Last Updated on 8 March 2026 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! One of the giants of supermarket loyalty is the Nectar card, which is the scheme run by the Sainsbury’s supermarket along with some of the other products below. So to our question – is a Nectar card really worth it? Our review below!
Quick Verdict on the Nectar Card
The Nectar Card is just ok in the supermarket loyalty hierarchy. The points sound a lot but actually correspond to a 0.5% earnings rate which is lower than the top rates. On the plus side, there’s plenty of ways you can earn points with partner brands.
What is a Nectar Card?
A Nectar Card is a standard spend and collect loyalty scheme where you’ll earn 1 point for every pound you spend in store, rounded up. Collecting points is pretty simple – just scan at the till in store or have it registered against your Sainsbury’s online account to collect points, and we’ve got a few bonus ways to collect points below.
It also gets you various “My Nectar Prices” which reduce the price you’ll pay on some items in store, and we’ll cover below. More so than the points, this is fast becoming what makes a Nectar Card essential over the rewards value.
How much is a Nectar Point worth?
Each Nectar Point has a cash value of 0.5p, which is actually lower than a number of rival supermarkets comparable schemes (the full list and reviews for each can be found on this page).
To put this in realistic terms, you’ll need to amass 500 Nectar points (which is a £500 spend) to see some money back, which whilst something, isn’t great as a return – but there’s a number of ways you accelerate the points earned to get better value.
Here’s a quick illustration of how points convert to cash values:
| Points Balance | Cash Value |
| 500 Points | £2.50 |
| 1,000 Points | £5.00 |
| 2,000 Points | £10.00 |
| 5,000 Points | £25.00 |
| 10,000 Points | £50.00 |
How can I earn more Nectar Points?
Note: You’ll really need the Nectar app to make these worthwhile – whilst the occasional paper voucher does exist, they’re increasingly a rarity.
Opt in to Weekly Nectar Point Offers
Each Monday the Nectar App will send you a collection of offers for specific products, nearly always Sainsbury’s own brand items.
However you need to opt in for these to apply – simply click the weekly offers button on the Nectar home page, which I’m showing in picture form below.
Once in this lists all offers available to you – but my approach is simply to just hit the “save all offers” button at the top, as it causes no real-world differences to selecting offers individually, which making sure you don’t miss anything.
The offers are valid for a week and if you buy that item you’ll earn a specific number of extra Nectar points. These used to be fairly generous but have got scaled back quite a bit to being in the 10-100 point range.
Still, they run frequently on fruit and veg and getting an extra 100 Nectar points for just stocking up on your greens is no bad thing!
What’s nice about these offers is that they’re tailored for you – they’re using your shopping history to target what you’ve bought. Given most people’s shopping doesn’t wildly vary, this means you’re quite likely to find something where you’ll actually cash in the offer.
And just occasionally, you’ll find a “3x/4x/5x when you spend £x” Nectar points on your whole shop offer which is well worth having!
It’s the opting in bit most people miss, so make sure you do! Personally whilst I have most notifications switched off on my phone, Sainsbury’s is an exception because you get a reminder notice about your offers being available to opt in for. When I see that, I just make a point to go in and accept all offers then and there.
An example of the offers screen can be found below:
Check the Nectar App after you’ve finished your shop to earn Bonus Points
After you’ve done a shop with your Nectar card you’ll get an instant notification that points have been added to your account – but there’s also random (and I’ve found actually fairly frequent) chance that you’ll get a virtual scratchcard which will offer you the chance to win extra points.
These are usually only between 5 and 30, but that’s still the equivalent of an extra £5-£30 worth of shopping to earn that so it’s not bad – especially when you do it every time.
I’ve done small shops and got a bonus offer, and big shops and not got one so I have no idea if there’s any logic to it or it’s purely a random system – but worth keeping your eyes open for.
Watch the printer by the till for Nectar coupons
Sometimes when you pay with Nectar you’ll get an extra offer via a small machine by the till printing out a coupon which usually contains an offer similar to the above. I don’t see this happen so often any more, but as these can tend to be of the 3x/4x/5x point bonus when shopping it’s worth keeping an eye out.
Earn Nectar points on fuel at Esso
If you’re stopping off at an Esso to fill up remember to swipe your Nectar card there, as you’ll get a point per litre of fuel. If you’re doing a big fill up, that’s instantly quite a few points!
(Also, work checking out Esso’s own loyalty app – we cover the best fuel loyalty in the UK here).
Link your Nectar Account to Argos
You can also link and earn 1 point per £1 at Argos and Habitat as well, as these brands are now part of the Sainsbury’s group. Just link your Nectar card in the “My Account” section on the Argos website, add at till or add in store.
What are My Nectar Prices?
My Nectar Prices are reduced prices on products bought in store, when you also scan a Nectar card. A lot of Supermarkets have started to do this to improve signups to their loyalty schemes.
I’d struggle to desribe this as a benefit, although it has made a card near essential.
The reason for this is that whilst occasionally My Nectar Prices represent offers (particularly those heavily featured in store) I’ve found quite a few to have a higher regular price than you’d find elsewhere, with the supposed discount effectively bringing it down to prices seen at other supermarkets. Sainsbury’s unfortunately seem particularly bad for this.
With these, the Nectar Price isn’t giving you anything, it’s just creating a higher price and tax for non card Nectar card holders.
On the plus side, it’s easy to manage – once you have your Nectar card, as soon as you scan it at the till the Nectar Prices will be applied to any eligible shopping.
We wouldn’t recommend buying something just because you see a Nectar Prices tab – do a quick comparison to other supermarkets on your phone first!
What is the best way to spend Nectar Points?
So ironically the best way to spend your Nectar points is not at Sainsbury’s (so long as you fly with BA occasionally – if you don’t just spend them in store)
Converting Nectar to Avios
It’s possible to link an Avios account to your card and convert your points to Avios (you can either do this automatically, or set to do it over time) and then spend these with British Airways or other partners.
The conversion rate between the two gives you 250 Avios points for every 400 Nectar points. Taking a relative conversion value, this works out at 0.8p per Avios (which is better than the effective value of using it on your shopping).
The Swap: 400 Nectar Points = 250 Avios.
The Value: £2 of Nectar Points becomes approx £2.50 of flight value. (Valuing an Avios at 1p, although it can be higher when used for business class flights.
However, you obviously need to use your Avios to make it worthwhile!
How do I sign up for a Nectar card?
You can sign up for a card at the Sainsbury’s website right here!
Or speak to a member of staff in store if you’d like to sign up there.
You can also sign up via the Nectar App as well.
(Regardless of your method of signing up, we’d really recommend getting the app as well – beyond it being key to some of the points maximisation tips we’ve included above, it also makes it very easy to collect your points!)
How do I spend Nectar Points in store?
If you’re shopping at a self-service till, after you select to “finish and pay” you’ll be asked for your payment method. Select Nectar, and then the about of points you’d like to use to pay.
You don’t have to cover your entire basket with points – you can use some points to reduce the cost and then pay in cash.
If at a physical checkout, just let the member of staff know you’d like to pay with points as you scan your card at the till.
If shopping online at the Sainsbury’s website, you’ll also see an option to pay with points as you check out.
Can I earn Nectar Points on fuel?
Yes, as well as at Esso Petrol stations you can also earn points at Sainsbury’s own fuel stations at a rate of 1 point per litre of fuel.
Is a Nectar Card worth it?
Nectar is just fine as a scheme for getting a little bit extra, but the earnings rate of 0.5p isn’t particularly strong relative to rival supermarkets.
Getting the My Nectar Prices does make a card essential as a Sainsbury’s shopper though, but shouldn’t be considered a benefit as often it’s simply avoiding what is effectively a non-member tax.
We do like the points are easy to earn, and there’s quite a bit of extra opportunities for bonus points as well. We also like how those bonus opportunities do track to items in your spending history so become quite easy to earn, rather than being just from you buying weird and wonderful things you’ve no interest in!
As such, if you are a Sainsbury’s shopper, we’d absolutely advocate carrying a Nectar card – but relative to other supermarkets, we don’t think the benefits are worth changing your shopping habits for.
Advantages
- Easy to collect points
- Can also get points at Argos, Habitat and Esso
- Vouchers for bonus points link into your shopping habits
- Good scheme linking into Avios
Disadvantages
- Core earnings rate isn’t great compared to other Supermarkets
- Need to remember to opt in to maximise benefits
- My Nectar Prices often not a real benefit
FAQ’s about Nectar Points
No, Nectar Points won’t expire unless you close down the scheme, but the value of a Nectar point can fluctuate if the value of the scheme changes.
You’ll need a minimum of 500 points at a £2.50 value to use them in store.
Yes, you can have a combined family Nectar card with up to 99 people! Slightly annoyingly you can’t do this yourself, but if you go to the Nectar help pages and contact the chat function they’ll be able to create a new single account for you combining any existing cards into one.
To note – remember if you are sharing a Nectar Card, anyone on the account can spend the points on it, and the first person to use an offer will be the one that gets it.
The easiest way to see how many points you have is in the app – if you open it up, your points total is the first thing that appears at the top of the screen, along with a minimum value that those points are worth.
If you don’t have the app, there’s a couple of alternatives. If you use your card in store when making a purchase, when you get your receipt it will tell you at the bottom how many points you have in total.
Alternatively, if you ask a member of the customer services team in store, they should be able to tell you how much is on the card.
Unfortunately not. Nectar used to run a scheme where you could cash in your points for double value for a short period, but this hasn’t now been seen for a few years and I suspect is gone for good.
How does Nectar compare to other Supermarket loyalty?
And if you’d like to read about other supermarket loyalty schemes, we’ve got a review of Tesco Clubcard here, a review of MyWaitrose here, a review of Asda Rewards here, a review of Morrisons More here and a guide to Lidl Plus here.
And do check out our guide to the best loyalty cards and apps in the UK!
Any questions?
If you’ve made any particularly great savings or have questions about the app please do let us know! You can use the comments form below to get in touch with us.
And that’s it!
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