PC Optimum Insiders Review
Are you looking for a PC Optimum Insiders review? PC Optimum Insiders (formerly known as PC Insiders) has been around for a few years now, and many members (myself included) swear by it. The ability to earn additional PC Optimum points and all the extra perks easily made the annual fee worth it.
When the program launched, the biggest complaint about the program was that it didn’t benefit everyone. It heavily favoured new parents. This issue has been addressed as PC Optimun Insiders now allows you to earn points on thousands of products products. Some people will say the old version was better, but If you’re smart about your shopping, you can get incredible value from PC Insiders. Read my PC Insiders review now and find out all the details.
What do you get with PC Insiders?
- $119 annual fee
- 25,000 PC Optimum points when using a referral link
- Earn 10% back in PC Optimum points on every single PC product
- Free shipping at Joe Fresh and Shoppers Drug Mart
- No pickup fees at PC Express
- 10% back in points on all Joe Fresh purchases
- 5% back in points on PC Travel bookings
- Welcome gift after joining
As you can see, PC Insiders comes packed with benefits. Getting 10% back in PC Optimum points on every single PC product is huge. There are more than 12,000 PC products available and that includes PC organics and PC black label. I honestly didn’t think this was a big deal when it was announced, but then I looked at my recent grocery run and noticed the following PC products in my cart:
- Organic tomatoes
- Mushrooms
- Black label pasta
- Pasta sauce
- Juice
- Animal crackers
- Cheese
- Chicken
- Pork sausage
- Taco shells
I wasn’t even purposely trying to grab PC products on this run. These were items I bought on a regular basis. I ended up earning about 10,000 points from PC Insiders alone. Families that prefer PC products will definitely be excited about PC Insiders. I find PC products to be cheaper than the name brand items. With PC Insiders, you would get an additional 10% back in points. After having access to the new PC Optimum Insiders program, I’ve added more PC products to my grocery list. I’m sure that’s what Loblaws wanted all along, but I get 10% back in points, so I think it’s a fair tradeoff.
Joe Fresh already has incredibly affordable clothes. With a PC Insiders membership, you’re basically getting 10% off in points on every purchase which is huge. As someone with a young child, this discount is great for me and the free shipping is an added bonus.
The reason PC Express is so attractive is that you no longer need to spend time going through grocery aisles for the things you need. All you need to do is order them online and someone will collect them for you. Some people are concerned about the quality of the produce or the expiry dates on items, but I’ve never had an issue. Normally, this service will cost you $3-5 each time, so how much you save depends on how often you use it.
The welcome gift changes every year, but my gift was Italian themed which came with flour, pizza sauce, and olives. If I had to guess, the retail value was about $25. Remember, this welcome gift is a one-time deal.
As someone who’s been using PC Insiders for a few years, I believe I’m getting more value now than I previously was with the old benefits. In fact, my PC Optimum app tells me how much I’ve earned from PC Insiders and it doesn’t even include the gift or travel credit that I used to get. Free grocery pickups are reason enough for my PC Insiders review to be positive. It’s crazy how many extra points I’ve earned without changing my shopping habits.
What is PC Optimum Insiders member pricing?
The annual fee for PC Optimum Insiders is $119. There is no longer a monthly fee that was offered before. While the $119 may seem high, you just need to look at the benefits to see if it’s worth it.
One could argue that the no-fee grocery pickup with PC Express is the defining benefit. Normally using PC Express will cost you $3-5 each time. If you used it every week, it would cost you $156-$260. Clearly, a PC Insiders membership would be worth it. In addition, PC Insiders get priority time slots. When you log in to PC Express, it’ll see that you’re a member and give you timeslots that may otherwise be full.
With this program, you get 10% back in points on PC products. That means you would need to spend $1,190 on PC products alone to make it worthwhile. That may seem impossible for some people, but you can’t focus just on product purchases. You also need to factor in all the other benefits that are included such as the free PC Express which I just mentioned.
Earn PC Optimum points on every purchase
PC Insiders is only worth it if you’re maximizing your earn rate. Normally, you would only earn PC Optimum points with in-store or targeted offers. However, if you were to sign up for a PC Financial Mastercard, you would earn PC Optimum points on every purchase. For example, take a look at what the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard offers you.
PC Financial World Elite Mastercard
- No annual fee
- Earn 45 PC Optimum Points per $1 dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart
- Earn 30 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent where PC Products are sold and at PC Travel
- Earn at least 30 PC Optimum Points per litre at Esso/Mobil locations
- Earn 10 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent on all other purchases
As you can see, this card gives you the highest earn rate for a credit card that earns you PC Optimum points. Technically speaking, you don’t need a PC Mastercard to join PC Insiders, but that seems like a missed opportunity since you’d be earning fewer points.
How many PC points is $1?
To redeem $10 at Loblaws owned grocery stores and Shoppers Drug Mart, you need 10,000 PC Optimum points. That means 1,000 PC Optimum points are worth $1. You can redeem up to $500 (500,000) points for any one purchase, but points can only be redeemed in 10,000 increments.
Although 10,000 PC Optimum points for $10 is the base value, there are ways to increase the value of your points. A couple of times of the year, Shoppers Drug Mart has bonus points events where you can get more cash for your points. For example, you’d get the following:
- 100,000 points = $150
- 130,000 points = $200
- 200,000 points = $300
As you can see, it pays to save your points. That said, this bonus event typically only happens at Shoppers Drug Mart which has a much smaller selection of groceries.
PC Optimum also recently introduced some more ways to earn points. For example, one time they offered 6,000 points ($6) value when you spend $12 on PC Cheese bars. That stacks with PC Insiders, so I was able to get 60% back in points. The cheese was also on sale that week so there was an added incentive.
What is PC Travel?
PC Travel is a full-service travel agency that is incredibly beneficial for PC Optimum Insiders members since you get 5% back in points on travel bookings. This essentially means that you’re getting a 5% return on your travel reservations which is a higher earn rate than any of the best travel credit cards in Canada.
You can increase your earn rate to 8% if you pay with your PC Financial World Elite Mastercard since it gives you 30 points per $1 spent on PC travel. Here’s a direct quote I got from PC Optimum / PC Financial.
“As a PC Optimum InsidersTM member, you’ll get 5% back in PC OptimumTM points exclusively on PC® Travel. Plus, when you book with a PC Financial® Mastercard®, earn up to an additional 3x the regular PC Optimum points.”
However, if you read the fine print, things appear to be more complicated than they have to be. The points earned apply to purchases before tax. Since most travel purchases include tax in the price, they would calculate your points based on the price pre-tax.
You also only get the extra PC Optimum points if the travel booking you’re making is for you or someone in your household. If you want to make a group booking, you wouldn’t get bonus points for everyone.
It’s also worth noting that to use PC Travel doesn’t have every hotel and flight available. They also don’t always have the lowest prices, but they do price match (Thanks to Chantale for pointing this out). When booking travel, you just need to do the math to see if the points earned end up giving you the best price.
Maximizing your PC Optimum points
In case you’re not familiar with PC Optimum, you can redeem 10,000 points for $10 in groceries or merchandise. Points are earned through targeted offers and in-store promos. However, if you have one of the PC Mastercards, then you would earn points on all your purchases.
For example, the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard gives you 30 points for every $1 spent at participating stores where PC products are sold. You also earn 45 points per $1 spent at Shoppers Drug Mart. That means your credit card gives you a 3% and 4.5% return in PC Optimum points respectively at those stores. That’s a crazy high earn rate for a credit card with no annual fee. You can read my full review of the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard here.
World Elite Mastercards typically have a higher income requirement, but PC Financial also has an entry-level card in the PC Financial Mastercard which earns you 25 PC Optimum Points per $1 dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart and 10 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Credit cards are a great way to earn points, but the in-store promos are what really earn you some crazy amount of points. For example, Joe Fresh recently had a promo where you would get 10,000 PC Optimum points when you spent $50.
These types of promotions also happen at Shoppers Drug Mart on a regular basis so make sure you’re signed up for their newsletter or check the app regularly.
Is PC Optimum Insiders worth it?
My PC Optimum Insiders review is positive. If you take advantage of the free PC Express, you’re saving time and money. Adjusting your shopping habits so you’re buying more PC products can also save you big. You could easily earn more points than what you’re paying in annual fees.
It’s 10,000 points for $10 off, not 1,000 as your article says.
Josh,
Good catch, that was typo on my end. The article has been updated.
Hi Barry, is the product price higher when you use PC Express than the price in store?
Echo,
Nope, it’s the same price as your local store and you also get access to the same flyer deals.
unless you’re getting it delivered via instacart. Then it’s definitely 10-20% higher. Instacart charges more for PC Express items.
Nice review. Thanks. I just got an offer for PC Insiders for a year free of charge. Googled is it worth paying for and your article came up. I do occasionally use PC Express. So yes, I’m going to try it out. I pay for everything on my World Elite card and it is amazing how the points just keep adding up and up.
Annette,
It really is a game changer IMO. PC Express saves you so much time and the added PC optimum points are huge. It’s totally worth renewing after too since you get the annual travel credit.
Same here! Got the email for free 1 year and googled the program and this article popped up. I wonder if I can cancel the subscription after accepting it but am still able to use it for the 1 year. I don’t want to forget about it and get surprised with a bill for 99$
Marc,
With cards I plan to cancel, I typically set a calendar reminder about 1 month before the annual fee is due. If you shop at Loblaw’s owned stores, I think you’ll quickly see the value of PC Insiders.
I got mine free too and I love it. Never go in the store unless I want to, quick and easy online ordering and when booking through PC travel if you find a better rate elsewhere they will match it and give you 25000 points. I did that twice recently booking 2 hotels for the same trip across 2 days.
Thanks for writing this Barry! My wife and I were just discussing and it makes so much sense. You confirmed some of the things we were wondering about.
It’ll definitely make your life easier especially with a little one. PC Organics makes a lot of baby food and the PC Express free pickup will save you a lot of time at the grocery store.
your article covers everything but I want to know if you have optimum app offers plus pc credit car plus pc insiders subscription then do you get all the points? for example if there is get 10,000 when you spend $50 on joe fresg on my pc app then I use my PC elite credit card to pay for it and also have pc insiders, how will that work? I am considering paying for it. those who got free trial offer are so lucky!
Amna,
They all stack. You would get the 10K points when you spend $50. You would then get 20% in PC Optimum points which is another 10K points and then 30 points for every $1 spent with your PC Financial World Elite Mastercard which is 1,500 points for a total of 21,500 points or just over 40% cash-back.
Barry!
Im still a bit confused here. So i signed up for the annual subscription and it mentioned that it will add 50,000 welcome bonus points for upgrading to the pc insider on top of the other benefits it is mentioned. Its been around 10 days and i did not see the points added to my points card yet. How come?
Thanks
Daphnie
Hey Daphne,
I’m not familiar with this promo so you’d have to check with PC Optimum directly. That being said, it usually takes a few weeks for any bonus points to show up.
Pc is offering 100k bonus points for ppl who get one of their credit cards by June 6. I’m interested in the world elite credit card but I’m afraid of getting denied, even though I have an excellent credit score. If I do get rejected, would they at least give me the world mastercard or the entry level one?
SF,
The World Elite Mastercard has a personal income requirement of $80K or household income of $150K. If you don’t meet those requirements, you could apply for the PC Financial World card which has an income requirement of $60K/100K
It’s not 100% “free” – you pay tax on the $99 annual fee (so it cost $114 for me in Nova Scotia) but the travel credit is only $99 and has restrictions (minimum 3 nights hotel or use it for flights). The surprise box was probably worth at least $15 but it was things I would not have bought. I got an intro offer last year of 100k points for subscribing so it was worth it. I was able to call months ahead and cancel effective on the renewal date.
Hey Barry, love your site and all the information. Quick question if you know. Would i accumulate more points spending our $800/month on groceries at Superstore with the PC Financial Mastercard/PC Insiders or putting it right on my Scotia Visa Infinite?
Craig,
I suspect you may come out ahead with the Scotia Visa Infinite since you’d earn 4% in cash-back vs. 3% cash-back equivalent vs. the PC Financial World ELite Mastercard. You should still sign up for PC Optimum as you’ll still be able to take advantage of in-store and targetted offers.
Thanks Barry! I guess the only difference would be we would need to use the credit for travel with the Passport instead of food on the MC.
Love the Optimum Insiders subscription…so many opportunities to stack promos. However, after chasing my welcome gift for 6 months, I was told they wouldn’t be sending me anything (I believe they cancelled the gifts late last year). I got 20,000 points instead. After looking at some unboxing videos, I guess that’s close to the value of the gifts ♀️
Cynthia,
Yeah, I’d rather have the extra points than a welcome gift.
Hi Barry,
I joined early this year,but didn’t see any bonus posted at all.
Do you know the phone number I should call?
Thanks.
C,
This is the number I found for customer care on the website 1-866-PC POINTS (727-6468)
a couple of observations:
@ SF – good luck getting the bonus PC points – I applied for card last Dec, was approved ; card issued and I’ve been using it but the request/demand as to why the bonus points have not been credited have been “under investigation” since I raised the issue in Feb. – my thinking is they are hoping for me to give up
@ Barry
I received the ‘free’ offer to PC Insider so I thought I’d give PC express a try – it was a complete and utter failure
1) the ordering website is a piece of junk – it DEMANDS you to save a credit card before processing the order but it doesn’t tell you that – took over 30 minutes with a totally clueless help desk to finally get the order processed – I solved the problem
2) the order was not ready when promised even though they send a confirmation email
3) I was charged a ‘convenience fee’ even though PC express is supposed to be free for PC Insiders
4) there were missing PC points on the stuff I bought
so something that would have taken about 10 minutes – walk in store, pick stuff up, pay, leave ended up costing me about 1.5 hours of time – some convenience
Also I find there is a bit of a ‘yuck’ factor in having some else picking out my groceries – ok for packaged /canned goods i guess, but fresh veggies, baked goods and meat – no thanks – I’m know the pickers are not as careful as I would be – I’ve seen them in action in the store – not a pretty sight..
PC insiders even if free is worthless and I’ve had less than stellar results with PC Optimum.
fbgcai,
From my experience, PC Express has been flawless. I get a call when my order is ready and they even confirm I’m okay with the expiry dates on any baked goods. The vegetables and fruit are always in good condition too. If you got charged the convenience fee, your account may not have been linked to your PC Insiders account, but I’m not sure how that’s possible.
well PC Express could explain the complete fail either – lame ” I’m sorry that happened” – they are not getting a second chance. YMMV
We use it weekly and it is great.. We are busy with a family and would rather have someone pick our order.. As for the yuck factor, have you seen people finger all the stuff while it is out. It ain’t clean if you pick it yourself.
each to his own
Thanks Barry.
After you sign up when do you receive free gift
THere’s no set time each year. They just send it out.
Do you get points for no name brand or just PC brand? Thanks.
Rowan,
With PC Insiders, you earn 200 PC Optimum points per $1 spent on PC Organics products, Joe Fresh purchases, PC Black Label Collection purchases, all brands of baby diapers and formula, and all luxury beautyBOUTIQUE products on shoppersdrugmart.ca.
You do not earn extra points on NO Name products. That said, if you have a PC Mastercard, you earn points on all your purchases.
Another plus factor with PC Express is that you can price match! You do it on their website, or by emailing them when you get home. I love that I’m able to do this 🙂
I have had very few issues with PC Express. I think you have to be willing to give up a little control for convenience. For items, you don’t want someone else to pick for you, go instore and buy them, before your scheduled pick-up time. We do this for items they were unable to substitute or just wanted to pick ourselves.
We get really specific in the comments for certain items like milk and creamer where we specify how long expiry dates should be like 10 days for milk or creamer etc. so we don’t end up with an item expiring in 5 or 6 days.
Also, a little tip when using your 99$ PC travel credit. Sometimes hotels you want, or other deals do not appear on the PC Travel website. No worries if it’s offered on Expedia.ca, you let them know, and they will book it for you through Expedia and you get all the points. As long as you talk with an agent. I found this out last year when trying to book my flight and hotel stay in New York. I booked my flight and mentioned that I would book the hotel too, but I could not find the hotel on the PC Travel site, it was on Expedia. I did the same this past summer. All 3 hotels available on Expedia, but not PC Travel, not a problem. It’s actually better now since they give you the 99$ credit the current transaction, instead of sending you a cheque a few weeks later like before.
Hey Nelson,
Great tips! I’m not sure if this is for all PC Express stores, but the one I order from always calls me and asks if X expiry date okay before I come pick it up. With bread, the expiry date is always “close” to my pick up date, but I’ve never had any issues with dairy. That said, I like your idea about just leaving a comment about what’s accceptable.
Hi Barry I’m new to pc optimum and just sign up to pc insiders to avail the free for the first month.. I ordered at fortinos pc express, used my Pc mastercard and pick it up. But I can’t see any points from my recent grocery from pc insiders? How many days should it reflect? Or i didn’t get any points because I avail the free month for pc insiders?
Lau,
With PC Insiders, you only earn 200 points per $1 spent on select items e.g. PC Organics products. Besides that, if you don’t have a PC Financial Mastercard, you’d only earn PC Optimum points on in-store promos or targeted offers. If you think you’re still missing points, you’d have to contact them directly and put in a missing points request.
I tried this plan for 6 months and earned exact 0 of anything. If you are just a basic shopper and it is the worst subscription plan ever. I wouldn’t recommend it. Wish I could get my $60 back as I seriously regret just giving PC my money for nothing. Seriously angry about the whole thing.
C.A. Fitz,
Not that you can use it now, but don’t forget you get a $99 PC Travel credit.
I purchased Luxury Beauty products on Shoppers website. They had x20 promotions and so they didn’t give me the 200 points per dollar for my insider subscription. I contacted customer service and they replied: insider points are not stacked with promotions. Are you sure it works with Joe Fresh? Have you tried it yourself? Because they sometimes trick you.
As shoppers often runs good promotions on the Luxury Beauty products, I don’t see any advantage for becoming PC Insider and pay subscription fees as points are not stackable!
Sheida,
I was indeed able to take advantage of the Joe Fresh promo I mentioned. I did notice that not every promo stacks with PC Insiders. You have to read the fine print of the promotion you’re trying to take advantage of. One time I was able to stack three promos. Get $400 when you redeem 250K PC Optimum points, 20X the points when you spend $75 or more and additional points on Dyson products. The Dyson product I was buying was $500, but I ended up paying about $30 after factoring all the discounts.
I think you should mention that you, Barry, also receive 10k in points when someone (like I just did) uses your code. You’re welcome!
Geoffrey,
Good point, I’ll do that now. Thanks for using my referral link!
It is now changing. $119 for the year (previously $99), down to %10 back and only on pc brand (no longer for baby prodor organic/black lable) – was previously %20 back. Oh and no more gifts 🙁 Only at sign up. So overall, more expensive, less benefits. Was good while it lasted!
Rae,
While I like the fact that the changes will benefit more people, I feel like the negative changes are going to upset a lot of people. The $99 annual travel credit and gift were enough of a reason for me to stay enrolled. I still like free PC Express pickup, but it might be difficult for me to get $119 out of it. I’ll have to run the numbers based on my spending last year to decide if I’ll remain a PC Insider.
Just checked the PC Insider website again and it says that you do get points on Organic, Black Label, Blue Menu, and even Free From. Basically if it has the PC logo, you get credit back.
Subscribe the insider because of it’s 20% back on luxury beauty and pc organic rewards, so disappointed of all the changes, just did cancel it, the new pc insider program is worthless for me.
Zii,
Yes there’s no doubt that many people who subscribed to PC Insiders for the previous perks will no longer find it valuable. I mainly use it for PC Express so I’ll be monitoring it this year to see how much I’m getting back.
Do you know if the 5% PC Travel reward is on top of the 3% back by using PC World Elite Mastercard? I’ve tweeted at a few different PC/Optimum accounts but still haven’t gotten a response! ~8% back on travel could be a massive benefit once the pandemic subsides!
Hey Alex,
I have no clue, but I could look into it. I suspect the answer is no.
Hey Alex,
I looked into this. This is what PC Financial / PC Insiders told me.
“As a PC Optimum InsidersTM member, you’ll get 5% back in PC OptimumTM points exclusively on PC® Travel. Plus, when you book with a PC Financial® Mastercard®, earn up to an additional 3x the regular PC Optimum points.”
Oh wow, that’s great! Thanks for checking into that Barry – this alone could be worth the membership during normal times!
Thanks for the details and offer!
Barry, it seems like PC Travel has a price match guarantee.
https://www.pctravel.ca/info/price-match-guarantee.aspx?set-lang=en
Interesting, I never noticed that.
Price match guarantee plus up to 8% back in PC Optimum points is pretty good.
HI Barry,
I have a free 3 months PC Insider membership. this is a trial and I use it very well. It saving me in 2 month 65 dollars. I wonder If I can use your referral when my trial end. It will be in a month. I am willing to wait to try to get the referral points. Any ideas about this.
Ruth,
I’m not sure if this would work, but you could cancel your membership before the 3 months is up and then sign up again with the referral code.
If I sign up for the PC Optimum Insiders membership with my account, do the benefits extend to my wife’s account witch is linked by household?
Russell,
As far as I know, ir should apply to all accounts connected.
PC Insiders is not for everyone. I am an average, late middle-aged shopper who shops for my own food. I don’t buy organics, I don’t use PC Express and I don’t buy baby items. I spend about $800/mo on groceries and $100 more at the gas bar. After a year as an Insider member, I did not save enough to even cover the cost of the annual membership.
PC Optimum deliberately classified the miniature cards as “stolen”, to make it inconvenient, impossible for point collectors to earn and to use the accumulated points. That’s not a fair practice. Regulating agency (agencies) should investigate.