Why is my digital Boots Advantage Card not working in store?

Like many retailers that have some kind of loyalty card, Boots now allows you to scan a digital version of your Advantage Card. The card is available in Boots’ own app or from your Apple/Google wallet, meaning you don’t have to carry the physical card around with you.

But, if you’ve had to change your Advantage Card for some reason, you may find that the digital version no longer works. We’ll explain why your digital Boots Advantage Card is not working and how to fix it.

Boots Advantage Card: two cards to rule them all

For some reason, to allow digital scanning of the card to take place, Boots now allocates you two card numbers – a physical one and a digital one.

You can check your card numbers in the Boots app by clicking More > Advantage Card > Manage Advantage Card.

Alternatively, when signed into the Boots.com website you can go into My account > manage my Advantage Card.

Boots Advantage Card: how to replace it

If you need to replace your Advantage Card, log into the website and head to the manage my Advantage Card section. Next to the card you can click on Report lost or stolen. Oddly, you can do this against your digital card, which doesn’t make much sense.

Once you have selected the reason for replacing your physical card, a new digital Advantage Card may be created and added to your account. However you won’t, by default, get a new physical one – when you next head into a store you’ll need to pick one up from there. You’ll then need to head to the Manage my Advantage Card section of your account again to add this card to your account.

Boots Advantage Card: why does it no longer work in store?

Despite all of the above, Boots can’t find a way to get your new virtual card number to update in the app, which you have to do manually.

To check if this is the case, head into More > Advantage Card > Manage Advantage Card. This will launch the Boots website and take you to a page that will display your two card numbers – your physical and digital cards. Note these down.

Now, head back into the app and select the My Card tab. This shows an electronic representation of your card.

The following show the flow of the above on an iPhone:

Does the card number match any of those you noted down? If not, the card number in the app is still your old one and you’ll need to do the following:

1. Head back into More > Advantage Card
2. At the top of the screen is the card number that it’s using and, underneath, an option to Remove from your app – click this

3. You will be prompted for your new card number and date of birth

If you have a physical card then this is the one that will be used.

Boots Advantage Card: I’m still having problems!

If you’re still experiencing difficulty then you can find ways to get in touch with Boots from the Contact Us page. It has two choices for Advantage Cards – email or use a virtual assistant.

There is also mention of an email address (Boots.CustomerCare_Team@boots.co.uk) but when I tried that it just sent an automated reply with a few generic suggestions and said, if those didn’t work, to use one of the other contact methods.

Like many companies these days, Boots is not particularly forthcoming with a phone number, but you can get assistance by ringing 0345 070 8090. Option 4 is for Advantage Card queries.