Get the best out of loyalty cards
By
Joshua Fowler -
University of Westminster
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When it comes to being a student, life is generally about three things. Completing your assignments on deadline day, spending as much time in the pub as possible and, most importantly, saving the odd penny here and there. Shops can offer little help for the first two lifestyle choices, but they can certainly help with the third in the form of loyalty cards. Designed to keep the consumer coming back, stores offer points for every purchase you make that can be used to buy other items in that store, effectively, for free! Most of the biggest stores in the country will have their own loyalty cards that offer points in a slightly different format to others, shops such as Tesco, Boots and even Ladbrokes offer points that can be redeemed in certain ways.
Nectar Card
Perhaps the biggest loyalty card on the scene is the Nectar card, the love child of many highstreet stores, the Nectar card can be used to gain and spend points in places such as Sainsbury's, BP garages and Homebase amongst others. For every £1 spent in these stores, you will gain two points that can be redeemed either online or by phone for store discounts, as well as other more glamorous offers, like days out or gifts for yourself.
Other Cards
As well as the Nectar card, supermarket giants, Tesco, have their own loyalty card that offers a similar system. However, it's not just supermarkets that offer loyalty cards, stores like Boots, HMV and GAME all offer them in a bid to keep the consumer coming back to redeem their freebies. Boots are a little more generous with their four points gained for every £1 spent, whilst GAME offer ten points per pound.
It seems almost stupid not to take advantage of these cards, although you may be forgiven for thinking your points are worth more than they actually are. For example, GAME offer 10 points per pound, with £100 worth of points, giving you just £2.50. However, without the cards the money you spend in these shops, no matter how big an amount, would leave you with no points and no hope of saving money in the long term. Loyalty cards can save you money in the long run and most definitely worth picking up and flashing at a till.