Waffles for Christmas?
Loyalty points spending reaches a peak during the festive season, writes Rob Stock.
Nowhere is the spirit of Christmas more evident than in how Kiwis spend their rewards points in December.
Perhaps as much as half the Fly Buys points redeemed at Christmas are spent on Christmas gifts, including gift cards.
And judging by the list of desires expressed by Fly Buys members (see below), a safe use of points would be to buy a waffle maker, or a sandwich press.
Supermarket gift cards and vouchers are Fly Buys’ most purchased item, suggesting Christmas dinner is often paid for with points too.
Hamish Mitchell from Fly Buys said: ’’There’s a reasonably even mix of people who use their points for gifts, and those who use their points to make Christmas more affordable.’’
New World gift cards and vouchers are the most popular reward bought in November and December with Fly Buys points, Mitchell said.
‘‘It is four times bigger than any other item.’’
With Fly Buys and Westpac’s Hotpoints, if you haven’t ordered your physical merchandise yet, then you’ve missed the deadline, though there are still a couple of days to go before the December 14 deadline guaranteeing the arrival of gift cards and vouchers.
At Westpac, Christmas is a mad time.
‘‘December is higher than other months for hotpoints, with volumes of redemptions 50 per cent higher than an average month,’’ says spokeswoman Hilary Marett.
‘‘At its peak in December, one hotpoints redemption will be made every minute.’’
The most common kind of gift is to convert points into gift cards.
Department stores are a popular choice including Farmers
At its peak in December , one Hotpoints redemption will be made every minute
and David Jones, said Marett, as well as Target for Australian friends and relatives.
Like Fly Buys, Westpac has developed a ‘‘points and pay’’ option where people can part-pay in points, and make up the rest with their own money.
ASB says it gets a December spike in its True Rewards dollars being spent.
Fly Buys lets people gift their points to any other member of the scheme. ASB lets its True Rewards customers gift their points to other scheme members too.
Some members even top up their kiwisaver account, though that is only possible for people with their KiwiSaver at BNZ.
ASB lets people donate their True Rewards dollars to the Breast Cancer Foundation, St John, StarShip Foundation, Surf Life Saving, Canteen or the SPCA.
FLY BUYS’ MEMBERS CHRISTMAS WISHES
The rewards scheme polled its members on which of its 4000 rewards they’d most like, and 56,065 responded.
Men: For those in their 20s and 30s, a screwdriver and bit set topped their wish list, but a hair grooming system was close behind. A toasted sandwichmaker ranked in the top three for men in their 20s, 30s and 40s. For chaps in their 40s and 50s, movie tickets were number one. Men in their 70s wanted magazine
subscriptions, while men aged over 80 wanted fortified spirits most. Members aged under 20 desired a utility knife, or a USB drive.
Women: A waffle maker topped the list of desires for women in their 20s and 30s, and was ranked second by women in their 40s. There was a strong kitchen theme for women in their 20s and 30s, with hand mixers, bowls and measuring cups ranked in their top three desires. Women in their 70s and 80s liked magazine subscriptions, naming NZ Gardener and New Zealand Woman’s Weekly as their choice of publications. For women members under the age of 20, iphones, instant photo cameras and hair straighteners are the most desired items.