Blog Post: Unlock the Power of Public Points

[J_PM]

The More You Know: Unlock the Power of Public Points

Introduction

As a subscriber to Public Mobile, you're likely familiar with the variety of unique perks that come with using our service. Among them is the Public Points Rewards program, which is a straightforward and rewarding way to get even more from your subscription. However, not everyone might be aware of how to get the most out of this program. So, here's a guide to help you maximize your Public Points and make every dollar count.

What Are Public Points?

For those who activated their Public Mobile subscriptions after January 25, 2022, or have opted into the Public Points program, this is for you. Public Points make your monthly subscriptions even better by letting you earn points you can use for bill payments, add-ons, and even exclusive contests. The best part? No minimum spend, no expiry dates, and a super simple conversion rate of 1 point to $1.

Getting Started

Once you subscribe to Public Mobile, you're automatically enrolled in the Public Points program. If you're an old subscriber and want to switch from the legacy rewards to Public Points, you can easily do so through the Public Mobile app or My Account online. Within four days, you'll be all set to start earning and redeeming points.

How to Earn Points

Earning points with Public Points is a breeze. Here are some ways you can stack up those points:

One-Time Rewards

• Welcome Present: Earn 5 points when you register for Public Points.
• Loyalty Perks: Get 1 point for every 30 days you’ve been with Public Mobile and switch from Old Public Rewards to Public Points.

Recurring Rewards

• Points Back: Get 5% back in points for every dollar spent on your subscription or add-ons.
• Anniversary Points: Earn 10 points every year you stay with Public Mobile.
• Refer-a-Friend: Get 1 point every 30 days for every active friend you referred to Public Mobile.
• Give Back: Earn between 1 and 20 points for participating and helping others in the Public Mobile Community.

How to Redeem Your Points

You can use your points for a variety of things like reducing your bill, getting free add-ons, or entering exclusive contests. You can redeem your points through the Public Mobile app or My Account online.

A Few Tips to Maximize Your Public Points

• Pay Your Bills On Time: One of the easiest ways to earn points is by simply paying your bills. So, make it a habit.
• Refer Friends: Got a buddy who's looking for a new mobile service provider? Refer them to Public Mobile. You'll earn points and they’ll get a $10 credit.
• Stick Around: The longer you stay, the more you earn. Anniversary points add up
• Engage with the Community: Help others on the Public Mobile Community to earn 'Give Back' points.

Thinking of Making the Switch

If you're still using Public Mobile's old rewards system, and considering making the switch to Public Points here’s only a few cool facts about Points. Not only will you enjoy more ways to earn, from welcome bonuses to loyalty perks, but the program is also easy to use and flexible. One point equals one dollar, and your points never expire. Transitioning is a breeze, and you'll even get points just for switching. In short, Public Points offers a simple and rewarding experience for every subscriber.

Conclusion

If you've been hesitating to switch to Public Points, now's the perfect time to dive in. With more earning opportunities and a straightforward system where one point equals one dollar, it's never been easier to get the most out of your subscription. Don't miss out on this rewarding experience. Make the switch today and start reaping the benefits immediately! For a complete rundown on Public Points and all its features, click here.

[Korth_]

[Raheel672]

Ok interesting. 

Do you see those rewards separately? Have you received any?

[Korth_]

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@Raheel672 wrote:

So how do you earn points by helping others? 

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Short version: You just keep participating in the Community. Public Mobile decides what award you get.

There have been numerous threads over the years about attempts to analyze the parameters and patterns in Public Mobile's secret formula. It's a recurring topic. Nobody outside of Public Mobile really knows exactly how it works. Nobody inside Public Mobile has ever revealed exactly how it works - but they have commented a few times that this lack of detail is intentional, they don't want people to game the system. (And I don't blame them for this attitude because people have used, abused, misused, exploited, and manipulated every other nice thing Public Mobile has offered over the years.)

[Raheel672]

So how do you earn points by helping others? 

[Philup]

New public mobile here thanks for posting this, really helpful information.

[Flyzzard]

Thank you for the information. As a new subscriber I found this article useful. When someone takes the time to consolidate (the points program) into an easy read, it's a bonus for everyone. 

[Katzengatos]

I think it's a great loyalty program! My favourite rewards are cash rebates.

[Acash]

Agreed I’m still on the old scheme!

[montem]

The old reward system is definitely better. The longer you stay with public mobile, the more gains you get. It can make subscribers stay long-term.

[Korth_]

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@Mikeee wrote:

yeah lol ok, what are the Tier 2 and Tier 3 to you?

I didn't have previous experience with Public Mobile so doesn't know how much better

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"Tier 1" and "Tier 2" and "Tier 3" or synonyms like "Corporate brand", "Flanker brand", "Value brand" don't really have meaning anymore. They're legacies from previous decades.

Today there is only the Big Three. (And a few little operators who service truly remote areas or who are otherwise inconsequential in the big numbers game.)

Each of the Big Three offers an "official", recognized, trusted, respected mainline brand which appeals to the dull and boring, staid dinosaurs who work in large corporations, government, financial institutions, etc.

Each of them offers "consumer" brands which appeal to and service the vast majority of Canadians. The brands (and their gimmicks) are maintained more to present the illusion of choice for consumers. The plans are essentially structured through CRTC mandates, everybody has to offer the same stuff, nobody charges less, nobody can really get away with charging more.

Public Mobile vs Koodo Mobile are the same thing, same network, same service, same plans, same prices - except that one has stores and the other doesn't, one has Rewards/Points and the other doesn't, etc. Public Mobile and Koodo Mobile are essentially the same thing as Lucky Mobile and Virgin Mobile these days, same plans, same prices, even the same shared network, from a subscriber's perspective they differ only in what you can buy as add-on bundles and long distance destinations etc.

[Acash]

Great to highlight these! Reasons why I love Public!

[statusquo]

Hello @Mikeee from the way I understand the different tiers it would be similar to paying for economy, business and first class fare for a plane ticket.  

So all the major carriers offer full service higher priced plans under their corporate moniker and then offer cheaper service for more budget price services which include the following that I'm aware of.   Telus has koodo and public mobile. Bell has virgin and lucky mobile and Rogers has chatr and fido.  So they all offer 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier service although sometimes it's hard to spot too much difference between some second and third tier plans. 

[Mikeee]

yeah lol ok, what are the Tier 2 and Tier 3 to you?

I didn't have previous experience with Public Mobile so doesn't know how much better

[Korth_]

lol "competes"

[statusquo]

Public mobile competes in the 3rd tier market @Mikeee and yes I would agree it is still a little better than the competition but not as much as it used to be.

[Mikeee]

You made some good point, I didn't know that but I think those should be considered as an ecosystem perspectives as how other tier 2 company dealing with those issues, they gotta make their profit, since Public is a owned by Telus which I am guessing they share the same wire bandwidth with Telus, so to keep that, maybe those will have impact on Telus? not sure? but overall I still consider public mobile the better one among all tier 2.

[statusquo]

Hello @Mikeee  I see my previous post has some typos and may have confused you as to what I meant to say.  

Regarding the expiring data, which was previously poorly worded by me, I was referring to the fact that public mobile, until a few months ago, used to offer non expiring data add-ons which was very useful for those of us on the cheaper plans as we could purchase the data when our plan data had been consumed before the plan renewed and we got to keep any remaining data from that add-on until it was needed again unlike the new policy where it expires after 30 days.  To make matters worse this means that remaining data from the bought add-on will be lost once your plan renews to a new cycle and you will dipping into the plan data instead.   There have been many many requests from customers to have this new policy reversed but since public has not made any changes despite the pleas, I think it's safe to assume this 30 day data policy is here to stay.  Maybe this policy change could have been better tolerated had the price for 30 day data dropped significantly but that never happened either as the price for non expiring and 30 day data is exactly the same as before.

My other point was a hope that public mobile would offer plans with more data than currently being offered for those on a more limited budget or less data requirements as we have been inundated with many new plans offering tons of data for a very good price but all are above $30+. 

Maybe we will see new plans under $30 for black friday or christmas season which makes me wonder if we will receive any free bonus data and international minutes like we did last December and if the free data would fall under the new 30 day policy or not.

[Mikeee]

Could you elaborate a bit more on what do you mean by doing away with non their expiring data add-on or even dropped the price for any of the data add-ons?

The other one, when you are saying other disappointing part is the lack of any new plans offering more data for under $30. what time are referring/comparing against?

Thanks

[statusquo]

While earning points is quite nice, I do regret not activating my account with the older legacy rewards which I seem to have missed by a couple of weeks but I'm more disappointed that public mobile has chosen to do away with non their expiring data add-on or even dropped the price for any of the data add-ons.  In fact, that was one of the reason why I activated with public instead of lucky so I'm beginning to feel this company is going down a different path than it used to be on.  The other disappointing part is the lack of any new plans offering more data for under $30.

[Mikeee]

This is why Public mobile attract me to it, best reward program system

[0utc4st]

Thank you fo clearing that up, and for using small words :p, i figured the the old rewards would be more benificial but I wasn't sure if it was significantly. Which it turns out... it is! It also seems like less of a headache, so that's a big plus

[Korth_]

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@0utc4st wrote:

maybe my brain is not mathing properly due to my IQ deficiency... but don't you gain (or should I say save) more by staying on the old $$ reward plan instead of switching over to the new points system?

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The old Rewards system will pay you more in the long run. It takes months for the Autopay and Referral Rewards to add up, and it takes years before the Loyalty Rewards become significant - but the math definitely works to your advantage after you've stuck around (with old Rewards) for a long time.

The new Points system will pay you more immediately. That's money in your pocket that you can start spending right now. With some bonus bribes incentives available ("for a short time only, offer expires soon") if you click that button before you can think about it.

Public Mobile (like all the other second-tier and third-tier operators) attracts a lot of customers who have no long term "loyalty" anyhow. They're always actively looking around, searching for promos and deals and codes, always opportunistically chasing after the best deal they can find wherever they can find it. Maybe they joined Public Mobile to cash in on good promo - but they'll be gone again a short while later - and maybe they'll come back again (and again) after that - waiting years for a loyalty payoff isn't as attractive to them as having some spending money in pocket right now (or just a short time from now, when their plan renews, etc).

[0utc4st]

maybe my brain is not mathing properly due to my IQ deficiency... but don't you gain (or should I say save) more by staying on the old $$ reward plan instead of switching over to the new points system?

[Korth_]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

is there no more jackpot now?

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Weren't people complaining too much or asking too many questions about that? A lot of extra confusion, a lot of extra attention needed by Public Mobile (Telus) staff to communicate things in plain and simple language. Along with the usual lot of dirtbags who always always always try to push the limits and stretch the boundaries and exploit the letter instead of the spirit to their advantage.

It might be complicated because call the points or tokens whatever you want to call them, they still cost real money and they still translate into real money. Jackpots and raffles and such things are basically gambling. There's a lot of laws and regulations (and penalties) around business practices which involve gambling and real money.

I personally think the contests were a good idea, a way to attract/retain referrals who can't resist gambling. But I can understand the reasons Public Mobile (Telus) might decide to stop the jackpots.

I also think that convenient buttons to donate your points to charities/etc would be good. Feed the starving, house the homeless, pet the puppies, cure the cancers, help win the war in Ukraine, whatever worthy cause (on the list of options) you want to dump your points into. I'm honestly a little surprised that such a thing doesn't exist since Telus is big on proudly advertising how it sponsors and supports all sorts of charitable donations.

[maximum_gato]

@hTideGnow 

Lol....I was thinking the same thing!

@J_PM 

I just tried double checking my info but I'm just getting the circle of death in a points account so I can't see the rewards catalogue but last time I checked for another member the last "lucky draw" ended on April 30th 2023. There hasn't been any new ones since then?

Now you've missed some of the ways to earn bonus points......which when schilling the new points rewards system you should really go in for the hard sell and promote all of the possible ways to earn points.

New customer activation promotions:

Similar to the 3×points promotion than ran between August 2022 and sometime this past spring (end of April?) Public Mobile is currently offering double points back promotion (until October 16th) valid for 12 months. That's 10% back in points on all of your subscription plan and add on purchases. (Hmmmm if you buy a Sim card thru your account do you get points back?)

There is also targeted points rewards promotions. These are seemingly random and so far I've only heard of one customer recieving this promo.....but an offer of 15 points to reactivate their service after barely 3 weeks of suspension. These are YMMV of course but certainly another way of earning points.

NOW FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING SWITCHING FROM THE OLD $$ REWARDS TO PUBLIC POINTS READ BELOW......

You will recieve 5 welcome points and 1 point for every month with public mobile ( if you joined in October 2021 you would recieve 24 points (one time)+5 welcome points=29 points.)

However remaining on the old $$ rewards program for your second anniversary your loyalty rewards increase by $1/30 days and you would begin earning $2 in loyalty rewards (per 30 days). That's $24 over the next year.

By your third anniversary when you start earning $3/30 days or $36 over the next year on the points program you will recieve your first anniversary reward of 10 points.

4th anniversary: $$ Rewards=$4/30 days or $48/year. Points rewards=10 anniversary points.

5th anniversary: $$ Rewards=$5/30 days or $60/year. Points rewards=10 anniversary points.

After this $$ rewards customers earn $5/30 days or $60/year each and every year and points rewards customers recieve 10 points per year each and every year. 

However $$ rewards customers who suspend their services for more than 60 can have their loyalty annual increase delayed by the 60+ days your services are suspended. The 10 anniversary points are rewarded on your yearly anniversary like clockwork and whether you have active service or not.

The autopay reward is $2/30 days regardless of your plan amount. Good if you pay $40 or less for your plan or if your plan is reduced by rewards to below $40/30 days. 

Get back 5% in points is based on the actual $$ amount you pay (promotions, credits and redemptions don't earn points) but a $40 plan payment earns 2 points=$2. If you pay more than $40/30 days you will earn more in points back than the $2 autopay reward (ie. $50=2.5 points=$2.50)

Referral rewards and community/give back rewards work basically the same in either program.

KEEP IN MIND.....ONCE YOU JOIN THE POINTS PROGRAM THERE IS NO GOING BACK TO $$ REWARDS. ALL SWITCHES TO THE PUBLIC POINTS PROGRAM ARE FINAL! 🤔🐯🐈‍⬛😀🤪

[hTideGnow]

HI @J_PM 

is there no more jackpot now?

and would PM consider letting people to redeem points for other things, like gift cards