I don't think people are "gaming" the current system, nor are they bragging about their points totals. It's more like they are complaining that they have very little that they are willing to spend their points on.
The first time I tried to use an e-card at a Walmart, in the express register line, the clerk messed up the transaction, which resulted in a lot of unhappy customers in the line behind me, waiting for a supervisor to come and straighten it out. I won't purchase any e-cards that I cannot use online and enter them into an account like Uber or Amazon for later use, or for a purchase right away that I was already contemplating.
Unless you've been lucky over the past year and have won a sweepstakes, the new extra entries is a slap in the face, looking like its only purpose is to get us to lower our points total for nothing in return, save hope. If the same people max out on entries for each contest, as they were before, the odds for winning are not changed.
Rather than admit that it was a mistake to switch from Deluxe to Hello World!, the decision makers at AARP are struggling to make it work, rather than switch back. Hello World! decides what is offered for redemption, and the discounts available through their negotiations with vendors. They are the ones responsible for when your purchases get messed up and don't come through. AARP is only responsible for switching and not realizing how unhappy the users are about it, and thereby switching back. I can only surmise that AARP has a contract with Hello World! that they cannot get out of easily. That or someone is reluctant to admit the mistake in switching.
As far as I can remember, pretty much the only issue with Deluxe was with the auctions having tiers, and allowing for some people to fudge their way into lower tiers, using massive points totals to get what they wanted. AARP could have just eliminated Auctions, like they did anyway by switching to Hello World!. If the contract with Deluxe wouldn't allow for that, AARP could have just made a recommendation to its members to not partake and explain why.
The additional sweepstakes entries are showing me that I have been spending too much time watching videos and taking quizzes, some over and over again, building up a points total that I may never need, due to lack of anything to spend them on. Shoot, I don't even need to spend points now for the Carnival gift cards I came here for in the first place. All I have to do is stay as a member.
I will make a disclaimer, though, that I have learned quite a bit by taking quizzes and watching videos. I have to keep reminding myself of that benefit.
