Tesco Clubcard to Virgin Points: How Our Food Shop Got Us to LA

At Easter half term this year, my family and I flew to LA. We drove up the California coast, ate our way around San Francisco, spent the rest of the holidays in Hawaii, and somehow squeezed in two days at Universal Studios before flying home.

And most of the points we used for those flights came from something really, really boring: our weekly Tesco shop.

So let me tell you how that works, because if you shop at Tesco, you’re probably already halfway there.

How this trip happened

My husband is a musician, and he travels a lot around the world for his gigs. This Easter, he had a show booked in San Luis Obispo, in California, and a couple of days later another one in Honolulu, in Hawaii. Right in the middle of the school holidays! So of course, we thought: okay, let’s all go.

We flew Virgin Atlantic from London to LA. From there, we did a road trip up the coast, through Big Sur, all the way to San Francisco.

That drive through Big Sur was just amazing. Everyone loved it. And I fell completely in love with San Francisco. It was my favourite part of the trip!

Then we drove back down to San Luis Obispo, where he played his show. After that, we drove on to LAX, dropped off the car, and flew to Hawaii.

There are no direct flights from Hawaii to London, so on the way home we had to stop in LA again. And we did something a bit crazy. We landed in LA in the evening, went to Universal Studios the next day, and then went back again on the day of our flight! We left the park, dropped the car at the airport, had a shower and something to eat in the lounge (thank you, Amex Platinum!), and flew back to London. The boys had the best time (and us too!).

So, how much did the flights to LA cost? We booked three seats on Virgin Atlantic, in economy, for me, my stepson and my son. (My husband was travelling for work, so the band paid for his ticket!) It cost us 45,000 Virgin Points plus £587.37 in taxes and fees for all three. That’s 15,000 points and around £196 per person.

And honestly, it could have been cheaper! We were travelling during Easter school holidays, which is one of the busiest times of the year, and I didn’t book that far in advance. Virgin’s prices are dynamic, so outside school holidays you can find much better deals. When I checked in October, there were direct flights from London to LA for 9,000 Virgin Points plus £263 one way in economy, with the Saver fare. To New York, you can even find direct flights from 6,000 points one way!

(Our flight home from Hawaii was on points too, but with a different programme, so that’s a story for another post!)

Now let me show you where some of those points came from.

How Tesco Clubcard works

Tesco is where I do my weekly shop for the house. So it’s a big part of how I earn my points.

It’s really simple. If you shop at Tesco and you have a Clubcard, you’re earning Clubcard points. And those points can be converted into Virgin Points. Which means flights, okay?

Me personally, I also have the Virgin Atlantic credit card, so I try to make the most of my supermarket shopping and keep everything in my little “Virgin bubble”. But I want to be really clear here: you don’t need a credit card for this. You earn your Clubcard points no matter how you pay for your shopping. Debit card, credit card, whatever. The card just speeds things up.

Why I never use my Clubcard points for shopping

I know a lot of people use their Clubcard vouchers for money off at the till. I get it, it feels good. But I never do it. Same with Nectar at Sainsbury’s.

Why? Because £1.50 in Clubcard vouchers is worth £1.50 at Tesco. That’s it. But Tesco has over 100 Reward Partners, and with them, your vouchers are worth up to double. So £5 in vouchers can be worth up to £10. And there are loads of travel ones: easyJet Holidays, Hotels.com, airport parking, railcards, ferries, Butlins breaks and so many more.

And every now and then, there are extra bonuses with specific partners on top of that. I’ll show you one I got with Virgin a bit later!

And with Virgin Points it’s even better, because you’re not stuck flying only with Virgin Atlantic. Virgin is part of the SkyTeam alliance, so you can also fly with partners like KLM, Air France and Delta. That opens up so many more options.

So how much is your shopping worth?

Here’s the rule to remember: £1.50 in Clubcard vouchers = 300 Virgin Points.

So basically, for every £1 you spend at Tesco, you earn 2 Virgin Points. Easy, right?

Let’s do the maths for a year, without any bonuses:

• If you spend £100 a week at Tesco, that’s 5,200 Clubcard points a year. That’s £52 in vouchers, which becomes 10,400 Virgin Points.
• If you spend £150 a week, that’s 7,800 Clubcard points a year, £78 in vouchers, and 15,600 Virgin Points.

Remember that Saver flight to LA for 9,000 points? With £100 a week at Tesco, in one year you’d already have enough for it. Even at the price we paid in the Easter holidays, 15,000 points, £150 a week gets you there. Just from your food shopping!

What else can you do with Virgin Points?

Since 2024, Virgin doesn’t have a fixed points chart anymore. Prices are dynamic, so they change depending on the date. That’s good and bad. But there are still really good deals, especially to the US.

You can find a return flight to New York in economy from 12,000 Virgin Points plus taxes. And Upper Class (Virgin’s business class) from 29,000 Virgin Points each way plus taxes at the time of writing, which is really low for Upper Class. Because the prices are dynamic, you have to search a bit more to find these. But they’re there. (I will write more about why I’m still collecting Virgin Points, even with dynamic pricing, in another post.)

And with the partners, there are some really nice options too. One I’ve been looking at a lot, and really want to use, is flying KLM to Curaçao. When I looked, it was 12,000 Virgin Points each way, in economy. So a return flight to the Caribbean for 24,000 points, plus £161 in taxes on the way there and US$79 on the way back. For the Caribbean, that’s really cheap!

Okay, convinced? Let’s set it all up.

Step 1: Set up your accounts

You need two accounts, and both are completely free.

1. Tesco Clubcard. You sign up on the Tesco website. You get your card digitally, and they also send one by post. Then every time you shop at Tesco, you scan your Clubcard. And if you shop online, it’s already linked to your account.

2. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Flying Club is the name of Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty programme. That’s where your points go when you convert them from Tesco.

It’s also worth opening a Virgin Red account. You can earn extra points by shopping through it (I explained how shopping portals work in another post), and use your points for experiences too. But let’s stay focused on Flying Club for now.

Super important: the name on both accounts has to be exactly the same. One letter different and you’ll have a problem when you try to transfer your points. And this isn’t just for Tesco and Virgin, it’s for every programme. The ideal is to always use your name exactly as it appears on your passport, in every account you create, okay?

Step 2: Start earning

Accounts done! Now you just use your Clubcard every time you shop at Tesco. You earn 1 point for every £1 you spend.

And don’t forget fuel. You also earn points at Tesco petrol stations, a bit less than in the supermarket: 1 point for every £2. But if you have a car, it adds up. So always remember to scan your Clubcard there too.

Step 3: Turn your points into vouchers

To send your points to Virgin, first they need to become vouchers. That’s how it works: you’re actually exchanging vouchers for Virgin Points.

You can do this yourself anytime you have at least 150 points. If you don’t, Tesco does it for you four times a year: in February, May, August and November.

One thing to watch: Clubcard vouchers expire. So once your points become vouchers, keep an eye on the expiry date so you don’t lose them.

Step 4: Convert your vouchers to Virgin Points

There are two ways to do this.

Option A: Manually (what I do)

1. In the Tesco app, go to the Clubcard section
2. Tap Partners, then Explore reward partners

3. Choose Partner Loyalty Programmes
4. You’ll see Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Either works, but since we set up Flying Club, choose Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

5. Tap Start your order
6. Choose how much in vouchers you want to exchange
7. Tap Start your order again
8. Enter your Flying Club membership number and confirm

You can only convert in blocks of £1.50, so whatever is left over just stays in your account.

Option B: Automatically

You can set this up on the Tesco app or on the Tesco website. The steps are a bit different, so here are both.

On the app

1. Tap the little person icon in the corner (your account)
2. Go to Clubcard, then Voucher Scheme
3. Choose Virgin Points
4. Enter your Flying Club membership number
5. Tap Join Scheme

On the website

1. Log in to your Clubcard account on the Tesco website
2. In the top menu, click Clubcard account
3. Click Clubcard management, then Voucher schemes
4. Choose Virgin Points
5. Enter your Flying Club membership number and click Join Scheme

And that’s it. Your points will be exchanged automatically.

Why I don’t use automatic conversion

It’s easier, yes. But Tesco often runs promotions where you get a bonus when you convert to Virgin. And I don’t want to miss those!

Recently I converted £16 in Clubcard vouchers. Normally that would give me 3,200 Virgin Points. With the promotion, I got 4,160. That’s 30% more, for exactly the same vouchers! If your points convert automatically, you miss these chances.

The only exception: sometimes a promotion requires you to have automatic conversion turned on. In that case, I switch it on for that period, get the bonus (if that promotion allows it, each one has its own rules), and then switch it back to manual.

What about the credit card?

Like I said, you don’t need a credit card. But if you have one, it speeds things up a lot. With the Virgin Atlantic credit cards, depending on which one you have (the free or the paid one), you also earn a reward voucher after spending a certain amount, which gives you even more value from your points.

And for me there’s another benefit: I don’t pay foreign transaction fees when we travel in the eurozone, and I’m still earning points while we’re away.

Just remember: a credit card only makes sense if you pay it off in full every month. Otherwise, the interest will cost you more than any points are worth.

Do Virgin Points expire?

No! Virgin Points don’t expire. So you can take your time and build them up from Tesco, shopping portals, a credit card, and flying.

So, that’s it!

I know it looks like a lot of steps written down like this. But once you’ve done it once, it takes two minutes. Get your two accounts, scan your Clubcard every time you shop, and when your vouchers are ready, wait for a bonus and send them to Virgin. That’s really all there is to it.

And every time I convert my vouchers, I think about that drive through Big Sur. Totally worth it.

So next time you’re at the till, scan that Clubcard, okay? It might be the start of your next trip.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. We’ll be really happy to help!

Lots of love, and see you next time! Xx

Fly Smart Club is an educational website. The content in this article is based on my personal experience and is for information only. It is not financial advice. Conversion rates, partner offers, card benefits, fees and terms can change, so please check the latest details with the provider and consider your own circumstances before making any financial decision. Some of our articles contain referral links. If you sign up through one, Fly Smart Club may receive a reward, at no extra cost to you.