Is it worth paying a surcharge at ALDI to earn frequent flyer points?
Free flights or cheaper groceries? We've crunched the numbers.
ALDI's cheaper grocery prices come with a sting: if you pay by credit card, you have to pay a 0.5% surcharge.
"To meet our promise of high quality products at the most affordable prices, a 0.5% surcharge is included on all credit card and contactless card purchases at our stores," the supermarket giant's site explains. "We are transparent with customers and display the fee on our Eftpos terminal as a reminder. The fee ensures that our prices remain low, rather than passing on this cost via price inflation on our products."
Under Australian law, companies can legally pass on credit charge surcharges, but can't charge you more than the actual cost of providing that service.
Avoiding the surcharge is easy. Just pay with an EFTPOS card, or use cash. (Note that contactless will attract the surcharge, so make sure you swipe your debit card.)
But if you're using a frequent flyer credit card, is it worth paying with a card (and paying the surcharge) just to earn some more points?
How many points could you earn on your ALDI shop?
Using a credit card at ALDI can be convenient and earn points, but it will cost you more. Image: Angus Kidman/Finder
Let's consider an example. This one is about Qantas, but the calculations are basically the same for Velocity.
The average Australian ALDI shopper spends $210 a week on groceries, Finder research shows.
A 0.5% surcharge on that amount comes to $1.05.
How many points you'd earn for that spend depends on your card.
A card earning 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent, such as the Qantas Premier Platinum, would earn 210 points.
That means each 1 Qantas Point is costing you around 0.5 cents.
Our current calculations on how much points are worth shows that 1 Qantas Point can be worth anywhere between 0.3 cents and 8 cents.
If you spend those points on a reward flight, each one will be worth at least 1.3 cents - so you'd be ahead even after paying the surcharge.
But if you use the points for a gift card, you'll have paid more for them then you've redeemed in value.
If your card earns Qantas Points at a lower rate, the outcome is even poorer.
My conclusion? If you have a card earning 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent and you know you'll spend the points on rewards or upgrades, you'll likely come out ahead even after paying the ALDI surcharge. But if that's not the case, you're probably better off using another payment method at ALDI.
One other point: ALDI doesn't accept American Express, so you can't earn points on your Amex card while shopping there.
Want to keep your frequent flyer points balance growing? Check out the latest credit card sign-up deals.
We updated this article on 5 August 2024 with newer spending statistics and examples.
Image: Finder/Photographer: Angus Kidman