Whether we’re calling them loyalty, rewards, or points programmes, one thing’s for sure: points add up. Collected properly, and redeemed in time, they can be a valuable addition to your financial plan.
In Australia, you’ll find a few different kinds of reward points, and a few different ways to collect them. Here are a few we think are worth knowing about:
Sometimes called air miles, or frequent flyer miles, you can collect points through travelling, or through linked points programmes, which are often run by credit cards, letting you collect points when you spend.
If you’re using your points in a regular way, you’ll want to sign up to a programme (or two) and try to stick with that airline. If you want to learn more about using airpoints, there are a lot of resources available online to help you. Points hacking often involves taking out multiple credit cards to maximise the available points offerings- which can be a dangerous business if your self control isn’t completely ironclad.
Find out more about using airpoints
Virgin’s Velocity Frequent Flyer Program is free to join, and is partnered with Singapore Airlines KrisWorld, making it easier for you to collect points within the network.
Qantas’s Frequent Flyer Membership has a joining fee, but also runs offers that waive this, so it’s worth searching for an offer before signing up.
As the name implies, these schemes let you collect points when you buy something. Joining up to programmes like flybuys or Woolworths Rewards is a no-brainer. They’re free and you’ll probably collect points without much change to your shopping habits.
When you join flybuys, you’ll be able to collect points at stores like Coles, Target, Liquorland and Kmart, and from services and utilities providers like AGL, Medibank and NAB. As the name suggests, originally the rewards were all travel-based, and while you can still redeem points for flights, you can also opt for appliances, gift cards, money off your supermarket shop, or even to donate points to charities.
You can also link your Velocity Frequent Flyer account to your flybuys account and transfer flybuys points into Velocity points.
As the name implies, Woolworths Rewards is the rewards program of Australia’s other supermarket giant. You can collect points by shopping at Woolworths, BWS and Caltex and the points can be redeemed against your shopping. Each time your balance hits 2,000 points, you’ll be able to save $10 next time you shop.
If you’re collecting Qantas points, you can also link your accounts and opt to convert your Woolworths rewards points into Qantas points.
So you’ve got your supermarket shopping and your travel sorted, now it’s time to collect on the other stuff you’ll buy throughout the year. Think gifts, clothes, skincare, suitcases, even larger appliances. That’s where store clubs come in. Myer offers a program called Myer One which lets you collect points when you shop in the store or online, as well as giving you special offers and access to shopping events throughout and year.
Once you’re signed up and you’ve started collecting, it’s simple to get the most from your points. The main thing is to keep collecting. Link your points account wherever you can, don’t forget about household accounts like your utilities, and phone accounts, and keep an eye out for special offers and bonus times, which can see you collect double or triple the points.
Some points programs, especially air points, may have an expiry date, or a time limit on their points. Don’t let your hard-earned points go to waste! When you link your eligible reward point accounts to your Moneytree app, you’ll get an alert before they expire, giving you time to use them. Maybe you’ll stock up on a few Christmas presents, or plan ahead and book a weekend away. Whatever you choose, treat your points right and enjoy the freebies.
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