Frequently Asked Questions

Points Buddy is an iOS app that does the maths on a points deal for you: enter a deal's spend requirement, points offered, and (optionally) your credit-card earn rate. The app converts the points to their dollar value, and shows your "effective discount" so you can decide in seconds. It's great for Everyday Rewards, Flybuys and Frequent Flyer deals.

No. It's built for anyone who sees points offers and wonders "Is this worth it?"—from casual shoppers to power collectors.

Currently iPhone (iOS 16 or later). An Android version is on our roadmap!

The Discount Calculator and the Deal Comparer are free! The Petrol Comparer and Optimal Pay premium features are accessible via a $1 monthly subscription (less than the price a couple of coffees for a whole year of subscription). You can test the features for free without any commitment – 2 weeks free trial, and cancel any time before the 2 weeks for no charge. You can cancel the subscription at any time.

The app calculates the points you earn, the value of those points and compares that to the amount you have to spend to get those points. It then tells you the value of those points and whether that's a good deal compared to how much you have to pay to get them.

Enter Deal A and Deal B, tap Compare, and you'll see a side‑by‑side table showing effective discount, points per dollar, and net cash benefit. The better deal is highlighted.

Yes — mix and match any programs. For Everyday Rewards and Flybuys offers, you enter the points earned as "Rewards Points". If you personally convert either of those points to frequent flyer points, you can toggle "Convert" as required, and it takes that into account. Any points not converted to frequent flyer points are valued at 0.5c each.

If you don't know your personal points value, you select how you generally use your points and we value your points on our best estimate of that use (for example, 0.5c per frequent flyer point if redeemed for gift cards). If you have calculated your own points value, you can enter that into the app. The app then uses that points valuation in the deal value calculation.

Airlines: Qantas Frequent Flyer, Velocity. Retail: Everyday Rewards, Flybuys. Credit‑card reward programs: Amex Membership Rewards, CommBank Awards, NAB Rewards, ANZ Rewards, Westpac Altitude, and more.

Yes. The Petrol Comparer (premium feature) lets you enter litres, cents‑per‑litre price, fuel vouchers, and any bonus points to see the net cents‑per‑litre saving versus other offers.

Absolutely. Save your cards with their earn rates; the Optimal Pay tool (premium feature) ranks cash, EFTPOS, Visa/Mastercard, and Amex (including surcharges) and recommends the best way to pay.

Yes — enter any surcharge % when entering a deal or when using Optimal Pay, and the app takes it into account.

Yes – if you have a card that doesn't appear in the card list, you can add a manual card with its earn‑per‑dollar, airline transfer rates, and any category bonuses so calculations match your real card.

It compares any payment options available to you that you add (cash, EFTPOS, Visa/Mastercard, Amex). For each, it adds any surcharge to the purchase price, subtracts the dollar value of points earned, and tells you the option with the lowest net cost.

For now you enter deal specifics manually—this keeps the app lightweight and private. Earn rates, program valuations, and common card data are pre‑loaded.