One of the most fiddly tasks when collecting loyalty points across multiple programs is remembering all of the various logins and passwords. Then there’s having to remember all of the different expiry dates.
There’s one scheme that I find particularly tricky. And that’s Tesco Clubcard. Not the points, but the vouchers.
Tesco Clubcard vouchers expire two years after they were earned. The issue is that you then have multiple vouchers all with different expiry dates.
And so I promptly forgot.
Until I received the following email from AwardWallet last Sunday:
It seemed I had three vouchers totalling £75 that were due to expire. Sure enough when I opened the app and scrolled down.
I would’ve almost certainly forgotten about these vouchers, losing out on £225 of Uber credit/18,000 Avios/18,750 Virgin miles in the process.
Luckily, the email alert meant I was able to log-in to my Clubcard account and reset the expiry date on my vouchers. More on that shortly.
What is AwardWallet?
AwardWallet is a US-based company that has been in business since 2004 and is currently tracking over 120 billion miles and points across 672 programs.
It also allows you to store your travel itineraries and will alert you to any changes to your flights as well as sending you check-in reminders once online check-in is available.
Here are some of the loyalty currencies that AwardWallet supports:
- British Airways – Avios
- Virgin Atlantic – Flying Club miles
- Boots – Advantage
- Hilton Honors
- Tesco Clubcard vouchers – this is particularly useful for preventing fraudulent use of vouchers.
- Costa
- Marriott Rewards
- House of Fraser – Recognition
- Marks and Spencer – Sparks
- Nectar
You can see a full list of supported programs here.
Should you use it?
I use AwardWallet daily and it takes no more than a couple of minutes to open the app and refresh the balances in the 31 active accounts I currently keep tabs on.
It would take me far too much time to check each of these accounts individually each day.
If you’re not like me and don’t feel a burning need to check your points balances every day, AwardWallet will log into all of your accounts once a week and send you an email with notifications of any changes.
Is it a free service?
There are two versions of AwardWallet membership: AwardWallet Free and AwardWallet Plus.
The free version is, well, free and the Plus version costs $30 per year.
These are the key differences between the two types of membership:
(Click to enlarge)
Free six months of AwardWallet Plus!
Using the code below, Tricks of the Trade readers can receive six months of free AwardWallet Plus membership when creating a new account.
1.) Register for AwardWallet using this link
2.) Fill out the various fields and click ‘Continue’
3.) You’ll then see the following page. Use coupon code xexectricksofthetrade
4.) Click submit and you’re done.
On logging in, your account should reflect a free six months of Award Wallet Plus membership.
Note: This coupon code cannot usually be applied once your account is active so please make sure to input the code during the registration process.
How safe is AwardWallet?
There will be those who are concerned by the security implications of allowing AwardWallet to handle all of your logins and passwords.
Personally, I am comfortable with that risk and with the high levels of encryption they use. However, if you are still perturbed by this you can choose to store your passwords locally on your device. This does mean that you can only access AwardWallet services on that device though.
Oh, and here’s the trick I used to reset the expiry date on my Clubcard vouchers
I didn’t have a pressing need to convert my Tesco Clubcard vouchers to any particular partner (although you may want to do so before the 10th June!).
So I made the smallest possible purchase I could find on the Clubcard website. In this case, I used 50p of Clubcard vouchers which converted to £1.50 of Uber credit.
On the payment page, I simply selected an expiring voucher to pay. If you have any change from your purchase, it’s credited back to your Clubcard account on your next statement with a new two-year expiry date.
I repeated this trick for all three expiring vouchers.
The end result: £4.50 of Uber credit and £73.50 heading back to my Clubcard account with a fresh two-year expiry date.
Verdict
AwardWallet is the only practical way for me to keep on top of the changes to the many programs I use. It also has the added benefit of remembering all the log in details so that I don’t have to.
By being able to easily update all of my balances within the app each day I’m also more likely to notice any fraudulent uses of my points far earlier than if I was checking them manually.
All in all, this is a service I am more than happy to pay for.