I've yet to meet anyone who's actually benefited much from Air Miles programs. I am not talking about a specific, frequent-flier program, I mean the loyalty programs that are offered by businesses such as Safeway and Future Shop. I assume most points go unused. I think it is just a lot of hype. People think they are getting something for nothing when in fact most get nothing.We shop for groceries almost exclusively at the Great Canadian Superstore. There are several with convenient locations fairly close but we nearly always go to the recently-expanded one on the Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam. Even when camping across this country, we ended up buying food from Superstores and the affiliated Atlantic Superstores back east. Even Dominion markets in Newfoundland are connected. The prices are low and the range of products expansive.
The Great Canadian Superstore's President's Choice Financial credit cards make sense for us though. Every purchase within the stores earn PC Points but their Mastercard returns 1% in points on all purchases. If I drop next week's truck registration and insurance on plastic, then we're assured of about a month of free milk. By the end of the year we'll have received well over $300 in free groceries. Now that's a reward program that makes sense to me. After all, food is a necessity as well as a personal hobby!