Reclaim lost Tesco points

Usually you get £20 Rewards or a ticket to the venue for between £2 and £11.50 in Clubcard vouchers. But until 11 June 2012 Tesco has boosted the return, so you can get up to 5x the value on Days Out.

Rewards Brochure: Days Out

Estimated value
(up to x5 if no alternative vouchers or deals are available)

This depends on the venue and if any other 2for1 offers are available. If there are no offers available at the time you want to go, the Rewards are worth up to about five times value if you swap before 12 June, after which they'll return to 4x value.

For major theme parks 2for1s are often available, so it's best to use Rewards for something else. See the Days Out and Theme Parks deals.

Reason for top pick? It's a good way to keep the cost of family days out down, but check for other offers before converting.

Every £10 gives £40 in vouchers for restaurants, including Spaghetti House, Cafe Rouge, Prezzo and Pizza Express.

Rewards Brochure: Restaurant Deals

Estimated value
(x4 voucher value if no deals)

Many of the listed restaurants offer 2for1 vouchers (see Restaurant Deals). If you can grab one, save your Clubcard vouchers for something else as they're only worth twice the value in reality. If you can't get a 2for1, Tesco rewards are four times the value, so are worth the swap.

Reason for top pick? Like days out, they're a good swap to boost a family meal out - but only if no other deals are available for that restaurant.

Every £10 Clubcard voucher gets you a £30 Goldsmith voucher, so a £900 ring costs £300 in Tesco vouchers.

There is no minimum spend with these vouchers at the time of writing, though Tesco has warned this may change, so check before you buy. If you're saving up for something, be careful. Only convert when you have the full amount you need.

Rewards Brochure: Goldsmiths

Estimated value
(3x voucher value)

Goldsmiths is generally reasonably priced and competitive for branded items. Depending on the item, it can be 3x face value of Clubcard vouchers in many cases. But you may find items cheaper elsewhere, so do a price comparison (see the Megashopbot) before converting.

When we checked a high end Omega men's watch, it was priced the same at many retailers. But a cheaper ladies' Accurist watch was about £10 cheaper elsewhere. For branded items, you may find them cheaper elsewhere, but it's still a worthwhile conversion if you're spending at Goldsmiths anyway.

Reason for top pick? If you want something specifically from Goldsmiths, this is practically a cash discount. Particularly for those looking for engagement rings, this can seriously boost spending power. It was even better in the past, as you got four times the value, but currently it's only three.

Convert Clubcard vouchers into Avios points and £2.50 vouchers becomes 600 points. This means £37.50 of Clubcard vouchers buys a Eurostar return to Paris (no extra taxes to pay) or an Amsterdam return flight (plus taxes). For 30 more ways to max your Avios points, see the full Boost Avios Points guide.

You have to pay taxes and charges

Unlike the old Airmiles system, Avios charges passengers taxes and fees on flights, usually £70-£90 for European return flights. Yet under its Reward Saver scheme, you pay a fixed £27 fee on BA and Iberia flights in zones 1-3 (mainly Europe, see map for full list), if you've earned a least one Avios point in the year before you book.

£83 Tesco vouchers now buys a return to Marrakesh (plus £27 taxes or £64 if you haven't collected a point in the last year). You don't pay taxes on Eurostar trips, which makes it an excellent value exchange.

Earn up to 8,000 bonus points

If you've never collected Avios via Tesco before, Avios is giving away up to 8,000 bonus points when you collect for the first time in certain ways, one of which is Tesco Clubcard. Yet to qualify, you need to have earned at least one Avios point in the last year. So earn one point in another way before exchanging your Club vouchers.

Consider waiting for a promo to exchange

Temporary promotions can mean if you convert Clubcard vouchers into Avios points, £2.50 becomes 1,000 points rather than the usual 600. Nothing's guarenteed - Avios only runs this promo every year or so. But if you've lots of Tesco vouchers stashed, consider holding off. Tesco/Avios boosting promos are always included in the free weekly email.

Estimated value
Avios 2.5x voucher value

1,000 Avios are typically worth £8-£10 (though up to £20 if you spend them on business-class). So £12.50 in Clubcard vouchers buys £30-ish Avios points, 2.5 times the vouchers' value, or more if you spend the Avios points on first-class seats.

BA Executive Club Points 2.5x voucher value

You can also buy 600 BA Exec Club Avios points for £2.50 in Tesco vouchers. Avios says the main Avios scheme's better for irregular travellers and BA Exec's best for frequent flyers, offering benefits such as free airport lounge access. However, you can pool Avios and BA Exec points, so if you change your mind later, it doesn't matter.

Reason for top pick? It's an easy way to boost Avios points. The return's typically 2.5X value, but much more if you spend Avios in the right way - see the full Boost Avios Points guide.

£10 in Clubcard vouchers gets £30 in Eurotunnel Rewards vouchers.

Rewards Brochure: Eurotunnel

Estimated value
(x3 voucher value)

Eurotunnel ticket prices generally start from £22 each way and are pretty standard. So unless you can grab one of its rare £22 return specials this is a good deal.

If you aren't fussy about how you get to France, it's also worth considering ferry deals. These can be even cheaper.

Reason for top pick? This stacks up well in the value stakes unless you can track down a deal (see Cheap France Day Trips).

A standard Merlin Annual Passes costs £46.50 each in Clubcard points. It's a big saving as it's usually £156 at full price - this deal makes it less than a third of that.

Passes are valid for unlimited entry for one person to Merlin attractions (including Alton Towers, Legoland, Chessington etc) for 12 months.

Estimated Value
(3-4x voucher value)

The pass usually costs £156, so at the full price of £46.50 it's worth just over three times the face value. See the Merlin Pass offer.

Reason for top pick? This is super popular with thrill-seeking forumites. But if you're only going to make the odd visit, stick to 2for1 theme park deals.