GetGo to GoRewards: My ‘bad’ experience with their transition

Traveling was a major part of my work back in the days when there was no pandemic. It got almost so frequent that I just come home to Iloilo over the weekend only to find that I need to come back to Manila immediately by Sunday afternoon or early morning by Monday. This meant that flight tickets are much higher than usual.

I am proud to say that the Union Bank GetGo Credit Card was among my first credit cards which I use up to now. It gave me so many rewards or GetGo points which earned me cheaper flight costs for leisure travel. I banked up more or less 40,000 points before the pandemic caused a collapse in the aviation industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic was already bad news for my travel plans. But then came an email informing that GetGo will be transitioning into a new program with the Robinsons GoRewards. Those points that I earned were converted. A few thousands which was earned before January 1, 2020 was converted to Cebu Pacific Travel Fund (PhP0.30 = 1 GetGo point). Those earned by 2020, in general, was converted into Robinsons GoRewards points (0.30 GoRewards point = 1 GetGo point). To illustrate how much I earned all in all, I earned about PhP7,000 worth of Cebu Pacific Travel Fund valid until 2023 and about 3,600 Robinsons GoRewards points. Note that the latter is also equivalent to PhP1.00 per point.

Everything went smoothly in the first half of 2021. However, I noticed that by August, the supposed Robinsons GoRewards points that I am supposed to earn as reported in my credit card statements were no longer credited to my Robinsons GoRewards account. To date, it accumulated to more or less 1,000.

I reached out to Union Bank regarding this concern given that they are the card issuers. However, after several emails, I only received a referral email instructing me to go after and email the GoRewards customer care representatives instead. (So much for effective and efficient customer service experience) Nevertheless, I want to get my hard-earned points back so I did reach out to them.

As of this writing, I am waiting for another email from the GoRewards customer care representative. I was asked so much information which I complied. These included: account numbers for both my GetGo Account and GoRewards Account. These were used to verify my claim. I was also asked for the credit card statements and luckily, even screenshots worked for them. While these are personal information, I do recommend that if you also have the same problems and have reached out to customer service, never provide your credit card number as well as the security number of your credit card. Banks always remind us to secure these numbers and that their agents or any third party would never ask for them.

To summarize, here are some tips to ensure your hard-earned points are alive and kicking:

1. Open an online account to actively monitor the points you earn. Remember that if your points also come from a credit card (such as my case), always check if the one in your card statement tallies or somewhat matches the information logged in your online account for GoRewards. They have an app for that and it is very useful.
2. Reach out to the right people. Based on my experience, points-related issues are no longer dealt with by Union Bank (Boo, customer service. LOL). These have to be coordinated with the Robinsons GoRewards Customer Service. Also, NEVER go to social media and comment your issues and problems; you become an easy target for scammers and phishers.
3. Regularly check your email linked to the loyalty program and issuing bank. Rewards systems before the pandemic were pretty stable but now, they served almost similarly like digital banks. With the markets struggling to remain afloat and recovering, most loyalty programs have consistently been revising their terms and conditions, so read the fine print and determine whether the program is still to your advantage or if you’re better off without it.

So, how are your GetGo points turned Robinsons GoRewards going? Remember, you earned it. Nothing is free, especially now.