Aldi commercial - Pointless Points

[lovetravellingoz]

6 years of shopping at Woollies is probably about one SQ suite’s worth more than shopping at Aldi


... and there’s >$1k in Amex fees too?

Well as one gains 5% or more off on your spend that is a good heads start.

Then if you "walk" the promo deals one earns several % minimum back as well on average in equivalent point earn.

And in my case I know when the two nearest Woolies do their daily markdowns and so overall my shop is cheaper than at Aldis even without the 5% and points.

Lastly I have 2 WOWS a lot closer than my nearest Aldis.

So I save time, save $$, earn points and have a lot more product choice.

Or maybe what’s more relevant in terms of the use to me (because it’s quite possible you’re getting that Amex for free and I can’t); it’d cost me a minimum of nearly $2k in Amex fees.

Perhaps you need to look at all of their cards?

ie

Edge and Explorer - you can travel credit back which are the cost of the card.

Over the last couple of months I have joined Amex twice for the Westpac issued Black Amex. Fee free and with bonus sign-on points.

etc[

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Don't forget that by linking your Velocity account to your flybuys, you will receive a small number of SC each month which can come in handy.

Indeed. I just earn Velocity Gold Status for 15 months via doing mainly this.

 

[serfty]

Here's what happens if you can work to bonus points ...

 

[BudgetFly]

 

[Lynda2475]

OK so i registered for a card, was given 250 poinst for signing up, and offered 1000 bonus points if I spend $30 by Monday - which should be possible.

Anyone know if I give the physical card to my folks and use the app on the my phone for my own spend, if it is likely Coles would notice? My folks aren't interested in earning rewards (apart from Woolworths), so it could help me.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Anyone know if I give the physical card to my folks and use the app on the my phone for my own spend, if it is likely Coles would notice? My folks aren't interested in earning rewards (apart from Woolworths), so it could help me.

Will be fine.

 

[Lynda2475]

At this stage doubtful i will get the physical card, as portal wont accept a PO Box as a mailing address, strange because majority of time when a person has a mailing address which is different from postal address it would be a po box, lock box or gpo box.

Edited --> Called waiting on hold for 20 mins, they say they have fixed the address. Why you cant enter a PO box online is still beyond me.

 

[JohnK]

Anyone know if I give the physical card to my folks and use the app on the my phone for my own spend, if it is likely Coles would notice? My folks aren't interested in earning rewards (apart from Woolworths), so it could help me.

I don't think it matters. I've been scanning the app on my phone from the beginning and for wifes account I'm scanning the temporary card I used to sign her up to Flybuys.

 

[andye]

At this stage doubtful i will get the physical card, as portal wont accept a PO Box as a mailing address, strange because majority of time when a person has a mailing address which is different from postal address it would be a po box, lock box or gpo box.

Edited --> Called waiting on hold for 20 mins, they say they have fixed the address. Why you cant enter a PO box online is still beyond me.

Personally I'd get accounts in each if their names, let them scan and manage all cards myself. Will keep your spend targets down for bonus points. You may or may not find the additional effort worthwhile

edit-unless you are primarily after the VA status credits in which case, one account works best

 

[Denali]

OK so i registered for a card, was given 250 poinst for signing up, and offered 1000 bonus points if I spend $30 by Monday - which should be possible.

Anyone know if I give the physical card to my folks and use the app on the my phone for my own spend, if it is likely Coles would notice? My folks aren't interested in earning rewards (apart from Woolworths), so it could help me.

You can link cards into the one account, which is what hubby and I do.

 

[JohnK]

I bought a Qantas ticket... I'm not sure there was value for money in the domestic J ticket I bought... but I did buy it under DSC

It was certainly cheaper than using cash.

How is using Flybuys points cheaper than using cash? Is there a trick to using points only or something similar? The airfares I checked were almost identical to Qantas website so if I used 70,000 Flybuys points I'd be buying a $350 Qantas airfare. No?

 

[BudgetFly]

How is using Flybuys points cheaper than using cash? Is there a trick to using points only or something similar? The airfares I checked were almost identical to Qantas website so if I used 70,000 Flybuys points I'd be buying a $350 Qantas airfare. No?

Umm, if you earned the flybuys points from your normal shopping then they're a free bonus, right? So then you use that "free" bonus instead of cash to buy a Qantas ticket, yes?

 

[andye]

Umm, if you earned the flybuys points from your normal shopping then they're a free bonus, right? So then you use that "free" bonus instead of cash to buy a Qantas ticket, yes?

I, like many, tend to think of Flybuys as a cash-equivalent* given you can easily redeem for shopping at standard 0.5c.
The fun comes in arbitrage to airline points (+ very very occasionally Flybuy shop redemptions)

*I do for other points/miles too and wouldnt use them below (my evaluation of their) base value even if they were 'free' with a flight

 

[JohnK]

Umm, if you earned the flybuys points from your normal shopping then they're a free bonus, right? So then you use that "free" bonus instead of cash to buy a Qantas ticket, yes?

Sure. Or you can purchase the Qantas airfare using cash and use the Flybuys points for savings off future shopping. Same same, right?

Is there a better way to get more value from Flybuys points? Note everyone places different value on premium airfares, upgrades etc.

 

[oz_mark]

Is there any value for money using Flybuys travel? Are airfares priced the same as the Virgin Australia website?

By and large I find the prices similar. Sometimes there is a slight discount on the FlyBuys site, or bonus points make things worthwhile...

 

[Scott K]

I’m happy to forego the points as I have no desire to give Coles or WoW the data behind my shopping habits/ patterns.

Not that I spend massive amounts in supermarkets aside from the basics.

Shopping for groceries online these days provides them with even more data than people realise. So you may as well get points as you go if you shop this way - as busy people like the wife and I do.

That said, if you really want to mess with their data collecting, give spare cards to your elderly parents, kids, or friends that don't want their own. Mess with the data.

 

[samh004]

How is using Flybuys points cheaper than using cash? Is there a trick to using points only or something similar? The airfares I checked were almost identical to Qantas website so if I used 70,000 Flybuys points I'd be buying a $350 Qantas airfare. No?

Umm, if you earned the flybuys points from your normal shopping then they're a free bonus, right? So then you use that "free" bonus instead of cash to buy a Qantas ticket, yes?

Sure. Or you can purchase the Qantas airfare using cash and use the Flybuys points for savings off future shopping. Same same, right?

Is there a better way to get more value from Flybuys points? Note everyone places different value on premium airfares, upgrades etc.

As you note, we all place a different value on points. I don't find value in using Flybuys points to get money off my shopping, but the 120SC on a Qantas flight I took recently was very useful to me. Had I bought that ticket with cash instead I'd have spent over $1000. Now, perhaps I would have saved more than that off the next 100 shops (although I just did the sums and worked out I came out better off), but at the end of the day we all use our points differently.

The ticket I bought at the time was worth around ~$1000 in J on the BNE-ADL route. Perhaps if I had booked a little earlier I would have got a better deal. A DSC promotion was on at the time. I used 130,000 Flybuys points, and paid nothing else in cash. This earned me 60SC, that doubled to 120SC, and some immaterial QF points. If I had used the Flybuys points to get $10 off the next 65 shops instead then I would have only saved $650, and been out of pocket at least ~$350. Perhaps most importantly in all these sums, I am not buying the flybuys points, I get them as a result of doing my ordinary business, so to me, they're free.

The bottom line, I can spend $10 extra a week on groceries while earning points at a favourable rate on my AMEX, but I can't spend $1000 on a domestic J flight last minute. This scenario may be different for you though.

 

[serfty]

How is using Flybuys points cheaper than using cash? Is there a trick to using points only or something similar? The airfares I checked were almost identical to Qantas website so if I used 70,000 Flybuys points I'd be buying a $350 Qantas airfare. No?

If you have no interest in Velocity or getting $10 discounts at Coles then this is a way to book Qantas flights to get some value from FB points.

Me? I'll take the Velocity.

 

[JohnK]

The bottom line, I can spend $10 extra a week on groceries while earning points at a favourable rate on my AMEX, but I can't spend $1000 on a domestic J flight last minute. This scenario may be different for you though.

Apologies I'm a little slow today. I wasn't being critical of you by the way.

You don't need to justify what's more important to you. Did you use 130,000 Flybuys points to purchase a $650 airfare or $1000 airfare? If the latter that'd be a great find.

P.S. I'm still undecided regarding Flybuys points. Something tells me to transfer 70,000 Flybuys points now for ~35,017 Velocity points which transfer to ~25,938 KrisFlyer miles but that's not even enough for a one way economy to Thailand and I've lost $350 cash in the process.

Those 35,000 Velocity points would come in handy when SYD-BNE flights are expensive but I'm struggling to maintain Velocity Gold each 12 months so don't want to do too many reward flights.

 

[samh004]

Did you use 130,000 Flybuys points to purchase a $650 airfare or $1000 airfare? If the latter that'd be a great find.

I thought it was a more expensive fare but I'm starting to wonder what I bought. It still gave me value due to DSC. Would have been less clear cut otherwise, and I might've simply chosen Y.

Those 35,000 Velocity points would come in handy when SYD-BNE flights are expensive but I'm struggling to maintain Velocity Gold each 12 months so don't want to do too many reward flights.

If you drop to Silver with VA you could always purchase lounge membership, there is a discounted rate ($300 – saving $120) and no joining fee (saving $330) so if it saved you money but still gave you lounge access, there's no shame in longer being Gold.

You could also wait until the next Flybuys special buy-in to Gold... however none of this has anything to do with Aldi