Keep Airline Miles and Hotel Points Active With Short Paid Surveys

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.