How many miles could your Tesco trips be earning?

If you're a frequent flyer (or would like to be) did you know that you could be earning more miles by collecting Tesco Clubcard points as well as Avios directly?

There are a number of Avios credit cards - issued in partnership with BA, Iberia and Lloyds - all offering a fairly similar rate of earning, usually 1 mile for every £1 spent.

Clubcard holders can earn 600 Avios for every 250 points and even sign up to convert spend to Avios automatically - no more messing around with vouchers.

For the purposes of this article we'll compare two earning credit cards...

Tesco Clubcard credit card
	1 Clubcard point per £4 spent anywhere, plus double points on Tesco fuel, plus loyalty points.	Apply here »
Representative Example: 16.9% p.a. variable on purchases. This is equivalent to 16.9% APR representative variable based on a credit limit of £1,200. Tesco Bank, PO Box 5747, Southend on Sea, SS1 9AJ.

... with the...

Lloyds TSB Duo Avios credit card
	1 Avios per £1 spent on the AmEx card and 1 Avios per £5 spent on the MasterCard.	Apply here »
Representative Example: 15.94% p.a. variable on purchases. This is equivalent to 15.9% APR representative variable based on a credit limit of £1,200. Lloyds TSB Bank plc, Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN.

As well as the plain old Clubcard loyalty card.

However, note that now that so many providers offer Avios this trick could work equally, or almost, as well with any or them. See the end of this article or our general air miles guide for more.

Here's the breakdown...

Most miles: Clubcard plus Lloyds Duo credit card

The Lloyds TSB Avios Duo credit card is two credit cards in one: an American Express card and a MasterCard.

Cardholders get 1 Avios to every £1 spent with the American Express card and 1 Avios to every £5 with the Mastercard which can be used more widely.

Pay at Tesco and you Clubcard holders can also pick up one Clubcard point to every £1. £2.50 Clubcard vouchers (250 points) = 600 Avios.

So: for every £500 spent with the AmEx at Tesco cardholders would earn 1,700 Avios.

Next best: the Tesco Clubcard credit card at Tesco

With the Tesco Clubcard credit card you earn 1 Clubcard point to every £4 wherever you spend as well as the usual 1 point to the £1 at Tesco.

Every £4 you spend at Tesco on your Tesco Clubcard credit card then amounts to 5 Clubcard points (£1 = 1.25 points).

So: spend £500 on your Tesco Clubcard credit card at Tesco and you'll get 1,200 Avios with a few points left over (because 625 points doesn't go exactly into 250).

Runners up: Lloyds Duo or Tesco credit cards outside Tesco

Spending £500 with the Lloyds Duo American Express credit card anywhere nets 500 Avios.

Spending £500 with the Lloyds Duo Mastercard credit card gets 100 Avios.

Spending £500 with the Tesco Clubcard credit card outside Tesco gets 125 Clubcard points - half-way to 600 Avios.

In other words, just using the Tesco Clubcard credit card outside of Tesco or relying solely on the Lloyds Mastercard won't get many Avios but both can help to boost points; you can't always shop at Tesco and AmEx isn't accepted everywhere.

Moral of the story

In sum, the Lloyds TSB Avios Duo credit card with a little help from Tesco is the best way to notch up Avios on everyday spending, followed by the Tesco Clubcard credit card.

A cheeky extra moral...

We've just compared two cards here and the conclusions are only really useful to big Tesco shoppers so you can compare more air mile credit cards here as well.

For example, you'll also be able to earn rewards at a higher rate if you're a frequent flyer.

If you fly with BA then paying for your flights with branded BA credit cards could earn double Avios, for example. Take a look at the:

- British Airways standard*
- British Airways Premium Plus*

*Click through for cost of credit information on either of these cards.

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