Are Microsoft Rewards Worth It?
With Edge being my default browser and Bing my default search engine, I tend to get a lot of Award points added to my account. Originally named Bing Rewards, Microsoft renamed it Microsoft Rewards to extend the rewards to other than Bing searches. Now there is, “Give With Bing”. 
How Do You Earn Points?
It is easy to accumulate points and most of the ways are invisible to you. What I mean by that is, the points are just rewarded to you while performing tasks you would normally perform without you having to take any additional action. Some savvy users pursue additional points to accumulate more than the average user.
Here is a list of methods to accumulate points:
- Search with Bing (also earn more if Bing is being used in Edge)
- Use the search function on your Taskbar.
- Use Cortana to search.
- Buy stuff from the Microsoft store.
- Play selected games or complete quests on Xbox One
- Open the rewards Icon while in Bing and completing additional quests, taking quizzes, or playing trivia games are just examples that can earn you additional points from 10 to over 100 points a day.
- Mobile searches are up to 600 points per month.
What Is Their Dollar Value?
They can’t be traded for cash, but the points have value. They have a redeemable value that is equal to a dollar value. In other words, 5000 points can be redeemed for something worth $5.00.
The longer you use MS Rewards and the more you accumulate, you can move from Level 1 to Level 2. To maintain a Level 2 status, you would need to earn 500 points per month, which is not hard to do. Level 2 members earn five times more points on Bing.com and save up to 10% on rewards from Microsoft products and services.
How Are Points Redeemed?
Simply click on your MS Rewards Icon in Bing and then click on Redeem. It is there that you can redeem your points for additional time on Xbox Gold, earning gift cards to Amazon, Dunkin’ Donuts, and others. It depends on your point total as to which prizes are available but know that 50,000 points are equal to approximately $50.00. When I used mine, it was usually to enter a sweepstakes entry for a prize by using 200 Points (I have never won).
The True Value of Reward Points
Now, at least in my opinion, Microsoft has made the points you earn much more valuable by being able to donate them to charitable causes. The ability to redeem them to a charity is not entirely new but what is new is “Give with Bing”. Instead of donating accumulated points, you can join “Give With Bing” to have your search points automatically forwarded to the nonprofit charity you choose.
The real power comes from an entire Microsoft Community accumulating points. It may take a long time before your reward points are worth purchasing something meaningful but the total accumulating points by all users can add up so much so that Microsoft Reward members have donated over $13,000,000 to charities. When you consider that most users ignore the Reward program using it for charity does not take anything away from you. It is one of those Win-Win situations.
Of course, if you wish, you can donate all or any portion of your accrued points by using the Give Dashboard.
Summary
With the devasting things happening in Ukraine right now, there are a couple of nonprofit charities that can use all the help they can get. Whether your goal is to help front-line fighters, medical, or to help the millions of people affected by giving them food, blankets, and clothing, to the families with children affected by the war in Ukraine, there is a nonprofit for you.
There are many other non-profit charities you might deem more worthy of your points and if that is the case please give to them. Give by going to your Rewrds Dashboard and changing, stopping, or contributing more points.