When will my Clubcard vouchers expire and where can I use them?

I shop fairly regularly at my local Tesco and have signed up to a Clubcard to take advantage of member prices on certain items.

I didn’t really think much about collecting a significant amount of points, because I usually do my larger purchases at Aldi or Lidl.

But I have managed to accumulate enough Clubcard points to qualify for vouchers worth around £50, which I haven’t used.

This week a friend told me that the coupons will run out and that I have to use them before the week is over. Is this true?

Is there anything else I can use the points for besides buying groceries? I usually shop at cheaper supermarkets and I don’t want to spend more on food just because of these coupons.

Angharad Carrick of This Is Money says: I sympathize with having an unmanageable wallet due to the ever-increasing number of loyalty cards we all seem to need to do our grocery shopping.

Supermarkets and other retailers have now introduced loyalty pricing – essentially, two-tier pricing for members and non-members.

Customers who don’t have a loyalty card, or who aren’t comfortable sharing their details, will likely have to spend more at the checkout.

Logistical and privacy concerns aside, it can be quite difficult to keep up with the number of retailers we have loyalty cards for, as well as the number of points each card has.

So I’m not surprised you’ve managed to rack up so many Clubcard points without even realising it.

If you’re used to spending money at other supermarkets, you’re probably not as familiar with how Clubcard points work.

Each supermarket has different rules about how much customers must spend to receive a point and how many points qualify for a coupon.

Clubcard members will receive one point for every £1 spent at Tesco, and 100 Clubcard points are worth £1.

So if you have 1,000 Clubcard points that’s worth £10, while 5,000 points is worth £50, and so on.

You’ll also receive one point for every 2 litres of Tesco fuel you buy and for every £1 you spend with Tesco Mobile. If you have a Tesco credit card, you’ll need to spend £4 to earn one point.

The retailer has also introduced other partners, such as Vauxhall, meaning you could receive 50,000 points (worth £500) if you buy a new Vauxhall car.

You will not be able to spend your points until you have converted them into vouchers, and to do so you need a minimum of 150 points, equivalent to €1.50.

Points can also only be redeemed in multiples of 50.

You will receive these vouchers along with your Clubcard statement every three months in February, May, August and November.

Clubcard vouchers are valid for two years, so Tesco usually alerts its customers before quarterly statements.

Currently, around £14 million worth of vouchers will be gone by 31 August, so your friend has warned you that yours might expire.

However, unless you’ve been accumulating your points for two years, you should have some time to spend them.

If you’re not sure, you can check the date on the voucher itself. Otherwise, you can check it on the Clubcard website or app.

What can you spend Clubcard vouchers on?

You say you’re not a very regular Tesco shopper, and I can see why you might not want to use your vouchers to buy food if you normally prefer to buy it elsewhere.

Fortunately, there are other ways to spend your saved points.

Your points could be worth more if you redeem them for reward vouchers with other retailers. Points are now doubled when redeemed with Tesco reward partners, so the 1,000 points that are normally worth £10 to spend at Tesco are worth £20 elsewhere.

Tesco has over 100 partners including:

• Beautiful Italy
• Best Western Hotels
• Cinemundo
• Disney+
• English heritage
• Hotels.com
• Holiday Seasons
• Hungry horse
• Legoland Windsor
• Express pizza
• P&O Ferries
• Rac
• Railway card
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

For example, you can redeem £12 in points for a three-month standard Disney+ subscription or £7.50 for an ad-supported subscription. Both new and existing customers are eligible for this offer.

There are also plenty of options for day trips, movie and theatre tickets and tours.

If you travel regularly by train and are considering a railcard, which can reduce costs by up to a third, you can use your vouchers to help offset the cost.

You can use £1.50 worth of Clubcard vouchers to get £3 credit on your railcard, which costs around £30, but excludes the 26-30 card.

You can also use them to purchase flights and accommodation during your travels. £5 Clubcard vouchers double to £10 for use at Hotels.com and Butlins.

Finally, you could choose to donate them to charities such as Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation.