Review: Tesco Clubcard Fuel Save Scheme

I’ve recently had the chance to try out the new Tesco Clubcard Fuel Save scheme, so here’s a quick review in case you’re thinking about trying it out yourself. In the past, various supermarkets have offered fuel perks in return for your loyal grocery shopping, but it’s always been via fuel vouchers.

The new scheme from Tesco is automatically applied to your Clubcard, which you use as normal if you’re shopping at Tesco online or in person. Along with your usual Clubcard points, you now also get given a Fuel Save discount (I’ll explain exactly how you qualify for that in a minute) which is applied when you use your Clubcard during the usual petrol payment at the kiosk. Having tried this myself, I can confirm that it’s less of a faff than messing around with vouchers at the grocery checkout and the petrol pump.

How it works:

• For every £50 you spend on groceries, up to a total of £500 per month, you qualify for a 2p fuel discount per litre.
• The discount goes up stepwise, in increments of £50 (so a £75 spend will only get you 2p and not 3p).
• The money you spend on groceries accumulates over the course of one month (so if you spend £45 in week one you won’t qualify for fuel discount, but if you then spend £5 in week 2 then you’ll be at a total of £50 and then become eligible for 2p per litre fuel discount).
• The maximum fuel discount you can qualify for each month is 20p per litre.
• You can use your Clubcard to qualify for fuel discounts until 30th September 2014.
• The last date to redeem Fuel Save discounts is 31st October 2014.
• Fuel Save discounts can be used in combination with fuel vouchers during the same petrol purchase transaction.
• When using Clubcard Fuel Save discounts, a maximum of 100 litres that can be purchased in a single transaction (fair usage applies).
• Full terms and conditions here.

If your nearest / favourite supermarket is Tesco, and you also regularly buy your petrol from them, this is an absolute no-brainer. It’s easy to qualify for the scheme – just the usual swipe of your Clubcard that you’d probably do anyway – and it’s easy to make use of the discount because that’s another simple swipe of the card.

The price in the picture above was the cost of a litre of unleaded at my local Tesco yesterday. If you bought 10 litres of fuel with the minimum discount you’d save 20p, and if you had the maximum discount you’d save £2.00.

Full disclosure: I have been given Tesco vouchers to use in-store so that I could try out the scheme for myself.

***OFFER UPDATE***

Some useful things that you might like to know:

• This scheme has been extended to 28th February, 2015.
• Over 6 million customers have used the scheme so far, with at least 10% saving the full 20p per litre.
• The total given away so far is equivalent to 399 million free miles.
• Tesco has launched Click and Collect at a range of holiday destinations around the UK, including Padstow, St Ives and Ilfracombe. Available to local residents and also to holidaymakers.