Get 2,400 Avios or 2,500 Virgin Flying Club miles with the FREE Tesco Mastercard credit card

If you are looking for a way to give your Avios or Virgin Flying Club account a little free boost this Spring, this deal is worth a look.  I mentioned it briefly in my Avios credit card write-up yesterday but I thought it was worth a full article.

Tesco Bank is offering a rare sign-up bonus worth 2,400 Avios on the FREE Tesco Clubcard Mastercard. 

This deal is not being heavily promoted on the Tesco Bank website and only applies to one of the 10 versions of the card.  This is the link you need.

This version of the card has a representative APR of 18.9% variable.  There is no annual fee.

If you apply via the link above, you will receive a bonus of 1,000 Clubcard points when you make your first purchase or make a balance transfer within two months of receipt.  This is worth 2,400 Avios or 2,500 Virgin miles.

There are a number of different versions of the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard available.  The 1,000 points is only available with the ‘purchases’ version linked to here.  This also get you 0% interest on new purchases for up to 20 months.

What is your day-to-day earnings rate?

The Tesco Clubcard Mastercard is the most generous FREE Visa or MasterCard for earning Avios points unless you qualify for HSBC Premier.

The earning rate is one Clubcard point per £8 spent.  The ‘per £8’ is on a transaction by transaction basis and rounded down.  A £7.99 purchase earns you nothing.  A £15.99 purchase only earns 1 point.

This means that you receive:

0.125 Clubcard points for £1 which is 0.3 Avios points per £1 spent

When used in Tesco, you get 0.25 Clubcard points per £1, which is 0.6 Avios per £1 spent

The earning rate, before adjusting for rounding, is higher than the Lloyds Avios Rewards Mastercard – which, in any event, is no longer accepting new applicants.  The Lloyds card gives you 0.25 Avios per £1 and has a £24 annual fee.

This card is NOT a good way of earning Virgin Flying Club long term.  You are substantially better off with the new free Virgin Reward Mastercard which earns 0.75 miles per £1.  You can apply for the new Virgin credit card here.

The sign-up bonus is OK

Whether or not you decide that this is your best option for day-to-day Visa or MasterCard spending, you may want to get one purely for the sign-up bonus and the ‘0% interest on new purchases for up to 20 months’ deal.

1,000 Clubcard points are worth 2,400 Avios points or 2,500 Virgin Flying Club miles.

It is not a life changing amount, but still not a bad bonus for a free credit card application.

If you take advantage of the 0% interest deal, you won’t be too bothered about the low Avios earning rate anyway.  The real value in a 0% on purchases deal is to spend up to your credit limit, put enough money in a high interest bank account to cover the bill, hide the card in a drawer and then settle the bill just as the 20 months interest free period is about to end.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.