I dunno about you, but I love reward programs. But I only like the ones that actually reward me. Sometimes my CVS card gives me a few dollars free here and there which I spent to buy candy while fawning over this hot straight guy named Juan on Friday and Saturday nights. Oh man does his long hair and brilliant smile make me want to bitch slap his girlfriend and steal him for my very own.

But I’m getting off topic here.

Here are a few rewards programs I’ve been using online for quite sometime and how rewarding they actually are.

1. Swagbucks.com.

Recently this site changed their denominations for their Swagbucks, which is essentially a point system used to get things. There is more than a little work you have to do in order to get rewarded, but I find it fun. It takes me about a month to get enough Swagbucks to exchange for a 5 dollar gift card for Amazon.com. In the past, I’ve even traded them in for 5 dollars deposited directly into my PayPal account.

Of course, this is without me doing any of the real big ways of getting Swagbucks. I only check out their blog and facebook and use their toolbar search engine. You could find it more rewarding than I do. Still, I give Swagbucks my seal of approval for being a legitimate program that actually works.

2. Opinion Square.

Honestly, I don’t really like taking surveys like I used to. But I don’t mind the ones I get sent to my email from this rewards program. See, if you don’t qualify for what they’re looking for, instead of getting jack squat like you do at most places, you get a token for their instant win game. Even better, you cannot lose when you play that instant win game. You’ll at least get 25 points closer to whatever you’re shopping for in their rewards catalog.

This program takes kind of a long time for me to be rewarded. But when I do finally reach my goal of 2 AMC Gold Movie Tickets (allowing me to see any movie regardless of when it was released) I certainly am happy. Besides, it doesn’t take much of my time at all, unless I DO qualify for a survey. And those get me closer to the reward faster. My opinion is that Opinion Square is a legitimate program that actually works.

3. MyPoints

This is the rewards program I’ve been a part of since 2000, but sadly it’s becoming one of the slowest to cash out lately. Essentially, I allow myself
to get spam emails sent to me. I click on them. I get points. I’d get more points if I actually have a use for and buy whatever the spam email is selling, but that doesn’t happen very often. I’d also get more points if I shopped online via the MyPoints store. But that doesn’t happen very often either.

Still, even at its glacial pace, I still get rewarded and it doesn’t take that much time to work their system. I usually turn in my points for Target Gift Cards, though I’ve also got ones for Chili’s or even gas cards back when it was like a million dollars per gallon. One time, I actually won one of their jackpots that they run seasonally. That was pretty cool and got me lots of free stuff. MyPoints is a classic and is a legitimate program that actually works.

4. MyCokeRewards

What can I say. I saved the easiest and best for last. While I’ve complained that they keep changing how things work over on Coke’s website, I have to tell you this program pays out the most. Yes, it can be very annoying trying to figure out what the codes are on the tops of Coke products. And yes, it’s very annoying you can only enter 120 points worth per week now. But every month, I’m earning a free silver AMC movie ticket (allowing me to see a film for free, just not on opening weekend) and a large drink.

Of course, that’s just what I’m getting. There are lots of other things on there that I’ve snagged too. A pair of Avatar limited edition 3D glasses recently were going for 40 dollars on ebay. Even though I’m not a huge fan, I’m getting Entertainment Weekly for free for a number of months. In fact, you could bury yourself in magazines pretty quickly over there. They also have Napster MP3 downloads, POGO memberships, and lots and lots of Coke printed items.

So I absolutely recommend MyCokeRewards. Especially as many Cokes this household and my grammies household go through. Maybe if you look around, you’ll see you get your 120 allotted points per week pretty easily too at this legitimate and highly rewarding program.