Tesco deals

You'll just pay the taxes and charges

Until 11.59pm on Sunday 10 May, you can turn turn 250 Tesco Clubcard points into 5,000 Virgin points when you opt in to auto-exchange to the Virgin Red rewards scheme for the first time.

Add Virgin Red’s refer-a-friend trick and you can bag another 2,000 points – taking you to 7,000 Virgin points, enough for a 'free' one-way Virgin Atlantic reward flight to the USA, Caribbean, Maldives and more.

You’ll still need to pay taxes, fees and charges (these can be £100s) but it'll still be far cheaper than normal. For example, we spotted Heathrow to Boston one-way for 6,000 points + £243, compared with £918 paying cash direct with Virgin.

Step 1. Sign up to Virgin Red if you haven't already

You’ll need a free Virgin Red* account before linking it to your Tesco Clubcard* account.

Quick tip: Points accrued with Virgin Red are the same as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points, so you can use them towards Virgin Atlantic reward flights.

Step 2. Turn on Tesco Clubcard auto-exchange by 11.59pm on Sunday 10 May

To get the 5,000 bonus points, this must be your first time auto-exchanging from Tesco Clubcard to Virgin Red. Manual transfers in the past are fine, but you won’t qualify if you’ve already used, or currently use, auto-exchange for Virgin Red.

To do it:

• Log in to your Tesco Clubcard* account on a web browser – it won’t work in the app.

• Go to Clubcard Management, select Voucher Schemes, then choose Virgin Points.

• Enter your Virgin Red ID – you'll find it in your Account section.

• Make sure you have at least 250 Clubcard points in your account by Sunday 10 May.

If successful, Tesco says the points should show in your Virgin Red account by Sunday 14 June.

If you don’t want future Clubcard points to automatically convert to Virgin points, you can turn auto-exchange off again from Monday 11 May

Quick tip: Just short of 250 points? You may be able to top up with free Clubcard points promos, Shopper Thoughts surveys, or by part-using an existing Clubcard voucher and getting the rest returned as points. But don’t spend unnecessarily just to chase this.

Step 3. Use refer-a-friend to get the extra points needed for a 'free' flight

Virgin Red’s refer-a-friend* offer gives both you and your friend (which can be a partner, spouse, or family member over 18) 2,000 Virgin points if your friend signs up before Monday 1 June and makes a qualifying transaction (it's back to 1,000 points each after that).

That means buying something via the Earn section of the Virgin Red app (Google Play/iOS) or website. Partners include M&S, Boots, Just Eat, eBay, Argos and John Lewis (and there's no minimum spend).

This is the bit that can take you from 5,000 points to 7,000 points – enough for a one-way reward flight. Don’t buy something just for the sake of points. This only works as a money-saver if it’s something you would have bought anyway – though the retailers covered are pretty widespread.

Quick tip: If someone is happy to help, you could ask them to sign up and buy something you need via Virgin Red to qualify, then pay them back. The key is that they must join via your referral link (click 'refer-a-friend' in your account to generate it) and make the purchase through Virgin Red for it to track.

Step 4. Search for Virgin Atlantic reward flights

Your bonus points should land in your Virgin Red account by Sunday 14 June – so you'll need to wait until then before you can book. Flights start from 6,000 points one-way, or 12,000 points for a return. You’ll still need to pay taxes, fees and charges.

Use Virgin Atlantic’s Reward Seat Checker to look for available reward flights. Dates with the 'Saver' label show flights with the lowest points price.

Quick tip: Every seat on a Virgin flight can be purchased with points. Seats are usually released about 11 months in advance, so that's when you'll see the most availability.

Step 5. Compare prices before you book

Reward flights can be much cheaper, but not always. You should compare the full cost – including taxes and charges – against normal cash fares with Virgin and other airlines. Virgin added a fuel surcharge in April starting at £50 for an economy ticket, due to the Middle East crisis, so you'll also need to factor that in.

Compare rewards flight prices against Virgin Atlantic cash prices and other airlines. You can use tools such as Kayak*, Skyscanner* Momondo* and Google Flights as they cover different airlines and travel agents. Check out our Cheap Flights guide for more tips.

Quick tip: Never assume points mean cheapest. If a cash fare elsewhere is cheaper, book that instead.

Example one-way flights we found on Monday 5 May:

If you’ve only enough points for a one-way:

• Heathrow to Boston on Sunday 4 October: 6,000 points + £243. Versus £918 cash for the same Virgin flight.

• Heathrow to Toronto on Thursday 3 September: 6,000 points + £212. Versus £397 cash.

• Manchester to New York on Saturday 12 September: 6,000 points + £228. Versus £738 cash.

Generally, it works out cheaper to buy a return fare rather than purchasing a one-way flight or two single tickets separately.

If you’ve enough points for a return (12,000 points):

• Heathrow to Boston, Sunday 4 October to Sunday 11 October: 12,000 points + £309. Versus £671 cash for same Virgin flight.

• Heathrow to Toronto, Thursday 3 September to Thursday 10 September: 12,000 points + £300. Versus £616 cash.

• Manchester to New York, Monday 21 September to Monday 28 September: 12,000 points + £295. Versus £721 cash.

If you don't have 12,000 points for a return fare, you can pay for your return with a mixture of points and cash (on top of the taxes, fees and charges).

Need-to-knows

• Virgin Red is a rewards scheme where members earn and redeem 'Virgin points' across Virgin brands and partner companies.

• Virgin points don’t expire. So there’s no deadline to book once you’ve got them.

• You can transfer points between accounts, but there’s a fee. Virgin lets you transfer points to another account for £10, as long as you have at least 1,000 points.

• You can use points for upgrades. This can apply to cash or reward bookings, though extra taxes and fees may apply.

• If Virgin cancels your reward flight, you should get your points back. Virgin told us points, taxes, fees and charges would be refunded if it can’t honour a reward seat booking.

• If you can't find flights that work for you, you can always spend your Virgin points with rewards partners such as M&S, Vue, Eurostar and others.

Magazine coupon for Tesco only, valid in-store or online

Pick up the April edition of the free magazine from Tesco (find your nearest*) to get a coupon for 65p off an eight-pack of 500ml bottles of still Harrogate spring water*. It's valid in-store, or online using the code GR7PHH at Tesco until Thursday 30 April. When we checked, a pack of eight bottles was £2.50 before using the coupon.