Ferndale resident Irene Offord couldn’t believe her luck when State Insurance told her that she was the winner of 100, 000 Fly Buys Points.
Two of New Zealand’s best known brands, State Insurance and Fly Buys, combined forces to offer customers the chance to win big.
In the week before Christmas, State Insurance ran a competition for customers who took out or renewed a car, home, contents or business policy. Customers were automatically entered into a draw to win 100, 000 Fly Buys Points.
With over 2.2 million members, Fly Buys is the largest loyalty programme in New Zealand where shoppers gain redeemable points for buying from affiliated stores. State is the only insurance company that rewards customers with Fly Buys Points.
“I really couldn’t believe it when I received the phone call from State. When I told my friend she said it surely wasn’t possible. But the lovely lass on the phone told me to visit my local State branch and they issued me with a new Fly Buys card. I’ve been a State customer for 55 years and I’m just thrilled”, said Mrs Offord.
So what does 100, 000 Fly Buys points buy? Seven nights in a 5 star hotel in Fiji, plus return flights for two; 10 chart-topping CDs; a Logitech iPod sound dock; a Kodak digital camera with 12x optical zoom; a Sony 32” HD ready LCD TV; a top of the range DVD Handycam; a 250 GB hard drive DVD recorder; a Tom Tom satellite Navigation Unit; a Bluetooth Samsung MP3 player and a Nokia 2630 mobile phone.
“I’m thinking about maybe buying a new television as the remote on my set has had it. I’d also like to buy a gift for a friend”, said Mrs Offord.
Fly Buys Chief Executive Andy Symons said New Zealanders were putting increasing value on rewards, and using them for gifts.
"There's a clear pattern emerging - the more difficult the times are economically, the more people are appreciating and using the benefits of loyalty rewards. New Zealanders redeemed around 750,000 Fly Buys rewards in 2008”.
"This means they're making more effort to shop where they are rewarded, and using Fly Buys points to collect more rewards."