One month warning for millions of Tesco shoppers ahead of major change – what you need to do now
TESCO shoppers have just one month left before a major change that will affect millions of customers.
The supermarket is changing its loyalty scheme in June anyone with a Clubcard needs to act now to avoid missing out.
As of June 14, Tesco is slashing the value of points spent with their reward partners such as Pizza Express, Zizzi and Alton Towers Resort.
Currently customers can exchange points and get triple the value in vouchers for these places.
But from next month Clubcard vouchers will only be worth double their value when exchanged for any of Tesco’s 100 reward partners.
Clubcard customers are being urged to order partner codes before June 14 to ensure that they get the best value out of their points.
The codes will still be worth the current rate and shoppers will have 12 months from the date they are issued to redeem them.
Family days out and restaurants are not the only things that will be affected.
Currently motorists using Clubcards can get one point for every £2 of fuel they buy.
But as of June 14 that will change to one point for every two litres.
The current average cost of a litre of unleaded in the UK was 145.69p as of May 5, according to the RAC, so two litres cost almost £2.91.
That means the majority of people will be getting less Clubcard value from buying fuel.
The change excludes Esso filling stations with a Tesco Express store.
For Tesco Bank customers, the number of points you collect will also depend on whether you use your card to collect points for fuel, to pay for fuel, or both.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are making a change to how members can use their vouchers with our Reward Partners, but they will still be able to unlock great value in the same range of ways as before.”
Tesco’s Clubcard allows shoppers to earn points as they shop – which can then be turned into vouchers for money off food or other partners schemes.
Each time you spend £1 in store and online, you get one point when you scan your card or app.
Customers can also benefit from special deals instore and discounted Clubcard prices on some items.
How to get the most out of your Clubcard
Trick to extend vouchers
Before you can turn Clubcard points into codes to spend with Rewards Partners, they must first be converted into vouchers.
Tesco sends these out every three months if you’ve got at least 150 points and they’re valid for two years.
Or you can log in to convert them online at any time, so long as you’ve got at least 150 points, and these vouchers will be valid for 21 months.
To extend them, simply use a voucher to make a small purchase on the Clubcard site.
What’s left you’ll get back as new vouchers which are valid for a further two years.
But you’ll need to spend something with each voucher in order for this to work, so it’s only worth it for higher value vouchers.
For example, if you’ve got a £10 voucher you could spend 50p on a code to use in a restaurant and get £9.50 back with a longer expiry date.
Triple points for longer
Even though the triple points offer is due to end on June 14, if you play your cards right, you can still get triple value perks for a full year.
Clubcard points are worth 1p each when spent in Tesco, but you can currently trade in vouchers for codes worth three times as much to spend with Tesco’s Reward Partners like Pizza Express, Hotels.com, Legoland and more.
Normally these codes are valid for six months.
But because of the changes, Tesco is extending this to a year.
Spend your points wisely while the triple points offer lasts.
Some of the best value deals include a three-month subscription to streaming site Disney+.
This currently costs £8 in Clubcard vouchers, whereas a monthly subscription to Disney+ is £7.99, so you’re getting three months for the price of one.
But you’ll need to cancel after that if you don’t want to continue paying and check what free trials are on offer first.
You can also exchange your vouchers for tickets at Cineworld or Picturehouse cinemas.
By swapping 50p in vouchers you’ll get £1.50 towards the ticket and the more you swap the more money you’ll get off.
Or you could use the triple points deal to get a big discount on a railcard, that will then get you up to a third off train travel.
For £1 worth of Clubcard vouchers you can get £3 towards the price of an annual rail card.
Cards usually cost around £30 so you can cover the full cost by swapping £10 worth of vouchers.
Don’t forget to check for missing vouchers.
It’s easy to forget about vouchers and let them go to waste.
Buy you can easily stay on top of what you have got by logging into account at Tesco.com/clubcard.
Click on “my Clubcard account” and then “vouchers” to see what you’ve got.
MoneySavingExpert.com said its users have tracked down £30,000 in forgotten vouchers, worth up to £90,000 in rewards.
Spend wisely
Make sure you scan your Clubcard whenever you shop in Tesco as it also offers discounts to cardholders on certain products.
If you don’t you could pay over the odds.
Tesco has a paid-for version of its loyalty scheme called Clubcard Plus, which costs £7.99 a month.
It gets you 10% off a shop of up to £200 twice a month – as well as on F&F clothing and some non-food items all of the time.
It’s only worth it if you shop at Tesco often and spend a lot.
MSE reckons you’d need to spend at least £80 a month there to break even.