The Rewards Network partners with lots of different airline and hotel rewards programs to offer members a chance to earn lots of bonus points while dining at participating restaurants. These dining rewards programs usually offer a sign-up bonus, and rewards for each dollar spent and reviews submitted. Anyone can join these dining rewards programs – in fact, you can join them all! However, you can’t register the same credit card with more than one program. For example, if you’re registering your newly acquired Chase Sapphire Reserve with the Alaska dining rewards program, you can then register your Chase Freedom or Discover It Miles with AAdvantage dining rewards.
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Chase Freedom®
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$0 annual fee
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Get a $150 Bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Read Review » |
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Chase Freedom® |
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Discover it® Miles - Double Miles your first year
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Double Miles Double all the Miles you've earned at the end of your first year Read Review » |
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Discover it® Miles - Double Miles your first year |
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Despite the fact that you can join all of these programs, there’s only so much spending the average American family can manage on dining out – $2,668 per year, to be exact! So which of these dining rewards programs should you focus your restaurant spending on? First and foremost, always go with the rewards currency that is most beneficial to you and your personal travel needs. Second, I would try and earn the sign-up bonus from all of these programs at some point. You never know when those 3,000 Skymiles or will come in handy and 1,500 United miles is a nice bonus to top off your account with.
In terms of earning rewards based on spending, all of these programs earn the same number of points within their category (i.e. airlines dining rewards members earn 1-5 miles per $1 and hotel dining rewards members earn at least 1-8 miles per $1). The exception, of course, is Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining. Rapid Rewards is right because that 1,000 point sign-up bonus and 3 points per $1 spent for all members regardless of status is pretty generous. That’s because Southwest has a fare-based rewards program. For example, a $59 one-way fare from San Francisco to Los Angeles will set you back 3,006 Southwest points. So that sign-up bonus from the dining rewards program already gets you a third of the way there. Channeling $2,668 worth of dining rewards spend towards this program will result in 8,004 points. That’s enough for a one-way flight between the Bay Area and Cabo!
Compare that to the 2,668 miles you’ll earn from the major frequent flyer programs. Sure, it’s a nice addition to your mileage account, but it’s not enough to get you anywhere. With Southwest, your dining rewards spending can go a lot further.
When it comes to hotel dining rewards programs, it’s really down to Hilton HHonors and IHG Rewards Club. Again, if you’re someone who prefers IHG over Hilton, then by all means focus on maximizing your IHG Rewards Club balance. However, if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, go with Hilton. That $2,668 worth of dining spend will result in a minimum of 5,336 points, which can be redeemed for a Category 1 award night.
Airline Rewards Programs
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 1,000 bonus miles after spending $30 within 30 days of joining, and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
Earning Miles:
- Members earn 1 mile per $2 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from Mileage Plan Dining.
- Online Members earn 3 miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from Mileage Plan Dining.
- VIP Members earn 5 miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from Mileage Plan Dining AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 1,000 bonus miles after spending $30 within 30 days of joining and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
Earning Miles: Up to 3 miles per $1
- Members earn 1 AAdvantage® mile per $2 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from AAdvantage Dining program.
- Online Members earn 3 AAdvantage® miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from AAdvantage Dining program.
- VIP Members earn 5 AAdvantage® miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from AAdvantage Dining program AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 3,000 bonus miles after three visits:
- 500 bonus miles after spending $30 within 30 days of joining and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
- 1,000 bonus miles after you repeat these steps on your second visit.
- 1,500 bonus miles after you repeat these steps on your third visit.
Earning Miles: Up to 5 miles per $1
- Members earn 1 mile per $2 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from SkyMiles Dining.
- Online Members earn 3 miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from SkyMiles Dining.
- VIP Members earn 5 miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from SkyMiles Dining AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 1,000 bonus points after spending $25 within 30 days of joining and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
First Step Bonus: Earn 500 bonus points upon reaching a total of 1,500 points from dinging and completing reviews.
Thank You Bonus: 300 bonus points each time you earn 1,000 points from dinging and completing reviews.
Earning Miles:
- 3 points per $1 spent at participating restaurants.
- Earn 10 bonus points for each dining review.
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 1,500 bonus points after spending $25 within 30 days of joining and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
Earning Miles:
- Member Level – Earn 1 mile per $2 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from MileagePlus Dining.
- Online Member Level – Earn 3 miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from MileagePlus Dining.
- VIP Member Level – Earn 5 miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from MileagePlus Dining AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
Hotel Dining Rewards Programs
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 2,000 bonus points after three visits
- 1,000 bonus points after spending $30 within 30 days of joining and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
- 500 bonus points after you repeat these steps on your second visit.
- 500 bonus points after you repeat these steps on your third visit.
Earning Miles: Up to 8 points per $1
- Members earn 2 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from Hilton HHonors Dining.
- Online Members earn 5 Hilton HHonors miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from Hilton HHonors Dining.
- VIP Members earn 8 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from Hilton HHonors Dining AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 1,000 bonus points after spending $30 within 30 days of joining and completing a review within 30 days of dining.
Earning Miles: Up to 8 points per $1
- Members earn 1 point per $1 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from IHG Rewards Club Dining.
- Online Members earn 5 points per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from IHG® Rewards Club Dining.
- VIP Members earn 8 points per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from IHG Rewards Club Dining AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
That’s my take on the best dining rewards programs to channel restaurant spending to. Which of these programs do you prefer?
[Image via Getty]