Doubling Up on Points while Dining at Restaurants

Dining at your favorite restaurant can let you double up on points that you later use to travel the world or make purchases.

Everyone loves travel rewards, and most are aware that you can earn valuable points to make travel more affordable by simply using a rewards credit card for purchases.  Hopefully, you are already earning points or cash back with all your purchases rather than leaving rewards on the table.  If not, look into what rewards card makes sense for your lifestyle and start your rewards journey!

Once you have started your rewards journey, you can take it a step further by doubling up on points with certain purchases.  Dining at restaurants is an easy way to double up on points with a few easy steps.  There are multiple opportunities to earn points by dining at certain restaurants, and using a rewards card to pay the bill means you can cash in on points earned by the card and points earned by dining at a restaurant that is part of a dining rewards network.

How Doubling Up on Points Works

It is relatively easy to double up on earning points while dining at certain restaurants.  Just follow these simple steps:

1. Sign up your rewards credit card for a dining rewards program.

2. Choose to dine at a restaurant within that dining rewards network.

3. Pay the bill with your rewards credit card signed up with the program.

4. Receive your credit card awards and dining rewards!

Importantly, this requires no extra steps at the restaurant itself.  You just have to pay with a card that you used to sign up for the dining rewards program.  If your dinner was more like tapas with two bottles of wine, you will still gain all your rewards even if you are not thinking about doubling up on points when the bill arrives.

You register your card with the dining rewards program, and paying with that card will automatically earn you points with that dining rewards program.  As long as the card you are linking to the dining rewards program is a rewards card in its own right, you will also earn your regular awards.  For example, say you spend $100 on dinner.  If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and receive 3x the points on dining, you will receive 300 points from that dinner.  If your Chase Sapphire Reserve card is signed up for a dining rewards network, you will also receive the points you are owed from that dining program.  This can sometimes be 4x or 5x the points, depending on your earning level.  For the $100 bill, that is another 400 or 500 points.  That means you will get 7x or 8x the points total!

How Do I Sign Up?

There are multiple rewards programs, so you can sign up for any of them or all of them to start earning.  The Rewards Network is the largest and allows you to choose how you earn your rewards.  You can select to earn points, miles, or cash back!  They partner with multiple rewards programs, giving earners flexibility on how they earn rewards.

Particularly if you prefer cash back over points and miles, joining inKind can be another great option.  Using inKind leads to future rewards towards dining, so dining out once will earn you 20% cash back to spend towards future dining experiences.  Particularly if dining at restaurants is one of your spending priorities, inKind can help you save some money to keep up your preexisting hobby.

A number of airline programs also offer dining rewards programs.  United MileagePlus Dining, American Airlines AAdvantage Dining, Delta Skymiles Dining, and Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining will all offer you miles for dining at certain restaurants partnered with their dining rewards program.  Most offer few points initially but offer significantly higher returns for those who dine at restaurants within the rewards program multiple times a year.  If you hit a certain number of transactions per year with these rewards program restaurants, you can earn as much as 5x to 6.5x points per purchase going forward.  Since repetition is valuable, it can be useful to pick one of these rewards programs and maximize it, if you have options.

Bilt Neighborhood Dining is another program that often features local restaurants.  Particularly if your favorite restaurant is not in other programs, it may be worth looking into Bilt to see if it is a partner restaurant.  Like all the other programs, you can link any credit card to Bilt Neighborhood Dining; it does not have to be a Bilt card.  However, if you are accumulating Bilt points with a Bilt card used to pay your rent, this can be a terrific strategy to build up many Bilt points!

A Word of Caution

If you already plan on dining out and are struggling to decide where to eat, looking at what restaurants are included in one of these rewards programs is a terrific strategy to solidify your decision.  However, becoming obsessed with doubling up on points can lead to two unfortunate results.  First, make sure you do not end up dining out in excess because you will get some points, miles, or cash back.  Dining out still costs more money than you will earn.  Only dine out when you normally would, but make sure you get every benefit from doing so.

Second, do not skip your favorite restaurant just because it is not in a rewards program!  I talk a lot about how my favorite meals are usually at local restaurants in the Mediterranean.  The local taverna overlooking the Aegean is not part of the United MileagePlus Dining program, but I should still enjoy my meal there.  Particularly when you are at home or traveling in a major city, it can be worth looking at which of your favorite restaurants are in a dining rewards program to choose between options.  But if you are craving certain food that is not in a rewards program, go enjoy your meal.  Still pay with your American Express Gold or Chase Sapphire Reserve so you receive 3x or 4x the points for the basic purchase, but do not worry about doubling up on points.  The meal itself can be enough of a reward.