You can now transfer ‘pending’ Tesco Clubcard points to Avios or Virgin Flying Club

Most Head for Points readers know that both Avios and Virgin Flying Club are Tesco Clubcard partners.  This allows you to transfer your Clubcard points into miles instead of using them in-store.

It is a decent deal.  £1 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers converts into 240 Avios or 250 Virgin Flying Club miles.  This is substantially better value than using your Clubcard vouchers in-store for face value.

You can convert to Avios via this page of the Tesco website and to Virgin Flying Club via this page.  The points usually arrive overnight but this is not guaranteed.

To be honest, I prefer to take Uber credit rather than airline miles.  £1 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers gets you £3 of Uber and / or Uber Eats credit.  This is as good as cash to me which means that I am effectively ‘buying’ Avios for 1.25p if I choose them instead.  I don’t value them that highly.

But there was always a snag ….

Tesco only issued your Clubcard points once per quarter.  This meant that, if you had a large number of Clubcard points due to you, you had to wait up to 12 weeks to get your hands on them.  This was clearly no good if you had a redemption flight to book.

Tesco has now changed its rules.  You can request your ‘pending’ Clubcard points whenever you like.  You can then transfer them to Avios or Virgin Flying Club.

There are some rules ….

There are a couple of points to note about this new feature.

The key one is that it is disabled for two weeks before your February, May, August and November Clubcard points statements are generated.  This is to stop you withdrawing your points in the period that Tesco is printing and posting your statement, which might mean that you ended up with two lots of points.

Secondly, using this feature requires you to opt out of receiving paper Clubcard statements.  Future statements will be sent by email.

You need at least 150 Clubcard points to request instant vouchers, but this is the same rule that was in place for triggering paper vouchers so no-one loses out here.

This is, undoubtedly, a genuine improvement to Tesco Clubcard for miles collectors.  It is just a shame that Tesco has gutted the Clubcard scheme over the last two years, especially with the closure of Tesco Direct and Tesco Wine, making it hard to run up substantial points balances.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous 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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.