AIA Vitality: Is It Worth It? Benefits, Hidden Costs And How To Maximise It (Updated 2020)

I’ve got a confession.

Sitting for 9 hours in an air-conditioned office, that has a REALLY generous snack pantry (read: lousy diet filled with snacks).

Has got me looking a little like this:

So…

I’ve decided to see if I can find an affordable wellness programme — best if it’s cheap or I can get something out of it — to get that extra motivation to work out.

And I found it in the AIA Vitality wellness programme!

For just $8 a month, you can get $5 vouchers every week — that’s $20 back in total, by the way.

Interested?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what AIA Vitality is all about and my personal review of the programme.

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TL;DR: AIA Vitality Benefits, Hidden Costs, And… Is It Worth It? 

Pros

• Weekly Rewards 
• Discounted Memberships 
• Discounts on Movie Tickets 
• Cashbacks for Healthy Food 
• Cheaper Flight tickets (Platinum Members)… and more. 

Cons

• Need to have an AIA Insurance policy 
• Need to buy a Fitbit that’s compatible with the app for syncing 
• Laggy application

Update: Here Are The New Changes For AIA Vitality (2020)!

1. Onboarding of Virgin Active as a New Gym Partner

Adding to its list of boutique gym partners like Fitness First and Gravity, AIA started partnering with Virgin Active this year! 

For now, AIA Vitality members can enjoy 30% off membership fees at the Virgin Active gym.

2. Increase In Types Of Vouchers: $5 Vouchers for GrabFood and more

AIA is also increasing its partner vouchers, including $5 GrabFood vouchers and Singtel ReadyRoam services. 

For Singtel ReadyRoam services, do note that Vitality incentives will only be applicable for roaming in Indonesia and Thailand for now. 

3. Golden Village Discounts are extended to Gold Class Movie Tickets

I’m not sure about you, but I’ve never thought of watching a gold class movie, as I don’t see the sense in paying $30 for a movie ticket.

For Golden Village’s Gold Class Movie tickets, the price ranges from $26 to $42 a ticket, depending on when you decide to go (weekends are usually more expensive). 

With AIA Vitality, you can now enjoy $3 off per ticket, or a Zen Zone admission.

Of course, this discount isn’t much in relation to the hefty price ticket. If you are looking to impress a date, I guess it’s better than nothing!

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What Is AIA Vitality?

AIA Vitality is an initiative by AIA Singapore to help promote an active lifestyle by rewarding their customers with their weekly challenges.

AIA Vitality Rewards to Earn

• $5 Weekly Reward
• $5 Group Reward

Rewards can be exchanged for Starbucks, Cold Storage, or Grab Vouchers which will last for 2 weeks from the Reward earned date. For most people, you can earn individual rewards of up to $5 per week.

If you have friends using the same programme, form a team with 7 friends to earn more points for an additional $5 vouchers every week. Unfortunately, this is only for people who’ve hit Gold or Platinum status on the app.

Beyond the weekly vouchers, AIA Vitality also encourages you to hit different statuses (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) by accumulating points. With every level, you unlock new exclusive benefits. The point system is as follows:

How Does It Work?

For you to get your weekly $5 vouchers, you will have to first clock 250 points to achieve your $5 voucher.

Here are some ways which you can earn points:

Alternatively, you can maximise your credits.

AIA Vitality Workout Plans To Maximise Credits

The easiest being walking 10,000 steps every day for 5 days a week.

However, if you’re looking to incorporate some workouts into your fitness plan, here are some you can consider to maximise your AIA Vitality points:

AIA Vitality Benefits

What draws people to sign up for AIA Vitality is definitely the perks that this wellness programme offers.

Check these benefits out:

1. 20% Discount Off Fitness First Membership

 

If you’re looking to get a Fitness First membership, AIA Vitality gives you a 20% discount on their annual membership.

You can also earn 100 points a day for working out at the gym, making it much easier for you to hit the required 250 points every week.

For AIA Vitality members new to Fitness First, you can also receive a 7-day complimentary trial to try out the facilities before deciding to join the gym.

2. 2 x $3 Discount On Golden Village Movie Tickets Monthly

Date nights can be cheaper for AIA Vitality members if they choose to go for movies at golden Village cinema outlets.

If you are an avid moviegoer like me, you will appreciate the $3 discounts on Golden Village movie tickets every month!

3. 20% Cashback On Healthy Food At Cold Storage

To encourage a healthy lifestyle, AIA Vitality also gives 20% cashback if you buy healthy food and snack items at cold storage.

4. Half Price Plan Tickets On Emirates and Royal Caribbean Cruise (Platinum Members)

If you manage to climb your way to the top, AIA Vitality platinum members get to enjoy half-priced plane tickets on Emirates, and Royal Caribbean cruises.

So far, this is only exclusive to Platinum Members tho…

Hidden Costs: How Much Are You Really Paying?

You’re probably wondering, “This all sounds too good to be true…”

And yes, you’re right.

If you sign up for the programme but don’t do anything (read: get lazy), then it’s really not worth it

Here are your upfront costs, assuming you don’t maximise your rewards.

Sunk Costs

Hidden Costs

1. Paying For An AIA Insurance Plan To Qualify For AIA Vitality

AIA Vitality is a programme that’s EXCLUSIVE to those who have insurance policies with AIA.

So to kickstart your AIA Vitality membership, you first have to purchase an AIA insurance plan.

Let’s assume that you decide to join AIA Vitality for a year.

2. Paying For A FitBit, Garmin or Polar Watch To Sync With Your Vitality App

Another thing to note is that the AIA Vitality app only allows syncing with specific smartwatches, namely Polar, Garmin and Fitbit. Of course, you may use your phone and link it to the S Health app. However, from personal experience, S Health only counts your steps when the app is open, and it’ll not be an accurate measurement of your step count.

If you don’t have any of the above smartwatches, you can purchase one with a 25% discount given to AIA Vitality members. Assuming that you decide to use AIA Vitality for a year, the price tabulated is as follows:

3. “Buggy” AIA Vitality App

For those who didn’t know…

AIA Vitality has combined with its insurance policy app to form My AIA SG, which allows you both access to the AIA Vitality platform and your insurance policies in a single application.

While I appreciate the upgrade, I felt that the app doesn’t have the best user interface, and it is prone to lags, glitches, and frequent maintenance.

This might be a problem especially if you’re a frequent user of the app.

Is AIA Vitality Worth It?

Looking from a longer-term perspective, the AIA Vitality is definitely well worth your buck if you fulfil the following criteria: 

• You are an existing AIA insurance policyholder (or if you are buying an insurance policy that you need)
• You maintain an active lifestyle and consistently receive $5 vouchers a week

It will also be worth it for those looking to get a Fitness First membership in the first place, as you will be enjoying an average of $38/month discount on your membership price. 

Maximising your individual weekly vouchers gives you $240 a year.

If you are a frequent customer of Grab, Cold Storage or Starbucks, this will be beneficial for you.

Otherwise, taking into consideration your lifestyle (i.e not being able to hit the weekly points), and the hidden costs AIA Vitality entails, it isn’t wise for you to subscribe to the plan. 

For AIA Vitality members, are there any hacks where you can further maximise your plan?

Do share your tips and hacks with me, and with the Seedly Community below! 

Seedly QnA: AIA Vitality Hacks