How much did you save last year in Rewards?

[AARPTeri]

So many of you have told us you have saved quite a bit of money using your AARP Rewards!  We would love to see here how much you have saved to date!

Post your amount here!

[KristBelt]

$30 for 2021. 

[jh9637]

Very little. Points deals are not available when I try to redeem them. 

[drlindamc]

I saved $601, which, as a single person, is a lot, particularly because I always make sure I don’t  enter sweepstakes or buy gift cards unless it’s for a company/restaurant that I already frequent or a restaurant that has location in my city whose menu I like when I look it up online. I would have saved more but I am still working full time and I often don’t have time to accumulate the full 7500 points/day.

However, I agree with kb1248; there have been a lot of glitches recently. Like on 1/1 I badly wanted to get a gift card (I forget for what company) and I kept on trying to order it (I had enough points) and it wouldn’t let me. I thought it was a problem for everyone but then, much to my dismay, it eventually sold out. I had already earned my 7500 points for the day when I realized that, although it didn’t say so, it must have been available only if one had done the Extra Credit Rewards, which I had forgotten I needed to do because NOTHING on the site on 1/1 said it required Extra Credit Rewards to obtain (those Extra Credit Rewards gold triangles/stars didn’t show up at all until 1/2), and of course there was no-one in AARP Customer Service on New Year’s Day. Very disappointing.     

[LindaB671]

We saved $942!

[TheSuzyQ]

Our household has saved $1300 this year and I have saved $2100 to date! I am using the savings to invest in a personal investment portfolio for my grandkids that I manage myself. Having fun with AARP Rewards, saving $$$ and building a financial legacy. It's a win, win, win 👍

[sjean65]

how do you save 2T ON THIS PROGRAM

WHat am i not seeing ??

do quizzes get some points score a few gift cards 

i dont see it as a money making option

[TheSuzyQ]

I win GC on instant wins, I redeem GC with points, and sometimes I buy gift cards on the Daily Deals for vendors I patronize and purchase from frequently. I keep track in a spreadsheet and I take that $$$ in savings that I would have spent anyway on those purchases and deposit that $$$ into an investment account for my grandkids that I manage myself. I have been a member of the new rewards program since it began. The savings really do add up over time 🙂 

[Lillete]

I never win anything or save anything. I get points only to lose them to play and lose.

[drlindamc]

I suggest don’t spend all your points on sweepstakes and instant wins. I used to do that but realized it was a poor strategy. Now I save at least 1/2 my points to “buy” gift cards I like/can use with points. Plus, remember, any time you buy a gift card with $ for yourself or as a gift you are saving=making $ as long as it’s a company or restaurant you already frequent or like, & in the case of restaurant is in your vicinity. However I am surprised that you haven’t won any instant wins; I play 3-5 instant wins daily (that’s only 150-250 points/day) and I think I’ve won instant wins 6 times and sweepstakes only once in the past year Both of those are totally random so I have no more chance of winning those than you do unless I enter more times than you. In addition, be sure you do those Extra Credit videos and quizzes each month and as early in the month as possible. That will give you more choices for gift cards to buy or win, and also it’s been my experience that if you do the extra credit videos/quizzes very early in the AM of the first of the month you can more easily “buy" gift cards w/ points before they’re sold out. Lastly, pay attention to the Daily Deal gift cards (more savings than the usual gift cards) and if it’s a gift card you want try to be online to buy it as close to 12P eastern time as possible. I usually can get the Daily Deal if I’m online at 12P, unless there is some sort of glitch w/the AARP website or my computer.   

[a170938b]

What a wonderful idea! 

I also saved last year to a total of $582! It was a great help to use the gift cards for presents for my grandkids and food and treats for my many cats.

[kb1248]

No doubt this is a well intending question.

And heck if I know why I'm going to write what I am about to write, but here we go.

If you simply view the savings as a single entity, anyone who has won anything has saved money.

But you can't forget including the cost of your time into evaluating the cost effectiveness.  You don't just click a button and save the money.

You put time and effort into accumulating points, and if you think those points come smoothly and void of follow up and calling AARP to recoup missing points and the like on maybe more than occasion, then you're participating in a different rewards program than anyone reading this.

So if this thread winds up with someone saying they save x amount of dollars, give em some truth serum, and then ask how smoothly the process has treated them, how many times they have bid on things that wound up a waste of time because for whatever reason the prize was unavailable (I successfully bid on a Door Dash gift card that did not include a pin, so the transaction was voided as opposed to reissued after I put x amount of minutes into following up on it) and how frustrated they got when they experienced some of the wide open for display shortcomings of this program avail themselves. 

The moral of the story is this program is still bottom line plus, but if you overestimate by how much, that's on you.  

[WebWiseWoman]

Exactly! I'm the one who has complained in many posts re delay in processing "wins"; perhaps that outsourced entity, "HelloWorld" hopes we'll pass before they have to pay up? Just sayin...

#StaySafe

[sjean65]

good one  hahaha

HELLO WORLD is terrible

the rewards for good and the one before that had nice rewards

years back i had got free ipad  beats headphones and such 

lucky now to see such as a $5 starbucks or safeway card for points before sold out

[a170938b]

I think the enjoyment of the program should be added in the plus column of your ledger sheet; why participate at all if it does not bring knowledge, entertainment and expertise? Why do it at all if it is not fun?

[OneDayMatisyahu]

In total agreement - 'knowledge, entertainment and expertise' - and who knew that during these pandemic monthes AARP could provide a nice outlet for many homebound seniors. You can choose what you like: play word/ puzzles/ games, read topical articles of the day, learn new recipes, 'gamble' on instant games and sweeps and be there at the right time to get your Subway giftcard redemption or Target giftcard. I'm sure there are dozens of folks who read up on covid/ booster articles here and were nudged to get their shots and in hindsight saved their lives or prevented further illness - that's priceless. 😄

   Answering original question: since Nov 2020 to 1-11-22 accumulated rewards/instant/ sweeps - $515 for about a little more than 14 monthes; not bad 😊  - extra shot of tequila for me 😎  - my first year was comped by promo of Walgreens offering 1 year free AARP.  Back then I have heard of AARP but really never knew much about the website or any of it's resources. Have since renewed for 5 more years - paid. 👌

[LindaB671]

Our household has saved $947 since last January. Almost $1,000!

[sjean65]

how do you save that much money?

most of the gift card savings are about 23$ for a 25$ gift card

thats an 8% savings

most of the free gift cards are only $5 now so not sure if its a "savings" if i use it to add to a larger purchase

not seeing much for $5 recently

im thinking how much would i spend to  "save" $1,000 ?

[TheSuzyQ]

Nice!!