My wallet is always bursting at the seams….but not with too much cash. Nope, it’s jam packed full of loyalty cards to earn rewards points, for everything from hotel chains to juice bars! Points and rewards schemes don’t need to be confined to airline programs such as Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity – it’s quite amazing what you can accumulate just for swiping your card doing what you do in the course of your week. If you’re a points beginner, we’ve summarised some of the best rewards points programs to get you started – simply click on the links to join!
FlyBuys
Collect rewards points to convert into shopping vouchers or buy goods from the online flybuys store. Extra points are up for grabs from coupons that get mailed to you and some lucky ducks have super special offers emailed to them too! You can collect points when shopping at Wesfarmers owned stores (like Coles and Kmart), buying petrol at Shell Coles Express and taking out certain insurances and credit cards.
EveryDay Rewards
When you shop at Woolies, BWS and Caltex Woolworths, you’ll earn shopping dollars that can be taken off your future supermarket bills. Your card will also store those handy 4c per litre off petrol offers so you don’t have to worry about those daft receipts that end up torn or lost. You can also convert your rewards points to Qantas Frequent Flyer.
MyerOne
If you like a handbag as much as I do, you need some MyerOne in your life. There are often Double Rewards points offers to help fast-track you to your next Myer gift voucher.
Priceline
Their ‘Sister Club’ let’s you earn rewards points and that are converted to vouchers. You’ll also bag a gift on your birthday and some exclusive discounts.
The Coffee Club
Look you’d be hard pushed to get me away from my local café, but for a $25 a year membership fee, you can buy one get one free hot drink every day, 10% off all food and other drinks from Monday to Wednesday, plus a free drink when you sign up and on your birthday. Assuming you get your morning coffee with the other half 5 days a week x 52 week a year, that’s about a $1000 a year saving right there on your flat white (yes, that is how much you spend on coffee every year!).
Boost Juice Vibe
For every 10 juices you buy, you get the 11th juice free. You also get a free juice on your birthday and exclusive offers throughout the year (you can currently enter their competition to win a Bitcoin!).
Events Cinemas Cinebuzz
See 6 movies, get one free – nuff said!
Village Cinemas
These guys also do sweet movie deals – every dollar you spend on tickets and the candy bar earns you 10 rewards points. So it takes no time at all to accrue enough points to get free popcorn and more.
SuperCheap Auto
Membership costs a one off $5, but you get $10 store credit instantly, plus other discounts and will receive free warranties on purchases, which is great for tools, car batteries, etc.
Accor
This is one of the highest value chains for earning and redemption and has a great worldwide geographical spread, with 213 hotels in Australia alone.
The Entertainment App
Remember that huge book full of discount vouchers that you had to lug around everywhere and would mostly always forget? Well no more! The Entertainment Book is now fully digital and with the app sitting on your phone, you’re able to pinpoint offers in your location any time. Better still there are new offers coming online frequently. Membership costs $65 a year – you can save that back ten-fold, and the rest.
Finally, if you have a birthday coming up, be sure to claim your free lunch from one of the following outlets:
Nandos – Gives you a whole meal on your birthday plus perks as you collect points. You have to pick up a card in store then activate online.
Subway – Free lunch on your birthday plus the latest offers and deals.
Sumo Salad – Free salad on your birthday, $5 off your next salad when you join, earn points to get free salads.
San Churro – Free churros on your birthday, get every 5th hot drink free, plus other offers.
Red Rooster – A free meal on your birthday, a $5 voucher when you register and other rewards.
Spudbar – Gives you a free spud on your birthday, plus every 11th spud is free.
Starbucks – Welcome offers, freebies and a free birthday drink.
Noodle Box – $10 for noodles on your birthday, 10% of whatever you spend is turned into noodle dollars to convert to meals.
If you’d like to know what else is out there, be sure to check out the following blogs:
www.pointhacks.com.au/guides/using-points-basics/
www.thethriftyissue.com.au/complete-list-australian-vip-discount-reward-clubs/
www.iflyflat.com.au/blog/
I’m sure you’ll agree that every wallet should have an ‘entourage’ of cards! Many of the above schemes are also available as a mobile app too. Just be sure you’re not increasing your living expenses to take advantage of these deals!