SUICA Points: How does it work?
 

I figured this would be the right place to ask about this. I was looking into SUICA and came across the SUICA Point program, which from what I can tell is a loyalty program for JR. The website is a ton of graphics of Japanese characters, which means that my usual powers of Google Translate don't work.

Could anyone explain the basics of the program? What I'm interested in is:

How are points earned for non-spend activity (i.e. train use)?
What are the different branded cards associated with the program and how do they differ? Is the program available for all types of SUICA (including basic SUICA cards that are available to tourists)?
Are there any transit related rewards offered directly (i.e. free tickets) or do points need to be converted into e-money before being used for fares?

http://www.jreast.co.jp/suicapoint/index.html

Thanks for the help! I wish I could just read it for myself. ;)

Essentially, you register for Suica Point Club and accrue points by using your Suica card at KIOSK, Newdays, and other shops with the Suica Point Club logo. You can also transfer points from places like ANA Mileage Club. You then convert the points into Suica value or transfer them to other point programs. You need to register your Suica card here (any Suica card or branded credit card seems to be eligible) and then you manage your points online.

No free tickets or anything like that -- the idea is to convert it into e-money, which you can then use anywhere Suica is accepted. You do not accrue points by simply riding the train.

The point program is open to named Suica, Suica monthly pass, Suica embedded student or employer ID, Japan Post Bank IC cash card Suica, mobile Suica, JR East Suica embedded View credit card and other Suica embedded credit cards. All these cards are registered with your name, address and phone number.

I tried to register my basic Suica card and it got rejected.

From my understanding of the site, you only earn points at retail locations at the rate of 1 point per 200 yen spent. Train fares do not earn points.

The only ways to spend the points is to convert them to stored value on your Suica card or convert to another point program.

For instance Suica points convert at 1:1 to ANA miles, in blocks of 10,000 points.

I have a co-branded JAL Suica credit card which accrues JAL miles for credit spending and Suica points for Suica usage. The Suica points on this card convert to JAL miles at a rate of 600:500, but I think that option is only available due to the special co-branding (there is no ANA conversion option either).

Interesting. Thank you all for the information. So, you don't earn anything for riding the train (nothing for BIS), but do you earn for tickets purchased with your SUICA?

For example, if I have a registered SUICA card that is enrolled in the program and I use that card to head out to Kamakura on JR by tapping it at the usual pay gate. That's 890Y for the ticket (I think). Would I earn 4 SUICA points for that? If I spent another 110Y on a Mt. Rainier Coffee ("The Mountain of Seattle") would I earn another SUICA point at the end of that transaction?

(So, (890 + 110)/200 = 5 SUICA points?)

What I'm really interested in is the economics of the SUICA card system as a payment system. I am assuming that they merchants have to pay a processing fee to JR in order to accept the card as payment and that JR is functioning as a bank in regards to this aspect of their business.

Again, thanks for filling me in. :)

No, you earn zero Suica points. It makes nonsense if JR encourages people to purchase tickets from vending machines while they can touch and go.

That's right.

So you get 1 Suica point for every Y200 spent and need 10,000 Suica points before you can convert them to ANA. 10,000 x 200 = 2,000,000 yen, which is how much you have to spend on services OTHER than JR to get ANA points. Y2mil = US$25,200 at the current exchange rate, which adds up to a LOT of Mt. Rainier coffees bought!

In other words, why bother?

Deleted.

Reason: wrong

If you want ANA miles, how about obtaining an Edy card ? Edy is another prepaid IC card in Japan.

There is a thread about ANA Mileage Club Edy Card in ANA forum. Some FTers living outside of Japan report that they successfully had ANA in Japan issue their own AMC Edy card for them.

200 yen spent with Edy card = 1 ANA mile
It's automatic, no minimum.
Retail giants, Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera accept Edy.
---

In my previous posts, I wrote you can accumulate Suica points at Yodobashi and Bic. Sorry that was wrong.

So nothing JR related earns any points? Just transactions outside of transit?

I thought purchases within JR would have counted as well, regardless of whether it is at a vending machine or tap and go. For example, if you buy a ticket at a vending machine for 800Y that should, in my mind, be 4 points and if you tap in/out within the system for a total charge of 800Y that would be 4 points as well. If I understand you correctly, no transactions with JR earn points (so regular commuters who use JR lines with their SUICA card would not earn any points associated with the transportation element of their commute)?

Just so I understand correctly:

Hiro Protagonist gets up and heads for work at Pizza-La. He heads to down to the station and buys a coffee and a snack from 7-11 for 400Y with his SUICA card and heads down to the train. He taps in and rides to his destination and taps out, which charges 200Y to his SUICA and then walks to Pizza-La.

Would he earn 2 points or 3 points for his commute to work?

Again, thanks for help in understanding this. I think it's really interesting. :)

The site phrases it another way. You earn points by shopping at participating stores and restaurants.

Zero. While 7-11 accepts Suica as a form of payment, they do not participate in the Suica Point scheme.

SeattleFlyerGuy, msb0b explained correctly.

Using ANA Edy, you can get miles at 7-11.

I have registered my SUICA with karuwaza. I guess there aren't any place that participate in both karuwaza and SUICA point?

No. Karuwaza is for Circle K and Sunkus convenient stores only. They don't participate in Suica point.

Question: I've got a smartphone with Mobile Suica. How do I register for this? Can I do it on the app itself or do I have to do it from a PC?