How To Get a Nectar Card

The Nectar card is a free loyalty card that lets you collect points when you shop. Most people use it at Sainsbury’s or Argos. Still, you can also earn and spend points with other Nectar partners, like Esso on fuel, British Airways through Nectar to Avios, and the American Express Nectar Credit Card.

With a Nectar card, you collect points as you spend, then use those points to get money off later. It’s free to join and quick to use. Like most supermarket loyalty schemes now, you’ll need it to access Nectar Prices and other member-only offers.

500 Nectar points are generally worth £2.50 off, which adds up over time, offering a low-fuss way to save money. According to Sainsbury’s Annual Report 2025, shoppers saved over £2 billion through Nectar Prices in 2024/25. Those savings came from lower member-only prices on everyday items and personalised offers in the Nectar app.

How to get a Nectar card

Getting a Nectar card is straightforward. You can sign up for free in just a few minutes.You can register in three main ways:

On the Nectar website

This is the most straightforward option if you’re signing up from a desktop. You complete the form online and receive access to your digital card once your account has been activated.

In the Nectar app

The Nectar app is usually the quickest way to get started. Download the app, create an account, and you can use your digital card almost immediately. The app also lets you access personalised offers and check your points balance straight away.

Sainsbury’s Nectar card

You can also register while creating or using a Sainsbury’s online shopping account. This links your Nectar account to your grocery orders from the start.

Once you’ve signed up, you can use a digital card in the app or request a physical card if you prefer.

What’s better, a physical Nectar card or the app?

Most people always have their phone on hand, so using the Nectar app has become more popular, but you can still request a physical card if you prefer. Both work the same way at checkout, but they offer slightly different benefits.

What are personalised offers?

Personalised offers appear in the Nectar app and are tailored to what you usually buy.

Examples of offers you might see here include:

• Extra points on certain groceries
• 500 bonus points when you buy 6 bottles of wine
• 150 extra points on health and beauty products
• Double points on selected household items this weekend

When you scan your card in a store or shop online while logged in, you’ll receive the extra points automatically. The types of offers rotate regularly, so make sure you’re consistently checking the app to stay on top of what's available.

How much can you save with a Nectar card?

Your savings depend less on the earning rate and more on how often you use bonus offers. Many of the extra savings come from recurring deals that appear throughout the year. These rotate regularly, so the people who check the app before shopping tend to get more value.

Examples of recurring offers:

Spend and get bonus points

These are common at Sainsbury’s and often look like:

• Spend £50, get 300 bonus points
• Spend £60, get 500 bonus points

These usually run for a week at a time and come back regularly.

Wine and drinks promotions

Sainsbury’s frequently runs extra-point promotions on wine and selected drinks, especially around seasonal events like Christmas or Valentine's Day. These can offer promotions such as double points or a fixed bonus and tend to appear several times a year.

Esso fuel offers and bonuses

At Esso petrol stations, you can earn points when you fill up and shop, and sometimes there are extra rewards just for using the Esso app. For example, new users can get 1,000 bonus Nectar points on their first fill when they add their Nectar details and pay with the Esso app. There have also been milestone bonuses such as extra points on 2nd, 4th, and 6th fuel fills when paying through the app. You can even spend points at Esso by swapping 300 points for 5p off per litre of fuel, which can save you money on fuel costs straight away.

Most offers have short windows, so checking the Nectar app before you shop makes the most significant difference.

Earning Nectar points

When you use a Nectar card to make savings, those savings don’t just come from spending points. You build your balance first by collecting points when you shop.

At Sainsbury’s, you usually earn 1 point for every £1 you spend, although certain products and promotions offer bonus points. Argos purchases also earn points when your Nectar account is linked.

To put that into context, if you spend £80 a week at Sainsbury’s, you would collect around 80 points per week. Over a year, that adds up to roughly 4,160 points.

That figure can increase if you use bonus point deals and personalised offers in the Nectar app. For example, a “spend £60, get 300 bonus points" offer adds £1.50, while 500 bonus points is worth £2.50. Pick up a few of these across the year, and you could add another 1,000 to 2,000 points to your balance, worth an extra £5 to £10 on top of your regular earnings.

Where can you earn Nectar points?

As well as Sainsbury’s, a common question people ask is “Where else can I spend my Nectar card points?" because it is not just one shop.

Argos Nectar points

Argos is a popular place to spend Nectar points because it sells higher-value items like electronics, toys, furniture and home appliances. Points work the same way as they do at Sainsbury’s, with 500 points usually worth £2.50 off at checkout. The difference is what you’re buying. At Sainsbury’s, points often take a few pounds off a weekly shop. At Argos, they go towards larger one-off purchases, so the saving feels more noticeable. Many shoppers also choose Argos because you can collect and spend points both online and in-store, making it easy to use your balance when you need to make a bigger purchase.

For example, if you buy a coffee machine for £120 at Argos and have 4,000 Nectar points, you get £20 off.

Your total would drop from £120 to £100 after applying your points.

Since you can stack your discount codes with Nectar points, if Argos is also running a 10 percent discount and you apply that first, the price would fall to £108. You could then use your £20 worth of Nectar points, bringing the final total down to £88.

Before you buy, it is worth checking for other available discounts:

• Argos discount codes
• Home and Garden deals

Points have the same value at both Argos and Sainsbury’s, but they often make more impact on bigger purchases, which are commonly made at Argos.

Convert Nectar points to Avios

If you collect Avios, you can turn Nectar points into travel rewards. All you’ll need to do is link your Nectar account with your British Airways Executive Club account before you can transfer points. The standard conversion rate is:

400 Nectar points = 250 Avios

You can also convert the other way: 400 Avios = 400 Nectar points.

You manage conversions through your Nectar or British Airways account. Turn 400 points at a time, and the transfer from Nectar to Avios is usually instant.

Why converting makes sense

Converting to Avios can work out if you already use Avios for flights or upgrades, and you know how to redeem them for good value.

A simple example: if you have 8,000 Nectar points, converting them would give you 5,000 Avios. That might be enough to reduce the cost of a flight or seat upgrade if you’re close to a reward threshold.

Using Avios for travel

Once you have Avios, you can use them for flights, upgrades, hotels, car rentals and more through British Airways and its partners. For example, Avios can help reduce the cash cost of a seat or cover part of the taxes on a reward flight.

Because the conversion works both ways, you can also move Avios back into Nectar if your plans change, giving you flexibility between travel and everyday savings.

You can collect Nectar points in more places than just Sainsbury’s, British Airways and Argos. Some of the most popular include:

For most people, it is. It is free, and it gives you money off later for shopping you were going to do anyway. The main reason people miss out is that they forget to scan their card, or they never use their points.

You also get access to Nectar Prices, member-only discounts that can make a noticeable difference in your shop. According to Nectar, shoppers using the Nectar app and Nectar Prices could save over £450 in a year through a combination of personalised pricing and regular discounted prices compared with standard Sainsbury’s prices.

If you shop at Sainsbury’s Nectar or Argos Nectar, or any of the other Nectar partners, it is usually more than worth having when looking at all the benefits.