I woke up to an email this morning from United offering 600 miles for joining ‘Opinion Miles Club’ and completing one survey.
You give your name, email address, mileage number and gender. Then you go to your email to confirm.
Then they want your date of birth, home address, whether you rent or own your home, your occupation, your education level, income, and race. They also want to know who you’re employed by and how much you make.
After completing registration they had another screening survey for me to take before they’d let me take a survey for miles. They wanted to know if I’m gay or wear glasses, and what purchasing decisions I make at work.
You’ll need to decide if that’s too much information, too invasive, and for that matter how honest you want to be if you decide to complete the quick questions required to join.
Then I was allowed to take a survey. I was told it would take 12 minutes. The first several questions were repeats of the screeners. Then they wanted to know about my last mattress purchase. For kicks I decided to say I didn’t know the brand of bed I bought, and I got kicked out of the survey without miles.
This new site will be useful to some, but they really do make you work for those miles.
- You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2010/12/26/19-lessons-from-united-airlines-on-how-to-build-a-crappy-survey/
Web site criticzes United AIrlines for CRAPPY surveys.
I’m glad I came in after the shake-out period because in just a few short months Ive nearly earned a Europe ticket replacing a puzzle obsession with answering these surveys.
The program is quite good and getting better as it offers me many more surveys based on previous answers I’ve given, so that there are always surveys queued – which makes it easier to stomach rejection for nearly half. That almost chased me away too.
In the period I tried to sign up for eRewards, waited 5 days to get an activation email and had repeated requests for Customer Services reply by FAQ spam, I earned 1500 Opinion Miles. When I finally got into eRewards the surveys queued earned me $1.50 toward the $25 required to buy 500 miles
“The program is quite good and getting better as it offers me many more surveys based on previous answers I’ve given”
PIAD FOR BY MARKETING COMPANY TO SUCK OTHERS INTO PHSIHING EXPEDITION.
Opinion Survey has ZERO CREDIBILITY and UNITED when sent email and called by phone is unaware of PROMOTION.
Don’t waste your time with the Opinion Miles Club scheme!
In August 2013 I signed up for the program and, tolerably, I did not qualify for the first survey I tried. I had only spent about ten minutes filling in the pre-survey questions to determine this. So, no harm, no foul.
The second survey, however, I did qualify for. I spent almost half an hour completing it. At the end the site acknowledged that I had finished it but that I had to install some software on my cell phone. When I declined, it kicked me off the system!
A subsequent appeal to customer service resulted in a completely canned “non-answer”. In the best tradition of lousy customer service, the answer was a long-winded “you’ll get the points in a few weeks”. Big surprise, but guess what? No points.
Today (11/7/13) I logged on again to see if there was anything new. The site says that my email address isn’t even in their records.
Bottom line- If you want to send your worst enemy on a fool’s errand, tell them to try out the Opinion Miles Club.
What I don’t get is GaryLeff agrees the Opinion SUrvey is dysfunctional promotion rarely, if ever, working.
Why can’t these leaders on Flyertalk, Milepoint, and View from teh Wing who have contacts in high places drive a feedback home to United Airlines about this crap????
Guess everyone waits until phishing steals their personal data!
Opinion Miles is run by one of the top opinion consolidators in the world, SSI from Connecticut. Their program is easily the best of it’s kind although even when working correctly it screens one out of about 1/3 of the surveys you take, sometimes rudely asking a number of more questions before dropping you. But those who stick with it are richly rewarded. Since July I’ve almost earned a trip to Europe, replacing a lifelong puzzle habit which will be able to take me anywhere I want to go now.
I know from coaching a housemate that it can be discouraging, and has even made enemies as one can read in this thread. But I find their program incredibly interactive, Customer Service to be prompt in resolving most complaints, and there is NO comparison with eRewards which has earned me less than 500 miles in the time I’ve earned nearly 30,000 with Opinion Miles.
The character of their detractors in this thread is also nearly rabid, showing a level of impatience that explains their ire.
“Their program is easily the best of it’s kind although even when working correctly it screens one out of about 1/3 of the surveys you take, sometimes rudely asking a number of more questions before dropping you.”
Where did you get your 1/3 accuracy rating from? This blog alone refutes that percentage of success.
If it’s 1/3 success then define a success criteria for all of your bloggers, as you are skilled in this area.
As for SSI I’m thinking of notifying the BBB in Conneticuit but logic would have it that it is NOT accredited!!!!
From what I can gather, these are the top opinion polling firms vying for UA’s prime audience. SSI requires them to choose respondents using the multi-faceted profile data they urge you to fill out as completely as possible. The more you provide, the more surveys will launch for you.
However a survey may be targeting much narrower than the profile questions cover. If this is the case we get screened out. SSI appears to be aware of this so will often do a preliminary survey to narrow the cohort more to lessen the chance you’ll be dropped while answering. So today I was asked if I’d read certain magazines recently, chose a Home Improvement magazine I read, and sure enough the survey was asking about the print vs. the web version of that very magazine.
If you go to SSI’s website you can read articles on how they narrow survey criteria. The only outright disqualifiers are answering too fast or straight-line box checking. Individual surveys have ways of telling if you’re fudging or contradicting your answers. These are from the top opinion research companies like Nielsen and Ipsos. If you google them as they come you’ll see these are all top-drawer surveys which set the standards for the industry.
ONLY ONE poster on this blog attempted to HELP define the answer criteria to do the surgery: UCLALUM
As for the poster like DMorris who just hee’s-n-haw’s about getting points oen would question the authenticity of his posts since he can’t describe a sequence that passed.
Unfortunately, feedback on this blog goes NOWHERE as the 1/3 success ratio is doubtful calculated by and independent, unbiased company.
Just a self promotion of deceit that United Airlines is associated with.
Sharks swim with sharks!
yes, you have ALWAYS read whatever magazine they ask on a tablet. This will get you the survey.
So that you don’t skew results too much:
No, you do not remember any of the ads.
You only read for 0-15 minutes as you just flipped through it.
You are not a regular reader.
Euromann – asked you once before to please stop speaking for me. First off – I am female, not male as your last post refers. Secondly, I continue to successfully complete surveys and gather flyer miles – which are “big as Dallas” posted on my United account. We try to be nice but you seem to be fixated on this. This is a legitimate program that United offers and it is working for many folks. You just have to be patient. It seems to be your mission to address this. I won’t post again, but please stop speaking for me. Just be happy and move on….
Dmorris,
You can be a he, she or it…doesn’t matter you are evasive and refuse to post a sequence of answers to pass the survey after numerous fail.
Even GaryLeff claims a 30% success rate which is debatable as he cannot qualify that assumption.
Post all the answers to the next survey…and will see if you are telling the truth or just blowing smoke.
I’ve noticed that there are far fewer rejections the earlier in the day you answer these surveys. Many of the rejections are apparently due to having enough of a sample from your region, zip code, sex, age group, race, etc. When I answer at 7 am PST I am almost never rejected. But when I answer at the end of the day, the rejection level is high. This makes it appear most surveys for that day are queued up the morning or overnight. However surveys can be added to your queue any time during the day as well.
Of course if they want to survey only single-cup coffee brewer owners and you don’t tick that box, you may get dropped anyway.
The most outrageous rip-off of promised miles so far is for answering a survey to determine if the sketchy details in a Sears.com Shopping Cart banner offering points with Sears card is considered misleading. It obviously is troubling the company. After many preliminary questions about the banner ad, if you answer that it is misleading they thank you for honest opinion and then dump you out of the survey without giving you the promised miles. So they are a doubly misleading dishonest company that I would never shop at again – even if they weren’t a dinosaur whose stores sit empty in every city!
So far the product sampling surveys promising 60 miles and which take name, address and email to send products to sample also fail to confirm miles were rewarded either after the preliminary screening survey or when you complete the end survey. This amounts to contacting a select sample promising miles to participate, then cheating us out of the miles after taking extra steps to sample the products. General Mills and Pepsi, are you aware of this?
Greg,
Good tip if 7am survey entry works.
I’m no longer trying for these miles but hoping the “knowledgeable” posters who have been successful define the criteria to work since it’s a GIMMICK SURVEY and United Airlines should be ashamed of themsleves for this low integrity trick!
Right, Euro. That’s why I’m flying to Europe on miles I earned just from taking these surveys! You see, I am also OC but I put it to work for me instead of just annoying others!
“I am also OC but I put it to work for me instead of just annoying others!”
yes, not posting all the answers just a time hint is brilliant support.
Annoying…..gottacha….you accomplished the task!
+1 ON THE TIME HINT.
I use the same strategy with RewardSurvey. I used to do all my real work first and respond to lame survey at the end of the day only to be rejected. Now, those go to the top of the pile to be handled first (resulting in a higher survey acceptance rate).
Another hint: they always ask if you have done X in the last month 3 months, year, etc. If I have don’t it
[oops, hint enter by mistake]
If I have done it in the last five years, and have a good enough memory of the event to form what I think is a decent opinion, that works for me. In a similar fashion, I am considering buying EVERYTHING in the next 30 days to one year.
On another note: has anyone had any success winning a $100 Amazon gift card on SurveyMonkey Contribute? I have now done about 40 surveys with no luck. I am wondering if they are as lame as the Renaisaance’s Discovery Days promo. Well, at least I won 100 bonus BoxTops4Education today by entering a code from my Cheerios. =)
Total scam — you could spend hours responding and then they refuse to give points/miles, claiming you didn’t actually complete a survey — unbelievable! Recommend that you avoid at all cost and complain to consumer fraud department of your local district attorney’s office or attorney general.
Signed up for this a bit ago and have been able to get 2,200 miles off of it.
To give my suggestion for those who aren’t able to get it to work, it will depend on the time of day and on the answers you give. The screening questions they ask prior to routing you to a survey are to filter you into one of X surveys they need filled. If you’re a woman, or said you were one in your profile, you’ll be more likely to get surveys you can complete (women tend to be the household deciders for purchases). If you say “do not have” or “does not apply” to all the areas they ask about, you’ll get nothing. As other commenters said, if you want a survery for the points, then click everything they ask for. Don’t go through just checking “strongly agree” or “strongly disagree” for everything. It’ll dump your responses and you’ll get no credit. If you’re 65+, retired, male, you don’t make household decisions, and you prefer not to reveal medical info you probably won’t meet the criteria anyone is looking for.
Well it’s nice to get some general tips but there nees to be more details as United is just abusing people’s time trying to get them to complete a survey based on trickery.
I gave up months ago due to United’s deceit in making it a gamble. 2,000 points is equal to $200 if purchasing from United.
But since FF award seats are next to impossible to get at the lowest FF award levels I think $2,000 equals only $50.
……wonder how many hours it takes you to get $50-$200
That opinion miles is a fraudulent website. They keep making me take “mini” surveys to get into the official reward survey. I tried 4 times and it keeps saying, “This is not the right survey for you”. Total BS! Don’t waste your time on that stupid website, or if you have nothing else to do, lie your way through it, because I think it wants only people that have serious medical conditions to take them.
Ive done the dance with United for 4 months now, and have been turned down more times on a survey than asking for a first date! So far, 2700 miles earned and REPLIED to BS stastical questions. Glad I FOUND THIS BLOG
and I like to fill out the surveys when Im drinking wine 🙂
You’ll get dummped less if you answer them early in the morning before they fill their quota for your demo.
There is a shrinking percentage of opinion theft where they have you nearly finish the survey but then dump you. This is considered unethical by the trade associations they must belong to in order to do opinion polling, so always complain to the survey provider as well as Opinion Miles which will often credit you anyway. There is a thread about this in Flyer Talk “300-600
Gosh, were so lucky Gary keeps the this thread active for posters.
Tiem to find a life and it’s not with UA surveys!
Wine can’t drown out the misery UA has caused!
Some misery. I’m flying to Europe for free this summer from doing Opinion Miles surveys.
You have to be somewhat normal with patience however to complete them. So freakish trolls won’t get too far.
Sorry the trolls are the one who posts he is a winner when almost all are frustrated and won’t spemnd te time.
Troll on promoting this worthless survey
I got the 300 mile survey e-mail but I clicked on the above link to access the 600 miles survey just to see if it would give me the extra 300. It didn’t do me any good, the end of the survey said I got 300 miles. You have to be a card holder or a premium member for the 600 miles. The surveys were super long and a bit invasive. It took me three surveys before I was ‘accepted’. I guess it doesn’t pay to be too honest.
Thx guys for responding- I see this survey website like a chess game
and it fun to out-think with patience- up to 3000 miles
I suspect it will get harder-will try the “morning” run at it sometime
Opinion miles club is a disgrace
Robinson,
DITTO!
I live in Canada. When I joined the Opinion Miles Club, there was no option to enter any but a U.S. address because a “state” had to be selected. So I entered my mother’s address in the U.S. Once I joined, I had to complete an extensive profile in order to be taken to the screen where I could complete my first survey and earn those 300 magic introductory points. However, I was not allowed to complete the survey because my computer is not located in the same country as my address! This is an international airline, for crying out loud. Why do they think everyone lives in the U.S. and/or never travels anywhere outside of the U.S.?
Total scam. When I first signed up I could not continue because my computer is outside the US. I’m a US resident, I am just not currently in the country. But this is what proxy servers are good for so today I hunted down a working one in the US and tried again.
First a bunch of prying personal questions. Then a survey. Then after answering part of it I get bounced out. In order to find another one there are more personal questions. Repeated this a few times before complaining to customer service and telling them I’d complain to United about their being involved with this.
To those few who make it work, congrats. On the whole it is clearly a way to collect large amounts of highly personal information that can be correlated to a real ID since they work through UA and know who you are.
In my complaint I also pointed out that the information collected in this manner is entirely unreliable.
We’ll, what’s the problem? I have gotten over 36000 miles since oct.
hit 5k miles- Im done…………
its a challenge of patience….got me to my vcation home in Alaska for the summer
it does work. i’ve earned over 2000 miles so far. there is no way of informing anyone on how to answer. there are a lot of questions and different every time. the miles are in my account immedialtely, no waiting for them.
Huge waste of time. You will spend a ridiculous amount of time answering a pre survey to determine you don’t qualify. Truly a scam.
To follow up on previous, you will receive regular requests for your opinion, spend 5 to 20 minutes filling out the pre survey portion only to be told you don’t qualify. This occurred more than 90% of the time.
After the same (rather invasive) registration questions, I started the survey and the first questions were about where I banked and how much money I made… That kind of sharing is not for me, so i logged out and ran away immediately.
The United Opinion Miles Club is a great way to supplement the miles you accumulate for flights. From the comments that I’ve read so many people have an unrealistic expectation as to what the value of their opinion is really worth, as well as the financial perspective that this program reflects. It is all a matter of perspective. Ordinarily you have to spend money to get miles. This is the only program that I know of where you don’t have to spend any money, only time. So, if you accumulate 5K miles points by taking surveys, it could represent as much as 5K dollars not spent, if you’re getting a dollar for every mile. Even if you’re getting double the miles it’s still 2.5K not spent. I am boggled by the expectation that people feel that their opinion about cell phones, potato chips and fast food restaurants should put them on the fast track to a few free flights per year. Oh I understand the time commitment and the qualifying survey questions, but remember it’s free. Unless you’re making a lot of money then the saving are worth it. I’ve been in the OMC for 5 months and have accumulate about 5500 miles. My target is 15K miles annually, enough for a super saver for one way. If I had to spend my way to 15K miles, it could cost anywhere between 7500 and 15K. Bottom line….it’s free…..really really free, and for that we should be thankful. Don’t leave any money on the table.
This is totally a spam site that completely lies about what they do.
After I answered many questions that seemed like I was filling out a survey, I was just signing up.
And then I answered another set of many questions, I was just filling out a pre-survey.
And then I tried to “Start a Survey”. After I answered like 20 questions, and they got all my answers for their survey use, it told me that they already had enough people for the survey and kicked me out.
This is a complete scam that makes people answer a whole bunch of questions/surveys, and they don’t give you any of the miles they promised. I am really surprised United Airlines would partner with such a scam business. I thought United Airlines is a legitimate business but apparently it supports other companies to scam their United Mileage Plus members.
I’ve read many comments about the UA OMC which knock the program. I don’t understand people. With the exception of your time, the miles are FREE, meaning you didn’t have spend $100 at a restaurant to get 100 miles. If you accumulate 8,000 miles in 6 months, it represents potentially $8K in spending that didn’t have to do to get the miles. Generally, you have to spend money, big money to get miles, unless you qualify for special offers or make referrals.. It is important that people have the right expectation; that your miles accumulation comes from a variety of pathways, not just one. Spend, take advantages of bonuses, MP dining surveys and yes OMC surveys. Think of it as a mileage supplement program.