Can changing our daily habits give us the ultimate travel experience?

Intuitively, we know that changing some of our daily habits – be it exercising more, eating a little healthier or sticking to our budget – could reap life-changing rewards later in life.

We have more energy, we feel healthy, and we generally get more out of life. But change is not always easy, so we need the right tools and encouragement to make our best intentions, lasting ones.

Using nudges to change behaviour

Vitality, the world’s leading behaviour-change programme, intimately understands the factors that drive behaviour, and what’s needed to effect change. Vitality applies behavioural economic principles in innovative ways to encourage members to exercise more, drive safely and manage their money well.

The key to the programme is how the combination of rewards and knowledge work together to encourage behaviour change. 

“We’ve been refining the Vitality programme over the years and we’ve seen the beautiful interplay between incentives and sustained behaviour change over time. Vitality members have better health outcomes and make positive lifestyle changes a lifelong habit – this includes managing a pandemic,” says Dinesh Govender, who heads up Discovery Vitality in South Africa.    

Travel rewards a cornerstone of Vitality’s magic

“We introduced the first discounted flight rewards for Vitality members who managed their health well 22 years ago, in 2000. Our travel partnerships with British Airways, kulula.com and Tsogo Sun were some of our biggest and most exciting product innovations in our history.

“Travel rewards are among our most popular benefits, with our Vitality members booking nearly 1.5 million flights a year,” Govender adds.

Discovery Bank recently launched Vitality Travel, a fully integrated travel booking service with unprecedented discounts and simplified trip management.

The comprehensive travel offering is the world’s first shared-value travel platform, which channels behavioural savings into the greatest possible savings on flights, holiday accommodation, car hire, and holiday packages. 

Vitality Travel further expands the value clients get as they continue to monetise positive health and financial behaviours.

The new travel offering combines Discovery Bank’s digital payments and platform capabilities with Vitality’s rewards expertise and partner network to access a world of travel deals in a uniquely convenient way.

Vitality Travel enables Discovery Bank clients to effortlessly book – with personalised discounts – directly through the Discovery Bank website, where they have access to all local and international airlines, which currently includes five local and three international airline partners at discounted rates, as well as discounts at over one thousand holiday accommodation properties and car hire services, and soon, holiday packages as well.   

“We are building an integrated travel ecosystem to cover every aspect of planning your travel experience within Discovery Bank, from bookings to the Priority Fast Track service at the airport and lounge access.

“Our recently launched Forex accounts provide real-time access to foreign currencies in the palm of your hand with a multi-currency card to use while travelling abroad, and we will soon offer visa applications and travel insurance integration,” Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank says.

How it works

To make a booking or simply try out Vitality Travel, clients can log in to the Discovery Bank Online Banking website on a desktop, and select Travel in the top menu, or select Book now on the Travel Rewards tile on their dashboard.

Clients can access the Discovery Bank website log in via www.discovery.co.za or directly at www.discovery.bank. Clients will need to have their cell phone with them to authenticate and secure their online web access. 

“The beauty of Vitality Travel is that it’s fully secure and easy to use, with all your travel needs looked after through a single platform. It really makes it possible to go everywhere and to have the ultimate and most affordable travel experience, as a reward for your positive behaviour,” Govender adds.