Earn Rewards while you Eating By Robin Marlowe, 10.21.05
The Gold Points program at TGI Fridays offers customers rewards for having dinner with them. The program that began in 1996 allows customers to gain points for dollars spent at participating businesses. Over 2,000 partners give Gold Points’ consumers flexibility to spend their money and earn points.
Collecting points
Spending money accrues points to the Gold Points account. It works like a credit card system. Purchase anything at participating sponsors locations and hand them the Gold Points card. The cashier or server swipes the card and the points are added immediately. As the points add up, check the web site and find something within the points earned ratio and redeem points. It is that easy.
The program includes popular restaurants, flower shops, book stores, clothing stores and much more. To get a complete list of the partners go to the Gold Points website, www.goldpoints.com. It won’t be hard to recognize the companies involved with Gold Points. One glance at the rewards and there will be no question of whether to sign up. There are no gimmicks and it’s free to sign up.
Plus, signing up is easy. While at the restaurant, just fill out the application and in four to six weeks a card will come in the mail. Shopping will quickly become a reward gaining process. Don’t worry about the information given to obtain this spectacular card.
“The names are not shared with anyone else; they are safely stored in a database,” said Mark Jacob, assistant manager of TGI Fridays in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Redeeming points
Members can purchase with their points, Kate Spade handbags, Avon products, rental cars, washing machines, dryers, and even airline tickets. The reward card lavishes their faithful consumers with top quality products.
Gold Points builds loyalty through offering customers rewards for spending. The rewards show members they are valued.
“Frequency of guests is the greatest reward for the company, and the consumer gets to come back and enjoy TGI Fridays again with a free appetizer or dessert,” Jacob said.
The consumer can also purchase gift certificates to give in the amount of 15, 30, 50, or 100 dollars. The points required for each certificate is different, but holding onto points pays off significantly.
Who’s advantage?
Management favors the rewards system while servers have a different perspective.
“It takes up too much time for the server. To redeem the points we need to get a manager and sometimes it is hard to find one. It backs us up and then our service to other tables falls behind.” He adds, “It also seems like on Friday and Saturday the system breaks down, then we have to tell customers to bring their receipt next time and we can issue the points then. It is very frustrating,” said Michael Hunt, a server at TGI Fridays.
It might be difficult for the servers when the systems break down, but for users it can be quite rewarding. So next time a cashier or a server offers a free rewards program why not check it out? It just might be worth the extra 3 minutes. Whoever said nothing was free in life obviously didn’t look hard enough.
