE PLACE
A string of smartphone apps have been designed to bring multiple loyalty schemes onto one device, such as Loyalzoo and Fidel, which concentrate on independent, local retailers.
Stocard allows phone users to store reward cards digitally while Loyalive, a free app launched earlier this month, brings together all the major schemes including Tesco Clubcard and Nectar.
Shoppers can scan their normal reward card’s barcode using their phone’s camera and the app will fetch reward details and add them to the app.
The phone can then be scanned at checkout points, rather than a card. If a shop’s scanner is too old to recognise the phone, the retailer should be able to add points manually using card details stored on the phone.
The app also makes it easier to see what points are worth – and to redeem them instantly.
Shoppers who do not want to be members of multiple reward schemes should consider a credit card that doubles up as a points card.
For example, Tesco Clubcard credit card gives five points for every £4 spent in store or on fuel and one point per £4 spent anywhere else.
Sainsbury’s Bank’s Nectar credit card gives two points per £1 spent in store or on fuel and one point per £5 spent elsewhere.
LISTEN TO THE THIS IS MONEY SHOW
- How earlybirds can STILL find a holiday bargain: Discover...
- Sterling loses a quarter of its value against the Zambian...
- Improve your health and get more sleep, Tesco tells dubious...
- Life is sweet... as Lord Sugar paid himself £181m dividend...
- 'My garage was full of old bike parts – now they’re my...
- High street trounced by 40% online sales surge as Asos heads...
- JON REES: Why were the experts so wrong about the impact of...
- TONY HETHERINGTON: Bank's euro draft bungle cost £1,500 in...
- JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Investors shouldn't have returns denuded by...
- Fishy forecasts storm turns into a hurricane: MP demands...
- The families struggling on £70k: Two thirds say they're...
- Brompton Bicycle sees profits plunge after firm moves to new...