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Surveys To Earn Points

There are a number of ways to earn points and miles other than getting on a plane or staying in a hotel. Today, I’m going to suggest one that doesn’t even involve leaving your house.

Many travel providers have partnered with companies to give you points in exchange for your opinion. Survey firms buy points or miles from the hotels/airlines and then give them to you for a few minutes (or more) of your time.

The nice thing about this proposition is that it takes almost no effort. You can do them while surfing the web or binge watching Game of Thrones. Here’s a bit more information:

What You Need to Know to Maximize Your Rewards

  • Miles and effort are often, but not always, correlated. A low-input operation like taking a survey isn’t going to earn you a trip to Hawaii overnight, but the points do add up. You’ll earn up to a few hundred miles (or more hotel points, which are worth less on a per point basis) per completion. Over the past two years, for instance, I’ve picked up over 30,000 JetBlue points (worth about $450) and 17,000 Caesars Rewards credits ($170) from survey sites.
  • Watch out for “trap” questions. Every so often, they’ll throw in something like “click the box all the way to the left” just to make sure you are paying attention. If you don’t follow directions, they’ll disqualify you from the survey.
  • Prepare for some frustration. Occasionally, you’ll spend a lot of time on a survey, only to get disqualified.
  • Many will give you points just for signing up. You might as well take advantage of those, even if you never plan to take a survey.
  • One of our readers brought up an excellent point in a LVA Travel Facebook Group thread: Surveys are an easy way to keep your points from expiring. Most programs require some sort of activity every 12-24 months. Surveys qualify.
Surveys To Earn Points And Miles
Photo Credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

So Where Can I Earn The “Big Bucks?”

Not every travel company has a survey partner. I’ve listed some of the biggest but, if yours isn’t here, check their website for opportunities. Often, they will tell you how long the survey will take, so that you can decide if you want to do it or not. Here are some options:

Airlines – Surveys To Earn Miles

(6/20/19: As pointed out by a reader in the comments, both American’s and United’s survey partners have stopped taking new members for now. We’ll keep our eyes open for a relaunch.).

  • American Airlines has partnered with Miles for Opinions. Sign up and navigate to the site’s dashboard, where you will see a list of surveys available. They claim that you can earn up to 200 miles per survey. Nice touch: If you try to take a survey and get disqualified, they’ll give you a couple of miles, just for fun.
  • United and Opinion Miles Club will give you 300 United miles for your first survey and a varying amount after that. They have been advertising a promotion where United credit card holders get 600 for their first survey. Don’t get me wrong, we love credit cards, but an extra 300 miles is not a good reason to sign up for one.
  • JetBlue and Jet Opinions will give you 400 TrueBlue points when you sign up and take your first survey. JetBlue points are worth about 1.5 cents each, so you’re getting some value right off the bat.

Hotels and Casinos – Surveys To Earn Points

  • Pickings are a little slimmer when you are looking for a place to stay, but IHG (InterContinental, Holiday Inn, others) and Opinion Check-In will spot you 1,000 points to sign up and take your first survey. After that, the numbers will vary and get deposited directly to your account.
  • Say and Play from Caesars is one of my favorites, although it’s not currently accepting new members. They’ll tell you how long each survey will take and give you five points if you try a survey and get disqualified. Keep an eye on it to see when they are accepting new sign-ups, since it’s a very profitable option.

One Last Site: e-Rewards

e-Rewards is my favorite survey site. The surveys are often short and generally pay decently in proprietary currency. e-Rewards dollars can be exchanged for miles, points or gift cards.

There’s only one problem: You can’t actually sign up for e-Rewards. You have to be invited, and I have yet to figure out how to generate an invitation. If you get one, sign up for it, even if you don’t want to do surveys right away. It may come in useful down the line.

Rule #1 in our Eight Rules of Points and Miles says to sign up for every free program that you can. That holds true for surveys, as well. You may do one for the sign-up bonus, you may never do one or you might love them and want to continue. It doesn’t matter. There’s no downside to participating and you may get a great offer down the line.