For those who don't know what a 3V card is see the BA Tesco thread or Raffles blog: http://www.headforpoints.com/2013/08...-surprisingly/

I'm finding it difficult to find 3V cards now and when I do the store gets cleared out very quickly of them presumably by other FT/HFP readers.

3V cards are virtual Visa cards, there's no fee to purchase them, but you don't get a physical Visa card, just a number and the security details are emailed to you when you register.

Tesco also does another type of Visa gift card which is more plentiful in supply. These include a physical Visa card in the packaging but there's also a fee attached to them. The £25 card costs £2.95 (on top of face value) and the £50 card costs £3.95.

Now as Tesco is giving out 'Helping Hand' coupons for £5 off when you spend £50 or more you can use these coupons to wipe out the fee. You get 150 Clubcard points (360 Avios) per £50 of gift cards, plus points on whatever you spend on your credit card.

As you need to buy in multiples of £50 I think the £50 cards are decent value with a £3.95 fee, but not the £25 cards as buying two of them would cost £5.90 in fees.

Even if you have no helping hand coupons these cards still may be worth it (if there's no 3V available, they'll always be better) depending how much you value an Avios.

£50 card = £53.95 incl fees. 150 Clubcard Points = 360 Avios.

e.g. bmi Plus Amex cardholders (2.5 miles per pound, convertible 1:1 for Avios):
132.5 miles earned on card spend (MBNA seems to allow fractions of miles to be carried forward)

Total: 492.5 Avios

BA Amex PP (2 Avios per pound):
106 miles earned on card spend.

Total: 466 Avios

PS I think it's always a good idea to buy something in the store when going for gift cards even if it's just something small like a packet of Jaffa Cakes, if their analysis shows that people who buy gift cards also buy other items they're more likely to keep promotions like this running. Also when I've transferred 3V to NS&I savings accounts I keep the money in NS&I until I need to withdraw it rather than taking it out ASAP, if everyone withdraws their NS&I cash as soon as it clears I can see NS&I blocking 3V cards.