By Arvind Prabhakar
With petrol and diesel prices inching up almost every day, customers are dealing with an increase in transportation costs along with the direct and indirect impact on prices in almost every sector. The inflationary pressure is forcing customers to shell out more on everything – food, dining out, television, cars, and even medicines. The only silver lining here comes in the form of loyalty and reward points earned while making these purchases.
Due to the vast development of the online and card payments space, most of us are not even aware of the tonnes of precious loyalty points that we have accumulated. All one needs to do is to stop ignoring those alert messages or emails highlighting the same. In a majority of cases, these previously stocked points can either be redeemed for discounts, fuel or simply to purchase gift vouchers. There are many ways that will help you use your loyalty points to survive the days of inflation.
Loyalty programs by Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum
Loyalty programs offered by BP and HP enable the consumers to save a percentage of money on every Rs 100 spent. For instance, programs like Petromiles and Smartfleet enable their members to earn points on every transaction made. These points can either be used to buy more fuel or can simply be exchanged for rewards or benefits on offers rolled out by partner outlets on online platforms like GyFTR, where these points can be used for buying various gift vouchers and offers. To add on to the benefits, if you pay a little extra on these websites, you can earn more points. The more you splurge, the more points you are earning – and actually saving more.
Do not ignore offers
Keep a close eye on all the offers running on different platforms. A lot of e-commerce platforms allow users an opportunity to save by giving an option to avail both vouchers and discounts at the same time. One can also subscribe to loyalty websites to get notifications about the latest campaigns and ongoing sale events on groceries, home shopping, food, and much more.
Points earned through bank loyalty programs
Most of us earn points on our card and online transactions which can be redeemed to bring the actual payment amount down. For instance, Axis eDGE Rewards, the loyalty program by Axis Bank, is one of the most popular reward schemes operated by the bank for its savings bank account holders, credit card holders, and NRI account holders, as well as Forex and Demat account holders. Users can redeem the earned rewards by logging on a reward portal using their e-banking ID and enjoy exciting discounts, regardless of price hikes. So, start saving your money and use your loyalty points as a currency to buy what you want.
It is better to keep a track of all your accumulated loyalty points to help ease off the pressure of increased prices. With loyalty points and rewards, the more you spend, the more you will save.
Arvind Prabhakar is the CEO of GyFTR.com
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