Subway customer? Use or lose your loyalty scheme points TODAY before shake-up – here's what's happening

We explain the changes in detail below. For more ways to save when eating out, see our round-up of the latest Food & drink discounts and deals.

Use your existing Subway Rewards points before 5pm today

Subway will launch its new loyalty scheme and app tomorrow (Wednesday 15 May). Once this happens, any points and offers you've earned through your current membership will be wiped – so you've got until 5pm today to use 'em or lose 'em.

Subway had told us shoppers would be able to use points until the end of Tuesday 14 May. However, it has now confirmed that you'll need to spend them before 5pm.

To redeem your points before the shake-up, you need to visit a Subway store. If you have a physical loyalty card, you'll need to download the Subway app and log in with your existing account details to redeem your freebies.

Within the app, go to the 'Rewards' tab at the bottom of your screen, find the item you want to claim and click 'Redeem'. Once you've done this, your virtual card will pop up with a QR code. You'll be able to scan this, or your physical card, at the till to redeem your reward.

You'll no longer be able to use the current app or a physical Subway Rewards card after this date. To continue earning points and rewards, you'll need to download the new Subway Rewards app and log in with your existing details. You'll be asked to reset your password and accept the new T&Cs.

How the Subway loyalty scheme is changing

Here's how the current scheme works:

• Earning points:

  You earn one point for every 10p you spend at the chain – in other words, you get 10 points per £1 spent. 

• Spending points:

  Points can be redeemed for specific rewards. For example, 100 points gets you a hot drink, 200 points gets you a side, such as nachos, and 1,000 points gets you a footlong sandwich.

And here's how the new scheme, set to launch on Wednesday 15 May, will work: 

• Earning points: You'll earn 10 points per £1 on spending of up to £149.99 in a calendar year, 11 points per £1 spent between £150 and £349.99, and 12 points per £1 spent above that. 

• Spending points: Points will now take the form of 'Subway Cash', which you'll be able to redeem towards anything on the Subway menu. Each 150 points will get you £1 off your in-store order, and you'll need to redeem at least £1 at a time, though there will be no minimum spend required.

You may have to spend a lot more to earn rewards

Under the shake-up, bigger spenders will earn more points, which in turn means they'll have to spend slightly less than others to earn rewards. Everyone will also have more freedom on what to spend points on.

BUT, depending on the prices at your local branch, you may now need to spend a lot more to earn enough points to get a reward – this was the case for all seven of the examples we looked at based on someone spending less than £150 a year at Subway and the prices at our nearest store.

Of course, as with all loyalty schemes, don't spend just to earn rewards – this is simply an added perk for those who were going to make a planned purchase anyway.