How to avoid loyalty scheme tricks

Feel like you’ve been getting a raw deal from customer loyalty schemes? Well, Australia’s competition watchdog says you might be right.

The ACCC has released a new report into loyalty schemes, such as frequent flyer, supermarket and hotel operators. The report calls for loyalty operators to:

· Provide more information to consumers
· Improve their data practices
· Stop automatically linking people’s payment cards to their loyalty scheme profiles

The ACCC wants loyalty operators to more prominently alert people when their points are about to expire and to stop collecting data on the sly.

The ACCC also wants the government to ban unfair contract terms in loyalty schemes and to introduce a new law against certain unfair trading practices.

Five tips for consumers

1. Companies use loyalty schemes to collect your data and send you targeted ads
2. Don’t make unnecessary purchases just to earn points
3. Just because you get a points discount at one business, it doesn’t mean you can’t find the same product for less at another business
4. Keep track of when your points are due to expire
5. Loyalty scheme conditions change from time to time, so read your emails