Miriah Richards and Jordan Baido are both busy Victorian mums.
But the savvy women claim to have saved hundreds of dollars, collected freebies and travelled around the country, all by ‘linking’ their loyalty programs.
They say it’s a simple and easy way to save money — and they’re urging every Aussie to jump onboard.
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“My whole family laugh about me and loyalty programs,” Miriah tells 7Life of how she gains the most out of her rewards cards.
“I sign up to all of them. When my husband is shopping, he always gives them my details and says, ‘She is probably a member’.”
When it comes to gaining the most from your loyalty programs, Miriah claims the best way to save big is to ensure all your loyalty cards are connected.
After having taken a few simple steps, now when she is doing her routine shopping she is saving cash — and earning flights for her next family getaway.
All without lifting a finger.
Miriah, who has a five-month-old daughter, recalls the moment she discovered how simple it was connect your memberships.
She was browsing Target for some baby essentials when she spotted a sign that claimed she could earn five times the amount of FlyBuys if she had a OnePass membership.
“I had never heard of OnePass before but I already had FlyBuys,” Miriah says.
FlyBuys is an Australian loyalty program in which you accrue points by spending money at partnered retailers.
The points can be traded in for various items or even flights.
OnePass is a paid membership program which offers numerous benefits, including free delivery for online purchases and 365-day returns, with partnered retailers.
While Miriah is a huge fan of free loyalty programs, she had never signed up for a paid version, and was a little sceptical at first.
“I did the free trial for the first month,” she says.
“I didn’t want to commit until I saw any benefits.”
She intended to cancel her membership before she had to start paying for it on a regular basis.
But when the busy mum jumped on her account, she began to realise she could earn big.
“I’m always a person who buys more to get to the free shipping,” she says.
“But with the free shipping, I just buy what I need and don’t have to worry about paying for postage.”
Linking programs
That’s when Miriah realised her OnePass membership could be linked with her free loyalty programs, for even greater benefit.
With FlyBuys one of OnePass’ biggest partners, the mum could shop for essential items and earn up to five times the points with the two memberships.
Not only this, she discovered that, by linking her FlyBuys with Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program, every time she shopped she was earning points for a holiday.
She and her husband cashed in points, and flew for free from Melbourne to Cairns.
The mum also highlights OnePass’ partnership with the pharmacy Priceline, which is of particular importance for her family.
“My baby and I both have sensitive skin,” she says, adding they can use certain products that are only sold at Priceline.
Armed with her Priceline membership — called Sister Club — and her OnePass, Miriah now shops for her essential skincare, which gains her free products through the Priceline rewards system.
Miriah claims that, already this year, she has saved $150 through OnePass alone.
Free delivery drawcard
Fellow mum Jordan Baido claims similar annual savings of $120.
“I was always adding things to my online shopping to make sure I had free shipping,” Jordan says.
“Always things I didn’t need, and I know it never made sense, but I always wanted the free shipping.”
With two children under two, shopping in store has always been a challenge for Jordan.
The main reason she signed up to OnePass was for the ease of shopping online and saving big on home delivery.
“When I was shopping for my two-year-old’s birthday, it was so easy to just buy something I saw she needed and not worry about the shipping,” she says.
“The amount of times I have added things to my cart and then just didn’t go through with it because of shipping…”
It wasn’t just the savings from postage costs where Jordan noticed the benefits.
Savings adding up
With special membership discounts, she quickly saw the benefit of the program.
Jordan couldn’t believe that she didn’t know earlier how to gain the most out of your loyalty cards.
And she urges others to think bigger than just a store’s individual loyalty program.
Now, by connecting her various other rewards programs, like Miriah did, Jordan sees the savings adding up.
“I am a sucker for discounts and sales,” Jordan says.
“These are products you are going to buy regardless, so why not get bonuses and rewards by doing your general shopping.”
Both Jordan and Miriah recommend looking into what loyalty programs you already have to see how you can connect them to get the most out of your dollar.
How to save on everyday shopping
- To save direct on membership only sales and free shipping, join OnePass
- To earn points towards free beauty products, join Priceline’s Sister Club
- To collect points towards products, join FlyBuys
- Connect your credit card with your FlyBuys card to earn more points as you shop
- To fly for free, connect your FlyBuys card with Velocity Frequent Flyer
- Link your membership cards with your OnePass membership to double your savings
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