Why should I keep Vitality?

[U1Nanimous]

Okay, so quick question. 

I ride, some might say more than the average person.
 

But, to have all the points etc to just get an occasional coffee(which it looks like I won't be getting anymore because I reached the points cap).

or,

Have a ton of "Miles" I can't use because I refuse to be bullied into opening an account at their bank. 

After a lot of investigation and a call center more interested in closing queries fast rather than helping, I still can't see any real benefit. 

And last thought, I hate spending time in a Gym. So no benefit there. 

So why should I keep Vitality? 

Is there still a benefit to Cyclist? 

[ChrisF]

Simple answer .... vote with your wallet.

 

Vitality has long since moved from a HEALTH reward program to a carrot to draw people into the greater Discovery portfolio of products.

[RobertWhitehead]

I opened a Discovery account solely for the miles, they do come in handy when converting but other than that I agree, no use IMO. If you have lots of miles then don't loose it, open an account, transfer them to said account and then close both

[Dexter-morgan]

The travel/car hire is a fair benefit but also not that great, we recently booked flights for two to cape town from JHB and 7 days car hire for R6420, I think that was good, but the flights alone wasn't that great.

I got more benefit from Multiply with their online shop.

[madmarc]

For me Vitality only offers a huge positive on my life products intergrater payback. 

I also have an HPP that requires me to be on vitality which pays out my intergrater savings in 3 years time which is a serious amount of money.

I've been on diamond since it was introduced to leverage the max intergrator payback.

I took out their CC when it was first introduced so i accumulated lots of points in the old days - Now days its a waste of time - All the miles or points my wife earns are sitting on her account which she can get free coffe vouchers for - 70 000 points is a lot of coffee - They now want her to open a Disco bank account to use the points - I told them which finger they can go sit on.

Interest rates on savings = P#ss poor STD bank giving me 2.0% higher than what they offered on a 3.0 mill investment

Motor vehicle insurance = P#ss poor almost 20% higher than my broker.

Bank charges = almost double what i'm pying at STD bank

Oh and their express line at airport passport control is longer thant he normal line

I'm so over their BS I'm really looking forward to tht HPP payout so i can tell them where to shove Vitality

[Mountain Bru]

I think it's a pretty simple sum to figure out if it's worthwhile:

Vitality fees are R359 for a single member, so R4308 per year. 

If you ignore the team vitality running and cycling clubs, then your main benefits are gonna be:

• Flights
• Sportsmans's Warehouse/Totalsports/Fitness Device/Nike Gear
• Gym
• Healthy Food

Just do the sums and see if you're saving more than you're spending per month. No one can really answer for you without knowing exactly what you spend, and what other loyalty or reward programs you're on. 

For me, I would say I use the gear benefits maybe 4 times a year, which is around R2000 saved. Plus a flight or two which is probably around another R1000 saved. And then get R150 to R300 back a month from healthy food at Woolies, so it probably works out at least even for me, but your mileage may vary. 

 

 

[madmarc]

14 minutes ago, Dexter-morgan said:

The travel/car hire is a fair benefit but also not that great, we recently booked flights for two to cape town from JHB and 7 days car hire for R6420, I think that was good, but the flights alone wasn't that great.

I got more benefit from Multiply with their online shop.

I tried flights and car hire in Dec for CT, i get -30% on flights 

Got all cheaper by booking direct with the airline and car rental company without discounts

Its a scam i tell you !

[BaGearA]

17 minutes ago, madmarc said:

For me Vitality only offers a huge positive on my life products intergrater payback. 

I also have an HPP that requires me to be on vitality which pays out my intergrater savings in 3 years time which is a serious amount of money.

I've been on diamond since it was introduced to leverage the max intergrator payback.

I took out their CC when it was first introduced so i accumulated lots of points in the old days - Now days its a waste of time - All the miles or points my wife earns are sitting on her account which she can get free coffe vouchers for - 70 000 points is a lot of coffee - They now want her to open a Disco bank account to use the points - I told them which finger they can go sit on.

Interest rates on savings = P#ss poor STD bank giving me 2.0% higher than what they offered on a 3.0 mill investment

Motor vehicle insurance = P#ss poor almost 20% higher than my broker.

Bank charges = almost double what i'm pying at STD bank

Oh and their express line at airport passport control is longer thant he normal line

I'm so over their BS I'm really looking forward to tht HPP payout so i can tell them where to shove Vitality

Getting to lv5 in ucount can be a ballache but once there the rewards are great.

 

I opt only for points and get back nearly 2.6k( and 2 gigs extra data )  every month vs. about 1100 I'm spending to achieve the level. 

 

Also get dischem and makro vouchers now and then 

[Mountain Bru]

What I think is true of all these loyalty schemes and scams is that you have to be 100% committed to them to get the real benefit. On Vitality, you need to be on Diamond Status, and jump through all the hoops of shopping at the right place and buying petrol at the right garage etc to get real value back. On eBucks you need to be on Level 5 and do all your banking with FNB and jump through all of their hoops. It's seldom that you can maximize the benefit of 2 places at once because quite obviously, their loyalty program is geared to make you loyal to them, and not the other bank. 

I think we easily forget that all of these programs are behavior modification tools specifically designed to maximize the profit of Discovery/FNB/Momentum etc, and not benevolent programs designed to reward you and give you extra money for being such a good citizen. We're basically all just circus animals being given treats for obeying the commands of our trainers and punished for being disobedient or listening to the instructors from a different circus. 

[BaGearA]

3 minutes ago, Mountain Bru said:

What I think is true of all these loyalty schemes and scams is that you have to be 100% committed to them to get the real benefit. On Vitality, you need to be on Diamond Status, and jump through all the hoops of shopping at the right place and buying petrol at the right garage etc to get real value back. On eBucks you need to be on Level 5 and do all your banking with FNB and jump through all of their hoops. It's seldom that you can maximize the benefit of 2 places at once because quite obviously, their loyalty program is geared to make you loyal to them, and not the other bank. 

I think we easily forget that all of these programs are behavior modification tools specifically designed to maximize the profit of Discovery/FNB/Momentum etc, and not benevolent programs designed to reward you and give you extra money for being such a good citizen. We're basically all just circus animals being given treats for obeying the commands of our trainers and punished for being disobedient or listening to the instructors from a different circus. 

Its definitely geared towards locking you into their ecosystem but why else would they offer it ?

Stuff I do willfully to qualify :

Renters insurance 

Loan ( tiny amount that i pay back minimum , literally just to get the points )

2 lotto tickets pm 

3 air time purchases 

1 snapscan purchase 

Fuel at caltex/astron

 

Stuff i do anyway point system or not : 

 

have bank account for 10 years or more 

access banking app more than 5 times pm

Use my credit card for purchases ( free swipes vs paying for every swipe with my debit card )

Draft a will through them 

Share trading through them 

 

This is alot of hoops and there are more but the returns of it are massive and wayyyy more than the cost of doing these things ( needed or not ) 

 

But I'm 1 in 100 000 , the bank obviously relies on that 100 000 that do similar but not all requirements to make money and pay the top achievers out. 

 

Its something many people will just " aggg its BS ...." but they won't look at how much they can get back. 

 

These programs are another avenue people can use to offset monthly bills but are just too lazy 

[RobertWhitehead]

You know, back in the day I used to know everything about the vitality engine etc. etc. but now I couldn't be bothered. I closed my Ucount stuff last week. It is similar to blockchain and crypto, it mostly only has value on their ecosystem. But to the point, I pay way more for Vitality than the benefit I receive so I will also be canceling my membership 

[dave303e]

18 minutes ago, BaGearA said:

Getting to lv5 in ucount can be a ballache but once there the rewards are great.

 

I opt only for points and get back nearly 2.6k( and 2 gigs extra data )  every month vs. about 1100 I'm spending to achieve the level. 

 

Also get dischem and makro vouchers now and then 

My mrs happens to work finance in the loyalty area at a large bank(not STD Bank). uCounts however is actually bang for buck as a client the best rewards scheme out there according to her.

Vitality is an individual calculation for the savings. I just left the mrs bank to move to discovery bank, between Nike performance gear, flights and rewards we are square for the year so any further benefits makes it worth while for me. But each person needs to calculate their own crossover point...

Years ago through the mrs I realised you get a better return when taking rewards and cashing the money into savings/investing it as opposed to spending in loyalty stores for certain programs. Anyway 5 years later without doing anything extra other than cashing rewards into an investment I am sitting with 30k in an investment that is earning over 9% interest and cost me absolutely 0. Yes i haven't gotten the small meaningless rewards along the way, but one of these days I will cash it for an international race as a treat.

[Nick]

It was the removing of the behaviour manipulation for me 

🧘‍♂️

[Bub Marley]

1 hour ago, madmarc said:

For me Vitality only offers a huge positive on my life products intergrater payback. 

I also have an HPP that requires me to be on vitality which pays out my intergrater savings in 3 years time which is a serious amount of money.

I've been on diamond since it was introduced to leverage the max intergrator payback.

I took out their CC when it was first introduced so i accumulated lots of points in the old days - Now days its a waste of time - All the miles or points my wife earns are sitting on her account which she can get free coffe vouchers for - 70 000 points is a lot of coffee - They now want her to open a Disco bank account to use the points - I told them which finger they can go sit on.

Interest rates on savings = P#ss poor STD bank giving me 2.0% higher than what they offered on a 3.0 mill investment

Motor vehicle insurance = P#ss poor almost 20% higher than my broker.

Bank charges = almost double what i'm pying at STD bank

Oh and their express line at airport passport control is longer thant he normal line

I'm so over their BS I'm really looking forward to tht HPP payout so i can tell them where to shove Vitality

My discovery bank charges are 250 per month. I get around R1500 back from them every month.

 

To each their own I suppose. But out of all their products, for me i get the most value out of their Bank product.

[Chumi]

My 2023 Benefits, being on diamond

Apple Watch 100% paid for, except the activation fee

(Previously a Garmin Watch 50% off. Paid the difference with miles. Did the transaction on the 15th so saved 30%. Paid nothing out of pocket)

Nike Running shoes two pairs @ 60% for the first 2k. Paid difference with miles(15th). Nothing out of pocket

Gravel Bike at Sportmans, 25% off first 2K. Paid difference with miles. Paid only 2000k out of pocket for a 12K bike

Return flight KMB to CPT at 50% off. To run Two Oceans.

50% discount on entry fees (in the form miles). Two Oceans, Johnson Crane and Soweto Marathons.

Health Checks 100%

Plus miles earned for Healthy foods, fuel, healthy baby (came handy after new born), 

Costs

i. Bankig Suite 260pm (Platinum) normal industry fee

ii. Vitality 360pm grudge 

iii. Team Vitality 480 or so pa, lower than community club fees

iv. DHMS expensive 

v. Life Policy normal

 

Considering that some of this costs I would have paid anyway (e.g migrated from STD Bank paying over 300pm for banking, and Life policy with OM) I would say it is worth it. It pays for itself at least one time over. Plus it is an investment in self. I know my sugar numbers and my good cholesterol from my bad one.

Edited March 12 by Chumi

[Shebeen]

3 hours ago, U1Nanimous said:

Okay, so quick question. 

I ride, some might say more than the average person.
 

But, to have all the points etc to just get an occasional coffee(which it looks like I won't be getting anymore because I reached the points cap).

or,

Have a ton of "Miles" I can't use because I refuse to be bullied into opening an account at their bank. 

After a lot of investigation and a call center more interested in closing queries fast rather than helping, I still can't see any real benefit. 

And last thought, I hate spending time in a Gym. So no benefit there. 

So why should I keep Vitality? 

Is there still a benefit to Cyclist? 

two simple answers to a simple question.

 

A)because it saves you money (and that's actual budget - not saying you save money shopping at woollies buying stuff you wouldn;t do otherwise)

B)because it works, and you're living healthier