Since they began five years ago, flight discounts offered through supermarket membership clubs have become hugely popular.

But the advent of low-fare airlines and increased overall domestic competition, have raised the question: is it worth the hassle collecting stamps or redeeming points rather than booking a flight directly with a discount airline?

Superquinn and Tesco are the main players in membership club offers but Ryanair's current sale flights are giving them a good run for their money.

Supermarket clubs allow customers to gain points or coupons each time they shop. These points are usually redeemed for money-off vouchers, gifts or flights. But each chain operates differently.

SuperClub is Superquinn's membership club. Members build up points when they buy items in Superquinn outlets, or at any of the 21 SuperClub retail partners. These include Atlantic Homecare, Champion Sports and Executive Travel.

One pound usually equals one point, although some of the retail partners may offer fewer points per purchase. Points are added to members' accounts through their membership numbers, provided on bar-coded wallet- and keychain-size cards.

In addition to points gained through pounds spent, 300 different supermarket products are marked with bonus points each week. Some retail partners offer double-point days.

Special promotions run on a regular basis. "Currently, if you spend £40 every week for six weeks, you get a 2,000 point bonus," says SuperClub manager Ms Lorraine Ryan.

Points may be exchanged for gifts listed in the SuperClub catalogue, which include discounted flights.

All discounted flights are available when members redeem 1,000 points for a travel voucher. Points may be used at any time and do not expire. Flights are available to 47 destinations worldwide through carriers British Airways, SAS, Iberia and British Midland.

However, there are no flight destinations within Australia and Asia.

Each flight comes with free travel insurance. For trips to the US this is worth approximately £35, says Ms Ryan.

During the current promotion, travel is available between October 1st and March 31st, 1999.

Points may be transferred to other SuperClub members or used to purchase tickets for non-members. Stays must exceed six days and include a Saturday. Prices quoted are for a single return ticket.

Tesco Ireland offers membership in its Clubcard scheme to all shoppers. Cards may be picked up in any Tesco store. The card is swiped at the checkout counter to register points, which are converted to vouchers every quarter.

Clubcard's Flight Break promotion is an additional bonus for members, as they do not have to redeem Clubcard points. Instead, shoppers receive a flight break stamp every time they spend £10 in Tesco. When members collect 30-50 coupons, worth £300 to £500, they send the completed coupon card in for Clubcard travel certificates. Flight Breaks are offered to 41 destinations through partner airlines Aer Lingus and KLM. Flights originate from Dublin, Cork or Shannon. If travelling to destinations not serviced directly by Aer Lingus, passengers must connect to KLM at Amsterdam. A flight to San Francisco from Dublin must first fly to Amsterdam. Tesco does not offer free travel insurance. However, many credit card companies provide this free of charge to customers when they book a holiday on their credit card.

Flights are available for travel between November 1st and March 25th, 1999. Flights may be used for non-members if initially registered in their name. There are no restrictions on length of stay, but weekend travel is more expensive than midweek. On weekends, an additional £30 to £192 is added to the fare, depending on destination.

Each travel certificate comes with discount vouchers for accommodation, car hire and duty-free shops.

Clubcard members may purchase specially themed hotel/event packages to 12 destinations in Europe. For example, "Theatrical London," for £279, includes two nights in a three-star hotel and tickets to a West End show. Air fare is additional.

Tesco offers discount return flights for two people travelling together.

Ryanair's current sale flights are less expensive than those offered by supermarkets, but tickets must be booked by next Tuesday. However, airport destinations can be a drawback. Flights to London land at Stansted and Luton rather than Heathrow Airport.

Ryanair only serves destinations in Europe. Discounts are offered on onward connections from London. For £33.98 return, passengers may fly to destinations in Italy, Sweden and Norway. Travel during the sale is allowed between September 22nd and December 16th.

Availability should not be a problem according to spokesperson, Ms Ethel Power. "Seventy per cent of our seats are available at the two lowest fares throughout the year."

On the face of it, Ryanair offers the best price. Drawbacks include fewer destinations, alternative airports and limited in-flight service.

While it appears that Tesco has the best deal with only £300£500 spending required versus Superquinn's possible £1,000, the latter has more opportunity to gain points through bonuses, promotions and retail partners. This reduces the actual amount spent by the customer.

Tesco's prices are better during the week, but increase at the weekend. Superquinn offers free flight insurance on all destinations. On balance, the best bargains are to be found when customers match their needs to the particular promotion.