What's the point?

[Coldicote]

I frequently shop at Tesco and Homebase which both offer 'points' with purchases. I'm sure many other shops do likewise, but are these points worth bothering with? They seem to be of such little value. Homebase ask me at the till if I have a card - something to do with Nectar points. Personally I wouldn't shop or choose a commodity for points value anyway. How do others feel about this and have you found points worthwhile?

[Greedyfly]

Yet another marketing ploy to 'encourage' you to shop with them and only them for the products you want/need. I have a Nectar card and I do collect points when I go to Sainsburys (not often these days) I can honestly say I have never redeemed the points. I used to work for a highstreet store who also has points cards but they sell them, basically to up the AVT (average value transaction). Stores get marked on the sale/distribution and registration of the cards. Personally I would prefer they stopped stuff like this and just reduced the products you actually want rather than me trying to choose something I 'want' with points two or so years later!

[maggiec59]

I shop at Sainsbury's, which gives Nectar points. You get 2 points for every pound spent, but need 500points to have £2.50 taken off your bill. It costs nothing to get a card and you can get points from other places like Homebase. I would rather the prices were lower and not bother with the points but they won't do that, so if you shop at these places on a regular basis you might as well take the points

[mollykins]

my friend recently moved to over the road from tescos and is now obsesed with collecting points and got excited when he could get a pound off something. Now he does business studies and i had to explain to him that to get that pound off, he'd spent so much money that he could of saved by going somewhere cheaper. I sometimes wodner why i didn't give up on him, eight years ago, when i first met him.

[sara3]

I have a Nectar card and use it for shopping (sometimes) and petrol. I forget about using the points, but when I remember... I got a Sony clock/digital radio (worth £80) and now have enough points to get £28 of discount in various stores, including Argos.

[boxtops]

I usse my Nectar card which collects points from Sainsbury, Homebase and Spar petrol stations, then I used the points to exchange for things I want to buy from Argos (you can collect points there too as well as redeem them). Yes you get few points for the spend but it's better than a poke in the eye (as my dad used to say). Tesco vouchers are really good - depending on the state of the finances I either redeem them against my shop when they arrive (usually giving me a week's free shop) or redeem them against their points programme. We exchange ours for Café Rouge vouchers, £20 in Tesco vouchers redeems to £80 in Café Rouge, easily enough for a meal out when we have visitors. You have to be canny with how you change them but we find them useful. You can also use Tesco points against Open University course fees, they are really diverse!

[ayabrea38]

I love my loyalty card!
It just so happens that Tesco is my local supermarket,so I joined up.So far I must of had over 200 pounds in vouchers,so it was worth it.Yes sometimes I do goto Tesco Home instead of Argos,but found every time I went to Argos what I wanted was out of stock anyway.
Personal preference for people with the brains to make up their own minds,good marketing for those who need help making a choice of shop.

[jno]

I've exchanged my Tesco points for Air Miles, which is useful. They send you money-off coupons every month or two which you can use to reduce the price of purchases. Every little helps.

[ayabrea38]

You get more for your points if you exchange them for certain things don't you?

[Coldicote]

Very interesting answers, thank you. I hadn't realised points were available from so many sources and could be spent in so many different ways. However it seems you need to spend a fortune at 2 points for every pound spent, but need 500points to have £2.50 taken off your bill. Perhaps the original AB 'avatar' - if one can call it that - will soon have a rarity value so I'll hang on to it!

[jno]

Coldicote, it does take a while to accumulate a £5 voucher.... but so what? Basically it's things that you would have bought anyway, at the price you would have paid anyway; so what have you got to lose? I haven't actually changed my shopping habits at all, I just get the occasional reward voucher that I can spend in the shop or cash in elsewhere. A win-win situation, really.

[Wak]

I like shopping at Tesco better then either Morrison's or Asda and obviously collect the points.
There's only me and the wife but every three months we still get the point vouchers worth approx £9.00 which are then deducted from the next weeks shopping.
I think it's worth it.
We'd still go there even if they didn't give points, etc.
It's just a matter of personal choice.

[smurfchops]

aya, I never use my Tesco reward points for food -- you can use them to have a Day Out (I have used mine for the Tower of London and MMe Tussauds) - Tesco will multiply your reward points by four - i.e. if you have £5.00 of rewards, you can exchange them for £20 off a Day Out ticket or you can use your points in Goldsmiths Jewellers, again for four times the price of your reward points. If I want some jewellery i save up all my points as long as I can (you can use them up to two years) and then go and get some free bling. There is a form online or in their brochure which you fill out, send it off with the correct amount of reward points (if you send too many they will refund you the difference) and they will send you vouchers, they usually come within a week.

[bushbaby_de]

I just do my normal shopping at Tesco and get about £20 of vouchers every couple of months. This gives me £80 of pizza express vouchers, which makes me very happy - it really is something for nothing!

[boxtops]

I agree with jno on this one. I shop at Tesco anyway, I can get everything in one place, and since Morrisons opened up near to us, Tesco (and M&S by the way!) have really reduced a lot of their prices. I don't buy top of the range and I stick to my list, and my shopping bill hasn't increased over the past year - it's a myth that everything in Tesco is dear. The money saved on points spend can be extremely useful in a thin month.

[boxtops]

^ also, I forgot to add, Tesco also send you offers from time to time, I have just saved extra cash on toilet rolls and redeemed an extra 100 points by buying another special offer. It IS something for nothing and it's very much appreciated loyalty feedback!

[Coldicote]

Oh dear, perhaps I'd better look again! I had no idea these points were so versatile.
Thanks everybody.

[jno]

oh - one other thing. It means they have a record of everything you buy when they've swiped your card. You might think this is good news because it means they know they have to keep certain products in stock or lose you, and they can target the special vouchers they send you. Or you might think it's bad news because it's another step towards a surveillance society. Personally, I don't care if they know what sort of lasagne I prefer, but I can see others might find it unnerving.

[smurfchops]

Yes it is a bit like Big Brother isn't it ?

[bushbaby_de]

Makes it easy if you do an online shop though as Tesco store all your most-bought items as favourites and you can add them to your basket straight away without searching for them

[Meg]

I think Boots Advantage Card is very good.