Flybuys is one of the largest loyalty programs in Australia, with over 10 million members. While operated by Coles, the program allows you to earn points at other retailers such as Liquorland, First Choice Liquor, Coles Express, Target and Kmart.
The program provides a basic earnings level, but also takes it up a notch with promotions, and it is always worth keeping a lookout for those
This post is an introductory look at maximising your points earning in flybuys, with general commentary. In a separate post I highlight some interesting general offers that are around, particularly from Coles.
Earning flybuys points
Earn at the register
The first way to earn in the program, is to simply scan your card at the register when shopping at a participating merchant. For most people, this will be Coles, but other companies within the Wesfarmers group participate in the program. The basic earn rate for these retailers is:
- Coles, Kmart and Target: 1 Point per Dollar
- Liquorland and First Choice Liquor: 1 Point per Dollar
- Coles Express: 1 point per 2 Dollars
In addition, there are some program partners that offer points. These include Budget and Coles Insurance.
Promotional Earn
Coles offers a number of bonus point promotions. It distributes these through mutliple channels, such as through email, the postal service, or through dockets. For the most part, you have to take some action in order to receive the points. This could be by activating the offer (in the case of emai offers), or presenting a coupon in other cases.
In store offers
From time to time, when walking the aisles, yoy can see certain products that offer flybuys points if you purchase them. While these do exist, they are typically only on a small number of products. In many cases, they are offering points in place of a discount on the product.
Docket Deals
If you look at the dockets you receive after paying in Coles, you may notice a Docket Deal, offering additional points. In my experience, these come out once a week (usually Wednesdays), and you will receive it on the docket of your first shop after they come out.
Generally, they take two forms. The first is a fixed number of points for spending a certain amount in a transaction. For example, the may offer 500 points for a $50 spend.
The ther offer, and one which seems more common recently, is to offer double or triple points on a shop of your choice. Basically, you scan the docket at the register during the shop of your choice.
Mail Offers
Coles typically send out a small booklet of offers every three months. These offers consist of both weekly offers, and some product specific offers. In order to take advantage of these offers, you need to present the coupon while shopping.
Email Offers
Each week, Coles sends out a range of offers by email. Some of these appear targetted to your shopping behaviour, while others can have little obvious relevance to your past shopping. Usually, they will be trying to either increase your spend, or get you to try new products.
These offers will normally require some sort of activation. Once activated, you simply need to meet the requirements of the offer – there are no coupons to produce in store.
On the plus side, these offers are normally visible in your flybuys account online. It is always worth checking what may be in your online account – I have sometimes found offers that I would not otherwise have known about.
Summing Up
While scanning at the register gets you started with flybuys, in order to maximise points there are two main things to remember:
- The biggset points earning opportunities come from bonus offers. But keep in mind, Coles are trying to influence your behaviour, and get you to spend more
- The program does not allow you to set and forget. You do need to stay at least a little engaged with the program to maximise your earn
[Updates: Content split from general promotions page]