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In the UK, 97% of us have at least one loyalty card, according to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA). The biggest schemes, such as Tesco, Nectar and Boots, have more than 15 million members. Waitrose even made headlines earlier this year when it brought back free tea and coffee for MyWaitrose members without a requirement for a purchase.
But while you might regularly use your favourite supermarket’s loyalty scheme on your weekly shop, are you making the most of all the schemes currently available across the UK’s high streets and shopping centres?
Signing up to a loyalty scheme takes minutes and it can unlock a huge range of discounts, from cheaper prices to one-off presents. Most are free to join and don’t require you to spend anything more than you usually would to gain points. Many can be run on an app, if you prefer not to fill your wallet with cards.
What’s on this page?
Different loyalty schemes offer different rewards, from a free cup of coffee to a cheaper weekly shop. Here we look at some of the most popular schemes to see what’s on offer.
Asda’s reward scheme is one of the more complicated ones. There are certain ‘star products’ that will give you rewards (usually the equivalent of 10% of the price), although these are often on branded products that are more expensive than own-brand equivalents.
There are also regularly changing ‘missions’, such as spending £5 on bakery or fresh soup, for example, which will give you extra rewards if you complete them. And you can earn rewards for hitting certain spending targets, although these have a history of changing.
This means it’s hard to tell how worthwhile the Asda scheme is, but if you’re prepared to keep an eye on the ‘missions’ and perhaps slightly adapt your spending accordingly, you may be able to make decent savings.
A fairly small number of Asda petrol stations also offer rewards worth 0.5% of the value of your fuel spend.
Points you collect can be exchanged into vouchers, which can be used to pay for your shopping. You can only redeem your points when you have at least £1 and to sign up you need the Asda Rewards app (there’s no physical card). You also have to spend your rewards within six months, otherwise they’ll be lost.
The DIY store offers money-off vouchers by email when you sign up to B&Q Club (via the app or with a physical card), as well as 10% off key cutting in store. B&Q says: “Scan your B&Q Club card every time you shop and we’ll deliver money off coupons for future shops by email to your inbox.”
It says you can save up to £100, but it’s unclear how much you’d need to spend to save that much, or indeed to make any savings at all. What is clear is that signing up gives you a £5 voucher off a £30 minimum spend.
The Co-op membership scheme used to give you 2p in rewards for every £1 spent on Co-op-branded goods and services. This was scrapped in 2024. Instead there are now “member prices” on some items in Co-op stores – similar to Tesco and Sainsbury’s. You will also get personalised offers based on what you buy, discounts on other Co-op services, and “exclusive access” to Co-op Live gigs.
Unlike the other schemes in this list, it costs £1 to join. Because of how the Co-op is run, becoming a member means you get a say in some decisions, including which good causes they support.
A bit confusingly, there are also regional Co-ops, including the Central England, Southern and Midcounties Co-ops. These are independently run and have their own separate schemes.
Members earn three points for every £1 they spend online or in a Boots branch (reduced from four points per £1 in 2023). Each point is worth 1p to spend in the future. However, you need to have enough points to cover the full cost of your purchase – you can’t use your points to reduce your bill.
Advantage card holders also get access to cheaper products at Boots and if you sign up to the Boots Over 60s Club, you can earn eight points for every £1 you spend on own-brand items and selected other products. It’s important to note that your points will be wiped if you don’t use your card for a year.
For every 10 drinks you buy in Costa Coffee, or at Costa Express machines in other stores in Great Britain you’ll receive one free with the free Costa Club card or app. Using a re-usable cup doubles your rewards, meaning you could get your free drink after just five drinks.
Using the app gives you access to more rewards, such as free cake on your birthday. Note that your rewards will be wiped if you don’t use your card for a year, and that you have a three-month window to claim your free drink.
The free loyalty scheme from John Lewis gives members money-off vouchers, exclusive discounts based on their shopping, and access to competitions and events. Benefits also include a free eye test at John Lewis opticians (if you buy a complete pair of glasses), a free cake voucher on your birthday, and a £5 voucher on a £50 shop.
You don’t collect points with the M&S Sparks card, but you will have access to a range of discounts and giveaways. These include a free drink when you buy five in an M&S cafe, a free birthday treat and each week there’s a chance to win a free shop. Members also get free gifts throughout the year. You can also earn more points if you spend with an M&S credit card.
You earn points on specific products (not all products). Once you’ve earned 5,000 points, Morrisons More points can be covered into “Fiver” vouchers (which get you £5 off). This means every Morrisons More point is essentially worth 0.1p. So an offer of 200 points on a certain product works out at 20p off at a future date (but only when you get to 5,000 points).
You’ll also get personalised discounts and offers, which you might need to opt in to. You can also earn points when you buy fuel or Morrisons groceries on Amazon. Because the points aren’t on all products, it’s hard to work out how valuable this scheme is, but if you shop in Morrisons anyway, it’s certainly worth it.
You can sign up to Morrisons More on their website or app, or by filling in a paper form in store.
It’s free to join the Pizza Express Club and you’ll earn points when you eat at a restaurant, order takeaway, or buy one of their pizzas from a supermarket. You will need to download the app to sign up and then check in when you visit a branch (or scan your receipt if you buy a pizza).
You can use your points for discounts when dining at Pizza Express. You can get free dough balls for signing up, a free dessert on your birthday, and sometimes there are additional offers such as 50% off pizza. If you like Pizza Express, this is one of the better deals on the high street, especially if you can catch one of the 50% off offers.
You can earn Nectar points at a range of retailers, including Sainsbury’s, Argos and Esso, and members get access to cheaper prices at Sainsbury’s. It’s free to sign up and you can earn one Nectar point for every £1 you spend at Sainsbury's or for every litre of fuel you buy at a Sainsbury’s petrol station.
One Nectar point is equivalent to 0.5p, and once you have 500 points, you can get £2.50 off a future shop. You can also redeem your points at a range of third-party retailers, including events, days out, restaurants, and hotels.
It’s also worth noting that if you collect Avios points, you can exchange them for Nectar points if you don’t plan to travel any time soon (or vice versa if you’re planning a trip).
There have been reports of Nectar points being stolen. In most cases these have been refunded after the theft was reported. There’s now a “spend lock” feature on the Nectar app which allows you to “lock” the points so they can’t be used by someone else.
The Starbucks reward card (or the app) allows you to collect 10 stars for every £1 you spend. You can then redeem them – 130 stars gets you a filter coffee, tea or americano, 300 stars gets you a bakery item, or 500 stars for a “handcrafted” drink.
And 2500 stars (which means spending a hefty £250) gives you “gold” membership, which means free extra shots of espresso, selected syrups and whipped cream, as well as a free drink for your birthday.
You can earn one point for every £1 you spend with Superdrug’s free loyalty scheme. There’s also the chance to earn more points on certain products, and lower prices on selected products (which change regularly). And you’ll receive free delivery when shopping online, when spending a minimum of £20 – so all in all it’s a decent scheme.
You can choose from a physical or digital card and your points can be used on future shops at Superdrug. Unlike Boots points, you can use your points in part payment for a transaction, meaning you don’t have to build up a big balance before you start saving.
One of the biggest loyalty schemes, you’ll get access to cheaper prices when you scan your card at the checkout. It’s free to sign up and you can order a physical card or use one on your smartphone.
You’ll earn one point for every £1 you spend at Tesco and when you have 150 points you’ll receive a £1.50 voucher. You can also earn points at Tesco fuel stations (one for every two litres of petrol) and when using Tesco Mobile and Tesco Bank.
Points can be redeemed for twice their value at third-party retailers, which include days out, restaurants and magazine and streaming subscriptions.
You don’t earn points with the free MyWaitrose scheme, but there are a range of benefits on offer. The free newspaper was scrapped in 2024, but you can still get money-off vouchers, a free hot drink, exclusive discounts and a free Waitrose magazine.
From 2022 until recently, you had to make a purchase in order to get the free hot drink, but now you can benefit without buying anything else – though you do need to take your own cup.
You’ll also benefit from a discount on other Waitrose products, such as its cookery school, and up to 25% cashback when you buy a Vitality life or health insurance policy. Because you can get freebies without spending anything at all, we think this is one of the top loyalty schemes on the high street.
Supermarket loyalty points hit the headlines last year, and an investigation by the CMA found that they do offer genuine savings to members. This came after accusations from the consumer group Which? that some supermarkets were not being transparent with their loyalty scheme pricing.
The CMA surveyed 50,000 products featured on loyalty schemes across the main supermarkets and said it found “very little evidence” to show that supermarkets inflated their usual prices so that loyalty scheme prices looked cheaper.
The average saving loyalty discount was 17% to 25% across the five supermarkets the CMS looked at – although it’s worth bearing in mind that usually only a minority of items have loyalty prices.
While loyalty cards can offer you a host of discounts, you may well undo your savings if you’re spending more to rack up points – whether that’s buying things that you don’t need or shopping in a more expensive shop.
And of course, it means giving the retailer access to your data, including a detailed picture of what you spend with them. So it depends if you’re comfortable with exchanging that for some financial benefits.
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