Top Canadian Miles and Points Survey Program – AskingCanadians
As you already know, I am a huge fan of survey programs, so this is a topic that I always love talking about. One of the programs that I use extensively is AskingCanadians. An argument can be made that this is the best survey program for earning miles and points from a Canadian perspective. The main reason is because they have a fair number of choices to bank your rewards.
Furthermore, if you do not qualify for a survey, you will at least receive a minimal amount of rewards for your time, so that it is not a complete waste.
The downside to AskingCanadians is that you can only choose 1 reward program to benefit from at a time. Conversely, some of the other programs all you to pool your earnings and then transfer to partners as you see fit, like E-Rewards (which is actually my all-time favourite rewards program). You have the option of switching to another program, but it requires a few steps.
Reward Options
Below are the programs that you can bank your rewards to:
- Hudson’s Bay Rewards (takes 2 to 4 weeks to credit)
- Aeroplan (takes 2 to 4 weeks to credit)
- Petro-Points (takes 2 to 4 weeks to credit)
- VIA Préférence (takes 30 to 60 days to credit)
- Pure (takes 30 days to credit)
- You can also use your rewards for entries into contests and draws.
Personally, I use to bank my points to Hudson’s Bay Rewards (when I did not know better). Now I bank my rewards to Aeroplan. I generally earn over 5,000 miles a year with them. It may not seem like a lot, but it does help me top up for a reward redemption.
I have the HBC rewards MasterCard. Why do people dismiss the card? The rewards are good. The 2% return as well as getting up to an additional 30% discount during various sales. The pair of rockport shoes that are $160.09 plus tax I got for $46.77 tax included. The shoes were on sale, by using the hbc rewards MasterCard I was entitled to an additional 30% discount and had redeemed points equal to $50.00. Very happy with the return. Not the first time this scenario has occurred with respect to shoes. By the way my spare card is the RBC avion visa. Have always found it cheaper to book directly with the airline than redeem points for a flight.
It is a decent return if leveraged accordingly. I used to have this card as well. Only issue is that you have to keep shopping at their stores to get a better return.
The HBC. card is my primary card. It is used for everything. Use cash at the dolliar store only. Have been short changed by other loyalty programs over the years. The perks of using the card are there, question is how committed to the loyalty programme should one be?
I commit to a good deal. So I tend to circle back to programs as different offers come up. As I always suggestion, diversify! http://pointshogger.boardingarea.com/diversify-points-portfolio
Thinking about replacing the HBC MasterCard . Either the tangerine money back MasterCard or the RBC westjet MasterCard will be my primary card. Did not qualify for the west jet elite variant; for the time being the basic west jet will suffice. Always come back to the HBC MasterCard. A comfort to buy something at the bay and know I have a 90 day window iinwhich to exchange the item should the need arise when using this card.
Very glad you are able to get value from this credit card. That is a very good perspective. To be fair this card has been around for a while, so there must be some value there!
Hi Matthew.
What setting do you have to get 5000 points annually from AskingCanada? At best i’ll get 1200 per 6 months….
I don’t think I have any special settings. It used to be way slower, and over time the surveys came more frequently. I think they have a system where if you miss the time frame to complete surveys, you may miss out on future ones because you may not be considered an active member. That’s just a guess. You can always email them and mention that you have time to do more surveys, so they can send you more.
from that i assume you are using true demographic. this may be why you get more. i only quaify to about 1/10 (based on the number of 5 points award i have)
thanks
Possibly!