If there’s one smart living tip I know and apply in my life, it’s using loyalty cards whenever possible. Right now, I have five in my wallet: SM Advantage Card (SMAC), Happy Plus Card, Shakey’s Pizzanatic Supercard, Starbucks Card, and Citibank Cebu Pacific card. I buy and use the products and services of these companies from time to time so I might as well benefit from them. It’s better than nothing.
With SMAC, I normally get 1 point (which is equal to 1 peso) for every P200 spent at SM stores and other partner establishments. I get less than 1 point for every P200 spent at SM supermarkets and I don’t know why. These points accumulate over time. I even get bonus points from PLDT!
Two years ago, while I was lining up at an SM Bills Payment counter to pay for my PLDT bill, there’s this girl (apparently a PLDT merchandiser) who walked up to me and asked if I wanted to sign up to their ongoing promo. She said I could get SMAC points when paying my PLDT bill through SM Bills Payment centers nationwide. I just gave her my name and my PLDT account no. and that’s it. From then on, I’ve been receiving 6 to 10 SMAC points (it varies) whenever I’d pay my PLDT bill through SM Bills Payment centers. Cool, ayt?
SM Advantage Card
Reward System: 1 point for every P200 spent
Acquisition Fee: P100 (but I got mine for FREE, a perk from my old and now non-existent BDO credit card)
Validity Period: 1 year (mine is 4 years, same expiration date with the BDO credit card)
Renewal Fee: P100
Happy Plus Card, on the other hand, gives 1 point (which is equal to 1 peso) for every P50 spent at all fast food restaurants under the Jollibee Food Corporation (JFC) group. I think this is the most sulit one!
Happy Plus Card
Reward System: 1 point for every P50 spent
Acquisition Fee: P100
Validity Period: 3 years
Renewal Fee: P100
The Shakey’s Pizzanatic Supercard actually belongs to the hubby. When buying pizza, it allows us to avail of their buy 1, take 1 pizza promo. When dining at their stores, we get 10% discount on our bill and earn 1 point for every P100 food purchase. (Trivia: We have already celebrated many birthdays of family members at Shakeys.) If it’s the hubby’s birthday and we dine at Shakey’s on the day itself, he even gets a free regular-sized, thin-crust Pepperoni pizza. We experienced this once and it was fun.
Shakey’s Pizzanatic Supercard
Reward System: buy 1, take 1 on pizza + 10% discount on dine-in, take-out, and delivery
+ 1 point for every P100 spent + free pizza on the cardholder’s birthday
Acquisition Fee: P300
Validity Period: 1 year
Renewal Fee: P300
The Starbucks card has a slightly different concept. Instead of points, it allows me to earn a star for every beverage bought. A total of 12 stars entitles me to a Grande-sized drink. I also get a free slice of cake on my birthday. I found out that if I won’t be going to Starbucks on the day itself, I can still claim it by visiting their store within my birth month.
Starbucks Card
Reward System: 1 star for every beverage bought (12 stars needed to earn a Grande-sized drink) + free slice of cake on the cardholder’s birthday
Acquisition Fee: P300 (consumable)
Validity Period: expires only after two years of no transactions
Renewal Fee: NONE
As for my Citibank credit card, it doubles as a loyalty card, too. How? Because each time I use it, I earn Cebu Pacific points to be converted to e-vouchers for buying airline tickets. And since I also swipe my credit card when the hubby and my siblings make big purchases (they just pay me in cash for them), I get to increase my points faster!
Citibank Cebu Pacific Credit Card
Reward System: 1 point for every P1 spent (1 point equals to P0.01 CebPac voucher)
Acquisition Fee: FREE (perk from the card)
Validity Period: so long as the card is active
Renewal Fee: NONE
I like that I can monitor my points from these loyalty cards online (well, except for Citibank whose updated points I get to know only upon receiving my monthly billing statement). I did this by registering them on their websites.
Among my loyalty cards, I use the first two and the last one more frequently. I had more loyalty cards before (I remember having S&R gold card and Rustan’s Fresh card, too) but I didn’t bother renewing them because I rarely used them.
Isn’t it amazing that we get some cashback and discounts from these companies whenever we make a purchase of their products?
What kind of loyalty cards do you have? Do you use them often, too? 🙂
May you choose happiness always,
I remember not paying anything at The Face Shop because of my Bench card! I used all my points before it expired, but I haven’t renewed it yet. :p We recently got SM Advantage card. We don’t usually frequent SM malls, but we gas up at Shell and we’re avid buyers of Uniqlo. Sayang din. But my most sulit is my Robinsons reward card since Rob Manila is our default mall. Haha! 🙂
http://www.jerelltabenoja.com/
Si hubby ko meron din Bench card noon, hindi na lang din narenew. Hehe. Kami kasi SM Manila ang default mall kaya sulit sakin ang SMAC. Pero gusto ko din magshop sa Rob Dept. Store, fave ko yung Liberté doon! 🙂
Hi Jerellt! Favorite ko din ang Rob Manila kahit medyo nakakaligaw minsan 🙂
Wala bang Petron Value Card si Edwin? Dami din perks non.
Ay, oo meron! Di ko lang sinama, kasi eto lang ang hawak ko. Sya kasi naghahawak nun, alam mo na…boys and their cars! 🙂
I love loyalty cards! I have a lot of them! My favorite is metro rewards card which I think is for Metro Ayala stores only here in Cebu. Lost my SM advantage card and have not gotten around to getting a replacement. Must do that soon because holiday shopping is just around the corner!
Good for you. Hehe. Yes, try renewing your SMAC sayang din ang points! 🙂
not a fan masyado ng mga loyalty cards pero meron kami sm advantage, isa lang good na kami ni hubby dun since madalas din gamit yung card.
curious ako kung ano benefits din ng jollibee cards for kids,nagiisip ako dati na kumuha nun e.siguro kung madalas ka mag purchase ng something sa isang brand, malaking tulong din yung mga loyalty cards.
Okay samin ang Happy Plus card kasi yun yung madalas namin kainang fast food restos. Ang alam ko may mga special perks for kids ang Happy Plus card for kids nila. 🙂
I’m not sure but are you aware of the deeper and real purpose of loyalty cards? 😉 Related sa research and data mining, I used to handle a project within this line kasi hihihi
I also maintain an SM Advantage card..blame the BDO credit card that comes with it. I don’t want to say na it’s sulit pero I admit, natutuwa ako kapag may 200 points na pala ako. Ang sulit talaga sa amin before is the Shakey’s card. Alam mo na kung bakit … my belly can explain
I think I read something about that before. They use it daw to know what customers buy more, etc…pati customer behavior chuva. Haha, sulit nga rin samin ang Shakey’s! 🙂
We only have smac and metro gaisano card. I want that shakey’s card! Now I want pizza hehe
Yes, it’s a nice card. Para sa mahihilig sa pizza, hehe. 🙂
I have Robinson Rewards card, Sm Advantage card and 7/11 Everyday Rewards card. 🙂 I also want the Happy Plus card kasi mahilig ako sa Jollibee and Greenwich saka Shakeys kasi mahilig naman ako sa Pizza
Go and get one, sis! Sa tingin ko pinakasulit ang Happy Plus kasi sya pinakamalaki ang bigay, biruin mo 1 peso for every P50 spent, that’s 2% rebate. 😉
I have sm advantage and shopwise card. We love to redeem points before it expires, sadly we havent tried some of the perks they offer.
I do the same. I don’t have a Shopwise card, what are its perks? 🙂