Flybuys is a useful loyalty program for frequent flyers and shoppers alike. Points can be earned at a variety of retailers and redeemed in numerous ways, including transferring Flybuys points to Velocity.
In this guide, we explain how products offered by Coles Financial Services can increase your Flybuys points earn from your spend at Coles checkouts by up to six times.
If you are new to Flybuys or you’re not sure what you can use your points for, you can check out our beginner’s guides to earning or spending Flybuys or watch the video below.
What is Coles Financial Services?
Coles Financial Services is a shoot-off of the grocery chain that offers car, home and landlord insurance (among others), along with the Coles Rewards and Coles No Annual Fee MasterCards.
Holding one or more of these products from Coles Financial Services will boost your Flybuys earn when shopping at Coles supermarkets.
Disclaimer: We are not commenting on the suitability of any of the insurance policies or credit cards offered by Coles in this guide — you’ll need to do your own research and assess whether they suit your needs and preferences.
This guide explains how the bonus Flybuys points benefit works if you do decide to choose one of their services. We aren’t recommending you pick up a policy just for the bonus points!
One key thing to understand is that the bonus points on offer are linked to your supermarket spend at Coles. If you don’t often shop at Coles for whatever reason, then you’ll not benefit much from this guide.
How do the Flybuys bonuses stack up?
This table shows how a person who spends $200 a week at Coles could benefit from holding various products from Coles Financial Services.
| Product | Earn rate | Total Flybuys earned on $200 weekly grocery spend |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Flybuys member | 1 Flybuys per dollar | 200 Flybuys |
| Coles Car Insurance | +1 Flybuys per dollar | +200 Flybuys Total: 400 Flybuys points |
| Coles Home Insurance | +1 Flybuys per dollar | +200 Flybuys Total: 600 Flybuys points |
| Coles Landlord Insurance | +1 Flybuys per dollar | +200 Flybuys Total: 800 Flybuys points |
| Coles Rewards MasterCard * | +2 Flybuys per dollar | +400 Flybuys Total: 1,200 Flybuys points |
| or | ||
| Coles No Annual Fee MasterCard * | +0.5 Flybuys per dollar | +100 Flybuys Total: 900 Flybuys points |
| * Note: Coles-branded credit cards award the indicated number of Flybuys points on all of your general spend, not just that at Coles supermarkets. Earn rates on these cards become capped from 1 July 2024. | ||
If you find the policies above meet your needs and you end up holding all three insurance products plus a Coles Rewards MasterCard, you could theoretically pick up 1,200 Flybuys points a week, or 62,400 Flybuys points over a year.
This could be equivalent to at least 27,144 Velocity Points when transferred over, or potentially more during bonus transfer promotions.
Other ways to stack your Flybuys points
When you hold a Coles Plus or Coles Plus Saver subscription, the bonus Flybuys points earned can stack on top of the points bonuses from Coles Financial Services. Both programs offer one additional Flybuys point per $1 of eligible spend.
On the other hand, you may be better off earning more points with a credit card that awards bonus points at supermarkets. This includes the popular American Express Platinum Edge, which earns 3 Membership Rewards points per $1 at major supermarkets, including Coles. Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to Velocity at a 2:1 rate.
How do I earn Flybuys points with Coles insurance?
For each different insurance product you take out with Coles Financial Services (car, home and landlord) you will earn an extra 1 Flybuys point for every dollar you spend the supermarket. If you have two policies you will earn an extra 2 Flybuys points, and so on.
When it comes to car insurance, only comprehensive cover will get you the extra points – there are no extras for third party insurance.
It’s worth noting that Coles Pet Insurance doesn’t boost your Flybuys bonus at the checkout, but it does unlock 10x Flybuys points on pet food at the supermarket instead.
Without a sign-up deal, the policies don’t offer bonus points just for taking them up. You have to spend at Coles to earn the bonus Flybuys points. But if you’re a prospective customer, do keep an eye out for sign-up deals that might be introduced every now and then.
Limits on extra points from insurance
It is worth noting that you can only earn a maximum of 1,000 extra Flybuys points per month for each policy. To reach this maximum, you’d need to be spending more than $250 per week at Coles.
Also, having these policies won’t get you extra points when shopping with any other Flybuys partners – only when you shop at Coles and Coles Express. You also won’t earn any extra points on gift cards or tobacco.
What are the Coles Rewards credit cards?
The Coles Rewards Mastercard has a $99 annual fee but offers 2 Flybuys points per dollar spent on most purchases. There’s no cap on the number of points you can earn, which is competitive with similar cards.
The Coles No Annual Fee Rewards card has a lower Flybuys earn rate of 1 Flybuys point per $2 spent – or essentially 0.5 Flybuys points per dollar.
From 1 July 2024, the number of points earned per month will be subject to caps. See the Coles credit card website for more information.
You will earn Flybuys points everywhere you use the Rewards or No Annual Fee cards, not just at Coles. However, when you do use these cards at Coles, the bonus points will be on top of the standard points you would usually earn.
That means that using the Coles Rewards Card, for example, will earn you at least 3 Flybuys points per $1 spent at Coles supermarkets.
Summing up
It’s pretty simple to use Coles insurance policies and Coles-branded credit cards to speed up your Flybuys earnings if those policies suit your needs. Depending on which products you have, you can earn up to 6x bonus points, but only when shopping at Coles supermarkets.
If you are in the market for insurance, products from Coles Financial Services are worth exploring. Not only can you potentially increase your Flybuys points, but it also offers a price-beat guarantee on some products.
Just remember to compare these financial products with its competitors and make a decision based on its merits, rather than solely on the bonus point opportunities you could get.
Supplementary images courtesy Coles and Flybuys. This article was originally written by Peter R.
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The Flybuys points earn will be tiered – 2 Flybuys points per dollar up to $3000 spent on Eligible Transactions in each Statement Period, and then 1 point per dollar thereafter.
(cannot comment on the other credit cards)
Note that you will earn standard points on every transaction, where the bonus points are credited once per month in one lump sum. If you are not receiving these bonus points though, I recommend that you get in touch with flybuys to discuss this.
In my case when I swipe my Flybuys card and pay using the Coles Rewards Mastercard my earn rate recorded on my Flybuys statement is 1 point per $ spent (not even the regular 2 points per $ that I get everywhere else using the Mastercard). So a $35 spend at Coles supermarket earns me only 35 FB points – and not 70 (via Coles MC) + 35 FB. An identical spend at Woolies, if paid for using the Coles MC, would earn me 70 FB points!
Maybe it is just me but it seems swiping my embedded flybuys card at Coles supermarket overrides the Mastercard side of it…
I haven’t got around to questioning this with Coles Financial Services, because of course they have no email address for me to put it in writing and scan and send transaction history info to.
You can order a linked Flybuys card for family members to use. Ideal if your loved ones have no interest in points.
Also, a key redemption offer with Coles is $10 off your shop for 2,000 points. Given it can be difficult to redeem or you may not have enough points for a flight award – this is an easy way to put guaranteed cash back in your pocket. Those points aren’t going to be wasted! Coles immediately offer you the $10 off at the register: no forms & no hassles. Going into Coles for $15 of groceries and paying $5 is a satisfying experience.