Fly Buys was launched in New Zealand in 1996. Loyalty New Zealand was established by its owners to operate the programme under licence from Loyalty Pacific. The structure of the programme very closely matched the structure of its namesake programme in Australia at the time. The programme attracted great interest at launch and 300,000 households joined in the first 89 days. In 2008, Fly Buys launched a programme for small to medium-sized businesses to earn points. Telecom New Zealand withdrew from Fly Buys at the end of 2008. In 2009, Fly Buys launched Fly Buys Music, allowing members to buy digital music with their points. In August 2010, Fly Buys expanded its relationship with Air New Zealand, enabling members to redeem for any available seat on any Air New Zealand flight, while members of Air New Zealand’s Airpoints program could earn points from purchases at Fly Buys participating businesses. The relationship with Air New Zealand and Airpoints ended on 17 October 2016. Airpoints members can no longer earn points at Fly Buys partners, and Fly Buys points can no longer be redeemed for Airpoints Dollars. In June 2020, the loyalty programme was renamed to Flybuys, with a new logo.
Points and rewards
Flybuys can be collected for either one of three different rewards currencies :
Flybuys points - Collected across a wide range of household expenditure categories.
Fuel discounts - Collected for fuel savings to use at Z Energy or Caltex.
New World Dollars - Collected for use as a type of payment at New World
Everyday shopping categories include food, fuel and liquor. Typical household services such as energy and insurance provider are also covered. General retailers from whom points can be collected include stationery, pharmacy, hardware, optometry, furniture, carpet, travel, accommodation, car servicing and others. Additional points can be collected from transactions on Bank of New Zealand credit cards, and by completing online surveys with Colmar Brunton and online reviews with Yellow. Most retailers offer one point for every $25 spent. The exchange rate of 300 Flybuys points for 48 Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars suggested a Flybuys point was worth about 16 cents although the equation varies with other rewards. Points expire three years after being collected. Flybuys point rewards include merchandise, flights, entertainment and accommodation.
