In January I shared that I have a personal goal this year to earn 1,000,000.00 (1 million!) PC Optimum Points! I know what you’re thinking – that’s a big goal and A LOT of points – and I agree! But, it is doable friends! And I am still plugging away at it!
The PC Optimum points system can be intimidating to learn, but it’s so worth the effort! Once you have built up your points you can redeem them at any of the Loblaws Banner stores or Shoppers Drug Marts.
PC Optimum points are valued at 1,000 points for $1.00 redeemable value, and you can redeem your points in $10.00 increments starting at 10,000 up to a maximum of 500,000 PC Optimum Points ($500.00) in one transaction!
You need to understand how to calculate the points that you’ll be earning with your purchase. Shoppers Drug Mart is the only store in the PC Optimum program where you automatically receive 15 base points on every dollar you spend. It is an easy calculation: just multiply the dollars spent (before taxes) by 15 and you get your base points! What if you spent $52.60 before taxes? Multiply 52.00 by 15 = 780 base points.
Let’s take it one step further – what if that $52.60 was part of a Personal Offer (PO)? Spend $52.60 & earn 20x the points = 52.00×15(base pts)x20 (your offer)=15,600 PC Optimum Points OR Spend $50.00 and earn 20,000. Your total points for that one transaction would now be 20,780 PC Optimum Points (52.00×15(base points)+20,000 =20,780)! It really doesn’t take long for those points to add up!
If you have a PC Financial Mastercard, you can earn extra points paying with it as well. Instead of just 15 points per dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart, you’ll get those 15 base points PLUS an additional 10 points for a total of 25 points per dollar! Those bonus 10 points per dollar will be added separately within a week.
There are several ways that you can maximize your value with these special offers.
Be sure to download the PC Optimum App & the Shoppers Drug Mart App – then you can load and check your personal offers. You can use any offer in any Loblaw banner store, including Shoppers Drug Mart, unless they specifically state otherwise. While you can’t combine more than one threshold offer (offers for spending the given minimum amount) , you CAN combine one threshold offer with offers for specific items! For example, you can combine a “20x the points when you spend $50” offer and an “Earn 200 points for every $1 spent on Pampers” personal offer.
Check for in-store bonus points offered as well. In-store points offers will be advertised in their weekly sales flyers, or posted on the sale tags in store for specific items. They will be added to your total points earned separately; if you’re buying them while also earning a 20x special offer, they will not be multiplied by 20 as well.
Don’t forget to walk the aisles to check for clearance tags, or see if your store has a clearance section or bins. You can find some incredible deals when old stock is being cleared out, especially if you can match a coupon with them.
Items can often have manager’s stickers on them to mark them down further as well. Only the price after the manager’s sticker has been applied will count towards your final bill, but it’s a great way to stretch your purchase value.
Be sure to always check your receipt to ensure you’ve received all the points you’re entitled too. If you feel you are missing PC Optimum Points from your transaction just put in a points inquiry ! I have done this via “live chat” and they send me an email with a link to fill in my information – I have received my points within 4 days!
Always get the cashier to scan your card first then do a sub-total BEFORE giving her/him any coupons or FPC – Those coupons & FPC are equal to cash & they will help bring down your total money owed!
I used to feel like $50.00 was a huge amount of money to spend at Shoppers Drug Mart “just to get some points”! 🙂 Then someone reminded me that every Saturday/Sunday they had staples on sale (milk, bacon, bread, cheese etc) so why not stock up on those items on those days – plus – there is usually a points offer or PO on the weekend! I started doing that and those points started loading quickly
And, lastly, make sure you follow the weekly blog by Filomena ! She finds the deals for us and most of them use coupons! Win! Win! Thank you Filomena !
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