Get 10 Nectar points for every pound you spend at Sainsbury's

The Nectar card scheme is a great way to collect rewards and points, especially if you’re a regular shopper at Sainsbury’s.

So it’s no great surprise that Sainsbury’s is improving the offer on its Sainsbury’s Nectar Credit Card to coincide with Nectar's 10th birthday.

For the first three months you have this card, you’ll receive 10 Nectar points for every pound that you spend at Sainsbury’s. Now 500 Nectar points are normally worth £2.50 off your shopping, so a point is worth half a penny. But if you’re getting 10 points for every pound you spend at Sainsbury’s, that’s a 5p reward for a £1 spend.

Once the three months is up, you’ll still earn four points for every pound spent at Sainsbury’s. Elsewhere you’ll get one point for every £5 you spend on the card.

The card also comes with a 15-month 0% balance transfer deal (with a 3% fee) and a six month interest-free offer on purchases.

American Express Nectar Credit Card

American Express is also offering a very attractive deal for Nectar fans. If you sign up for the American Express Nectar card by 7th November, you’ll get a welcome bonus of 10,000 Nectar points.

That’s as long as you spend at least £1,000 on the card within three months of taking it out. 10,000 points is equivalent to £50, so that’s a great incentive to get this piece of plastic.

On top of this bonus, there’s a decent points package that you’ll continue to receive once the three month period is up.

You’ll earn two points for every pound spent at Nectar partners, and that can double to four points if you use your ordinary Nectar loyalty card as well as your Nectar credit card. Partners include Argos, Sainsbury’s, easyJet, Amazon and Vue cinemas.

Other reward cards

Of course, if you’d rather earn points in a different rewards scheme, there are plenty of rival reward credit cards that can help with that.

If you’re a keen shopper at Tesco, the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card for Purchases will give you one Clubcard point for every £4 you spend plus extra points for spending at Tesco. American Express also offers several other attractive reward cards.

Going for cash

Reward cards aren’t for everyone though. You need to keep looking out for the best deals on your cards to make sure you get the most value from your points.

In many ways, it’s simpler just to go for a card that gives you pure cash as you spend.

And interestingly, Sainsbury’s has also launched a new cashback card this week to go alongside its revamped reward card. The Sainsbury’s Cashback Credit Card will give you 5% cashback for the first three months you have the card, capped at £50 per month.

There’s also an ongoing cashback offer where you’ll get a £5 a month cash payment when you spend at least £250 at Sainsbury’s and at least £250 elsewhere.

And unlike many rival cashback cards, you won’t have to pay a monthly fee to get this card.

One rival is the American Express Platinum Cashback credit card which charges a £25 annual fee. In return, you get 1.25% cashback which doubles to 2.5% for one month each year. You’ll also get 5% cashback for the first three months you have the card.

The Santander 123 card also has an annual fee, this time at £24 a year. You’ll get 1% cashback on your spending at supermarkets, 2% at department stores and 3% on fuel (capped at £9 a month.)

The other leading cashback card is the Capital One Aspire World card. This one doesn’t charge a fee and also pays 5% in the first three months (capped at £100). After that, your cashback rate depends on how much you spend. The maximum rate is 1.25%.

Bad news

We have one piece of bad news though. If your credit rating is weak, you may not be able to get any of these cards. But if you have a good credit rating, getting a cashback or reward card makes a lot of sense. Otherwise you’re just missing out on free goodies or free cash. And that makes no sense at all.