Coles Flybuys vs Everyday Rewards: How they compare

Everyday Rewards and Flybuys are the two biggest rewards programs in Australia. Find out how they compare and get tips to maximise your rewards.

Aussies appear to love loyalty programs with research from the Australian Loyalty Association finding that 90% of Australians are members of at least one loyalty program. On average, Aussies are members of six loyalty programs in total, according to the Australian Loyalty Association 2022 Annual Loyalty Insights Report, but supermarket programs such as Flybuys and Everyday Rewards are by far the most popular.

Both programs are free to join and you can earn rewards points when you shop at the supermarket – Coles in the case of Flybuys and Woolworths for Everyday Rewards – and program partners. Here is a snapshot of the two and below we’ll take a closer look at each one to see how they compare. Plus, find out how you can maximise your rewards and the traps to watch out for.

Flybuys vs Everyday Rewards

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	Flybuys	Everyday Rewards
How to Earn Points	Collect at least 1 point for every $ spent at Coles and most major retail partners	Collect at least 1 point for every $ spent at Woolworths and partners
$ Redemptions	$10 off with 2,000 points	$10 off with 2,000 points
Special Redemptions	Convert every 1,000 flybuys points into 500 Velocity Points	Convert every 2,000 points to 1,000 Qantas Points

Source: www.canstar.com.au – 13/07/2023. Based on information from each respective providers’ websites.

Coles Flybuys

How to join

You can join Flybuys online or via the app. Alternatively, you can pick up a temporary card from a participating retailer and register it online. A physical card will be sent to you but you can access the digital card through the Flybuys app or you can add it to your digital wallet.

How you earn points

You can collect at least one point for every dollar spent at Coles and most major retail partners including Kmart, Bunnings, Officeworks and Liquorland. At some stores such as Catch and Shell Coles Express you’ll collect one point for every $2 spent. And other partners have special offers. (See table for the full list of partners.) You need to scan your Flybuys card to collect points when you shop in-store. If you are shopping online simply enter your Flybuys details at the checkout.

There are opportunities to boost your rewards points. For example, at the time of writing, you could earn up to 130,000 Flybuys points when you sign up for a HCF Health Insurance policy or 50,000 Flybuys points if you take out a Coles Rewards Mastercard and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases within 90 days from approval. Of course, you shouldn’t take out an insurance policy or credit card simply to earn points but if you are considering it, make sure you check how the product actually stacks up.

You can also check the app to see if there are any available offers that you can activate before you go shopping.

How you can use points

Flybuys offers four main options for using your rewards points.

Money off your shopping: Every 2,000 points you earn gets you $10. You can choose to convert your points to Flybuys dollars in multiples of $10 to spend in-store at participating Flybuys partners which include Coles, First Choice Liquor, Kmart, Liquorland, Officeworks, Target and Coles Express. You can exchange your points for Flybuys dollars online and will be asked to set a PIN. You’ll need to use your physical card to spend your Flybuys dollars.
Shop at the Rewards Store: You can redeem your points at the Flybuys store for a variety of gift cards or a range of items including appliances, jewellery, luggage and more.
Transfer to Velocity Points: You can arrange to convert your Flybuys points to Velocity Points. You will earn 500 Velocity Points for every 1,000 Flybuys points you transfer.
Travel: This option lets you use your points towards flights and accommodation through “Flybuys travel”. Every 2,000 points will get you $10 off your booking.

Everyday Rewards

How to join

You can join Everyday Rewards online or pick up a temporary Everyday Rewards card from Woolworths and register it online. You can access your digital card through the Everyday Rewards app or add it to your digital wallet. If you prefer a physical card, you can arrange for one to be sent out to you.

How you can earn points

You can collect at least one point for every dollar spent at Woolworths and partners (see the table below for a list of everywhere you can earn points with Everyday Rewards.) You will need to scan your physical or digital card when you shop in-store to collect points. You can also collect points when you shop online – just be sure to link your Everyday Rewards card to the relevant store.

Everyday Rewards also regularly has special offers called “points boosters” that will give you extra points when you buy certain items. You can find details of offers on the app or in your inbox. From time to time there might also be sign-up bonus offers. At the time of writing, you could earn 5,000 points for signing up for electricity or natural gas with Origin Energy.

How you can use points

There are three main ways you can use your rewards points.

Money off your shopping: When you reach 2,000 Everyday Rewards points, you will earn $10 off a future shop which you can use at Woolworths, BWS, BIG W and participating EG Ampol (operated by EG Australia). You can spend it straight away but, if you prefer, you can stagger your savings across shops, in multiples of $10 off.
Save them for Christmas: You can bank your Everyday Rewards points dollars to use for Christmas. They’ll be available for you to spend between 1 December and 1 January each year.
Convert them to Qantas Points: With this option, every time you hit 2,000 Everyday Rewards points they will be converted to 1,000 Qantas Points. They’ll automatically be transferred to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account.

How do Coles Flybuys and Everyday Rewards compare?

The programs are quite similar in terms of how you can earn points and the value you get from the points. To give you an idea, if you only used your rewards card at the supermarket and spent $152 each week (the average weekly grocery spend according to Canstar Blue research) it would take you 14 weeks to earn 2,000 points. So, over 12 months you’d have earned about $30 or 3,952 Qantas or Velocity Points. As you can see from the table below, those points won’t get you far. To cover the cost of a flight from Sydney to Melbourne, you’d need 6,400 Qantas Points plus $31 cash or 6,200 Velocity Points and $34.39.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t include any points boosters or shopping at retail partners which can potentially boost the rewards you earn.

Flybuys vs Everyday Rewards: Converting points

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	Flybuys (Velocity Frequent Flyer)	Everyday Rewards (Qantas)
Average weekly grocery spend	$152
How long to earn 2000 points	14 Weeks	14 Weeks
Points earned in 12 months	7904 Points	7904 Points
$ Earned from points in 12 months	$30	$30
Frequent Flyer Conversion	3952 Points	3952 Points
Flying Sydney to Melbourne	6,200 Points + $34.39 OR 12,100 Points	6,400 Points + $31

Source: www.canstar.com.au – 13/07/2023. Average weekly grocery spend per Canstar Blue research. Flight prices based on air fares for a one-way Sydney to Melbourne flight, flying out on October 11, 2023. Flight prices based on the lowest possible cost flight.

Choosing the supermarket rewards program that is right for you really comes down to which supermarket you shop at most if you shop at any of the retail partners regularly and whether you prefer Qantas Points or Velocity Points. You may even choose to sign up for both.

Tips to maximise your rewards

Here are a few things you can do to boost your rewards earnings potential:

Download the relevant app or add the card to your digital wallet so that you always have it on you when you’re shopping. You’re more likely to forget your physical card at home than your phone.
Consider adding your immediate family members to your rewards program and that way you are all working towards building your points balance together.
Don’t forget to add the relevant details when you’re shopping online with a retail partner so that you can collect points on your purchases.
Check the app for any offers before you go shopping. You might also choose to go in weekly and activate them so that you don’t have to worry about checking.

Traps to watch out for

Loyalty programs might seem like a good way to get rewarded for something you were going to do anyway but there are a few traps to watch out for.

You are effectively sharing a lot of data about yourself and your shopping habits. You might be happy to do this in exchange for personalised offers but it can be worth finding out more about how your data can be used and if it is shared. Both Everyday Rewards and Flybuys, for example, may share your information with their retail partners.
Avoid the temptation to spend more than you normally would or buy something you wouldn’t normally buy just to get extra points.
Make sure you are still shopping around for the best prices. If you only shop at Coles, for example, because you are focusing on earning Flybuys points you could end up missing out on special deals and lower prices at Woolworths and vice versa. The Australian Loyalty Association report found that 68% of consumers shop more frequently with their loyalty program brands and 60% spend more with their loyalty program brands.

→ You may also be interested in: The Best-Rated Rewards Programs

Cover image source: maroke/Shutterstock.com

This article was reviewed by our Editor-at-Large Effie Zahos before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.

Maria Bekiaris

Personal Finance Writer

Maria Bekiaris is a personal finance journalist with more than 20 years experience. She is currently Content & Campaigns Manager at InvestSMART. Her previous roles include Editorial Campaigns Manager at Canstar and Deputy Editor of Money magazine. Maria is also the editor of A Real Girl’s Guide to Money and Ditch the Debt and Get Rich by Effie Zahos. Maria has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology Sydney. You can follow Maria on LinkedIn.