Limits or tesco on Cosmos and Virgin, don't panic buy

shudd1967

Copy & pasted from tesco website
Cosmos

From 1st September 2009, the maximum value of rewards tokens you can use on Cosmos and Cosmos Tourama holidays is £400 PER PASSENGER.

Virgin

From 1st September 2009, the maximum value of rewards tokens you can use on Virgin Holidays is £700 PER PASSENGER.


I have been pricing up a few holidays recently, since Saturday the prices have increased by 15% using my tesco rewards - thats ontop of the higher amount we are charged anyway. I worked out that by using my rewards they were worth just less than twice the value, nowhere near 4 times as suggested.

I would suggest people do not panic convert and get on and book an even more overpriced holiday, jsut convert to airmiles. Been doing quite a lot of research into it the last few days and I think we will all be better off going there and saving our rewards and converting them to airmiles.

russetred

Just to check my understanding...£700 pp for virgin is that £175 tesco vouchers before converting to reward tokens.

bullshot

shudd1967 wrote: »

Copy & pasted from tesco website
Cosmos

From 1st September 2009, the maximum value of rewards tokens you can use on Cosmos and Cosmos Tourama holidays is £400 PER PASSENGER.

Virgin

From 1st September 2009, the maximum value of rewards tokens you can use on Virgin Holidays is £700 PER PASSENGER.


I have been pricing up a few holidays recently, since Saturday the prices have increased by 15% using my tesco rewards - thats ontop of the higher amount we are charged anyway. I worked out that by using my rewards they were worth just less than twice the value, nowhere near 4 times as suggested.

I would suggest people do not panic convert and get on and book an even more overpriced holiday, jsut convert to airmiles. Been doing quite a lot of research into it the last few days and I think we will all be better off going there and saving our rewards and converting them to airmiles.

Couldn't agree with you more....I knew they cost more using deals vouchers as you have to pay the brochure price not the internet price...I was waiting for August vouchers to arrive to book...will take your advice and consider airmiles now...

shudd1967

Yes the £700 is converted rewards so yes £175 in points for Virgin and £100 for Cosmos.

It wouldn't of been so bad if they hadn't of hiked the prices up for us in this last month!

There is nothing on anything to say that they will be able to be used against internet priced bookings (as Excel used to do) so I am not expecting miracles!

Looking at airmiles now, we are less restricted on where we can go. i was thinking about Thailand but none of the accom with Cosmos and Virgin where what we were looking for, the airmiles gives me more flexability which is a real bonus. and I can collect them in other places, not just tesco.

payless

bang goes my LA/ vegas trip

payless

Not sure airmiles is really the way to go in many cases ( esp if you don't want to travel from london / longer haul)
Was pricing up Vegas
for 2 people with virgin I was getting figures around £2400 ( 2 people inc accom) , so £600 worth of points ( not got enough yet !)

£600 of pts ( at standard rate of 60 for £2.50 rate - I actually get 80 buts thats another story ) would buy me 14400 miles- not enough for 2 flights ( as 8000 each) let alone accomodation. So these BA flights - london - at 8000 miles cost £500 cash in case or £333 in tesco points each
But I could travel from regional airport for £415 cash anyway.

Might have to consider other spending options for points- although guess the short hual airmiles works out better ( but limited choice/ more expensive if regional)

shudd1967

Have a look at the package option on there. I've been told you can use the airmiles for the package holidays - on another forum somewhere I remember someone writing that it worked out good value. Im not sure how that bit works as i got prices up and then told a number to ring, so maybe you get told the conversion for airmiles there?

I was looking at thailand and Malaysia (not enough points yet) and although the flights looked expensive on paper (but better as direct), by booking the hotels through asia rooms and paying cash, the holiday worked out cheaper, i know I would of had to put cash towards it but would of anyway with Virgin.

MEMBER02

shudd1967 wrote: »

Have a look at the package option on there. I've been told you can use the airmiles for the package holidays - on another forum somewhere I remember someone writing that it worked out good value. Im not sure how that bit works as i got prices up and then told a number to ring, so maybe you get told the conversion for airmiles there?

I was looking at thailand and Malaysia (not enough points yet) and although the flights looked expensive on paper (but better as direct), by booking the hotels through asia rooms and paying cash, the holiday worked out cheaper, i know I would of had to put cash towards it but would of anyway with Virgin.

Been saving clubcard vouchers for about a year now and was going to go to florida next year,i think this is really unaceptable hiking prices and putting a limit on per person,its supposed to be 4x but this is slowly disapearing as tesco seems to be pushing the 2x deals in store more now:mad:

Gosia

I totally agree with all the above post.

I too was saving for a long haul holiday (somewhere in the distant future as there's only two of us collecing points) but looking at their brochures and even airmiles the deals don't actually seem at all good.

We frequently fly to South Africa but again even with Airmiles it works out about £350 points whereas a full price ticket (if we looked around for bargains) would normally cost us about £470 - so where is the saving in that? It's hardly worthwhile. The Airmiles points saved don't even double up!!!

TESCO please take note............

MEMBER02

Gosia wrote: »

I totally agree with all the above post.

I too was saving for a long haul holiday (somewhere in the distant future as there's only two of us collecing points) but looking at their brochures and even airmiles the deals don't actually seem at all good.

We frequently fly to South Africa but again even with Airmiles it works out about £350 points whereas a full price ticket (if we looked around for bargains) would normally cost us about £470 - so where is the saving in that? It's hardly worthwhile. The Airmiles points saved don't even double up!!!

TESCO please take note............

If all us clubcard points customers emailed or phoned tesco maybe just maybe they may take our comments on board,otherwise there is another 3 major supermarkets to shop at!!!!!!!

shudd1967

BUt is it Tesco who have placed the restrictions or Cosmos and Virgin? I have emailed to ask Tesco why etc and more to the point why such short notice - that was 3 days ago and no reply as yet.

I have a feeling that it maybe the patners after all they maybe suffering more than tesco - my undertsanding is that they pay half and tesco pay half of the 4 times. Now in this current climate, holidays are bound to take more of a back seat, so maybe Virgin and Cosmos can no longer afford to give such a high percentage away.

It still does not excuse that short notice, the fact it only went on the website yesterday and that the tour ops have loaded the prices ready for the rush until 1st sept. :mad: