The cost of living crisis may be hindering you from booking your next holiday, but there could be alternative ways to pay for a city break or sunny getaway – you just need to sign up to the right loyalty scheme.
We looked at four popular schemes from Avios, Nectar, Tesco Clubcard and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and found that collecting points for every pound spent – in supermarkets, online and for fuel — can be converted into holidays, so you could end up with a plush hotel stay in the UK, a Eurostar ticket or even a flight to the Caribbean. Rob Burgess, editor of frequent-flyer site Headforpoints.com, has helped us identify how to get the most from your weekly shop.
Here we reveal our pick of the best travel uses and tell you how to amass enough points to make them count.
Avios
As well as shopping with partners, and flying with Qantas and Qatar, you can collect Avios by buying everyday items through the British Airways online shopping portal; retailers include Apple and John Lewis.
You’ll boost your balance further is you use an Avios credit card – the BA American Express Premium Plus gives you a 25,000 point sign-up bonus if you spend £3,000 in the first three months. Just be sure to pay off your card in full to avoid any interest charges.
Best travel uses British Airways (BA) still charges taxes and fees on Avios flights, which can be more expensive than flying with a rival carrier, so instead look for Reward Flight Savers (where taxes and fees for economy return fares are capped at £35). Upgrades can also prove worthwhile. BA now guarantees that at least 14 seats per flight will be available for Avios members, including in business and premium economy (for long-haul). This makes it easier to get seats, especially if you’re quick to pounce 355 days in advance when bookings open.
Nectar
You’ll earn one Nectar point for every £1 you spend in Sainsbury’s, with special-offer bonus points available on select products and if you pay using a Nectar credit card. Spending with partners, including Argos, Eurostar, DFDS and Hilton, will also add to your pot. You can link these with your British Airways’ Executive Club account – with 400 points converting to 250 Avios.
Best travel uses You can cash in points for hotel stays or collect a decent number of points when you book –up to 2,000 per night plus a 500-point bonus if you use your Nectar credit card. However, it means using the Nectar portal, which doesn’t always offer the best price. It’s better to convert your Nectar to Avios, if you’re already a fan, and hoard your points until you have enough for premium economy flights. This is better value than the 0.5p per Nectar point rate you get when redeeming with other partners.
Looking for Eurostar inspiration? See five cities you can reach by train in under seven hours.
Tesco Clubcard
You’ll not only unlock promotional prices on your groceries with this handy bit of plastic, but also collect one point for every pound you spend (one point for every £2 spent on fuel). You can amass these points quicker by taking out a Tesco credit card or mobile contract, or filling out customer surveys.
Best travel uses Points can be earned or spent on a number of travel deals – whether that’s flights, cruises or cottage stays. However, there may be a cap on the number of points you can use, along with other conditions: P&O allows just £810 of vouchers per cruise (and you must book at least 90 days in advance), and with Virgin you get only 2.5p of value for every 1p of Clubcard points you convert. Eurotunnel is a savvier bet, with vouchers giving you three times the face value (£5 of points equals £15 to spend). If you turn your points into a £10 Clubcard voucher, you will also get £30 credit at Hotels.com.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Members can earn points by flying with Virgin or its partner airlines. Retailers including Booking.com also offer anything between one and 10 points per £1 when you shop with them, plus there’s two points per £1 up for grabs if you use Virgin’s shopping portal. Extra bonus points can be amassed using a Virgin credit card: 0.75 points for £1 spent on everyday purchases and 1.5 points per £1 on Virgin flights or holidays. The haul doubles if you sign up for the Reward+ credit card.
Best travel uses This summer Virgin switched up its scheme to guarantee reward seats on every flight. As a result, there will be a minimum of two business, two premium economy and eight economy seats on every Virgin Atlantic flight for Flying Club members. This makes the Virgin currency much more valuable, as long as you can earn enough for redemptions. If you’re a fan of cruises, the occasional astonishingly generous deal also crops ups with Virgin Voyages.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/loyalty-points-for-holidays-a9cRP5w3DYxt