Signup for Mypoints, an online shopping rewards portal. (Buying items online from various merchants by clicking on links to those merchants at the Mypoints site first earns you additional points good for gift certificates, miles, etc.)

During the signup process you’ll be given 50 Mypoints for answering some survey questions about yourself and your interests. By telling Mypoints that you’re interested in everything, they’ll send you alot of email. This can be a good thing — because each one of these emails will offer you 5 or 10 Mypoints just for clicking on the link that shows you opened the message.

Go to take surveys, and fill out 4 or 5 multiple choice questions for another 5 points.

Signup for Amtrak Guest Rewards using promotion code FB03P and you’ll get 50 Mypoints.

Then buy an Amtrak ticket for another 2450 Mypoints. You can choose a ticket from the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) to the Burbank Airport for $2.10 using the Mypoints promotion code H304.

If you travel within 90 days on Amtrak, you’ll also receive 500 Amtrak Guest Rewards points. I don’t know whether you really need to use that $2.10 ticket you’ve just purchased or not in order to get those points. Amtrak Guest Rewards points are useful because in addition to free train trips, you can convert the points 1:1 with Continental and United. That also makes the no-fee Amtrak Mastercard a useful credit card.

In any case, by doing the above you’ve just earned 2555 Mypoints. While there are scores of redemption options, I’ll point out just two:

• Each 1000 Mypoints can be converted to 1000 Hilton HHonors points.
• Each 1350 Mypoints can be redeemed for a $10 Starbucks card.

Click on just a few Mypoints emails and you’ll have 2700 points or $20 worth of Starbucks…