FlyBuys (Australia)

FlyBuys is a prominent Australian loyalty program operated by Loyalty Pacific, a joint venture of Wesfarmers and National Australia Bank.

About 2.9 million Australian households [cite newspaper|publisher=Australian Financial Review|title=FlyBuys rewards are there - just take a peek|pages=42|date=2008-06-28] (roughly 36% of the country's households) [cite web|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|date=2008-02-07|accessdate=2008-07-30|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/bb8db737e2af84b8ca2571780015701e/6C0F2180158809B9CA2573D20011048E?opendocument|title=Year Book Australia, 2008] are active members of FlyBuys, using about six million cards [cite news|title=Rewards Deals Miss The Point|publisher=Courier Mail|date=2006-12-16| url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20933046-5003417,00.html|accessdate=2007-01-10] . Members collect points from household consumer purchases (and through credit card use) and subsequently exchange points for gift cards, merchandise, flights and other rewards.

History

FlyBuys began in 1994 as a joint venture of Shell, Coles Myer (now Wesfarmers) and National Australia Bank. The program met with substantial interest at launch, with a million Australian households joining within the first six weeks. [cite paper|author=Butler C, Weill P|title=Come Fly with us: Fly Buys|publisher=Melbourne Business School|url=http://www.mbs.edu/go/case-study/come-fly-with-us-fly-buys|date=1995|accessdate=2007-01-10]

Telecom Australia (now Telstra) joined the program in 1995 but withdrew after two years, having created the Telstra Visa Card with ANZ (later to become the ANZ Qantas Telstra Visa Card).

In 1996, Loyalty Pacific licensed the FlyBuys brand to a consortium in New Zealand, which has operated a similar program since (see Fly Buys (New Zealand)).

In 1998, major changes were made to the program. The offer to members was diluted as the points currency was devalued to increase points required for rewards 20-fold (from a minimum 550 points to 11,000), but standard points issuance only increased four-fold (from 1 point for $20 to 1 point for $5). At the same time, Shell relinquished its one-third ownership of the program, although this was unnoticed by members as Shell continued to issue points through its service station network.

In 2003, the program was revamped, this time with the offer improved for members, with standard points issuance for participating Coles Group brands increased to 2 points for $5. This change was accompanied by revised branding and a minor name change from “Fly Buys” to “FlyBuys”.

In December 2006, Loyalty Pacific was cited as a potential purchaser of the Qantas frequent flyer program. [cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20983408-664,00.html|publisher=Melbourne Herald-Sun|date=2006-12-29|accessdate=2007-06-20|title=Qantas bidder options open]

Collecting points

FlyBuys points collection is directed largely at regular consumer purchases, and most points are issued by the major Wesfarmers brands – food (Coles Supermarkets and BI-LO), fuel (Coles Express), discount department stores (Kmart and Target), liquor (Liquorland, Vintage Cellars and 1st choice liquor), stationery / office supplies / computers (Officeworks, Harris Technology) and car servicing (Kmart Tyre & Auto Service).

Additional points can be collected from transactions on selected NAB credit cards or the Coles Myer Source MasterCard (issued by GE Australia) if they have been “linked” to a FlyBuys membership. This allows in some circumstances for points to be gained from two sources for the one transaction. Eg if a member pays for grocery purchases at Coles Supermarkets with a NAB credit card, each of Coles and NAB would issue points for the one transaction.

Several brands not associated with the joint venture also issue FlyBuys points, including Best Western, Budget Rent a Car, Jetset and Travelworld. In most cases points accrue at the rate of 2 for every $5 spent. The participating retailers also issue additional bonus points on a promotional basis. Points have a life of 3 years.

Myer, having been sold by Coles Group in June 2006, withdrew from FlyBuys at the end of January 2007. [cite news | title = Bank happy with revamped loyalty scheme | publisher = Herald Sun | date =2006-11-06 | url = http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20713434-662,00.html | accessdate = 2007-01-10 ] EziBuy (which purchased a former Coles Myer brand, Myer Direct), left the program in March 2008. Other former participants include Michael Hill Jewellers and Elders Real Estate. Others such as Red Rooster and Katies were businesses divested by then Coles Myer. Traveland, Megamart, Newmart and Pulse Energy are now-defunct businesses which were once FlyBuys participants, while Sports Direct, Primary Layers, South Cape and Gifts To Go were short-lived Coles Group brands long discontinued.

Rewards

Initially, the only FlyBuys rewards were flights. However, this was extended by 1996 to include other rewards with a travel or leisure theme, such as accommodation, meals and entertainment. By 1999, a $100 Coles Myer shopping voucher reward was introduced, and general merchandise items followed.

Criticism

FlyBuys has been consistently criticised regarding the perceived effort required to collect enough points to gain a reward. [cite news | title = $55,000 gets you a free frying pan | publisher = The Sun-Herald | date = 2005-02-17 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/26/1109180166113.html | accessdate = 2007-01-11 ] For many years, no rewards were available for less than 11,000 points, encouraging critics to claim that $55,000 was required to be spent to gain a reward with a value of around $100.

In recent times, lower point rewards have been available. In November 2006, FlyBuys announced that awards would be available from 2,500 points [cite news | title = Rewards Deals Miss The Point | publisher = The Courier Mail | date = 2006-12-16 | url = http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20933046-5003417,00.html | accessdate=2007-01-10 ] .

FlyBuys also attracted concerns regarding privacy of information and the ability for the operators to track members’ shopping habits [cite web | title = How to protect yourself from telemarketers in Australia | url = http://www.firstpr.com.au/issues/tm/ | accessdate = 2007-01-10 ] [cite web | title = Threats to Your Rights | url = http://www.angelfire.com/folk/aclu/freespeech2000.htm | author = Australian Civil Liberties Union | date= 2000 | accessdate = 2007-01-15 ] However in 1995, FlyBuys adopted a stringent privacy policy based on existing OECD principles (and which closely mirrored Australian privacy legislation which was eventually introduced in 2000). FlyBuys did vary its privacy policy in 2006 which enabled information to be passed to Coles Group and National Australia Bank, the owners of the program, unless directed otherwise by members. [cite web | title = FlyBuys Privacy Policy | url = https://www.flybuys.com.au/flybuys/content/information/privpol.html | accessdate = 2007-01-10 ]

ee also

*Loyalty card

References

External links

* [http://www.flybuys.com.au/ FlyBuys]