Three shoppers who traded in points for big rewards
Are you a little skeptical as to what your shopping loyalty actually earns you? Not sure if those repeated swipes are actually adding up to anything substantial? Here are three shoppers who traded in their long-accumulated points for a big-time reward.
Michael Bennett, 44, multimedia marketing consultant, Guelph, Ont. Loyalty program: TD Canada Trust Points
Michael Bennett had done his homework; he researched his credit card points offers.
“My previous experience with another program proved it was often difficult to get flights at reasonable fares,” says Bennett. So he opted for the TD Rewards Visa card, with which he began collecting points two years ago. “It offered the most flexibility for use as a straight dollar value towards travel,” he says. Meanwhile Bennett’s girlfriend also had the same card — with a different account — so they could both collect points.
Bennett collected points for a special trip they wouldn’t normally take, which ended up being Walt Disney World in Florida.
“We gave each other an IOU for the trip for our birthdays a year ago, started planning it and decided to make it extra spe- cial by using our TD Points,” Bennett says.
And special it was: The couple spent two nights at the Walt Disney Port Orleans Riverside Resort on Bennett’s points after flying down on his girlfriend’s points. In addition they spent the day at the Magic Kingdom and a day at Epcot Centre during the International Food and Wine festival. The trip was such a success the two are now planning the next one.
“I’d like to save enough and do a weekend in Paris,” says Bennett. “Something lavish and off the wall.”
Jessica Hayton, 42, daycare provider, Toronto Loyalty program: Shoppers Drug Mart’s Optimum program
“I had a lot of points that I’d been collecting for awhile — maybe two or three years — and I started looking in Shoppers to see if there were something big we could get with it rather than piddley little items,” says Hayton.
At the time, Hayton, her husband Jason and son Kieran were in the market for a new videogame system for their home — namely, the PlayStation 3 (PS3). “We had a PS2 at the time so we all really wanted the new one,” says Hayton.
Once Hayton had eyed the videogame system, she began to strategically shop so that she could build her points balance.
“I probably tended to overspend on other stuff to make up the points,” she says. “So I’d go in and maybe only intend to spend say $50. But they had a deal that day that if you spent $75 for example, you’d get that many more points. So I ended up spending the extra money.”
And now, the family is happy with its PS3 purchase because of its multiple uses — it acts as a DVD player, for example, and Kieran likes to play FIFA Soccer and hockey on it.
Daniel Spasic, 31, business development representative, Burlington, Ont. Loyalty program: Aeroplan Loyalty Program
In a former position, Daniel Spasic worked as an environmental consultant, a position that required him to travel often to test soil samples, groundwater and more.
“And often I was travelling using Air Canada, so I gained points from my flights,” says Spasic. “And so the administration staff would take my credit card information and book a flight for me, but then I’d accumulate the points.”
While he gathered multiple points, Spasic also made extra efforts to frequent businesses with points offerings: He would rent from Aeroplan points-friendly car rental firms and pump gas and buy groceries at places where he could log points.
And they were points that came in handy last year, a year that saw Spasic get married and buy a house, which meant funds were limited for honeymoon travel.
“So we redeemed the points to go
“It was nice to be able to offset a lot of those costs via the points that had accumulated over the course of easily two years.” DANIEL SPASIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE
on our honeymoon in Australia after our wedding,” says Spasic. “It was nice to be able to offset a lot of those costs via the points that had accumulated over the course of easily two years.”
And the couple took a honeymoon of a lifetime, setting off for more than a month starting in Australia where Spasic’s wife, Biljana, had family she hadn’t even met before.
“And I don’t know when else we would have been able to take time off to do that because we’re both so busy,” says Spasic. “We flew Toronto to Melbourne and then up to Cairns and then to Japan. So the flights from Toronto to Melbourne and Japan to Toronto were covered by points, so two-thirds of the trip.”
Now the couple is saving up for another yet-to-be determined trip.
“So we just kind of save and check our account balance,” he says, “and think about what we can spend them on.”