Earning your points strategically
Seven secrets to using your loyalty cards well
You know you can score yourself a new Keurig coffeemaker. Or pump a round or two of free gas. Or earn your way toward a free dinner. And while these rewards are great. . . wouldn’t you like to know what else you can earn every time you buy strategically at a store? Is there anything else you can do with your loyalty card?
Read on. 1. Donate to disaster relief. Many points programs have the option to donate your points or miles to a selection of charities. But some programs, such as Shoppers Drug Mart’s Optimum program, let you donate to disaster relief efforts that arise.
“When the Calgary floods happened in 2013, we partnered with various charities and allowed our customers to donate their points to help those local Calgary charities,” says David Harrington, vice-president, business analytics at Optimum. “We had about 28 million points donated which is about $50,000 from our customers which Shoppers was able to match.”
2. Trade your points. With PetroCanada’s Petro-Points program, Ontario residents can not only purchase a CAA basic membership, but can trade points in for another loyalty program. “You can also convert your Petro-Points into CAA dollars to use travel or insurance or your membership with CAA,” says Marc Goodman, the Mississauga-based PetroPoints director of loyalty. “With the program, 1,000 Petro points equals one CAA dollar.” Or combine your programs for extra points: If you have a Hudson’s Bay Rewards card, you can register to earn 20 per cent more Petro-Points when you spend at a Petro station.
3. Save on admission. Not only can you earn rewards, but programs such as Air Miles also offer discounts on admissions to parks, theatre tickets and more — show your Air Miles card at the CN Tower, for example, and score 15 per cent off a general admission ticket or take 15 per cent off a Legoland admission.
4. Play to earn points. With Cineplex’s Scene Points program, which you can typically redeem for free movies, dinners out and more, there’s an easy way to earn points without shopping for anything. After downloading the Time Play app, theatre goers can play trivia games before their film begins and compete with other players in the theatre. The prizes include — among others — Scene points.
5. Save for a car. At TD Bank, if you have a TD Drivers Rewards Visa Card, you can put your points toward. . . a new car! Using that card, you can earn one point for every $1 you spend and you can use your accumulated points toward buying or leasing a new or used car.
Better yet, if you have a young driv- er in your family who needs a credit card, this card can help them work toward getting their first set of wheels.
6. Earn points with smarts. Savers of PC Plus points through the Loblaws/No Frills chain of stores know that they can redeem points for bags full of groceries. But did you know its loyalty program is a smart program? “The more a customer uses it, the better the program will be at offering points on items the customer likes the most,” says Uwe Stueckmann, Loblaws’ senior vice-president of marketing. Customers are able to download increasingly tailored points-worthy items the more they use it.
7. Transfer or share your points. Got a kid going to university and could use some help with miles or points for groceries? Many programs including Shoppers Optimum, Air Miles, Aeroplan and more let users transfer or share their points to family members.