Your guide to supermarket rewards cards

If you shop at Coles or Woolworths, you probably would have been asked whether you have a Flybuys card or Woolworths Rewards. Swiping those cards when you shop is one way to earn supermarket reward points. You could also apply for a credit card that’s attached to a supermarket rewards program.

Depending on your circumstances, using one or both of those options could help you save money. So, read on to learn more which may help you to make an informed decision about whether a supermarket rewards program is right for you.

There are generally two kinds of supermarket reward programs:

• Loyalty programs that anyone can use with any form of payment (such as the Woolworths everyday rewards program)
• Rewards programs tied to a specific credit card

Both will usually grant you rewards points of differing values when you shop at their supermarket and its partner stores. You can then redeem those points for products from the program catalogue or for a discount off your groceries or purchases.

If you have a supermarket rewards credit card and a standard rewards card, you may be able to earn points through both programs for each transaction.

Every supermarket rewards program works in a slightly different way; however, they do have some general terms.

When you shop at any supermarket within the chain or at a partner shop (e.g. BWS is a Woolworths Rewards partner and Kmart is a Flybuys partner), you’ll usually earn a certain number of points for every dollar you spend when you swipe your rewards card with an eligible purchase at the checkout. Sometimes, there will be a minimum spend before you can earn points. Sometimes you will earn bonus points for spending a certain amount, buying specific products or meeting some other criteria.

Once you’ve earned points, you’ll be able to redeem them by buying items from the supermarket’s points catalogue or to get discounts on future shopping or petrol rewards and discounts. In some cases you’ll have the choice of buying items with just points or combining points with Australian dollars if you don’t have enough points.

You can also redeem points by using them to get a discount off the cost of your groceries. For example, 2000 rewards points might earn you a $10 discount.

You may also be able to swap supermarket membership reward points for airline reward points. For example, when you earn Flybuys points, you may be able to trade them for Velocity points, or trade Woolworths rewards points for Qantas points.

For rewards credit cards, you’ll often earn a certain number of points for every dollar of credit you spend, and you may be able to link this to your supermarket rewards program or another rewards program, such as frequent flyers.

Both of Australia’s largest supermarket chains have rewards programs. Woolworths has Everyday Rewards, and Coles has Flybuys. Both Coles and Woolworths have offered credit cards under their brand, however currently the Woolworths option is not taking new applications.

You may also find third-party credit cards that offer supermarket rewards points or that can be linked to a supermarket rewards program.

Supermarket rewards programs can be appealing because most of us shop at a supermarket so you may make use of the rewards. However there are other rewards programs, generally available through a credit card, that might be available and more appealing to you.

Examples of other kinds of rewards programs include:

• Frequent flyer
• Hotel rewards
• Travel cards
• Other store rewards
• Cashback cards

If you’re keen to explore a range of various credit card options, take a look at our guide to comparing credit cards. It has information that may help you better understand some of the ins and outs of different credit cards to help make a more informed decision before you apply.