Got Nectar Points? Here’s How to Double Their Value on a Family Day Out

If you shop at Sainsbury’s and have Nectar points sitting in your app, this one is worth reading because right now you can make them go twice as far when spending them on a family day out.

What’s the Deal?

Normally when you spend Nectar points in Sainsbury’s, one point is worth 0.5p. So 1,000 points gets you £5 off your shopping.

But right now, if you use your points towards tickets at Merlin attractions, one point is worth 1p instead. That means those same 1,000 points get you £10 off a day out. Double the value, just by spending them differently.

You need a minimum of 250 points to use this deal, which is normally worth £1.25 in store but gets you £2.50 off a Merlin ticket. There’s no maximum, so if you’ve been saving up for a while this could make a really big dent in the cost.

How to Do It

It’s really simple:

Open the Nectar app and search for Merlin. Tap “Spend points” and you’ll be taken to the Merlin website where you can pick your attraction and add tickets to your basket. When you get to your personal details, it will ask for your Nectar number and password to link the two accounts. Then you just tell it how many points you want to use and it comes off the total.

Which Attractions Can You Use It For?

This works across 20+ Merlin attractions including:

Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor and Thorpe Park for the big theme parks. Plus all the Sea Life Centres around the UK including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton and more. And other attractions like Cadbury World, the London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Warwick Castle, The Dungeons and The Gruffalo and Friends Clubhouse.

So whether you’re planning something big like Chessington or something a bit smaller and more manageable with little ones like Sea Life, it all counts.

Is It Worth It?

If you have a decent number of points saved up then yes. You need just under 3,000 points to cover a full entry ticket to somewhere like Alton Towers or Legoland, but even if you’ve only got a few hundred points it still takes something off the price.

It’s also worth knowing that there aren’t loads of strong theme park deals around at the moment, so doubling your Nectar points is one of the better options out there right now.

One More Thing Worth Knowing

The government has announced a temporary VAT cut on attractions from 25 June to 1 September, dropping from 20% down to 5%. Merlin has confirmed they’ll be passing this on to ticket prices and children’s meals. So if you’re planning a visit from late June onwards, it might be worth waiting until the new prices are in place before booking to make sure you’re getting the full saving.

How Long Have You Got?

The double points deal runs until Monday 14 September or until 100,000 redemptions have been made, whichever comes first. So worth acting on sooner rather than later if you’ve got the points ready to go.

If you’re a Tesco Clubcard person rather than Nectar, Tesco has a very similar ongoing deal with Merlin too so it’s worth checking that out as well.

Soph x