Being a member of an establishment or partner companies can give its member variety of benefits. Aside from the recognition that a person is a part of such prestigious company, the opportunity to save, earn and take advantage of the limited promotions and exclusive access to events hosted by these companies are reasons why many people would love to have a membership card.

The membership cards come in various forms. Each card has different policies, terms of use, limitations as well as methods to earn and save. Nevertheless, despite of the differences, the objective of these membership cards only comes down to one ? and that is to provide savings to its members.

Here are the two (2) common types of membership cards and their advantages.

1. All-in-one Membership Card. This card is normally from a company that focuses in this industry. These companies also have specific audiences ? i.e. military, mothers and women, rich and famous and children, etc. This type of card normally requires membership fees and is renewed annually.

The companies that offer all-in-one membership cards have partners where their members can take pleasure of its preferred pricing. The partners are usually hotels, restaurants, travel agencies like airlines and car rentals, specialized shops and more. Members can enjoy special price on services and products as well as freebies and added surprises from these partners.

2. Membership cards that earn points. This card is normally offered by supermarkets or specialized stores to their regular customers. This type of card is usually free or given to customers when they reached the required purchase amount. The card is presented to the cashier to earn points from their consumed commodities. Then the accumulated points each time they buy can be converted into an item or equivalent cash.

For equivalent item, the member is provided by a list of items with corresponding points. Members can freely choose what item they should exchange for their accumulated points. On the other hand, the card that converts earned points into cash can be used by card holder for his/her future buys in the same store.

Now, that the world is suffering from the effects of global economic crisis, it would be better if we will take advantage of such membership cards. After all, nothing comes for FREE. What makes these cards helpful is that it gives us another way to spend our money wisely while getting an extra gift.