Airtime Rewards Review & Earning Guide

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3.8

Airtime Rewards Review

Airtime Rewards is a fantastic automatic cashback rewards scheme in the UK. Simply link your debit card(s), and your phone contract. When you use your card as normal, you earn cashback. This can then be used to reduce your monthly phone bill.

It sounds great, but is really as good as it sounds? Read on to find out in our complete Airtime Rewards review and guide below.

> Get a free £1.00 by using the Airtime Rewards promo code MBGGWDMT during sign-up <

What you need to know

  • Time: None, just link your debit card(s), shop as normal and earn cashback.
  • Earnings: Varies per vendor but typically between 2% and 10% of the total purchase as cashback.
  • Trust: Trustworthy, no issues found.
  • Payout Options: Directly pays your mobile phone bill.
  • Country Availability: UK

What is Airtime Rewards?

Airtime Rewards review header

Airtime Rewards is a unique automatic cashback app that enables you earn money off your phone bill just by shopping as usual. It’s been around since 2016 and is already used by a whopping 2 million people in the UK.

The best part of Airtime Rewards is that because the cashback is auto-linked to your card, you spend as usual online and in-store, and the cashback is automatically credited. So, there is no need to remember to go via a cashback link for example.

Because of the way it is set up, you can even double dip and get extra cashback on top. Read on to find out how to set this up.

Is Airtime Rewards Safe, Secure and Legit?

Yes, Airtime Rewards is 100% safe, legit and secure. In fact, Airtime Rewards is an official Visa and Mastercard Partner, which should give you peace of mind regarding the legitimacy of the rewards program.

On top of that, they are PCI Level 1 compliant, which is the highest level of security. And all of your details are stored according to very strict standards. You can read more on the security measures and compliance-related information from the Airtime Rewards security FAQ.  

Which Networks Does Airtime Rewards Work With?

Currently only UK mobile phone networks are eligible. If you are with any of the following mobile networks, you will be able to get cashback to reduce your monthly phone costs via Airtime Rewards:

  • EE
  • O2
  • Vodafone
  • Giff Gaff
  • Three

AirtimeRewards Eligible Mobile Phone Networks

Unfortunately, this means that if you are with Smarty, Vox, Tesco Mobile, Lebara, iD Mobile, Sky Mobile, Virgin Mobile, or any other UK network, you will not be able to use Airtime Rewards.

How Does Airtime Rewards Work?

Now, let’s look at how to use Airtime Rewards and how it works. You just sign up for free, and can even get a free £1 by using the promo code MBGGWDMT. You link your debit card and your phone contract, and then you just purchase things as normal. No need to go through any cashback links etc., it’s just auto-applied. Once you make purchases at specific retailers, you earn free cashback. This cashback can then be used to reduce your monthly mobile phone bill.

It’s that easy.

While simple, there are ways to maximize and even double or triple your cashback which we’ll look into later in the article.

Register for Airtime Rewards

Head over to Airtime Rewards and select to download the app from either Google Play or the Apple AppStore. Once the app is installed, it’s a simple matter of registering your details and linking it with your phone contract/phone number.

Remember to use the Airtime Rewards promo code/referral code MBGGWDMT to get £1.00 free cash added to your account. If you forget don’t worry, you can add it in later by going to “More” -> “Promo Codes” in the Airtime Rewards app.

Opportunity

  • Large selection of games.
  • Get paid to play (based on time).
  • High earning opportunity.
  • Relatively hands-off.

After you’ve registered, the very first thing you should do is link your debit card(s) to your account. You can either enter the card details in manually, or use the “Scan Card” button to take a photo and auto-populate the information in the app.

Airtime Rewards Link Debit Card
Linking your debit cards is quick, easy and secure.

It can take 24 hours for the debit card to be activated for cashback, so it makes sense to hold off for the first day before making any purchases.

Check Out the Cashback Offerings

By clicking on the Discover tab in the Airtime Rewards app, you can see a list of all vendors that are currently offering cashback. These change over time of course, but expect to see major stores such as Argos, Burger King, Boots, Halfords, etc. You also find a huge range of online retailers that offer cashback on purchases.

AirtimeRewards Cashback Example Burger King
Example cashback, 10% back when you use your card at Burger King.

As you can see above, once you click into a vendor you will see the percentage cashback that you can earn, whether it is for in-store or online (or both) purchases, along with the pending period.

The pending period is how long it will take until the funds are available. This is how all cashback sites work and is there to allow them to validate the purchase.

The actual cashback percentage will differ from store to store but is generally between 2% and 10%.

Use Your Debit Card as Normal

Now, this is the real beauty of Airtime Rewards. Once it’s set up you don’t need to ever think about it again! When you use your card as normal, cashback will be auto-applied to your rewards account in-app. You will then be able to see these transactions and how much cashback you will earn once it has cleared the pending period:

Airtime Rewards Pending Transactions
The transactions in-app keep you informed of how much cashback you’ve earned.

Remember, there is no benefit in “chasing” cashback. It only makes financial sense if you buy things you were going to buy already. That being said, if something is the same price in 2 shops, and one offers cashback but the other doesn’t then grab it from the one that offers the cashback.

One thing to note is that you must use your debit card directly. Airtime Rewards will not credit your cashback for any purchases made via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.

Keep Your Card Details up to Date

Remember to keep your card details up to date in the app. When your debit card expires and you get a new one, you’ll need to re-add it to the Airtime Rewards app. Similarly, if you change banks or start using a different debit card, make sure you add it. You can add up to 10 debit cards at any time, so you can even spread the earnings across a few cards.

Transfer Cashback Earnings to Your Phone Contract

As we say, this is the real unique point about Airtime Rewards. Once you’ve earned £10 in cashback with Airtime Rewards, which shouldn’t take too long, you can withdraw the cashback directly towards your mobile phone bill. This will of course mean that your monthly cost for your phone will be lower during any month that you request a cashback payout.

AirtimeRewards Redeem Airtime Phone Credit
You should be able to reach the £10 minimum withdrawal easily.

You’ll get a text message confirming that the amount will be deducted from your next phone bill. Typically you will see it in your phone bill transactions within 24 hours.

How to Double & Triple Your Airtime Rewards Cashback/Earnings

Double Dip With Other Cashback Providers

Now, this is where we can double dip on cashback. As mentioned, Airtime Rewards grants cashback at the point of using your debit card. What this means is that if you use another cashback site such as Quidco or Swagbucks, you can click through via their cashback links and get that cashback on top of what you’re earning from Airtime Rewards.

So, let’s say that Airtime Rewards offers 10% cashback on a certain site, you get that just by using your linked card. But if Quidco also gives you 10% by purchasing from the site after clicking their link, you will earn a whopping 20% cashback combined! So in this example, you’ll be getting 1/5th off the actual price.

A real boost to cashback that no one should overlook.

Triple Dip Cashback With Certain UK Banks

On top of double dipping with other cashback providers, you can actually triple dip on cashback depending on who your debit card is with. For example, Halifax offers a cashback perk where each month you can earn cashback from specific stores/sites. So, if there is a crossover with these vendors you can triple your cashback. Similarly, some digital banks like Chase give you 1% cashback on all purchases.

So just think about that for a second. For a single purchase, if you combine Airtime Rewards, a cashback site like Swagbucks, and your bank’s cashback offering you could potentially triple the cashback on a single purchase.

Airtime Rewards Cashback Review Summary: Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Works with most major UK mobile networks.
  • Hassle free auto-cashback.
  • Save on your phone bill.

Cons

  • UK only.
  • Can't withdraw as actual cash.
  • Not compatible with Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Airtime Rewards is a fantastic no hassle way to automatically earn cashback on purchases that you make with your debit card. The setup of linking your debit card and phone contract to the rewards app is staggeringly easy. Once linked, all you do is make purchases as normal and get cashback auto-applied to your account. No messing around with cashback links or anything like that.

There are a wide range of cashback providers and the cashback rates are very favourable, ranging from 1-2% to 10%. And by using our tips about on triple dipping on cashback you can boost these earning rates even higher.

Transferring this earned cashback to your mobile phone contract is an interesting selling point and will help reduce your monthly bills. But it does mean that you can’t withdraw Airtime Rewards cashback to your card or bank account, unfortunately. But still, because it is being taken off your phone contact it is effectively still money in your pocket.

It covers the major mobile networks such as EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and Giff Gaff. But if you are with Tesco Mobile or Smarty for example, you cannot earn cashback with Airtime Rewards as they have not signed up with the program yet.

The big takeaway is that you can triple up on cashback by combining Airtime Rewards, cashback sites such as Swagbucks and Quidco, and your bank’s own cashback scheme (if you are with Halifax or Chase for example).

All in all, Airtime Rewards is a great way to earn some extra cashback without any changes to how you usually spend. It’s free meaning it is an absolute must for those wishing to earn a bit of extra cash from cashback.

> Get a free £1.00 by using the Airtime Rewards promo code MBGGWDMT during sign-up <

Is Airtime Rewards Worth It?

In our opinion, yes Airtime Rewards is absolutely worth your time. It is incredibly easy to set-up, and once done you just spend as usual and watch the cashback roll in. If you want to get free cashback from your purchases and get an effective discount on your mobile phone bill then this is the rewards program for you.

It really is a no-brainer and you may as well use it to get back some of your hard earned (and hard spent!) cash.

Airtime Rewards FAQ

There’s always more to ask, so even though we’ve laid out the full Airtime Rewards review and guide above, we’ve packed some extra information into our FAQ.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with Apple Pay. In order for cashback to track, you must use the debit card itself, not via Apple Pay.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with Google Pay. In order for cashback to track, you must use the debit card itself, not via Google Pay on your phone.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with purchases made via PayPal. In order for cashback to track, you must use the debit card directly itself.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with Tesco Mobile. The only mobile networks that it works with are EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and GiffGaff.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with Sky Mobile. The only mobile networks that it works with are EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and GiffGaff.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with Virgin Mobile. The only mobile networks that it works with are EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and GiffGaff.

No, Airtime Rewards does not work with iD Mobile. The only mobile networks that it works with are EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and GiffGaff.

According to Airtime Rewards, yes your Airtime Rewards credits can expire if not claimed for 180 days.

Final Thoughts

Out of any of the earning opportunities we have on Earnologist, the Airtime Rewards cashback program is by far the most hands-off. Once you’ve activated it there is nothing else to do and it will tick over in the background, netting you free cashback for the purchases you normally make with your debit card.

It’s effectively free money and reduces your mobile phone bill, so there is literally no reason to not have it as part of your money-making routine!

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