Want money off your mobile phone bill just for shopping?
Using Airtime Rewards really is that simple and I can report that so far it has paid off the cost of several months’ worth of my mobile phone bill.
What’s great about this simple app is that once you have created your account and connected your bank card that you use regularly to shop, that’s it!
You don’t need to do anything else, apart from log in to redeem your rewards to pay towards your mobile phone bill. It takes minutes to get set up and seconds to redeem your rewards.
I’ve earned over £100 off my mobile phone bill since I started using the app.
The app claims that most users earn enough to claim £10 off their mobile phone bill per month – although I haven’t found it’s close to that much it has certainly been a nice way to save money.
If you want to know more about Airtime Rewards and whether it is worth your time then read on!
This post contains affiliate links.
Quick verdict on Airtime Rewards
The Airtime Rewards app is one of the lowest maintenance cashback apps because you don’t have to click a link to benefit from cashback.
Once your bank card is linked to your account, simply spend with partnered brands and you’ll earn money off your phone bill.
I’ve found it easy to use and have made over £100 off my phone bill in the last 18 months – it’s well worth having.
You can also boost the amount you make with Airtime Rewards by using Airtime Ignite, which allows the app to monitor your bank transactions.
My promo code: LFCKUQGY (get an extra £1 when you spend within 7 days)
What is Airtime Rewards?
Airtime Rewards is a cashback app that rewards you for spending with participating shops and brands by giving you money off your mobile phone bill.
So the key difference here between Airtime Rewards and cashback sites such as Top Cashback is that the money is ring fenced for your mobile bill only.
Once you have enough money to cash out it is applied directly to your mobile phone account, which you link up when creating your account.
In order to use Airtime Rewards you download the app and connect at least one debit or credit card to your account.
Once that card is linked Airtime Rewards automatically tracks your purchases with partner retailers – such as Boots, Greggs and Hello Fresh – and gives you rewards for every transaction.
When setting up your account you also provide Airtime Rewards with your mobile network and mobile number, so that you can get money off your bill when it’s time to cash out your rewards balance!
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Is Airtime Rewards legit?
Wondering if Airtime Rewards is secure? The answer is yes. This is a UK based company that is officially partnered with Visa and MasterCard.
The company is PCI Level 1 compliant – which is given to companies that process over 6 million card transactions per year and is only given if merchants meet level 1 requirements to minimise risk.
The company was founded in 2015 and now boasts over 1.7million members who have collectively saved over £9million on their mobile bills.
Airtime Rewards was promoted to me by my mobile network O2 via the app, so I think it’s reassuring that this firm is well established, UK based and partnered with the major networks, as well as hundreds of big retail brands.
Airtime Rewards networks list
This is the mobile phone networks that are signed up to Airtime Rewards:
- EE
- Three
- O2
- GiffGaff
- Vodafone
- Lebara Mobile
- Lycamobile
- Now PAYG
If your network is not listed here you won’t be able to withdraw your balance.
However a way to get around this is to link up a family member’s mobile phone details to your account, so that can benefit from the cashback rewards.
How much can you earn with Airtime Rewards?
Participating retailers offer between 1% and 10% cashback on your purchases with Airtime Rewards. It depends, and you will need to check via the app to see which are the highest paying partners.
I have earned over £110 off my mobile phone bill in 18 months year with Airtime Rewards.
I’m not a big shopper and have not gone out of my way to buy items from affiliated brands with Airtime Rewards. I simply set up my account and then just got on with my normal spending habits.
Airtime Rewards claims people can bring their monthly mobile phone bill down to zero, which I can see is a legit claim IF your bill is quite low (less than £20 a month) and you spend a lot with partners of the scheme.
As with any other cashback scheme I think it’s important not to spend on products because of the cashback. You’re only saving money if you would have made the purchase anyway.
Boost your Airtime Rewards value with Ignite
You can earn additional rewards using Ignite in the Airtime Rewards app.
You’ll need to connect your bank account to the Airtime Rewards app so they can track your spending. They won’t have access to your money but will have access to your data.
Transactions that earn rewards through Ignite get approved quicker, according to Airtime Rewards.
How to use Airtime Rewards
Download Airtime Rewards
Start by getting the app on your phone.
Verify your phone number
When you open the app for the first time it will ask you to enter your mobile phone. You will then be sent a pin number and you will need to enter this into the app to verify your mobile number.
Select your mobile network
The app will ask what network your phone is with and whether you are on a pay monthly or pay as you go account type.
Link your cards
Now it’s time to add one or more credit or debit cards. Your cards will become active 24 hours after you have linked them.
Spend
Shop with participating retailers.
The app has the latest retailers and allows you to browse the list by category of shop – for example menswear, womenswear, beauty, pets, entertainment, sports and fitness, children’s and luxury.
It’s also well worth following Airtime Rewards on Facebook as the company occasionally has special one-time offers to boost your balance such as the one below.
Redeem rewards
You can redeem your balance in increments of £10 up to a value of £30 a time.
In order to do this head to the app and check your balance. You can choose to redeem as much or as little as you want – so for example if your balance is £35 you could just redeem £10 or take £30.
This money will then be applied directly to your mobile phone bill after 24 hours.
What shops are on Airtime Rewards?
New retailers are added to the app every month and some do leave as well so keep an eye on the changes. You can keep in the loop by enabling push notifications on the app.
For example Asda was a popular Airtime Rewards partner however it is no longer signed up to the scheme.
Airtime Rewards also keeps customers updated on new retailers via its Facebook page which is worth following for this latest information as well as extra offers.
These are some of the retailers signed up to Airtime Rewards to give you an idea of the variety involved (please note this is subject to change and new retailers may arrive and existing ones exit the scheme over time):
Clothing
- New Look
- Boohoo
- Bicester Village
- Wallis
- Clarks
- Deichmann
- Ann Summers
- debenhams.com
- Oasis
- Coast
- Foot Locker
- Fat Face
- JoJo Maman Bebe
Home
- Paperchase
- Argos
- Wilko
- Currys
- Carpetright
- Harvey Nichols
- Silentnight
Children’s
- shopDisney
- Mamas & Papas
- Kidly
Gifts
- Bloom & Wild
- Waterstones
- Groupon
- NotOnTheHighStreet
- WHSmith
Entertainment
- 365games
- Maplin
- Music Magpie
- Go Ape
- Sport and fitness
- Foot Locker
- Decathlon
Food & Drink
- Greggs
- Hello Fresh
- Papa John’s
- Wagamama
- ASK Italian
- Chiquito
- BrewDog
- Mindful Chef
- Laithwaites
Beauty
- Boots
- The Body Shop
- Feelunique
- Clinique
- Holland & Barrett
Travel
- Halfords
- Thomas Cook
- Heathrow Express
- Megabus
- National Express
How long does it take to get paid with Airtime Rewards
Your purchases may take between 35days and 90 days to show up in your balance.
In order to find out how long the pending period is for each retailer you can check the details in the app.
Once you tap to redeem your balance this will be applied to your mobile account after 24 hours.
Can I use Apple Pay or Google Pay with Airtime Rewards?
Some retailers will allow you to use Apple Pay or Google Pay to earn Airtime Rewards, however others will not.
You need to check via the app whether retailers participate in this payment type.
Because of this you may find it easier to favour using your linked debit or credit card if you are ever unsure.
How to make the most of Airtime Rewards
Follow these tips to make the most of using Airtime Rewards:
Airtime Rewards promo code
If you sign up to Airtime Rewards using my promo code you can earn yourself a £1 bonus if you spend with a retail partner within seven days of joining.
My Airtime Rewards promo code is: LFCKUQGY
In order to use this promo to earn extra rewards enter it when you are setting up your account on the Airtime Rewards app.
Double your cashback
You can increase what you get out of your purchases by using other cashback sites as well!
If you shop online via one of the big online cashback sites, for example Top Cashback then you will earn money back on your purchase through that as well as your Airtime Rewards.
Please note this is at the retailer’s discretion so you should always consider be aware your cashback is not guaranteed but it’s always worth a go.
You can also scan your receipts from your purchases with the Shoppix app to get more cashback.
Share and Earn bonuses
If you have enjoyed using Airtime Rewards then you can be rewarded for recommending it to a friend!
Airtime Rewards will give you 50p when your friend joins, using your referral code, and then another £1 if your friend spends within seven days.
Keep an eye out for challenges
You can boost your rewards on occasion with special offers and challenges.
For example for June 2022 Airtime Rewards has said I can earn a £1 bonus if I make two purchases worth £5 or more at participating retailers.
These challenges appear in the app.
Follow Airtime Rewards on social media
Special codes sometimes appear on Airtime Rewards’ social media accounts.
This is generally once a month, but there are sometimes extra ones, for example around the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
These codes generally give you £2 bonus if you spend £10 on a participating retailer within a small time frame.
They are only available on a first-come, first-served basis and get snapped up fast.
Airtime Rewards redemptions says “inactive account”
What if you go to redeem your Airtime Rewards balance and see that it says “inactive account” next to your redemptions.
This happened to me because I had not accessed my Airtime Rewards account for six months. I had set it all up, then totally forgotten about it.
Fortunately I emailed Airtime Rewards support and they got it all sorted for me within three weeks and I could access my full balance again.
But let this be a lesson to you to check in on your Airtime Rewards balance regularly and make sure you are redeeming your balance.
You have to manually apply your balance to your phone bill, the app won’t do this for you!
The good news is if this has happened to you your purchases are still being tracked.
So just email Airtime Rewards support and remember to keep accessing the app regularly to withdraw your balance and keep your account active.
Airtime Rewards review
I’ve found Airtime Rewards extremely simple to use and definitely worth having.
It has earned me £40 off my mobile phone bill so far, and all I had to do was spend 10 minutes setting up an account.
The big positive for me is the fact it’s all automated. I’m not having to remember to scan a loyalty card, my spending is tracked through my card.
My one big warning to people is to keep logging into the app to redeem your rewards, because if you don’t your account will become deactivated in six months of no usage.
You can get your rewards balance back, as I have outlined above, however it’s hassle you can avoid by checking in with the app from time to time.
I recommend you try to remember to check the balance in your app once a month.
You should also check in with the app regularly to see whether new retailers have joined and existing retailers you used regularly have departed. This does change regularly and it’s on you to keep an eye on the changes.
