Thumbs down to E-rewards

[pjlla]

I've been doing these e-rewards surveys for about 18 months now. I had racked up $87.xx according to them. When I first started this I was under the distinct impression that this money earned could be paid out in cash or cash equivalent (gift cards or something). I got a notice today that some of my rewards were going to expire so I clicked to see how to get paid out. Well... for $75 that I had "earned" the only thing I could get was $25 paid into my Upromise account. I think that STINKS!! There were NO other rewards of ANY type available. And the fact that I only actually received something of 1/3 value of what I had earned is terrible. I will be discontinuing my membership with them. So everytime I spent 15-20 minutes doing a survey for "$5.50".... I was actually only earning $1.83?? What a waste!

It is depressing because I was going to start squirreling some of this $$ away for a possible 2010 WDW trip. Live and learn. Fair warning to you all!................P

 

[horseshowmom]

I was able to get a Macy's gift card from them once, but I haven't been getting as many of them lately. I wondered whether the economy might have affected their clientele. It also seemed like I took quite a few of them only be to told after several pages that I didn't qualify (sure did answer a lot of questions to get there though ).

 

[Spart02]

I set up an account also, but Upromise was the only thing available to me, so I didn't bother with it. My husband has one and gets Game Stop gift cards. That ratio of dollars to rewards for Game Stop is WAY better than Upromise offers. The Upromise ratio IS a joke...I agree with you!

 

[brergnat]

Sorry you feel jipped. I belong to erewards, and I got a notice that I could "extend" my membership for another year and my earnings would NOT expire, simply by updating my profile and doing a short erewards sponsored survey. All I had to do was follow a link from the email and answer a few short demographic type questions. I'm not sure who gets offered this sort of thing, but I have been an erewards member for several years, so maybe that has something to do with it. I also have about $85 in $$$ on erewards...

Now, about redeeming. I'm not sure why you don't realize that there are LOTS of ways to redeem $75 worth of money. You just go to "redeem" and then you look by the different monetary categories. For example, with $50, you could get a coupon code good at ebags for $50 off. This is a straight $50 value, no strings attached. You could purchase a $50 bag and get it for free. I'm not sure why you feel that the ONLY option is to transfer $25 into your upromise account, unless you are looking specifically for a cash equivalent reward. You have to remember, these types of sites are NOT designed to PAY you actual money, because then they have to get into taxes and all that stuff. Rather, they are sponsored by companies who offer an incentive for shopping through them or something similar. Erewards is not meant as an income tool. Unfortunately, you seem to have signed up for it thinking of it in that sense. I'm sorry you feel you wasted your time. I have used erewards mainly to rack up frequent flyer miles with Delta, I used a code to receive a discount on an Omaha Steaks order we placed as a Christmas gift to my in-laws, and I will use the $50 off at Ebags to purchase a new bag for my upcoming WDW trip. It's as good as money to me.

 

[peggster]

Thanks, brergnat , for pointing out out some good alternatives to cash in for. E-rewards is most definitely not the place to earn cash, but in my experience, a small investment of time gets me some decent travel rewards. In addition to the frequent flyer miles, I also often redeem for Hilton HHonors points, which I save up to use for free hotel nights.

The program may not be for everyone, but it's worked well for me.

 

[CobraBubbles]

I like MyPoints which I've gotten a lot of gift cards from. Is that like erewards? I'm not sure. If it is though, they definitely pay out. Right now you can get the entertainment book on sale and you get 750 points and $20 in coupons for my local grocery store all for under $20...plus...all the other coupons, which are good for eating out every now and then (of if you need a car rental or something).

 

[mafibisha]

Thanks, brergnat , for pointing out out some good alternatives to cash in for. E-rewards is most definitely not the place to earn cash, but in my experience, a small investment of time gets me some decent travel rewards. In addition to the frequent flyer miles, I also often redeem for Hilton HHonors points, which I save up to use for free hotel nights.

The program may not be for everyone, but it's worked well for me.

Me too, I love it. I've gotten MANY travel rewards from e-rewards!!!
But I really feel gypped big time on Sunshine Rewards!!
But to each his own

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

I currently do Erewards and the only thing that is offered to me is Upromise. I recently transferred $100.00 of erewards into the Upromise account (and yes, I did only get 1/2 or $50.00) but the way that I feel is that it is better than nothing in this economy. All of the survey sites have cut back. I also do zoom rewards and their rewards stink. No gift cards or anything but again, all that I waste is my time doing them while watching tv so I don't mind.

You can always request the money from your Upromise account and they send you a check but not sure how much you have to have in there to be able to request the check. Either way, I look at it as free money so I will not be complaining.

Just wanted to add that I have been doing Erewards for several years and was always only offered rewards that go to Upromise. Maybe because I am a Upromise member.

 

[denily]

I belong to e-rewards and I am getting ready to cash in my rewards for Airtran credits. I thought this was a great deal! I've only been doing surveys with them for about 6 months and I have about $55.00 in credits.
There are a ton of options on my homepage to redeem my e-rewards for...is it possible that they might not actually be offered??

 

[Momto4boys]

I'm an e-rewards member and can use my points for a bunch of stuff..Hilton honors points, NWA miles and a bunch of retail sites. I plan on using mine for the HH points because the shopping ones seem to be spend so much and use this towards it but they aren't places that ship here easily (Canada)

 

[G's mommy]

I just cashed in for a $25 American Eagle gift card, good if you have teens.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

we signed up for e-rewards through an offer from Hilton and that is what we spend the points on. I didn't realize not everyone received the same offers for redeeming points. We have many, I don't care for most of them, but that is OK because we prefer to use it all for Hilton points.

My only complaint is that the surveys have really slowed down. We rarely get one any more.

 

[Mary2e]

I've been a member of e-rewards for many years and have earned many different types of rewards from them. Everything from airline miles on Delta and Continental, to hotel points with Hilton, magazines and Macy's gift cards.

About a year or so ago, they started inviting more people to join through many of their sponsors such as Upromise and Hilton. When people joined using those links most of the reward availability was for only those sponsors. So if you joined thru U-promise you could only redeem through U-promise, etc.

I'm part of the old program and can redeem with any sponsor.

Perhaps you can send them an email asking them to make all of the rewards available to you.

Oh, and it was never a 1-1 relationship as far as the $$ for rewards go. Right now, the best value is $45 rewards for a $25 Macy's gift card - but that's only offered to certain members.

 

[albertamommyof4]

i looked at the website and noticed that this is offered to canadians, it says that you have to be invited, so how do i go about getting on erewards
Thanks

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I've been a member of e-rewards for many years and have earned many different types of rewards from them. Everything from airline miles on Delta and Continental, to hotel points with Hilton, magazines and Macy's gift cards.

About a year or so ago, they started inviting more people to join through many of their sponsors such as Upromise and Hilton. When people joined using those links most of the reward availability was for only those sponsors. So if you joined thru U-promise you could only redeem through U-promise, etc.

I'm part of the old program and can redeem with any sponsor.

Perhaps you can send them an email asking them to make all of the rewards available to you.

Oh, and it was never a 1-1 relationship as far as the $$ for rewards go. Right now, the best value is $45 rewards for a $25 Macy's gift card - but that's only offered to certain members.

I guess I must be part of the old program too as I have several sponsors to choose from I never figured how much the $ amount in my account equaled in actual awards. I always turn it into Hilton Honor rewards. I figure eventually I might get a free night out of it

 

[rflorek]

I joined eRewards 3-4 years ago throughan email from Continental Airlines. I cash out all the time for Hilton Honors points, and have a large selection of other options to choose from. The OP might be limited because they joined through U-Promise which, I believe, had you sign up with the understanding that all eRewards earnings could only be exchanged through uPromise (at least that's what my UPromise invite said last year when I received it - since I was already an eRewards member, I deleted it)

 

[camlace]

I joined eRewards 3-4 years ago throughan email from Continental Airlines. I cash out all the time for Hilton Honors points, and have a large selection of other options to choose from. The OP might be limited because they joined through U-Promise which, I believe, had you sign up with the understanding that all eRewards earnings could only be exchanged through uPromise (at least that's what my UPromise invite said last year when I received it - since I was already an eRewards member, I deleted it)

Agreed...erewards had a specific program with Upromise and you ONLY could exchange your erewards for Upromise $$. I have 2 accounts with erewards...one is the direct link with Upromise, the other is the more general rewards/gift cards.

I love it and have gotten lots of extra money for Upromise as well as other gift cards from my other account.

 

[DiznEeyore]

I've also been a member of e-rewards for many years. It annoys me that most rewards are only redeemable once per calendar year, but I still manage to use them. In an average year, I earn 6 free Blockbuster rentals, $15 in my Borders Rewards account, and 500 Northwest frequent flyer miles (nice for upgrades to first class!). Oh, and sometimes I get eBags gift certificates, too, but they're just dollars-off minimum purchases, rather than just straight-up gift cards. I used those to buy a great new luggage set for our trips.

I do tend not to even try the really long surveys ... just not worth my time. So I'm not even using the program to its full extent.

 

[PrincessMama605]

Me too, I love it. I've gotten MANY travel rewards from e-rewards!!!
But I really feel gypped big time on Sunshine Rewards!!
But to each his own

Just curious why you don't like Sunshine Rewards? I have only had an account since Aug, but I love their site! In Dec we went to WDW with $150 worth of disney gift cards earned on Sunshine Rewards, it was great to have that extra $$ for souvenirs and stuff.

 

[mrsklamc]

What you can redeem on e-rewards does depend on how you signed up. I used to be signed up differently, it was not clear to me when I closed that account that I would ONLY be able to redeem for upromise, but, live and learn.

I would love to know how people make so much with SR. I need to spend some time exploring their forums but don't have the time to dive in lately.