Difference between revisions of "Credit card dining programs"
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| − | {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|dining programs}} ( | + | {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|dining programs}} (2021)}} |
{{Page|article|Card Strategies}} | {{Page|article|Card Strategies}} | ||
{{ImageX|Restaurant3.jpg|full}} | {{ImageX|Restaurant3.jpg|full}} | ||
| − | Most people should use a credit card that earns {{Link|restaurant spending|bonus rewards on restaurant spending}} | + | Most people should use a credit card that earns {{Link|restaurant spending|bonus rewards on restaurant spending}} to increase the reward points they earn while dining out. |
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
| − | You can increase your rewards even further | + | You can increase your rewards even further by enrolling your credit card in a dining program. Dining programs provide additional rewards or cashback when you use your credit card at one of their participating restaurants. |
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
| − | For example, if you enroll your Sapphire Reserve card in the United MileagePlus Dining | + | For example, if you enroll your Sapphire Reserve card in the United MileagePlus Dining Card program and use it at a participating restaurant, you’ll earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points directly from Chase and an additional 3x or 5x United miles from the United program. |
{{TOC}} | {{TOC}} | ||
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<ul class="bulletlist"> | <ul class="bulletlist"> | ||
| − | <li>'''The best aspect of the major dining reward programs are they are "set and forget"'''. You simply take a one-time step to register your credit card with the dining program. Then, whenever you go to a participating restaurant, you don't have to do anything special | + | <li>'''The best aspect of the major dining reward programs are they are "set and forget"'''. You simply take a one-time step to register your credit card with the dining program. Then, whenever you go to a participating restaurant, you don't have to do anything special or hand anything to the server. When you pay your bill with your linked credit card, you'll automatically receive your extra rewards.</li> |
| − | + | Many people don't even bother looking up whether a restaurant participates in any of the programs. They simply register the credit card(s) they use for restaurant purchases and go out to eat as normal. Every once in awhile, extra reward points just "magically" show up in their accounts. | |
| − | <li>'''The | + | <li>'''The downside to these programs is the set of participating restaurants'''. Your favorite places are unlikely to participate in any of the major programs. The same is true for the vast majority of the better reviewed and more popular restaurants in any city. There are some gems and plenty of decent places. But, if you just go out normally, you are unlikely to visit a participating restaurant very often. And unlike the restaurant discounts from Groupon and the Entertainment Book, the added value from these programs isn't usually high enough to justify going out of your way to eat at at a restaurant you wouldn't otherwise.</li> |
| − | <li>'''There are many different dining programs, but the major | + | <li>'''There are many different dining programs, but the major ones are all just variations on three underlying programs'''. </li> |
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li>Reward Network operates the program for many of the major US airlines, hotel chains, and other organizations.</li> | <li>Reward Network operates the program for many of the major US airlines, hotel chains, and other organizations.</li> | ||
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</ul> | </ul> | ||
| − | <li>'''You can only register | + | <li>'''You can only register any given credit card with one program from each of the three major platforms'''. But you can choose your favorite Reward Network program, Empyr program, and Visa Local Offers program. For example, you could register with Alaska Airlines, Yelp, and Uber; but you couldn't register the same card with both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. It is possible to register different credit cards with different variations of the same program, but there generally isn't a reason to do so.</li> |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| + | <li>'''We recommend registering with a program in all three platforms'''. This increases the number of different restaurants where you can earn extra rewards. Furthermore, some restaurants participate in multiple programs. If you pay at one of these restaurants with a card that is linked to multiple platforms, you'll earn separate rewards from each platform, plus the normal rewards you'd earn with your credit card.</li> | ||
</ul> | </ul> | ||
Revision as of 00:21, 12 January 2021
Most people should use a credit card that earns bonus rewards on restaurant spending to increase the reward points they earn while dining out.
You can increase your rewards even further by enrolling your credit card in a dining program. Dining programs provide additional rewards or cashback when you use your credit card at one of their participating restaurants.
For example, if you enroll your Sapphire Reserve card in the United MileagePlus Dining Card program and use it at a participating restaurant, you’ll earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points directly from Chase and an additional 3x or 5x United miles from the United program.
Jump to
Jump to:
The major dining reward platforms
- The best aspect of the major dining reward programs are they are "set and forget". You simply take a one-time step to register your credit card with the dining program. Then, whenever you go to a participating restaurant, you don't have to do anything special or hand anything to the server. When you pay your bill with your linked credit card, you'll automatically receive your extra rewards.
- The downside to these programs is the set of participating restaurants. Your favorite places are unlikely to participate in any of the major programs. The same is true for the vast majority of the better reviewed and more popular restaurants in any city. There are some gems and plenty of decent places. But, if you just go out normally, you are unlikely to visit a participating restaurant very often. And unlike the restaurant discounts from Groupon and the Entertainment Book, the added value from these programs isn't usually high enough to justify going out of your way to eat at at a restaurant you wouldn't otherwise.
- There are many different dining programs, but the major ones are all just variations on three underlying programs.
- Reward Network operates the program for many of the major US airlines, hotel chains, and other organizations.
- A company called "Empyr" runs the program for Yelp and a bunch of "savings-oriented" services.
- Visa runs a local offers program that is mainly available through the Uber app.
- You can only register any given credit card with one program from each of the three major platforms. But you can choose your favorite Reward Network program, Empyr program, and Visa Local Offers program. For example, you could register with Alaska Airlines, Yelp, and Uber; but you couldn't register the same card with both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. It is possible to register different credit cards with different variations of the same program, but there generally isn't a reason to do so.
- We recommend registering with a program in all three platforms. This increases the number of different restaurants where you can earn extra rewards. Furthermore, some restaurants participate in multiple programs. If you pay at one of these restaurants with a card that is linked to multiple platforms, you'll earn separate rewards from each platform, plus the normal rewards you'd earn with your credit card.
Many people don't even bother looking up whether a restaurant participates in any of the programs. They simply register the credit card(s) they use for restaurant purchases and go out to eat as normal. Every once in awhile, extra reward points just "magically" show up in their accounts.
While you'll only earn rewards periodically, it only takes a minute to register the credit card(s) you use at restaurants with a program from each of the major dining rewards platforms. Once you do, you'll start occasionally earning "bonus" rewards with no additional effort.
Reward Network dining programs
Most of the dining programs, that are promoted by airlines and hotels, are operated by a company called “Rewards Network”.
- Each of these programs works with the same set of 11,000 restaurants. The main difference is the type (and number of points) you earn. You can view the list of participating restaurants online, or in their app.
- You can only register your credit card with one of the Reward Network programs—choose the one that is most valuable to you. You could register different cards with different programs, but it is usually simpler to link all the cards you might use to a single reward program. You’ll earn the base rate, if you agree to receive their marketing emails; a lower rate if you don’t; and an even higher “VIP” rate, if you earn rewards at a minimum of 12 (sometimes 11) restaurants each year. If you don’t want to see their emails, but still want the higher reward rate, you may be able to set up your mailbox to automatically send them to your junk mail.
- Earning points from dining is one of the best ways to create some activity in your account, to keep your points from expiring. If an account is in danger of becoming inactive, simply switch your credit card over to the dining program associated with the desired account, go out of your way to eat at one of the participating restaurants, earn a few points, and then re-register the card with your favorite dining program option.
| Program | Base | “VIP” | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 3 | 5 | ½ |
| American | 3 | 5 | ½ |
| Delta | 3 | 5 | ½ |
| JetBlue | 1 | 2* | 0 |
| Hilton | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| IHG | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| Southwest | 3 | - | ½ |
| Spirit | 3 | 5 | ½ |
| Total Rewards | 1 | - | 0 |
| United | 3 | 5 | ½ |
There are some other Reward Network options that pay out as a cash-back percentage, rather than as loyalty points. These include eScrip, Shell Fuel Rewards, idine, Club O Rewards, Dosh, Orbitz, Plenti, and U promise.
Many people may be better off choosing to earn cash-back with idine, instead of with an airline program. You’ll receive a base rate of 5% back and a VIP rate of 10% back, as compared to 3 and 5 frequent flyer miles.
Visa Local Offers: Uber and Trim
- Visa operates a program that works in the same manner as Reward Network. You simply register your card, and automatically earn extra rewards, whenever you use your linked credit card to pay the bill at one of the participating restaurants. They give you around 7% cash-back, don’t require a marketing email opt-in, and work with a significantly better (but smaller) set of restaurants. But, it only works with Visa cards (naturally).
- Visa doesn't directly offer the service to consumers, you'll need to work with one of their partners. The easiest way to access this program is through Uber. If you have at least one Visa card set up with your Uber account, you can click a button to join the program., and then use any of the Visa cards registered with your Uber account to earn extra rewards when you dine. You can browse participating restaurants and merchants within the Uber app.
Visa Local Offers can also be accessed through a program called Trim.
Along with extra rewards at restaurants, the Visa Local program provides extra rewards at a very small number of major retailers.
Yelp Cash Back and other Empyr-operated programs
- Yelp Cash Back is the most popular dining program that is powered by the Empyr platform. Integration into the most popular restaurant reviews app makes it convenient to explore the list of participating restaurants.
- The same set of restaurants is also available through several other programs. This includes Mogl, Swagbucks, Stash, NerdWallet, and Coupons.com. As with Reward Networks, you can only sign each card up with one of these programs. Adding a card to a program automatically removes it from any other program.
- Dosh works with the same set of restaurants, but also offers their own special cash back rates at major retailers. It is discussed in greater detail in our Earn Extra Rewards by Enrolling in Credit Card Shopping Programs article.
- You'll typically receive 5% cash back, but each Empyr-based dining program can set their own rates. Some restaurants pay out at higher rate. Yelp and Spent generally offers rates that are as high as any other program. Dosh caps the cash back rate to the normal 5%.
Yelp no longer shows available cash back rates by default. To see the list of participating restaurants, you need to press the filters button and turn on "Cash Back". This will filter the restaurant listings to show just the participating restaurants and display the cash back rates for each restaurant.
Otherwise, you can always see the cash back rate on the details screen for any participating restaurant.
To keep things simple, you may want to simply use one of these programs, and not register for Yelp or other Empyr-only program. But, if yo want to use Yelp or one of the other services alongside Dosh, you've got a couple of options. You could register your "restaurant" credit cards with Yelp or another Empyr-only program, and register your other credit cards with Dosh. Or you can register for Spent and/or Dosh, then re-register specific cards with Yelp or another Empyr-only programs. This should enable you to receive your restaurant rewards through the last program you signed up for, while continuing to receive any rewards with Spent or Dosh specific merchants.
Other programs
Mastercard business credit cards
Any business credit card from Mastercard can be enrolled in Mastercard’s Easy Savings program. You’ll earn 4% back, when you use your linked card to pay at any of the participating restaurants. They have a large network, which is concentrated in chain restaurants like Pizza Hut, Outback, Potbelly, and Red Lobster. But it includes many good local options as well. Unfortunately, they aren't any Business Mastercards that also offer good bonus rewards on restaurant spending.
Thanks Again for airport restaurants
Thanks Again runs yet another simple to use rewaraurant reward program, but it focuses on restaurants and shops in US airports. Participation is still fairly sparse, but there is no reason not to sign up with them as well.
