Tesco gives Clubcard users an extra six months to spend vouchers
Tesco Clubcard users have been given an extra six months to spend vouchers which were due to expire in August or November, due to the coronavirus crisis.
If you have a Clubcard, you earn one point for each pound spent at Tesco. Points are then issued as vouchers – you receive them every three months as part of your Clubcard statement, or you can request to have them added to your account instantly through the "Faster Vouchers" scheme.
Usually, these vouchers are only valid for two years after they're issued, or 21 months if they're issued as Faster Vouchers. But this has now been extended:
Vouchers due to expire in August 2020 have been extended until February 2021.
Vouchers due to expire in November 2020 have been extended until May 2021.
Vouchers due to expire in May 2020 had already been extended until November 2020 – and this expiry date still stands.
Shoppers themselves don't need to do anything – paper vouchers will be accepted at the till until the later expiry date, while vouchers in the app or online will show the new expiry date. Tesco's also extended the expiry date for vouchers which have already been turned into rewards – see more on rewards below.
Also see our Reclaim and Boost Tesco Vouchers guide for full help and info on how to get the most from the Clubcard scheme, and our Coronavirus Life-in-Lockdown Help guide for more on what supermarkets are doing during the pandemic.
Why have vouchers been extended?
The move to give shoppers longer to use vouchers comes amid a second Government-enforced lockdown, from Thursday 5 November to Wednesday 2 December in England, while other areas of the UK have implemented their own similar rules.
Essential retailers, including food shops, are allowed to remain open but some shoppers won't want to risk visiting supermarkets to spend vouchers in person, while others won't want to swap vouchers for rewards they can't use, with cinemas and restaurants (except for takeaways) currently closed in England due to the lockdown.
In a similar move, Sainsbury's recently allowed Nectar users who didn't want to spend reward vouchers in-store to swap them back for double-up points after pressure from MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis.
You can, however, continue to use Clubcard vouchers online at Tesco as normal.
How to check if you've unspent Clubcard vouchers
If you keep your Clubcard vouchers in a safe place and have just lost track of the expiry dates, you can check – it'll say on each one when it's valid until.
But if you've lost your vouchers, or you're just unsure if you have any that are unspent, you can check via the Tesco Clubcard site or app. Here's how to do it:
To check via the website... go to the Tesco Clubcard website and log in. Then select "Clubcard Account" and then "Vouchers". You'll need to be registered for a Tesco.com account and must know your Clubcard number, which is printed on Clubcards and Clubcard key fobs. You should see a table listing available vouchers and their expiry dates.
To check via the app... open it up (if you don't have it yet, you can download it for free on Apple and Android), then go to the "Vouchers" section.
Once you've found your vouchers, you can spend them online using the code provided – or if you plan to spend in-store, you can print the vouchers off or scan the barcode available on the app at checkout.
What if I've already swapped vouchers for rewards?
While Clubcard vouchers can be spent in-store at Tesco, you get the biggest boost to your points' value by redeeming them with one of Tesco's reward partners. In most cases, if you do this you get three times the value of the Clubcard voucher, so a £5 Clubcard voucher will get you £15 in rewards. This is usually sent to you as a reward code, which you'll normally have six months to use.
But many of these reward partners are restaurants, cinemas and days out – so people are unable to use their codes while businesses are shut and lockdown restrictions are in place.
As a result, Tesco has extended the validity of most rewards (except if you've swapped for air miles with Avios or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, in which case there's no change). Here's what's happening:
All rewards for restaurants and days out exchanged before 30 April 2020 have been extended by 18 months, so will now be valid for two years in total.
All other reward vouchers exchanged before 30 April 2020 have been extended by six months, so will now be valid for a year in total.
All reward vouchers exchanged from 1 May 2020 onwards are now valid for a year in total.
Tesco says this change was automatic and you don't need to do anything. You should have already received an email with a new code and expiry date – or if you made your order through the Clubcard app, this should have updated automatically.