There’s little downside to signing up for a dining rewards program.
Whether dining out is a rare treat or the norm in your household, you can benefit from signing up for a dining rewards program. These programs offer rewards when you link an eligible credit card or debit card and then make a purchase at an in-network restaurant. You’d also still be able earn whatever rewards come with your credit card. And occasionally, you can find restaurants that are part of multiple dining-rewards programs.
- How do dining rewards programs work?
- Earn miles, points, rewards or cash back
- Use your favorite dining card
How do dining rewards programs work?
Dining rewards programs all work in a similar way. You create an account and link eligible credit or debit cards to your account. Then, when you use the linked card at an eligible restaurant, you’ll earn rewards through the program based on how much you spend.
Some programs may work only with cards that are part of a certain network, but some are open to credit cards from any major network. Gift cards, prepaid cards, FSA accounts and EBT cards might not work, even if they have the appropriate credit card network logo on them.
Some of these programs may offer introductory bonuses with minimum spend requirements for new members. But it’s often for a reasonable amount, such as spending $25 within 30 days.
Bonuses aside, you may want to focus on the one program that you’re most likely to use — and benefit from — rather than bounce around. With some rewards network programs, your earnings rate increases after you dine out a certain number of times in a year (and opt in for emails).
Earn miles, points, rewards or cash back
Here’s an overview of the many dining rewards programs that are available and which company powers each of them.
Other loyalty programs
These loyalty programs may offer you options to redeem your rewards for travel, merchandise or discounts.
Cash back programs
There are also programs that offer rewards that you can redeem for cash back or gift cards. Often, these get added to your account, and you’ll need to earn enough rewards to meet a specified threshold before cashing out.
How you redeem the rewards you earn can vary. If you use a bank or investment app, the money may be deposited into your account. Some other rewards sites, such as eScrip Dining, send your rewards to a charity or school of your choice.
Here are some other rewards programs we think are worth mentioning.
What’s next?
As with all rewards programs, the difficult part is often balancing the desire to earn rewards with the temptation to buy things you otherwise wouldn’t.
It can be easy to justify dining out — everyone has to eat — but it’s also often more expensive than cooking at home. One of the reasons the above-mentioned cards stand out is that they reward grocery store purchases as well.
When it comes to the dining rewards programs, you can look to see if there are eligible restaurants that you already frequent or have wanted to try. There’s no harm in earning extra rewards — just try not to dine out (or go to restaurants you don’t like) simply to get a few points or miles.