Mind the gap

If you have seen my other blog you will know that I have had a couple of days away this week and am now back from my sojourn in Cambridge and raring to go.

So where were we? Oh yes credit cards and cash back! So that leads us to loyalty cards. These are many fold and come in many formats but fundamentally they reward you for spending you money. If I could find it, I have a wallet full of these, but there are only a few that I use in anger.

The most famous must surely be the Tesco store card (Clubcard, already mentioned) Tesco's clubcard points can be used for buying stuff in the shop, or exchanged for rewards (clubcard deals). Most famously they can be used to acquire Airmiles (more later).

Nectar, the equivalent from Sainsbury's can be exchanged for goods, or vouchers which can be used (again) for many rewards. The difference between Nectar and the Tesco's offering is that you can collect Nectar points with many companies. Have a look at their site for a complete list. The most obvious ones are BP (if you drive on business you can rack up points quite quickly), Ford (get points when you buy) or AA (run a car), EDF (points on your electricity bill) and Talk Talk (your phone bill ;-) One thing that is sometimes unnoticed is the ability to earn points through the Nectar shopping portal this opens up a huge range of everyday brands upon which you can earn points. TOP TIP: Use a Nectar credit card to amass even more points.

Morrisons miles card: Fill up with petrol, collect points. Get a voucher to spend in the shop.

Coop Dividend scheme: Probably the oldest of all the rewards schemes, the coop divi dates back to the origins of the company, which grew out of sharing the profit made on its sales with the customers it served.

Boots advantage card: Bog standard storecard, but if you shop at Boots get one. (Why not?)

Here's a good comparison site for these cards.