I was thinking about joining FreeRide. How good are they at redeeming member points for prizes?

Generally very good. I usually obtain $25. Marriott Gift Certs. If you do join and you're so inclined, you can use my referral username: "mwatson37" at www.freeride.com and you'll get an EXTRA 50 FREE additional Freeride points and I'll get a few points too! Thanks in advance if you use it!

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 02-25-2000).]

They are very good. The certificates that are mailed may sometimes take a few weeks to get to you. Electronic gift certificates like those for CDNow or Amazon are quite fast (within a day usually).

I receive Freeride rewards promptly, most within a week of redemption. I usually go for the Olive Garden reward as I have plenty of hotel and airline points, and restaurant vouchers always come in handy. By the way, thanks doc for bringing this site to my attention.

Thanks for the tips. I used Doc's user name to enroll. Can you redeem your points for miles or is it just for certificates??

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Cheers.

Leo.

Thanks Leo. No miles, yet- just certs. Yet the choice (Amazon, CDnow, ToyRUS, Marriott Saks5thAv) is quite good, as is the rapid delivery. Just by visiting each day, for a few minutes of clicking, you can find a few good sites and collect quite a lot of points!

It seems like a good deal and if you sign up for free trials, the points add up even quicker.

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Cheers.

Leo.

Well, I've joined freeride, and used your email, doc, as referral. The most appealing awards for me are the Marriott gift certs. Can you combine them, or do you have to use one per stay?

Marriott GCs can be combined. I gave a few to my sister in law who had a few of her own and she was able to use them all and pay the balance with a credit card. You should receive Marriott points on your hotel stay,so you could end up paying nothing and getting points/miles.

[This message has been edited by PG (edited 02-04-2000).]

FWIW, I just noted they raised (albeit only slightly) the points required for Marriott Gift certs so one needs 40 more points (less than one days quick visit) for a $20 cert at 2190pts.

There are now 4 Marriott choices instead of just two.
$10-1100pts
$20-2190
$25-2675
$50-5350

American Air $50 certs are also 5350pts.

CDnow certs, as I think PG once noted, are probably the most "valuable" (depending upon how you value items) since:
$5- 500pts
$10-1000
$20-2000

It does seem in general that it may well be best to cash in with most of these programs on a fairly routine basis, since changes are rarely if ever announced in advance- and even less likely to be beneficial.

Thanks a lot, Doc!! I've already got in excess of 1,500 points with more to come in 8 days.

One good way to earn points is through the Free Shop links. Sign up for trial issues of magazines and you'll get 80 points for each title. Some are totally free - no credit card needed - others require one and will charge you if not cancelled ("dissatified") within 90 days.

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Cheers.

Leo.

Both CDNow and Amazon gift certs are $5 for 500 pts. The good thing about CDNow is that you can use them in conjunction with coupons, additionally get a 7% cash back if going through ebates, and get points on CDNow good for future purchases (they have a frequent buyer program). Shipping is high at CDNow ($5), but they have had a lot of $10 off coupons. And there is no sales tax for me (depends on what state you live in).

Just a word to the wise to shop around when you're responding to offers for points. It's easy to get excited about a FreeRide offer when you use it everyday, but it's usually better to visit competing sites like CyberGold and MyPoints to see what they're offering instead.

For example, right now with CyberGold, you can signup for CarClub.com (a great service in my opinion since they'll pay your auto insurance deductible up to $1000/yr in the event of claims). You get a $10 prepaid gas card for accepting the 3-month trial and $5 from CyberGold. Alternatively, you'd only earn 250 FreeRide points for the same transaction.

With CyberGold, there are no minimums or conversion ratios to consider. You can cash out for cold hard cash whenever you want. I'm not a CyberGold employee and there's no referral program...just a satisfied user for the last 28 months.

I guess Cybergold is better than I thought. I'm also a member (actually twice over since the last merger) albeit an inactive one.

FWIW, at Freeride you do also get a $10. gas card and you get another additional 250 points if you stay for 3 months! As you said, Freeride is also pretty good for a varity of other reasons. Comparing is always a good idea. In this case I'd definitely sign up for both!