East Coast Rewards discussion

[SaveECRewards]

You're not using nectar at all? You're the only one missing out there

I don't think the current 0.5% at Sainsbury's is worth bothering with. I don't like carrying more than necessary and an extra card in my pocket that's so worthless is just extra clutter. The data they collect is valuable to them, so they need to give me something useful in return if they want me to make it easy for them.

As my typical spend at Sainsbury's is a £3 meal deal at lunch (1.5p in Nectar points) or maybe some beer/wine in the evening (maybe 10-20p in Nectar points) it just doesn't seem worth it at all.

I tend to shop based on convenience/location and whether they have what I want. I still bother with the Tesco card as the return is better, and I can transfer it to airline miles if I so choose. It's quite possible Tesco will see the Nectar changes as a green light to devalue their own scheme, in that case that card would go too.

As for those who still think Nectar is better than nothing. I still like to point out that they're better off buying tickets for other operators on a FirstGroup website as then they get points on everything.

Due to the 10x bonus on fuel I may have reconsidered using the card for that purpose if I was driving. As I like to say, VTEC picked a scheme that rewards driving!

 

[Tetchytyke]

So are Sainsburys when they sell your phone number, address, DOB, email etc to any company that will buy it along with your opinions

They do that anyway the second you sign up for Nectar.

If Sainsbury's want to monetise the fact that my favourite sandwich is the Ham Hock and that I don't like the Conservative Party they can crack on.
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As for those who still think Nectar is better than nothing. I still like to point out that they're better off buying tickets for other operators on a FirstGroup website as then they get points on everything.

And if you go through Quidco you get 1% cashback on top of Nectar.

 

[DarloRich]

As for those who still think Nectar is better than nothing. I still like to point out that they're better off buying tickets for other operators on a FirstGroup website as then they get points on everything

That is what i do - except for VTEC only travel as their website offers a discount. I did book ALL rail travel through EC but have now stopped

And if you go through Quidco you get 1% cashback on top of Nectar.

What is Quidco?

 

[Tetchytyke]

What is Quidco?

Quidco is a cashback website; if you click through them first they pay their referrer fee to you as cashback. They make their money by charging you a fiver a year to be a member.

http://www.quidco.com/first-transpennine-express

East Midlands Trains are also on Quidco, and they currently offer 3.5% cashback on EMT tickets and 2% on non-EMT tickets.

If you're not bothered about cashback, this forum also has a referrer link with First TPE (and I've been known to use that once or twice): http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=97141

 

[SaveECRewards]

The Quidco link was something I was aware of but never really investigated. I believe each FirstGroup TOC has slightly different cashback, so I'll look at that.

The EMT one I wasn't aware of. 2% back on non-EMT tickets may appeal more to people who don't like Nectar.

Ok some might say that EMT are Stagecoach too. But the main purpose is to show that Nectar is not an incentive to book all your tickets with the site, particularly when you get nothing for most. If EMT are offering an incentive then it should be mentioned.

I'll probably put up a page next week with ticket buying options.

I'll put a link to it here when done so any errors can be spotted.

 

[CockneySparrow]

I have move to Quidco since since January but still not seem any cashback, it tracks and sits at pending and that is as far as it gets, bear in mind the first £5 a year of earnings Quidco get its looking a waste of time at the moment unless you either spend alot or use the other offers excessively

You can have an option where you don't pay the £5 but the cashback percentage is less

Its worth noting that the cashback percentages change on a regular basis

 

[Tetchytyke]

It takes months for the cash back to come through, but it does eventually do so. I've been using Quidco for years, made about £500 off them. It's not much but better than nowt.

 

[SaveECRewards]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll mention Quidco but mention it may take a while to get the cashback.

So it depends on each individual whether it's worth it.

 

[Mojo]

Quidco stopped charging the £5 membership fee over two years ago. There is still the option to pay £5 pa for a "premium membership."

For most things, Topcashback offers a higher rate of cashback than Quidco, although for the next 11 Hr, East Midlands Quidco are offering the best rate for general tickets, at 2%, or 3.5% for East Midlands tickets. Transpennine tickets are 4.77% at Topcashback though.

Always compare the cashback sites before buying. In addition to the fact that Topcashback offers higher rates for the overwhelming majority of things I buy (they are very good however for insurance/credit cards/financial services), I think Topcashback is a far superior website as they offer 5% payout bonus and allow you to withdraw your cashback on a variety of voucher schemes, including as Clubcard points! Quidco only allows withdrawals as Paypal, Bacs or Amazon (2% bonus).

And a final plug, if anyone isn't a Topcashback or Quidco customer, then ask a friend who is to refer you, as there are reward schemes. I'd be more than happy to get a PM from someone who wants a referral link

 

[me123]

Interestingly, I used my Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account when I bought some recent tickets. I got the grand total of 68 miles for a FC advance return ABD-EDI (=2 miles/£1). Only 515 similar trips and I can get a return trip to New York for £247.96. Tempting.

Sounds poor. But, by comparison to the Virgin Atlantic Little Red flights, it's particularly poor. If you take the super off peak return to London from Edinburgh (e.g.), you're looking at £134.20 (=268 points). Meanwhile, flying with Virgin Atlantic to Heathrow and back bags you a whopping 2000 miles, and tier points. (Although it's worth pointing out that the flights will be withdrawn in September).

The other problem with Flying Club is that you, sadly, can't redeem miles on the trains at the moment (although that may change when the domestic flights from Scotland-London cease, and Virgin will be trying to keep their newly acquired members in the Virgin brand).

 

[SaveECRewards]

The other problem with Flying Club is that you, sadly, can't redeem miles on the trains at the moment (although that may change when the domestic flights from Scotland-London cease, and Virgin will be trying to keep their newly acquired members in the Virgin brand).

I hope that will happen, at the moment their Flying Club partnership is just a small number of points based on cash outlay, nothing spectacular.

One of my first suggestions to David Horne if they're unwilling to make rewards return was to make VTEC a full VS (Virgin Atlantic) partner. Treat every VTEC train trip the same as a flight, earning normal rates of miles (I think the little red 2000 miles was promotional, but based on BA I'd say 500 miles as a minimum for Scotland/Newcastle-London, shorter trips could earn fewer miles but still more than now) and allow redemptions.

They should also earn tier points and give advantages such as lounge access if you reach a certain level.

If they did this then I'd be happy when they tweet #VirginFamily but at the moment you can't even earn crappy Nectar points on VT (WC) trains booked on the VTEC site.

 

[me123]

They should also earn tier points and give advantages such as lounge access if you reach a certain level.

The problem with tier points is that a regular rail traveller would very quickly become a Gold member, which would entitle them to quite a lot at the airport with very minimal outlay at the moment (e.g. Clubhouse access, excess baggage etc). They'd need to redesign the tier system from scratch.

As it stands, the Little Red flights alone have made me a huge number of points, which is a real shame because I'm going to be stuck with them come September! So I'm really hoping VTEC will let me spend them.

 

[SaveECRewards]

The problem with tier points is that a regular rail traveller would very quickly become a Gold member, which would entitle them to quite a lot at the airport with very minimal outlay at the moment (e.g. Clubhouse access, excess baggage etc). They'd need to redesign the tier system from scratch.

As it stands, the Little Red flights alone have made me a huge number of points, which is a real shame because I'm going to be stuck with them come September! So I'm really hoping VTEC will let me spend them.

If they did give tier points I think it would have to be the same level as Little Red is currently and only for journeys over a certain length (basically those routes where flying would be a viable option).

Then again the more that I think about it Little Red didn't really fit into the current tier system that well either and did make it a relatively easy route to gold.

I need to think this through more...
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Might as well update. The petition hit 1000 on Saturday, very close to midnight.



I'm glad to say I still enjoy travelling VTEC. Had an excellent crew on Friday. Way back on Sunday decided to try Grand Central for the first time. Being £20 cheaper in 1st class helped too If anyone's interested I could do a comparison between them.

What may interest some is we also now have comparison charts showing how much someone can earn if they 'fully embrace' Nectar (i.e. switch to Sainsbury's, BP, Amex and other Nectar partners). Even if they switched to these partners all but the lowest rail spender would still have significantly less to spend on tickets.

 

[CockneySparrow]

Quidco stopped charging the £5 membership fee over two years ago. There is still the option to pay £5 pa for a "premium membership."

For most things, Topcashback offers a higher rate of cashback than Quidco, although for the next 11 Hr, East Midlands Quidco are offering the best rate for general tickets, at 2%, or 3.5% for East Midlands tickets. Transpennine tickets are 4.77% at Topcashback though.

Always compare the cashback sites before buying. In addition to the fact that Topcashback offers higher rates for the overwhelming majority of things I buy (they are very good however for insurance/credit cards/financial services), I think Topcashback is a far superior website as they offer 5% payout bonus and allow you to withdraw your cashback on a variety of voucher schemes, including as Clubcard points! Quidco only allows withdrawals as Paypal, Bacs or Amazon (2% bonus).

And a final plug, if anyone isn't a Topcashback or Quidco customer, then ask a friend who is to refer you, as there are reward schemes. I'd be more than happy to get a PM from someone who wants a referral link

If you are a premium member of Quidco you get higher rates of cash back than what you would if you wasn't, so all in all they still charge for membership, perhaps a political tactic to please a policy

 

[ASharpe]

The East Coast Rewards scheme had a mention on You and Your's on Radio 4 today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vffp4
Go to 13:19 for the EC bit.

Unfortunately the expert they had on did't realise that the rewards scheme was for the website, not east coast trains.

 

[SaveECRewards]

The latest insulting Nectar offer - limited period only until 7 June.

If you buy a VTEC Standard Anytime ticket (i.e. expensive) you will earn 50 Nectar bonus points.

50 Nectar points is 25p! (Nectar are halfpenny points)

Read more: http://saveecrewards.co.uk/blog/an-insult-of-a-promotional-offer

50 East Coast Rewards points on the other hand would have been a nice gift for someone booking a standard anytime. It could get them lounge access or a days WiFi pass.

If that's not a reason to sign our petition to get back a scheme that actually rewards people then nothing is!

25p for a ticket over £200 is an insult!