Canadians hoarding $16B worth of unused loyalty points

[GirlySports]

Do you have unused points? Do you know you have unused points?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loya...ards-1.4129867

The Mississauga, Ont.-based marketing agency surveyed 9,299 Canadians online in January and February. It found that 55 per cent of collectors don't even know how many points they have, and 41 per cent are unaware of the value of their points.
On top of that, one-quarter of loyalty members have never redeemed any of their points for rewards.

[Kybosh]

We're all just saving up until our avocados are free and not just 20 cents off.

[Amethyst]

My issue with loyalty points is that so many places have their own programs, all with different rules, different methods, etc. It's a pain to remember and keep track of things. The pet store has a policy where you buy X number of bags of dog food and get a free one and I use that but only because they keep track with my phone number when I shop there. I'm sure I am part of many loyalty programs with various stores that I have no idea about.

I do have Air Miles and I use it regularly. I don't know how many points I have at the moment, but I check from time to time and use them towards flights and car rentals. I use them often enough that the expiry scandal didn't affect me, as I didn't have any miles set to expire.

[Mazrim]

I feel like Air Miles is a black hole for me. It feels like I'll never get anything useful out of it. Otherwise, I've felt like other ones have been okay. I've gotten a few $20 redemptions from PC Plus, and Esso Extra points I'll use on car washes (their best bang for your buck) or transfer them to Visa points.

The article mentions not hoarding the points because things can change, but Visa thankfully has not really changed anything on their travel rewards schedule in a long time.

[Regular_John]

Did the Air Miles program personally kick CBC's dog or something? It's amazing how many versions of this "The program is bad for consumers" articles they put out in a year.

[calgarygeologist]

I like the Amex Member Rewards program. $1 per 100 points redemption on any travel booked using the Amex card (flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, etc) and you earn 1.5 per dollar spent. It is pretty much equivalent to a 1.5% cash back card but the Platinum card comes with other useful benefits.

[Amethyst]

I think one of the problems for Air Miles is that it's so well known, most people have got a number at some point in their lives. But if you don't shop at the stores that are in the program, it's pointless. I buy groceries at Safeway, gas at Shell, and have an air miles credit card. These are all things I would buy / use anyway, so might as well get a little something from it.

As for how much "reward" you earn per dollar spent, it's not worth my time to figure all that a out. No reward program is going to make me rich and I use the air miles "rewards" so it's good enough for me.

[schooner]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I think one of the problems for Air Miles is that it's so well known, most people have got a number at some point in their lives. But if you don't shop at the stores that are in the program, it's pointless. I buy groceries at Safeway, gas at Shell, and have an air miles credit card. These are all things I would buy / use anyway, so might as well get a little something from it.

As for how much "reward" you earn per dollar spent, it's not worth my time to figure all that a out. No reward program is going to make me rich and I use the air miles "rewards" so it's good enough for me.

I wont get into too much detail, but I work for a company that issues air miles and I have crunched the numbers. If you only compare dollar for dollar, an air miles credit card against the market, it will come up short. However, if you are a somewhat dedicated collector, often shop at various air miles retailers, using your air miles credit card, and take advantage of promotions (for example spend 100 get a 100 at safeway or various promos run by bmo mastercard or amex) you will come out ahead.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by schooner

I wont get into too much detail, but I work for a company that issues air miles and I have crunched the numbers. If you only compare dollar for dollar, an air miles credit card against the market, it will come up short. However, if you are a somewhat dedicated collector, often shop at various air miles retailers, using your air miles credit card, and take advantage of promotions (for example spend 100 get a 100 at safeway or various promos run by bmo mastercard or amex) you will come out ahead.

From what I remember, one of the best situations for Airmiles was for folks who filled prescriptions at Safeway. They had some crazy bonus offers and for folks with insurance it was basically free miles. My significant others parents participated in this with prescriptions and earned around 6 or 8 flights per year for free because they had several hundred dollars worth of medication per month. I think Safeway stopped giving away miles at the pharmacy last year sometime.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by schooner

I wont get into too much detail, but I work for a company that issues air miles and I have crunched the numbers. If you only compare dollar for dollar, an air miles credit card against the market, it will come up short. However, if you are a somewhat dedicated collector, often shop at various air miles retailers, using your air miles credit card, and take advantage of promotions (for example spend 100 get a 100 at safeway or various promos run by bmo mastercard or amex) you will come out ahead.

Sounds like a good deal for me then. Things like, say, toilet paper, often have an air miles deal attached and that's something you can buy and store forever, so I always get it when there's a deal attached. Just last night, I was picking up a 6 pack of wine bottles. Deciding between two similar ones I like, the one had a bonus air miles promotion, so I chose that one.

The pharmacy option was great. They give you 7x your miles and I don't pay for my prescriptions, so it's even better. I know there was talk awhile ago about banning that practice, then it got overturned. I'm not sure if it has since stopped or not, because I haven't picked up prescriptions in awhile. My friend used to buy her elderly parents' many prescriptions and she got a ton of air miles that way!