Voices
Abandon incentives and get some real freedom back
It’s not complicated, they say. As long as you buy your vegetables from Woolworths using your Discovery card, but receive your salary on your Investec card, then link it to have eBucks on your FNB account, which you convert to miles, then they will actually pay you to fly via Dubai on a business class ticket, provided you have booked it on the third Wednesday of a month that has 30 days.
“What do you mean you don’t pay your electricity on your credit card?” I was asked. “If you don’t want to go into a Checkers, then just sign up to eWallet, link your card, and make payments that way!” “Consider it done!” I answer, knowing full well that there is as much chance of me following through on it as remembering to clear the gutters of dead leaves ahead of summer.
I know people who claim to have never paid for an airline ticket. I know 60-year-olds who claim to have a medical age of a 33-year-old water polo player along with a spare Apple watch in every kitchen drawer. They tell me that simply by not smoking, being committed to running a marathon every alternate Sunday, and by making sure that they have the flexibility of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat, they have ensured that they can fly to Cape Town at a discount of 30% if they book in March for December (the year following), if prices don’t go up.
“Do you have a MySchool card?” the very kind cashier at Woolworths in Plettenberg Bay asked me. It was 05:30 on a Friday – Woolworths in Plettenberg Bay opens at 05:00 for chefs, insomniacs, and restless morning show hosts looking for something to do at that time – and I was yet to have my coffee. “Do I look like a student?” I responded, thinking how well the holiday was working. “The card!” she said, and then repeated it slowly because I was clearly special needs, “The card!” I didn’t. Nor do I have that one at Dischem or Clicks, or the petrol one, or the Fanatics one. Admittedly, the latter is probably not a terrible idea.
As a family, we hit our medical aid gap by February, we remember to claim every third physio session, and never in all our years have achieved more than blue status. In contrast to real people who achieve and confirm their Diamond status before March. Which is why it was a truly wonderful day when I decided to free myself of that burden. Especially when I see friends frantically filling in declarations that they never have and never will touch a cigarette, dashing off to the bio to see how many points they can beg from them, and fastening their Garmin to the dog’s collar and then forcing the poor thing to run around the dog park.
While the chase for free flights and elusive gadgets might promise reward, I believe it’s the raw, unfiltered chaos of real life that truly liberates us. Passover might be the recognised festival of freedom for Jews. But for me, it was the day I turned my back on the plague of membership incentives. Which is why on the days when those around brag of their benefits, I remind myself that the most valuable ticket isn’t the “free” one via Dubai, but rather the freedom to say, “No, I don’t have a MySchool card. Whatever that is.”
yitzchak
March 3, 2025 at 11:49 am
Most of the store loyalty programs in RSA cost nothing.
Woolies cards allow the company to donate to schools and my card is linked to the Jewish schools.
If they are prepared to part with their cash, make it one of the impoverished schools(such as KDHS)! in your area or wherever.
In Israel your loyalty card costs and is linked to your bank credit facility. that also costs.
Free flights??? I donated all my and my family Elal matmid points to the IDF.
Membership rewards e.g…..I used my card to buy Israeli goods at the Oriental Plaza.
Bobby
March 8, 2025 at 10:41 pm
Wow. That was a mouthful.
2 points:
1: You’re older. These incentives appeal to a younger generation much more. They value the convenience and ‘perceived value’ more than you folks. So don’t rip it if you don’t personally take advantage of it.
2: To do any incentive / reward system properly, you have to understand the best application of it in YOUR life. You are correct in the sense that not everyone needs every reward / incentive system. But you are also being highly immature to throw the baby out with the bath water. There is MASSIVE value to be gained from it. I do understand the trade off you mentioned – living without ANY worries (eg: don’t forget to pay with this card, don’t forget to collect that sticker, make sure to exercise by Saturday etc.) can and is liberating. BUT. The value gained from engaging – in a simple manner once you understand how the reward system that fits your life set up works best – is huge. By way of example, I personally know many people that engage in the Discovery rewards model (arguable the most ‘intrusive’ / ‘complex’) who are fitter, pay less for entertainment, flights, purchases of items that typically have large margins (buying with Miles on the 15th), drive very safely, and know about, care about, and engage in, health and wellness. That’s value. A mate of mine calculated that he gets over R20k a year from Discovery. And he has all the above benefits I mentioned above (fitness, safe driving etc.). If you don’t want to engage in that, it’s fine.
But don’t be judgmental and rip the entire thing.
Funnily written piece though.