Reward Apps- Worth it? Yes! And not really...: Job Spotter and Frequent Flyer

Hey, all!

Money Making. I know everyone says they have an app for that. Remember that commercial? Travel savings/rewards and money back are on tons of apps. Be mindful that some say they pay in gift cards, some in air miles- seems really cool and all that but it's not always as described! Read below to check out my thoughts on a couple "money" style apps designed for travelers or just movers and shakers.

Job Spotter

So, while perusing one of those Penny Hoarder posts that are basically all surveys and shopping receipt apps, I stumbled upon Job Spotter.  It's powered by Indeed for job hunters and people hiring.
Looks like this. 

It's really easy to use and pays out in Amazon gift card codes*. I have had this app for years and love it. It's not a get rich quick kind of thing, just more of an if you're already out thing. It needs to be on a Smart Phone of some sort with location tracking on and a camera. That's all.
*NOTE: The app works internationally BUT I do NOT know if Amazon works internationally.

What you do:
Download the smartphone app- obviously.
When you see a Now Hiring sign at a business, ANY business, you take a photo of the sign up close and then a photo of the business name (be it on the door, a sign, an awning, etc) and submit. It takes literally seconds per. The big box stores and national chains like CVS or Burger King and places that say apply online are not worth much- each point in JS is worth one penny and those chains can be as low as 5 points- BUT the points go up to 150 per post on small businesses like local markets or antique shops or something. It all adds up.

Plus as an added incentive to the app, you can also verify other people's shots to see that yes, this IS a hiring sign and it is indeed at [Given store name]! Or sometimes it's not. You do have to be paying attention to these because it has a trust rating for you and the lower your rating, the lower points you get per pair. Each set goes up to 100% and is worth 10 points (so a 5 star trust rating is 5% per pair verified), but for each location YOU shoot, no matter what it's worth, you get a slew of verifications to tend to. So even if you only get 5 points on a photo you snapped you can still earn another 20 or 30 cents from the pile of verifications you get for taking that photo in the first place. It's like a reward incentive- the more you post, the more you get to verify. I didn't discover this part of the app until much later- like a year ago, honestly- but I tell you, it works!
I cashed out at Thanksgiving time and paid for half of my Christmas list. Then I cashed out NYE to have a zero balance for 2018. $35 free dollars in a month just from taking a few photos.

Though this app is FAR from a scam, people leave bad reviews because it doesn't "pay enough"! Those people are idiots. Not sorry. You get what you put in, like in most things, and if you are one of those people that need to be told to get off the couch and go outside then this app probably won't do it for you. I am out and about a lot, sometimes even just taking walks and will see a hiring sign. Or I take a walk around the mall just to see who's hiring. Around Christmas it's a gold mine! It also lets you retake photos after a few weeks. So if you know the Mexican place around the corner is ALWAYS hiring with their handwritten sign on the door, go ahead and snap it every couple of weeks. If it's anything like the one near me then the people that were hired a few weeks ago are already gone so it still helps. It runs through Indeed.com and will update itself accordingly. Literally-all you do is go for a walk and snap, snap, send. Cash Out. I choose to leave my rewards for an extended period of time, not cash out every week like some whiner did online then complained about only getting $2. But you do you, boo boo!

I usually get my reward emailed to me same or next day as I hit the redeem button. I don't think I've ever waited for more than a full 24 hours.

This app is a MUST if you wander around a lot or don't live in a farm town. Or even if you do! It's easy, potentially helps others and pays in legit Amazon codes. I use it as often as I can.

The Good: Easy money!
The Bad: Your husband or friends will pretend not to be annoyed that you stop at every other store at the mall to take photos. But hey, money is money!

Frequent Flyer

So, a long, long time ago (May 2016) on some sort of money saving post ad I saw an app presentation for the Frequent Flyer Travel Reward App. The app goal says you can collect free travel, collect air miles and more. Well, I have this app pinned in my back screen so that it tracks me as it says it's supposed to. It does track- and it doesn't. Every day or two it offers a survey that asks where  you were at this time and so on, and you just respond by tapping your responses. Most of the time it's counting when you're stopped at a red light and asks you if you visited such and such place at the corner of where the red light was. Or it's three blocks from where you actually were. So it's not TOO terribly intelligent for being programmed to track locations.

However, It has been a long time with this app and I have yet to receive the reward of my choice. The prizes open at sweepstakes entries that I'm not convinced anyone actually wins (200 points), all the way to my goal, a $25 Airbnb/hotel gift card (25,000 points). I had one accidental sweepstakes entry and one on purpose but in the rest of the time since 2016 I have yet to achieve anything- and that's AFTER visiting 6 new countries and various US road trips. I'm at 23,500 points and will hang on until I can reach 25,000 and claim my reward. Then it's gone. My phone says it drains the battery an extra 2%, so, bye Felicia!?
The Good: It promises rewards.
The Bad: It's been almost two years with it pinned to my background and still nothing. It's literally just a drain on my battery at this point.

Update 4/9/18: In the month that this post has been awaiting an update (of points and rewards) I have reached the goal of 25,000 points and am currently cashing in- I sent in my request for a $25 Marriott gift card code so that when Husband and I go on our road trip this summer we can save a few bucks on a hotel one night. A lot of work, it seems, just to save $25 on one night of hotel service, but, every little bit helps! That's pretty good savings.

Second Update 4/19/18: Still waiting. Usually when things say two weeks like this- where it's just delivering a code to your email- it takes a day or two. I've checked my spam and everything. I guess they actually mean two weeks worth of business days.

Neither of these apps will lead to many riches. But especially if you use Amazon a lot and can ship things directly to your brother's house in Florida for your nieces, at least ONE of these apps is worth it. Personally speaking.

What apps do you use to save a few bucks or earn a few back into your life? Tell me below! And let me know if you download either of these apps! I'm the only one I know who uses either besides talking my sister-in-law into getting it when we went to the mall over summer.

Comments

  1. I've never heard of any of these apps. The first one sounds really cool but unfortunately I don't have a data plan right now so my question is: can I snap a photo of the job wanted add and then add it to the app when I get home and can use my wifi? Would it still accept that? If yes, I would consider using it. The other app seems like it just takes too long to cash out so that's not worth my time. Thanks for sharing these.

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  2. These are super cool for the people who have time for that kind of thing. Working full time and then writing on the side doesn't leave me a lot of wiggle room to fart around with apps like those.

    But I'm so glad that you were able to try them and show them to us and others interested in using reward apps! Thanks so much for sharing

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  3. Looks like a great app but the Amazon gift card reward doesn’t apply where I live. Currently I am subscribed to two rewards app that pay out via PayPal.

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  4. I don't know much about reward apps, so thank you for this post. The only one I've heard of is Ebates, do you know anything about that one?

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  5. Some of these are better than others. The good ones are awesome and the bad ones are abysmal with no in-between.

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  6. I have tried out a few and there are definitely some that are much better than others!

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  7. I bet this doesn't work in the Philippines 😆 but great to know there is something like this. Haven't really heard this thing before.

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  8. These apps are interesting but in fact I don't have time for them. Will try it in the future. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. This is great and thank you so much for sharing this.

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  10. Niiice! There's apps for almost everything.

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  11. Never heard of most of these apps. The job one seems easy enough, will have to give it a shot.

    Thanks
    Michael

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  12. Awesome post! Thanks for the info. I have never tried any of these.

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  13. I’m always interested in saving money! I have never heard of these apps but I’m willing to try. What a great way to earn passive income.

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  14. I haven't heard of any of these before, but definitely will have to check them out! I'm always up for saving and earning money!

    xo
    Sami
    The Classic Brunette

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  15. I haven't heard about this app before will give it a try

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  16. Never heard of these apps, I will give them a try and see how they work.

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  17. I have never heard of this apps to be honest, but thanks for sharing and for giving advice!

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  18. These sound great! I’m going to have to download them and give them a go! Thanks so much xx

    findyourownhope.blogspot.com

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  19. i haven't heard of it but i think it's worth a try to earn rewards. :)

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  20. All these apps seem so helpful! Thanks so
    Much for sharing! (:

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  21. This is great blog and thank you so much. This will be definately helpful.

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  22. Wow! How fast is humanity growing in this aspect. I've never heard about apps like these and thanks a lot for sharing with us.

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  23. Interesting read, I may have to do some further research

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