Everyday Rewards vs Flybuys 2026: Which Earns You Airline Points Faster
Two thirds of Australians collect Everyday Rewards. Almost as many collect Flybuys. Here is the honest 2026 comparison with real conversion rates, stacking strategies, and which program actually earns faster.
Everyday Rewards and Flybuys are almost identical on earn rate (1 point per dollar at the supermarket) and conversion rate (2,000 points convert to 1,000 airline points). The difference is which airline program each partners with. Everyday Rewards converts to Qantas. Flybuys converts to Velocity. Join both if you can, because every supermarket visit earns points regardless of which store you choose, and the programs think your household spend is half what it actually is, which often triggers better bonus promotions.
66 percent of Australian households collect Everyday Rewards. 63 percent collect Flybuys. That makes these the two most widely used loyalty programs in the country, beating out Qantas (35 percent) and Velocity (29 percent) by a wide margin. Yet almost nobody writes honest comparisons of the two, because it is "boring" territory compared to first class reward flights.
Here is the reality though: if you spend $194 a week on groceries (the Canstar 2025 average), your supermarket shop puts around 4,000 airline points into your account every year without you doing anything else. Over a decade that is a business class upgrade on a Sydney to Singapore flight. So the question of which program to use matters more than most people realise.
Everyday Rewards vs Flybuys: the core comparison
Here is how the two programs stack up on every dimension that actually matters for earning and redeeming in 2026.
| Feature | Everyday Rewards | Flybuys |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarket | Woolworths, Woolworths Metro | Coles, Coles Express |
| Base earn rate | 1 point per $1 at Woolworths | 1 point per $1 at Coles |
| Airline partner | Qantas Frequent Flyer | Velocity Frequent Flyer |
| Airline conversion rate | 2 points → 1 Qantas Point | 2 points → 1 Velocity Point |
| Cash conversion | 2,000 pts = $10 off your shop | 2,000 pts = $10 off your shop (Flybuys Dollars) |
| Other stores | BIG W, BWS, Everyday Market | Kmart, Target, Bunnings, Officeworks, Liquorland, First Choice Liquor |
| Rewards store (gift cards, goods) | No | Yes, extensive |
| Paid membership tier | Everyday Extra ($7/month) | Coles Plus ($19/month) / OnePass ($4/month) |
| Points expiry | 18 months of inactivity | 18 months of inactivity |
| Bank for later | Bank for Christmas option | Not available |
Earning: which program builds your balance faster
On pure earn rate at the supermarket, the two programs are a dead heat. $100 spent at Woolworths earns 100 Everyday Rewards points. $100 spent at Coles earns 100 Flybuys points. Both convert at 2:1 into airline points, so your $100 grocery shop yields 50 Qantas Points or 50 Velocity Points either way. The structural maths is identical.
The real difference shows up in three places.
Partner network breadth (Flybuys wins)
Flybuys has a noticeably wider earn partner network than Everyday Rewards. You can earn Flybuys points at Kmart, Target, Bunnings Warehouse, Officeworks, Liquorland, First Choice Liquor and Shell Coles Express service stations. Everyday Rewards earns mostly stay within the Woolworths Group (BIG W, BWS, Everyday Market). If your monthly spending spreads across hardware, homewares and liquor, Flybuys earns faster.
Bonus point promotions (Everyday Rewards edges ahead)
Active Everyday Rewards members consistently report more frequent "spend $X over 4 weeks and get 10,000 bonus points" offers than Flybuys members do. The Everyday Rewards app has a dedicated "Boosts" tab where you can activate bonus offers before each shop, and the hit rate on offers has been higher through 2025 and into 2026. Flybuys promotions exist but come less often.
Paid membership doubles it (both offer this)
Everyday Extra ($7 a month) gives you double points every time you shop at Woolworths, plus 10 percent off one monthly shop at Woolworths and BIG W. Coles Plus ($19 a month) is similar but pricier. For heavy Woolworths shoppers, Everyday Extra tends to pay for itself within two shops via the 10 percent discount, and the doubled points add up fast.
Redeeming: the real difference between the two
This is where the programs diverge most. Everyday Rewards keeps redemption simple with three options: $10 off your shop, bank for Christmas, or convert to Qantas Points. Flybuys has the same $10 off (Flybuys Dollars) and Velocity conversion, but adds an extensive rewards store and a travel booking portal.
If you want airline points
Both programs convert at the same 2:1 rate, so there is no earning advantage on either side. The choice comes down to whether you prefer Qantas or Velocity. See our cashback vs Qantas points guide for a deeper breakdown of which airline program delivers better value for Australian travellers in 2026.
If you want cash off your shop
Both programs give you $10 off for 2,000 points (half a cent per point). Identical value. Choose based on where you would actually spend it.
If you want gift cards or goods
Flybuys wins outright. The Flybuys rewards store has hundreds of options from kitchenware to electronics to gift cards at retailers outside the Coles network. Everyday Rewards does not offer this, period. If you prefer physical rewards over airline points, Flybuys is the program to pick.
If you want to book travel
Flybuys has Flybuys Travel, a dedicated booking platform where you can redeem points directly for hotels and flights. This is a fallback option only. The value per point is worse than converting to Velocity and redeeming Reward Seats. But if you hate frequent flyer booking complexity, Flybuys Travel is simple.
The cheat code: join both programs
If you shop exclusively at one supermarket and only fly one airline, pick the matching program. If you are flexible on either, joining both is the clearly superior strategy.
Why joining both works
- You earn on every shop. When Woolworths has cheaper specials one week and Coles wins the next, you earn points either way. Over a year this adds 30 to 40 percent to your total earn.
- Both programs misread your household spend. If your weekly $194 grocery budget splits roughly 50/50 between stores, each program sees only about $100 a week of your spending. Lower spend profiles often trigger more aggressive bonus point offers, since the programs are working harder to win your full basket.
- You hedge airline choice. Qantas devaluations hurt only your Everyday Rewards flow. Velocity devaluations hurt only your Flybuys flow. Balancing across both reduces exposure to any single program change.
- You double up on bonus partners. Target and Kmart runs on Flybuys. BIG W runs on Everyday Rewards. Bunnings earns Flybuys, BWS earns Everyday Rewards. You capture everything.
How to stack supermarket points with cashback in 2026
The single biggest earning opportunity most people miss is stacking a cashback or portal layer on top of the supermarket points. Here is the method:
For Woolworths and BIG W
When you shop online at Woolworths.com.au or bigw.com.au, click through ShopBack, TopCashback, or the Qantas Shopping portal first. You earn cashback or bonus Qantas Points on top of your normal Everyday Rewards earning. Typical rates sit between 1 and 3 percent cashback or 2 to 5 bonus points per dollar. This works on home delivery and click and collect orders.
For Coles online
Coles.com.au is available on ShopBack, TopCashback and the Velocity eStore. Same principle, same stacking opportunity. Click through the cashback link first, complete your online order, earn both Flybuys points at Coles and cashback or Velocity Points on top.
For gift card stacking (the advanced move)
Both Woolworths and Coles regularly run "bonus points on gift cards" promotions (10x, 20x even 30x points). Buying a Woolworths gift card at Woolworths during these promos and then using it for your regular shop means you earn twice: the bonus points on the gift card purchase, then the normal points when you spend the card. Combine this with a portal cashback click through and the stack can reach 10 percent effective return.
Is Flybuys switching to Qantas? (The 2026 rumour check)
In 2022 and again in 2024, Flybuys surveyed its members about switching its Velocity partnership to Qantas Frequent Flyer. The program has not confirmed or denied the rumour since, and as of April 2026 the Velocity partnership remains in place.
The context matters though. Qantas Frequent Flyer already has an exclusive partnership with Everyday Rewards, which typically means contractual non compete clauses prevent a simultaneous Flybuys deal. For Flybuys to switch, the Qantas / Everyday Rewards contract would likely need to end or change. This has not happened publicly, so do not plan around a Flybuys to Qantas switch. Plan for the current structure.
The verdict for 2026
Neither Everyday Rewards nor Flybuys is meaningfully "better" than the other. They are structurally identical with different partners. The real decision is:
Pick Everyday Rewards as your primary if: You shop mostly at Woolworths, you collect Qantas Points, you value bonus point promotions, or you want the simplest program to manage.
Pick Flybuys as your primary if: You shop mostly at Coles, you collect Velocity Points, you want the broader rewards store, or you shop regularly at Bunnings, Kmart, Target or Liquorland.
Best option for almost everyone: Join both. It takes two minutes, costs nothing, and captures every dollar of spending across the two biggest supermarket networks in Australia. The households that do this end up with 30 to 50 percent more airline points per year than households loyal to one.