A beginner’s guide on how to earn Flybuys points

Over ten million people in Australia use the Flybuys program to earn points. But if your points strategy only involves scanning your card at the register, you may not be maximising your points-earning potential.

In this guide, we run through the basics of how to maximise the Flybuys points you earn on your everyday shopping, as well as additional ways to earn more Flybuys points.

Not familiar with Flybuys? Watch this video to learn more:

Also read: The Ultimate Guide to Flybuys

Earning Flybuys points in-store

Scanning your Flybuys card at the register at Coles supermarkets when you make purchases is the first step to earning points.

You’re probably aware that you’ll earn one Flybuys point per $1 spent at Coles, Kmart and Target, but there are a number of other stores that will also accept Flybuys at the register:

• Bunnings: 1 point per $1
• Officeworks: 1 point per $1
• Shell Coles Express: 1 point per $2
• First Choice Liquor and Liquorland: 1 point per $1

Of course, shopping at Coles is the primary way in which most people will earn Flybuys points, and they will also let you earn Flybuys when you shop through Coles Online.

Occasionally, Coles runs special offers on gift cards. The gift cards and offers vary from promotion to promotion. But a recurring offer worth keeping an eye out for is 20x bonus Flybuys points on select gift cards. This means that a $100 gift card can nab you 2,000 Flybuys points. We regularly update this page with the latest Flybuys points promotions.

Also read: How I easily earned 10,000 bonus points with gift cards

Flybuys bonus points offers

While earning Flybuys points on your shop is a good steady ‘income’, much of the fun is found with Flybuys bonus offers. This is the secret to getting thousands of Flybuys points without changing your spending habits too much.

Specific item offers

Each week, certain items might carry bonus Flybuys points. The amounts aren’t much (usually between 50 and 500), but it does help. The offers will either appear in-store available for anyone, or in your Flybuys app which is personalised for you.

Bonus Flybuys points for reaching a target

Flybuys may offer you a number of bonus points to tempt you to spend a little more on your next shop. This used to appear on the bottom of your receipt, but it’s more common to see it in your Flybuys app now under ‘Offers’. Some offers may require you to active them in the app, otherwise you may not receive the bonus points.

The most common varieties are:

• Multiplying your points earn at a particular retailer: these will regularly be offered for common retailers, e.g. Coles or Coles Express. As an example, you may be able to earn 10x or more points per $1 spent.
• Awarding bonus points on particular items: these can sometimes be an incentive to purchase a new product variant. You may be able to earn 1,000 Flybuys points or more when purchasing a particular item.
• Giving you bonus points for making a purchase: these will usually be at a higher minimum spend target than you usually do. Try not to spend excessively to reach these targets unless it’s things you would normally need, like stocking up on non-perishables.

These boosters and offers have a set expiry, which shows in the app. This is usually 10 days or less. Bonus offers are tailored to you based on your spending habits.

Coles four-week challenge

Flybuys tries very hard to keep its members engaged, and one of its most popular deals is the four-week challenge at Coles. This runs a number of times a year.

Essentially, you will be given a target amount to spend at Coles for four weeks in a row, to earn 10,000 bonus Flybuys points or $50 off your next Coles shop. The target amount usually ranges from $50 to $120 a week, depending on how much you’ve spent previously.

Always choose the bonus points! They’re more flexible, you can convert them to Velocity Points, and you can still use the points to get $50 off Coles shopping down the track if you decide to.

Also read: How to make the most of the Flybuys-Velocity partnership

How to maximise Flybuys offers at Coles

Flybuys are known for being very strategic and targeted with the offers they give to different members. They are constantly trying to increase the amount and frequency you spend at Coles, using Flybuys points as a temptation to draw you into the store and to keep spending.

You’ll almost certainly find that if you spend more than you usually would for a few weeks running, your Flybuys offer terms will change, with an increase in the minimum spend criteria needed to trigger bonuses.

Ultimately, if Flybuys sees an increase or decrease in spend at Coles in your Flybuys account, their system tailors bonus offers in your account accordingly.

There are two approaches you can use to work within this system, rather than be taken advantage of:

Solution 1: Don’t link your family member accounts to one household

Flybuys lets you set up linked account holders within the same account, or run multiple accounts for different cardholders, each with its own balance.

The advantage of linked cardholders is that multiple cardholders are able to spend toward account offers. They accumulate a single, combined balance of Flybuys points that can be used or transferred to partners.

However, if you each run separate Flybuys accounts in your household, you’ll have multiple points balances. But you also get the flexibility to swap spending around different cards to keep the targeted spend amounts lower.

This works well for the four weeks/10,000 bonus points offer, as the Flybuys account you use less often will get a lower spending target. While you’re spending on that account, stop using the other account. In time, that second account will also get better offers so switch over again.

Solution 2: Alternate between Coles and other supermarkets

This has the same effect as running multiple accounts. You’ll reduce the overall spend on your Flybuys account, which should trigger more achievable points bonus offers.

We don’t have any insider knowledge on the Flybuys system and how these offers are generated, so this is all speculation informed by personal experiences and readers’ reports on their experiences. Your mileage may vary but it shouldn’t hurt to experiment.

Also read: Everyday Rewards vs Flybuys: which is better for you?

Flybuys offers with non-supermarket partners

Flybuys has many partners apart from Coles, so you can earn thousands more Flybuys points with other companies.

Surveys

Occasionally, Flybuys will invite you to complete a feedback survey on their own program, which may give you 50 Flybuys points for a few minutes.

They also partner with Pureprofile Perks which gives you Flybuys points on surveys you successfully complete.

Also read: How to earn Flybuys Points with surveys

Coles Financial Services

One of the best options for increasing your Flybuys earning is using products offered by Coles Financial Services. There are quite a few options here and they are covered in our guide on how to accelerate your Flybuys earn with Coles Financial Services.

In short, depending on the combination of insurance products and/or Coles credit cards you have, you can boost your supermarket earn by six times.

Know the other Flybuys partners (and where to look for points deals)

At the time of writing, Flybuys has a variety of other partners including:

• Catch
• G’Day Parks
• HCF Helath Insurance
• Kleenheat
• mycar
• OnePass
• Optus
• QuiteLike

You can find the full current list of Flybuys partners here. This website also outlines how many points you’ll earn with each partner.

What to do with Flybuys points

There are plenty of different ways to use your Flybuys points once you’ve got them. Naturally, our recommendation is to transfer them to Velocity Frequent Flyer during bonus transfer promotions, which usually occur twice a year. Flybuys points convert to Velocity Points at a rate of 2:1, meaning 2,000 Flybuys points is equivalent to 1,000 Velocity Points.

You can extract greater value from your Velocity Points when redeeming them for flights, like we did for this trip to Petra with Qatar Airways.

Otherwise, redeeming your Flybuys points for $10 savings off your next shop would be the next best option, but far less value than you can get from Velocity.

Summing up

Scanning your card at the checkout is just a starting point. There are plenty of opportunities to maximise your Flybuys points earn through bonus points promotions at the supermarket and with other partners.

One note to keep in mind is that you have to regularly engage with Flybuys to get the most out of it. That means maximising your points by tactical spending and points promotion, so be prepared to sink a little time into this.

But it’s all worth it, and it’s definitely possible to earn tens of thousands of Flybuys points in a year.

And once you’ve built up your Flybuys points? Read more in our guide on how to get the most out of your Flybuys balance.

FAQs

Article originally written by Evin Tan Khiew. Featured image courtesy of Flybuys.