From next Monday, a week earlier than the new Fly Buys and Air New Zealand loyalty programmes launch, customers can access Onecard Club prices at Countdown and get instant fuel savings at AA Smartfuel partners BP or Caltex.
Customers can also choose which type of reward suits them best, and switch what they earn at any time.
A cursory glance of the new loyalty programmes coming on line this month shows Z Energy as a major winner. The South Island New World Club Card becomes a Fly Buys-only card on October 17 but will continue to gather points at Z Pump promotions.
Z also owns Caltex, and the new Countdown-AA loyalty card will receive fuel discounts there and at BP.
Z has both major supermarket chains, along with its BP and Caltex fuel outlets, participating in two different loyalty programmes.
Countdown head of loyalty Susan D'lima said Onecard was one of New Zealand's largest loyalty programmes, popular with supermarket shoppers for more than 20 years.
AA Smartfuel began in 2011 and was now the country's largest fuel loyalty programme.
The new Onecard programme had evolved to match what was important to today's customers: low prices every day, saving money through rewards, ease and flexibility, she said.
By partnering with AA Smartfuel, Countdown was opening up an instant fuel saving to Onecard holders and enabling AA Smartfuel card holders to accumulate fuel savings on what could be their biggest spend per week, once the bills were paid.
``Together, both programmes give consumers more opportunities to save whenever they swipe on a single card, and without having to keep track on dockets,'' Ms D'lima said.
AA Smartfuel director Ian Sutcliffe said AA Smartfuel's 2.2million members had wanted a grocery partnership. Bringing Countdown on board as a retail partner marked a significant milestone for customers as Smartfuel broadened its network to more than 1500 retail outlets around the country.
Card holders were already earning about $60million in fuel discounts a year and the most active users were saving hundreds of dollars in a 12-month period.
Last month, Fly Buys and Air NZ announced their joint loyalty programme was splitting up.
Loyalty New Zealand (the operator of Fly Buys) and Air NZ would offer differing choices from October 17, although some would remain the same.
Z Energy and Foodstuffs own half of Fly Buys, with BNZ and State Insurance owning the other half. But Z and Foodstuffs had also joined Air NZ's Airpoints scheme - a dollar-each-way bet.
Fly Buy members would be able to access a much larger range of travel options and Air NZ would not be the only airline involved in the travel options.
Air NZ general manager loyalty Mark Street said Airpoints members had a choice of 55 businesses where they could earn Airpoints dollars. The airline had added 29 new businesses over the past 12 months.
