Rewards programs (MyPoints, Swagbucks, NCP...): what are you using and how do you like them?

[jeankeri]

I have continued to use some rewards programs over the years, and discontinued others. Which ones are you using, and are you saving towards your Disney trip? Would love to hear your experiences I am currently active with ibotta and mypoints, new to NCP, have an active swagbucks account but honestly cannot remember the last time I earned with thm.

 

[Jasper&Bowie]

I am currently using MyPoints but I feel like I'm getting less and less points with them. My kids are now grown so I get kicked out of most of the surveys. I use Fetch when I remember to scan my receipts. I feel like the levels you need to get on the games on both are almost impossible to obtain, but that could be me.

 

[jeankeri]

I am probably only doing mypoints for the email clicks and occasional online shopping. The receipt upload is kind of a pain- do it for ibotta, but it I rarely get a receipt uploaded in less that 4 attempts, which is soooo frustrating.

 

[bnf0522]

I'm using NCP, iBotta, Retail Me Not, Fetch & ShopKick for gift cards/cash back towards the purchase of Disney GC's. I use Murphy USA rewards to save on gas when we drive to Disney World and I take surveys with E-Rewards so I can get Hilton points so the hotels on our way to and from Disney are cheaper or free with Hilton points. I also try to maximize my credit card reward categories as much as I can, and put the rewards towards our Disney trips.

Can you tell I sit in front of a computer all day at my job?! LOL

 

[bnf0522]

It can sometimes feel pretty time consuming trying to find the best way to maximize free money/cash back offers, but these forums and all the people on here are super helpful!!

And every little bit helps

 

[trenty]

Fetch, Coin Out, Receipt Pal and Evidation for me.
I don't earn much, but Swagbucks was getting frustrating - I quit that a long time ago. Too little reward for too much effort. The ones I list above are slow earners for me - but practical no effort (especially Evidation).

 

[_19disnA]

I used to belong to some site (can't recall the name anymore) where I would get periodic emails to fill out various surveys. Often times, once you filled out the demographic info, they would indicate you weren't in the group they were looking for. Many surveys seemed poorly constructed and the questions were vague or it wasn't really clear what type of information they were trying to gather. Some others seemed like they already knew what sort of input they wanted and the leading questions were designed to steer responses a certain way. I eventually stopped using it as it seemed like a waste of my time.

 

[Princess Michele]

I really like hearing about programs that are worth doing. I have quit on Swagbucks (noted above) and Checkout51- for me the tasks were too time consuming for the payout. I like programs where there is a consistent build for rewards. Landry's GC's through MyPoints is one of my favorites. Much prefer the NCP grocery scanning to the receipt scanning of other apps.

What is NCP?

I currently actively use Retail Me Not, Rakuten, and Top Cashback when I make online purchases. I was using Checkout 51, Ibotta, and Fetch but got tired of scanning receipts for too little payout. I liked Shopkicks but either have not had time to spend in the stores scanning products or the connection has not worked lately. I have also stopped using Swagbucks.

 

[jeankeri]

Fetch, Coin Out, Receipt Pal and Evidation for me.
I don't earn much, but Swagbucks was getting frustrating - I quit that a long time ago. Too little reward for too much effort. The ones I list above are slow earners for me - but practical no effort (especially Evidation).

I do like the low effort ones, or those that can fit into what you are already doing. Going with that, MyPoints and NCP fit that bill for me. MyPoints has click through emails and that plus occasional online shopping gets me a Landrys GC for my trip. NCP- I'm grocery shopping anyway. Scanning when I unload items at home is maybe 3 minutes once a week? And it's a consistent point accural that I can pay out towards a Disney trip splurge- say HoopDeDo reservations. For me that's a win.

 

[jeankeri]

What is NCP?

I currently actively use Retail Me Not, Rakuten, and Top Cashback when I make online purchases. I was using Checkout 51, Ibotta, and Fetch but got tired of scanning receipts for too little payout. I liked Shopkicks but either have not had time to spend in the stores scanning products or the connection has not worked lately. I have also stopped using Swagbucks.

It is an app- think they also have a website- where you can scan your grocery purchases (using your phone). You have to scan at least once a week. You earn points that you can redeem for gift cards or paypal cash out. I figure over a year it will work out to about $100? They also have random drawings, occasional surveys related to the app that you can get points for. It honestly only adds a few minutes when I am putting groceries away. And I get what you are saying about the receipt scanning- I still do ibotta but gave up on Checkout51- not enough brands on there. But the NCP thing it just scanning what I was buying anyway-pretty straightforward.

 

[DalGal]

MyPoints and Fetch are the two I use the most. I've been using MyPoints forever and while it isn't as great as it used to be, there are definitely some worthwhile opportunites that add up over time.

 

[bsmcneil]

I mostly use Rakuten these days (also had used Honey for a while). And it's been pretty good to me (lately money is tight so I'm not spending ... and therefore not earning ... much. But this is how I've done:

$332.39 Lifetime Cash Back
Member Since 11/18/2021

Also - if folks haven't heard of it, the app Upside is pretty good, too

 

[alyssa810]

I've been using Ibotta regularly since about 2008, and I'm almost at $2000 cashback. I used to use mypoints a lot, but I started using Rakuten around the same time, and tend to check who has the better reward...and it's usually Rakuten. I also use ShopKick for Disney gift cards, and Fetch for various gift cards. I was able to redeem a Walmart gift card from Fetch and turned it around for a Disney GC. I use receipt hog too, and cash out every $25. I think Fetch and Receipt Hog are the easiest - just scan your receipts.

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

I have been using Upside, Fetch, Shopkick, Ibotta and Rakuten for a while. I wait to cash out with Upside and Ibotta at $100. Shopkick I only ever redeem for Disney gc and I've redeem several. Rakuten is hit or miss. Mostly $5-10 checks. I don't do a lot of online shopping. I've just recently cashed out Fetch for $75 in Visa gc. I choose to get the hard copies and took them into Kroger and got 2 Disney gc.

I recently started back with my Swagbucks. But like others have stated, it's a lot of work for little payout. I am about to cash out for most likely a $25 MC gc.

 

[bsmcneil]

I have been using Upside, Fetch, Shopkick, Ibotta and Rakuten for a while. I wait to cash out with Upside and Ibotta at $100. Shopkick I only ever redeem for Disney gc and I've redeem several. Rakuten is hit or miss. Mostly $5-10 checks. I don't do a lot of online shopping. I've just recently cashed out Fetch for $75 in Visa gc. I choose to get the hard copies and took them into Kroger and got 2 Disney gc.

I recently started back with my Swagbucks. But like others have stated, it's a lot of work for little payout. I am about to cash out for most likely a $25 MC gc.

I will say - I just decided to try out food delivery as I'm between jobs and Rakuten gave me a 40 dollar credit for my first delivery for UberEats. Made 40 dollars in the hour I did deliveries, plus the 40 from Rakuten (though I have to wait until May 15, sadly) - but that was a nice boost. My spending has slowed the past couple of years; but here are some numbers:

Rakuten: $344.19 Lifetime Cash Back (2021)
TopCashBack: 15.47
Honey: 113.54
So that's 473.20
Upside: ~65 (just started this year - no exact total because I have had a couple of accounts) - that makes ~540

And, it's not the same but I also make use of GCX (gift cards, was Raise) and my total savings there is $317.88 (since 1/1/23).

If you include that, I've saved/made about 850 dollars on purchases I already intended to make. I'm sure I've used others (ibotta, etc) but haven't made a lot with them.

 

[bsmcneil]

I will say - I just decided to try out food delivery as I'm between jobs and Rakuten gave me a 40 dollar credit for my first delivery for UberEats. Made 40 dollars in the hour I did deliveries, plus the 40 from Rakuten (though I have to wait until May 15, sadly) - but that was a nice boost. My spending has slowed the past couple of years; but here are some numbers:

Rakuten: $344.19 Lifetime Cash Back (2021)
Upside: ~65 (just started this year)
Honey: 113.54
It's not the same but I also make use of GCX (gift cards, was Raise) and my total savings there is $317.88 (since 1/1/23).

I'm sure I've used others but haven't made a lot with them.

Also, you all should've seen the effort I put into GC savings, etc when I took my kids on our WDW trip . Between free flight credits, discounts, gift cards, etc, I think I saved a total of 40% on the trip. I think I'm borderline on an extreme couponer kick

 

[cableguynoe]

You may be set - but I wanted to mention a word of caution that some employers would not feel comfortable with receiving points, etc from company purchases (this may only have applied to working for a government, for instance - but I know it came up at my last job). But yes, upside is pretty awesome!

Yes I thought of that and have shared with a few co-workers but only ones I’m close to. It does feel like I’m doing something wrong even though it’s not costing them a penny.
This is gas I was going to get anyway, I’m just getting the benefit of the rewards.
Upside adding the fleet option is really a game changer. I drive a lot!!!

 

[CayBoo]

I need to be better about using rewards programs, but I've been using Shopkick for Disney gift cards for the last couple of years now. When I don't have a trip planned, I generally forget about it because shopping with a toddler in tow is already crazy haha. But I've managed to accumulate a couple hundred dollars in Disney gift cards from the app. Having friends or family that join can really help accrue kicks as well as purchasing online through the app. They've changed a few things over the years that make it a little harder depending on the stores you shop at. For example, I used to get tons of kicks from the scan & go feature at Sam's Club, but they've since excluded that option.

 

[alyssa810]

I use Fetch, Ibotta, and Receipt Hog most of time. I find that for Receipt Hog and Fetch, just capturing the receipts is so easy, how can you not use them!? I just figured out recently that you could redeem Disney Gift cards on Fetch; I had usually redeemed them for restaurants to use on vacation (where i get a slightly better value). My complaint with redeeming Fetch rewards, is that you don't get the gift card immediately, but it take a day or 2. Receipt Hog can be slow to redeem too, but the work to get points is so minimal....I've learned to be patient and wait until I can redeem a higher amount of money. Ibotta is probably my number one app - I use it all the time. Luckily, my grocery stores have the products and it's easy to redeem- I cash out as soon as I hit $20, and it goes into my "vacation fund" savings account. I also use QuickRewards, MyPoints, Rakuten, and ShopKick. I am always redeeming for Disney gift cards where I can.

 

[DanielW_91]

Fetch, Coin Out, Receipt Pal and Evidation for me.
I don't earn much, but Swagbucks was getting frustrating - I quit that a long time ago. Too little reward for too much effort. The ones I list above are slow earners for me - but practical no effort (especially Evidation).

Completely agree about swagbucks