Keep Airline Miles and Hotel Points Active With Short Paid Surveys — My Money Blog

Worried about keeping all your airline miles and hotel points active? Another trick to keep in your toolbox is that many loyalty programs have a partner survey company that can be a relatively easy way to earn a few miles and extend any impending expiration dates. I don’t enjoy doing them otherwise, and they can send way too many e-mails (set up a filter), but I am happy they exist. Even if you don’t qualify for the full survey, they’ll give you something like 5 miles for trying, and that’s all I really need. This is often expressly mentioned as a perk:

You can also use them in a pinch if you only need a few miles to reach a specific award amount. They all seem to be run by the same backend company, but while some post the points nearly instantly, while others can take a few weeks at times. I usually only sign up for a specific program when I need to generate activity, but many do offer a small bonus on your first survey. I recently just did a couple of surveys to extend the expiration of my Alaska and Hilton points.

Here’s a quick list of programs expiration policies and their companion survey sites.

Alaska Airlines – The Opinion Terminal

• 400 miles for first survey.
• Alaska miles accounts get locked after 24 months of inactivity, permanently lost after 36 months of inactivity.

American Airlines – Miles For Opinions

• 250 miles for first survey.
• American miles expire after 24 months of inactivity.

British Airways – Avios For Thoughts

• 100 + 500 Avios for first survey.
• Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity.

Hawaiian Airlines – Opinions Take Flight

• 350 miles for first survey.
• As of April 2021, Hawaiian miles no longer expire (used to be 18 months).

Hilton Honors – Guest Opinion Rewards

• Hilton points expire after 24 months of inactivity.

JetBlue – Points For Surveys

• 400 points for first survey.
• JetBlue points do not expire.

Southwest Airlines – Rewards For Opinions

• 500 miles for first survey.
• Southwest points do not expire.

Spirit Airlines – Points For Thoughts

• 400 points for first survey.
• Spirit miles expire after 12 months.

United Airlines – Opinion Miles Club

• As of 2019, United miles no longer expire (used to be 18 months).

Wyndham Rewards – Opinion Rewards Panel

• 500 points for first survey.
• Wyndham Rewards points expire after 18 months of inactivity, OR after four years after being earned regardless of account activity.