The newly revamped London Drugs LDExtras program is here! As first noted to us by our reader Tony L. early in July, the new program launched on August 11, 2022. This is the first big update to the London Drugs’ LDExtras program since it launched in 2016 and for the most people the revamped program should end up being more rewarding for them!
Earning
When the program first launched in 2016 it rewarded members with a ‘visit’ each time they spent $10 or more at the store. Once you earned 10 visits you would receive a $5 voucher to use on any London Drugs purchase. If you were savvy, you could visit London Drugs 10 times and only spend $10 each time which would give you the equivalent return of 5% since you would get a $5 voucher for that $100 in total spending. There was a limitations to this however to keep it from being gamed – you could only earn one ‘visit’ per day, so you couldn’t split up your purchases to earn more visits. Basically it would take you 10 days to be able to do this.
The good news is, in the revamped program they have gone away from the ‘visits’ model to a points per dollar model. So now you are rewarded on your full purchase whether it is $1, $10 or $100. See, that was the problem with the old program, if you spent $100 in one purchase you still only received one visit with a value of 50 cents.
The new points earning model is 10 LDExtras points per $1 spent on eligible items (most items are eligible except for things like Lottery, London Drugs Gift Cards, Tobacco, Apple products etc.) but that can be boosted to 15 points per dollar with their new elite membership tier (see below for more details).
At 10 points per $1 you are effectively receiving a 1% return since you can redeem 5,000 points for $5 voucher. (see below for more details). If you were one of those savvy LDExtras players that only spent $10 each time you went there, this is a big drop in earnings for you from the 5% return you would get before. However, I feel for most London Drugs shoppers who are not players, the program should be able to give the same if not better returns now.
For example, if you are someone who spends on average $50 per shop at London Drugs, the previous model would give you a $5 voucher after spending $500. Thus a 1% return and that will be the same now. However if you spend more than that – for example London Drugs is a great place for buying electronics and camera equipment (I know I buy a lot of mine there since they price match) this new program will be much more rewarding for you. Buying a $1,000 TV will give you $10 in value instead of 1 visit towards a $5 voucher.
Additionally, London Drugs will offer bonus points for buying select products or perhaps for spending a certain amount in one purchase. Pretty much the same thing we see for other programs like PC Optimum, Scene+, AIR MILES and so on.
Redeeming
Redeeming in the program has been quite simple. There are three options as follows:
- Exchange 250 points for a 20% discount on any Payment Protection Plan
- Exchange 5000 points for $5 Reward voucher
- Donate 5000 points to one our charity partners
Once you exchange your points for a voucher that voucher will be placed into your LDExtras account for you to use when you shop at London Drugs.
Also, London Drugs has kept the annual $5 birthday rewards. They state you will need to log in to you account to activate
your $5 birthday reward.
Membership Levels
The LD Extras program now has an elite status level! Members who have an annual spend of $1,000 or more in-store will move up to the LDExtras Fave level. This level sees a 50% increase in points earning and also allows members to bank more points before they have to redeem.
At 15 points per dollar spent you return on spending is 1.5% for being an LDExtras Fave member.
Additional program details
LDExtras points do not expire however like many programs they have an inactivity rule. If you do not make a purchase for a period of 12 months you will lose any points you have earned.
The extended return policy of 30 days remains in place for LDExtras members.
As seen above in the image for the membership levels is the last row about Points Banking. The program only allows to save up to 20,000 points for being an LDExtras Fan or 50,000 for being an LDExtras Fave member. If you hit that 20,000 level the program will automatically convert that into a $20 voucher for you to use or 50,000 for $50 if you are that Fave level. Do note that vouchers do carry an expiry date so you’ll want to check your account frequently and use up those vouchers!
If you had existing visits in your LDExtras account prior to August 11 those have been converted to points as follows:
| Visits – Points
1 – 4100 2 – 4200 3 – 4300 4 – 4400 5 – 4500 6 – 4600 7 – 4700 8 – 4800 9 – 4900 |
You’ll also want to note the LDExtras Beauty program has been discontinued. This was the program where you could buy 10 items from one brand and then receive one free (or something to that effect). I know we made use of it for products such as La Roche Posay so unfortunately this will be a loss for us and other members who utilized it.
Tip: Credit Cards to use at London Drugs
Once a common multiplier, accelerated earn rates on credit cards for drug store purchases has now become a rarity. There are two notable cards with drug store multipliers, the American Express® Gold Rewards Card which earns 2 points per dollar spent (a 2 to 12%+ return) and the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card which earns 5 points per dollar spent (a 3.3% return). I personally utilize the American Express Gold Rewards card on all my London Drugs purchases as those 2 points per dollar equal 2 Aeroplan points which should net me no less than 6% in value based on what I redeem or plan to redeem for.
Wrapping it up
Overall I feel this revamp of the LDExtras program by London Drugs is a welcome one. The previous visit model rewarded low spenders more handsomely and higher spenders (guilty as charged for myself) did not receive as great of return. Now everyone will be earning the same return unless you do spend that $1,000 to reach the Fave level in which case you’ll earn even more.
Click here to learn more about the new LDExtras program
All images via London Drugs