Everything you need to know about Tesco’s Clubcard shakeup

Tesco has suddenly changed its Clubcard scheme meaning shoppers now get less for their points when swapping them for vouchers with certain partners.

In a controversial move that has angered families, the supermarket giant has written to customers to tell them that in some cases they can now only boost their points to up to three times their value – down from four. 

The perk previously meant customers could swap £2.50 in points for a £10 voucher to use in restaurants and on days out with partners including Pizza Express, London Zoo and Prezzo.

Now the same amount of points will get them 25 per cent less, with £2.50 worth of Clubcard points exchanged for a £7.50 voucher instead. 

Customers received emails from Tesco saying: ‘We want to let you know about a change we’re making to the value of the Clubcard vouchers you use with our Reward Partners. Previously your vouchers were worth 2 times their value with some of our Reward Partners – and others were worth 4 times. 

‘We’ve decided to make things easier. From today, you’ll get 3 times the value of your vouchers across the majority of our Reward Partners at tesco.com/clubcard/boost. This won’t affect any orders you may have already placed with our Reward Partners that are worth 4 times the value.’ 

What will your points be worth now?

Tesco has long offered one of the best value rewards schemes out there. It pays shoppers one point per £1 spent in stores.

Each point is worth 1p when spent with the supermarket. This will not change.  

You get more value by swapping it for vouchers to spend with its partners.

Previously you could double, triple or quadruple their value with different retailers.

From now there will be a flat-rate boost across all partners of three times their value.

So a £250 spend in store, earning 250 points will be worth £7.50 in vouchers.

Where you can earn points: Spenders will now need to earn more points to get their favourite rewards vouchers

For which partners will the voucher boost change?

Tesco has changed the value for 115 different partners. You can see the full list here.

While the changes will see points worth more with some of its rewards partners, according to Anika Newjoto, editor of shopperpoints.co.uk, only a few Clubcard partners offered the lower value including National Express, redspottedhanky and Megabus.

She says: ‘The Tesco email fails to mention, however, that other 2x partners such as Pickfords Removals and Red Letter Days have announced that they will be leaving Clubcard in a few weeks. Some 2x partners – figleaves.com, Spafinder and Treatwell – appear to have been deleted from the website already.

‘On the other hand there are a lot of Clubcard restaurant partners which previously gave 4x the face value of your vouchers which have dropped. This includes some of the most popular Tesco Clubcard redemptions such as Pizza Express, Prezzo and Zizzi. Having these drop to 3x face value is a real blow for many Clubcard collectors.’ 

When do the changes take effect? 

If you exchanged your points under the old values before January 15, your vouchers at the old levels will still be vaild.

But you must make sure to use them before they expire. Going forward the new rates will apply.  

Newjoto says: ‘Making these changes with no notice stinks. Tesco Clubcard vouchers have a two-year expiry date. Many shoppers collect them over a longer period to pay for a large transaction such as a Pickfords house move or a celebration spa treatment. It is not acceptable to change the redemption rate from 4x to 3x, or to remove partners entirely, with little or no prior notice.’

Customers are due to receive their next payout in February (they are paid every three months), but unfortunately these will have missed the deadline and customers will only get up to three times the value under the voucher boost perk.

Going forward the supermarket says there will be more ‘improvements’ to come. Its website also says Reward Partner tokens will now be sent by email not by post.