whereas other sites pay in cash (e.g., quickrewards [referral link: here, but i barely use it anymore]), or points towards gift cards (e.g., mypoints), e-rewards gives dollar values for surveys taken, and then converts those dollars into airline/hotel chain points of your choosing. the participating partners that i have available for this one particular account are:
how does one earn e-reward dollars
you simply take surveys. they e-mail you when there are surveys available and applicable to you. it has to be done on a computer, as i find that most surveys are not supported by the ipad or iphone. it makes it difficult to do when you're wanting to do something while riding the train to work. from my own experience, a 30 minute survey will often yield ~$5 e-reward dollars. sometimes you'll get a 5 minute survey for $2. if you start a survey but don't qualify, there is generally a small token of appreciation ($0.25). sometimes, you'll complete a survey, but it won't load the last page, and so you've spent all that time to earn nothing.
how much are e-reward dollars worth?
some samples:
- united mileage plus / american aadvantage: $25 = 500 pts; $50 = 1000 pts; $100 = 2000 pts
- priority club: $30 / 1000 pts; $60 / 2200 pts; $100 / 4000 pts
- starbucks: $75 / $25 gift card; $145 / $50 gift card
assuming that you get credited fully for your surveys (which, as long as it loads up the last page, i have always been credited appropriately), an hour of surveying gets roughly $10 e-rewards currency. mind you, even though i go through these surveys quite quickly, it still falls very closely to the advertised length of survey. here are some calculations:
- starbucks cash rewards: after 7.5 hours, you will receive enough for a $25 gift card. this is roughly $3.33 an hour after tax. it would be like earning roughly $5/hr at a job.
- priority club: i value 1 priority club point at 0.5-1.0 cents per point (that is, a $125/night hotel will cost anywhere from 15,000 to 25,000 points). at the best e-rewards redemption rate, it will take 10 hours to earn 4,000 points. most optimistically, this is worth $40. this is $4/hr post tax, or roughly $6/hr pre-tax.
- united mileage plus: i value each united (or american, or air canada) mile at roughly 2 cents per mile, although some may suggest a maximum value of 5 cents per mile. it will take 2.5 hours in order to earn 500 points, or $10-$25. that's like earning $4-$10 post-tax, or $6-$15 pre-tax. the higher earning value is only realistic if you can actually redeem your points for business travel, which is never guaranteed.
what to do with my e-rewards account?
in some ways, because you can transfer e-reward dollars to programs at any time, it can make sense to maintain an account. it can be useful in a few ways:
- to generate activity to prevent expiry of the account
- to top off an account if you're just shy of a reward
- to generate activity as a requirement to meeting a bonus in an airline or hotel promotion
(as a side note, i have previously redeemed $100 for a priority club reward, and $25 for american aadvantage ... and i currently have enough for another set of these awards, so i'm convincing myself a little bit late in the game).
OMG I can't believe this era is ending ... it's about time though because you're way busier now!!
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary I've found these to be useful in a few ways:
ReplyDelete1) Earning a "top up" for a program that would expire if I didn't do something in 18 months.
2) Earning a token amount of miles for very little work. I've found I can do these surveys much faster, maybe 1/4 of the time suggested. That's not to say I rush them, but I get rejected most of the time and still earn a buck or two for less than a minute's work.
yes -- i agree. i've relapsed as well ;) i don't have very many programs that need a top-up. however, i have found that the IHG points you can redeem for are considered qualifying points. so it's good to use if you're almost close to the next qualifying level and need that extra push.
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