Woolworths is promising more perks for its high-spending VIP club of 340,000 people – and travel discounts are on the cards

• Woolworths has a VIP club – for those who spend an average of R2,500 per month at its stores.
• The standard advantages are limited, with headline offers being discounts between 10% and 20%.
• But the store is promising more travel-related deals like its 40%-off agreement with Emirates.
• For more stories go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.

Woolworths is looking to add more travel and entertainment perks to its VIP club for big spenders after a first foray into deep discounts on flights.

In the last year Woolworths relaunched its WRewards scheme, a loyalty card that gives members deeper discounts than those available to the general public. Anyone can sign up for a card, but to fall within the VIP bracket you have to spend R30,000 or more a year, an average of R2,500 per month.

Relative to such spending the standard benefits of being a VIP are paltry: a once-off discount of R75 for spending up to R350 (which equates to a discount of a little over 20%) and a 10%-off birthday voucher.

But earlier this year the loyalty scheme got a more eye-catching advantage: discounts of 40% on a limited number of Emirates flights, in a deal that runs until April next year.

That seems to be the kind of offer Woolworths has in mind for the future. This week the chain told Business Insider South Africa that it is looking at "firming up" its travel offer, while exploring "relevant" lifestyle offers in entertainment and fitness.

Such big-ticket and ongoing discounts – rather than the tactical discounts and giveaways it currently provides – will bring the scheme more in line with the likes of the better-known eBucks from First National Bank and Discovery Vitality.

Woolworths says it has 3.4 million WRewards users, of which "about 10%", or 340,000 people, fall within the VIP bracket.

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