The Washington Post company recently launched a rewards program called PostPoints. The launch included strange television ads featuring people exchanging anthropomorphized blue point chips for things like pizza. I recently signed up to see how the program worked and whether I too could get some free pizza out of it.
Since I am not a Washington Post subscriber I joined at the “silver” level, earning 500 points for joining and another 125 points for proving some basic information about myself. Members can earn 5 points per day for visiting washingtonpost.com, reading Express and entering a code, or answering a quiz requiring a copy of today’s Post. Other ways to earn points include attending community service events or getting coupons at certain businesses, but I didn’t think I’d be able to do either. Most days I read online or Express, meaning I could earn between 5 and 10 points. With over 600 points already earned, I was off and running.
A quick look at the rewards dampened my enthusiasm. A $10 CVS gift card looked like a useful prize. However, at 3,385 points it would take me 677 days of Express reading or almost one year of reading both a print publication and the website to earn enough points to earn it. If I purchased copies of the Post from newsstands for the $10 gift card, it would cost me $338.50 in newspapers. Taking 1 minute a day to enter the Express daily code would add up to 11.3 hours for the gift card. A $25 Visa gift card was even more out of reach. At 6,325 points, it would take 3.47 years of reading one publication daily to earn enough points for it.
In fact, the only prize available for less than 1,000 points was a points exchange between PostPoints and Amtrak’s frequent rider program: 500 PostPoints for 100 Amtrak points. Since a one-way coach ticket in the Eastern zone costs 3,000 Amtrak points, those 500 PostPoints cover roughly 3% of the cost of a ticket.
And the pizza? At 2,500 points, I’ll have to read both washingtonpost.com and Express for 50 weeks continuously.
Public Participation in Urban Planning Month
- Introduction
- Part 1: Urban Planning and E-Government
- Part 2: A Brief History of Public Participation in Urban Planning
- Part 3: Participation Theory
- Part 4: The Internet as a Participation Tool
- Conclusions
- Sidebars: Government as Data Source, Software for e-Government, more
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Mar 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
thanks for looking into this, rob. looks like it’s a massive waste of time. is there any way you could even approach 6,000 points in a more reasonable time frame (like a month or so)?
Mar 24th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
If you are a subscriber you can earn points through purchases at CVS and Giant, so it may be easier to earn points that way.
Mar 24th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I think the point is that you can’t earn anything as a non-subscriber. They want you to see the wonderful things you could be getting if you did subscribe.
Mar 24th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
What do you have to do for that trip to Bora Bora?
Wash Kornheiser’s comb over, or pick the gnats out of Marc Fisher’s ’stache?
Mar 25th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Rob, you do earn point faster at CVS, but if I remember correctly, it’s 5 points per month per vendor. So, it’s still ridiculously slow.
Mar 25th, 2008 at 9:49 am
No Bora Bora trip, but if you save up …
Mar 25th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
It is only 5 points per purchase so it will take forever BUT if you’re making the purchases anyway, why not get the 5 points each time? Lots of places give you the credit (Giant, Shoppers Food Warehouse, CVS, My Organic Market, etc.) Maybe you can consider the points program like an IRA/401K… something to look to tap in your golden years. ;)
Mar 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
My CVS card is linked to my PP account, but the points are never credited. I have to add the extra step of e-mailing to claim the measly 5 points. I’ve been a member for a year or so and still can’t get any rewards I would actually use.
The program is a waste of time, but the archives access for full subscribers is pretty cool.
Mar 27th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
The biggest prize? 1,435 years of reading the Express.
Mar 29th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
A couple of notes on the Postpoints program:
* The Postpoints program has been in operation since the end of March 2007, or about one year now.
* Silver members can start out with 1,005 points upon signing up. You get 500 points for signing up, 500 points for selecting 5 Areas of Interest, and 5 points for entering your Birthday.
* On March 17, 2008, the program changed the value of the Daily Express Code from 1 point to 5 points.
* On March 11, 2008, the program removed the ability of Silver members to enter voucher codes from merchants. These voucher codes were worth either 5 or 15 points each, and could be entered once per day. Now only Platinum and Gold members can enter merchant voucher codes. Silver members can still enter the 25-point voucher codes for helping out your community for things like Greater DC Cares and attending certain events.
* After one year of existence, the most points accumulated by anyone in the Postpoints program is just under 109,000 points, and they won a contest in July 2007 for which they were awarded 100,000 points.
* The best bang for the buck is the Shoppers Food and Pharmacy $10 gift card that you can get by redeeming 1,700 points.
Mar 30th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
At least they raised the value–the Express code used to be worth only one point!
The real value for me has been the buy-one-get-one-free pizza deal at Papa John’s. Alas, it’s only available for the top tiers….
Apr 5th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I have never been able to get credit for shopping at Shoppers Food Warehouse or CVS (even thought my CVS card is registered). I’ve even contacted Wash Post and still no help, no answer. I am beginning to wonder if it is worth it.
Apr 26th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I joined at the platinum level. Had I not lucked out and won a sweepstakes for 20,000 points, I would not live long enough to earn enough points to exchange for anything worthwhile. ( The points apparently take 1-2 months to appear in my acxcount– they’re not there yet) Comparable restaurant discount certificates can often be found in junk mail promotions, but the restaurant deals do seem to give the best “bang for the buck” for your points. It does appear to a bit over the top to see the Post hype their expensive prizes, vacations, etc. in a contest that is only a year old in which only a lucky few sweepstakes points-winners could ever hope to get more than a basketball in a couple of years. At the same time, they encourage players to use their points for pizza discounts. No way to build for that Paris vacation.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I have been a Washington Post subscriber for the last 27 years. I currently subscribe to both daily and Sunday papers, but have not been able to become a platinum member. I have called PostPoints 4 times to find out the reason for this, but have not been able to, nor have I been contacted by anyone in the organization (every person I talk to says they will have the proper person contact me). Since I don’t have access to this person, perhaps I should ask for an improper person. They wouldn’t hire any of those people, would they?
Jul 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I have had the pleasure of participating in the PostPoints program since its launch in 2007. During that time I have earned points for things that I do normally like visit CVS and Giant. This program is simple and easy to use – thanks Washington Post!
Jul 7th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Bill: what have you redeemed your points for?