Martin Lewis reveals the 50p Tesco Clubcard loophole to boost points

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has revealed a little-known loophole that could help Tesco shoppers get a Clubcard points boost.

As well as accumulating points to spend in-store, the Clubcard scheme allows members to double or sometimes triple their points by converting them into vouchers to spend on travel, eating out and homeware through its online rewards system.

But some £13 million’s worth of vouchers are set to expire at the end of the month – and that’s where the loophole comes in.

To prevent losing them, customers who have £10 worth of vouchers due to expire can purchase a 50p restaurant voucher on the rewards page that will allow them to claim back £9.50.

He told viewers of his Martin Lewis Money show: “When you got them two years ago, they only last two years and there’s a deadline and people still haven’t used £13M of them. So check whether you’ve got them at Tesco.com/Clubcard or via its app.”

“But here’s the trick: if you’ve got them and you don’t want to spend them now. Take your £10 voucher, go online and buy a 50p restaurant voucher on its rewards page, which is worth £1.50. Now, you will get reissued £9.50, the change, in vouchers and they are new vouchers so they have a two-year lifespan.”

Moneysavingexpert.com reports that its users have retrieved over £30,000 worth of Tesco vouchers by logging in online and checking for unspent vouchers in recent years.

Earlier this week, Mr Lewis offered an explanation of how Ofgem’s new price cap in January will affect energy customers.

He said January’s changes were “mostly irrelevant” because household bills have been “dictated by the energy price guarantee”.

The energy price guarantee, introduced by Rishi Sunak’s government, came into effect in October and will save the typical household around £700 this winter

The price cap reflects the maximum amount a customer can be charged per unit of gas and electricity. Without government support, the average household would be paying around £4,279 for its energy under the new cap.