- Basic member: Earn 1X AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you opt out of receiving emails from AAdvantage Dining.
- Select member: Earn 3X AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails from AAdvantage Dining.
- VIP member: Earn 5X AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails and have already completed 11 qualifying transactions in the calendar year. VIP Members start earning at the VIP level on their 12th qualified transaction.
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Dining programs are a great way to earn extra points and miles whenever you eat out. Unlike many of the most lucrative ways to earn points, dining rewards programs require almost no effort. You can pick a program, register the card you'll use to pay at restaurants, and watch the points pile up.
While this strategy isn’t likely to account for a huge percentage of the points you earn, a family that spends around $500 per month at restaurants could easily earn enough rewards for a domestic one-way ticket — or even a round trip with a clever redemption. Don't sleep on the value here!
Here’s our complete guide to top dining rewards programs.
Page Contents
How Do Dining Programs Work?
Dining programs earn a commission from participating restaurants when they refer customers to these restaurants. The programs then send a portion of their revenue back to members in the form of points or miles. Most programs in this guide track your spending via a registered credit card. When you use a card you've added to your profile to pay at a restaurant in the network, you'll automatically earn miles or points.
Thus, dining programs are among the easiest ways to earn extra points. You don’t need to keep track of anything!
You can sign up for a program, register your credit card, and get extra points with (almost) every meal. But, even if you don’t plan your meals specifically for the rewards, you’ll still automatically pick up extra points if you dine at a restaurant in the network.
Airline Dining Programs
Several airlines offer dining programs that award miles for meals. Even better, some programs offer new member bonuses on the first visit to a participating restaurant.
American Airlines AAdvantage Dining
American Airlines AAdvantage Dining has plenty of participating restaurants. How many AAdvantage miles you'll earn per dollar spent depends on your membership level. The three levels are Basic member, Select member, and VIP member, which earn according to the following criteria:
Select restaurants may cap the miles you can earn on one visit. However, AAdvantage Dining doesn't limit the miles you can earn overall through the program. You'll find similar language and restrictions in most dining programs.
For a deeper dive into this unique way to earn AA miles, check out our guide to AAdvantage Dining.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Dining
Alaska's Mileage Plan Dining is similar to AA's program. Alaska Airlines' version also has three membership levels where you'll earn at different rates. Each level earns valuable Mileage Plan miles as follows:
- Basic member: Earn 1X Alaska miles per $2 spent if you opt out of receiving emails from Mileage Plan Dining.
- Select member: Earn 3X Alaska miles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails from Mileage Plan Dining.
- VIP member: Earn 5X Alaska miles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails and have already completed 11 qualifying transactions in the calendar year. VIP Members start earning at the VIP level on their 12th qualifying transaction.
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Dining
Delta also has its own dining program, SkyMiles Dining, bearing three membership levels:
- Member: Earn 1X Delta SkyMiles per $2 spent if you opt out of receiving emails from SkyMiles Dining.
- Select member: Earn 3X Delta SkyMiles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails from SkyMiles Dining.
- VIP member:
Earn 5X Delta SkyMiles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails and have already completed 11 qualifying transactions in the calendar year. VIP Members start earning at the VIP level on their 12th qualifying transaction.
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines does not have its own unique dining program. Instead, it has a “Marketplace” — a collection of retailers and restaurants. Here is the alphabetical directory of Hawaiian merchant partners that earn extra miles, which you can filter by category and choosing “food and beverage.”
While not every restaurant listed returns the same amount of miles, most partners in Hawaii return 2X or 4X miles per dollar spent with no requirements or restrictions. Partners outside Hawaii typically advertise 2.5X bonus miles per dollar spent, but many require paying with the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® to unlock the bonus earnings.
On a positive note, you may be able to stack this program with another dining program, given that it doesn't appear to have any ties to Rewards Network (which runs most other dining programs).
Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®
Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®
Annual Fee$99
Welcome Bonus
Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days
The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® earns 3X miles on eligible Hawaiian Airlines purchases, 2X miles on gas, dining, and grocery store purchases, and 1X miles on all other purchases. A unique benefit is the one-time 50% off companion discount for roundtrip travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines. Cardholders also enjoy a free checked bag on Hawaiian Airlines flights, adding value for regular travelers. With its focused rewards on airline purchases and related categories, this card is tailored for maximizing benefits from travel with Hawaiian Airlines.
- 3X miles on eligible Hawaiian Airlines purchases
- 2x miles on gas, dining and grocery store purchases
- 1X miles on all other purchases
JetBlue TrueBlue Dining
TrueBlue Dining is simpler than the previous programs we've discussed since it only has two membership levels. Unfortunately, there's no VIP level in JetBlue's program.
- Earn 1X TrueBlue points per $1 spent at a participating location if you opt out of receiving emails from TrueBlue Dining.
- Members earn 3X TrueBlue points per $1 spent at a participating location if you opt in to receiving emails from TrueBlue Dining.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Dining
Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Dining is an excellent way to collect Rapid Rewards points. Here's a breakdown of how you can earn miles through the program:
- Earn 1X Rapid Rewards points per $2 spent at a participating location if you opt out of receiving emails from Rapid Rewards Dining.
- Earn 3X Rapid Rewards points per $1 spent at a participating location if you opt in to receiving emails from Rapid Rewards Dining.
- Plus, you can earn an additional 10 Rapid Rewards points for each dining review you leave.
Additionally, Rapid Rewards Dining offers additional bonus points for hitting milestones:
- First Step Bonus: Earn a one-time bonus of 500 points after you've earned 1,500 points from dining and completing reviews.
- Thank You Bonus: Earn 300 bonus points for each subsequent 1,000 points you accrue.
You can earn the First Step and Thank You bonuses even if you choose not to opt-in to receiving Rapid Rewards Dining emails.
Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Dining
Not to be outdone by its competitors, Spirit Airlines has its own program called Free Spirit Dining. The program is very similar to other airlines’ programs, featuring three earning levels dependent on your use of the program and how much information you share:
- Basic member: Earn 1X Free Spirit points per $2 spent if you opt out of receiving emails.
- Select member: Earn 3X Free Spirit points per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails.
- VIP member: Earn 5X Free Spirit points per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails from Free Spirit Dining and have completed 11 qualifying transactions in the calendar year. VIP Members start earning at the VIP level on their 12th qualifying transaction.
United Airlines MileagePlus Dining
United Airlines MileagePlus Dining runs through Rewards Network, meaning the structure is similar to most of the other airline programs. After you join and link a card, you can earn MileagePlus miles at the following rates:
- Basic member: Earn 1X MileagePlus miles per $2 spent if you opt out of receiving emails.
- Select member: Earn 3X miles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails.
- VIP member: Earn 5X MileagePlus award miles per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails from MileagePlus Dining and have completed 11 qualifying transactions in the calendar year. VIP Members start earning at the VIP level on their 12th qualifying transaction.
Hotel Dining Programs
Like many airlines, hotels also offer bonus miles for dining out. And depending on the program you sign up for, you may be able to collect a new member bonus.
Caesars Rewards Dining
The Caesars Rewards Dining program varies from the others since it has two levels based on whether you are a credit card holder or not:
- Earn one Reward Credit per dollar spent at participating restaurants.
- Register your Caesars Rewards Visa® card and earn 4X Reward Credits at participating restaurants.
Hilton Honors Dining
Hilton Honors Dining program offers varying levels of rewards depending on your interaction level:
- Basic members: Earn 2X Hilton Honors bonus points per $1 spent if you opt out of receiving emails.
- Select members: Earn 5X bonus points per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails.
- VIP members: Earn 8X bonus points per $1 spent if you opt in to receiving emails and have completed 11 qualifying transactions in the calendar year. VIP Members start earning at the VIP level on their 12th qualifying transaction.
These rates look better at face value than many airline earning rates. However, note that one Hilton point is generally worth less than one airline mile. On average, AwardWallet users redeem Hilton points for 0.59¢ apiece. Thus, the 2X and 5X earning rates aren't that impressive.
Marriott Bonvoy Eat Around Town
The Marriott Bonvoy Eat Around Town program lets members can earn the following:
- Non-status-holding Marriott Bonvoy members will receive 4X Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent.
- Members holding Bonvoy elite status — Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium, or Ambassador Elite — will earn 6X points per $1 spent.
There is no limit to the total number of points you can earn. However, be aware that restaurants may have individual limits.
Cash-Back/Financial Services Programs
Chase Dining
The Chase Dining portal made its debut in late 2020. Chase Sapphire, Freedom, and Ink cardholders can use Chase's Tock-powered site to order takeout, delivery, and make reservations with thousands of restaurants.
You can pay by redeeming points, or you can make your purchase using your Chase card and earn points instead. Additionally, Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) cardholders can earn 10X points on orders that are prepaid through the Chase Dining site. Unfortunately, bonuses earnings of this caliber don't extend to other cards.
Bilt Dining
Bilt Dining is a growing program that awards Bilt Rewards points on purchases at thousands of participating restaurants. Members can bank up to 10 points per dollar spent through Bilt Dining — or sometimes more if there's a favorable Rent Day promotion. The points you'll earn depends on multiplier indicated in the Bilt app. But to earn, you'll need to link a card to your Bilt wallet or make your purchase with The Bilt Mastercard®.
Originally, Bilt Dining restaurants were limited to big cities. The recent expansion of Neighborhood Dining means you can earn Bilt points at restaurants closer to you, which means even more opportunities to earn points without going out of your way to do so.
Dosh
You can earn cash rewards on dining purchases with the Dosh mobile app. Once you've loaded the cards you intend to pay with, pick a restaurant listed on the map and earn a percentage back in cash. There is no fixed amount, but a quick survey will show that most restaurants range between 3% and 5%. Even though this is part of Rewards Network, some purchases may stack with airline or hotel dining programs.
Rakuten
You may know Rakuten as an online shopping portal. However, you can also use it to earn rewards for dining out. You can also choose to earn American Express Membership Rewards points instead of cash back if you have a credit card that earns Amex points. Click here to view the venues offering cash back or Amex points for dining.
Other Notable Dining Programs
Dining programs are a dime a dozen. However, the juice isn't always worth the squeeze, as some rewards are generally lackluster. Other programs, such as Shell Fuel Rewards, are worth a look.
Shell Fuel Rewards
If you aren't already saving in one of the other programs and would like to earn discounts on gas, the Shell Fuel Rewards program is another alternative. Earn a 10¢-per-gallon discount (on up to 20 gallons) for every $50 spent dining out. You can add to your earnings by linking one of the top cards for spending at restaurants.
Since Shell limits fill-up discounts to 20 gallons, your maximum discount here is $2 (10¢ per gallon x 20 gallons). This equates to a 4% return on spending ($2 divided by the $50 spent to earn it). While not a fantastic return compared to other programs, it's better than nothing.
Before signing up for Fuel Rewards, it's worth familiarizing yourself with the terms and conditions below:
- Dine at our participating restaurants and pay with a linked Mastercard, Visa, or American Express card.
- Earn 10¢/gal for every $50 you spend across all participating restaurants, bars, and clubs.
- Rewards earned while dining out will be posted to your account within ten days.
- To earn Fuel Rewards savings while dining out, you must opt-in to receive emails about participating restaurants.
- The Dining program is powered by Rewards Network.
How to Maximize Your Dining Earnings
Here are some final tips for getting the most out of dining programs:
- Link your best credit card(s) for earning points at restaurants. The points you earn from dining programs stack with the points you already earn through your credit card. You can earn 4X-5X points with every dining purchase just by paying with the right card. Maximize by using a card like the American Express® Gold Card.
- Pick one or two programs and let the points earning work on autopilot. For most travelers, these points will complement other earnings. If you truly want to maximize your return, check for new member sign-up bonuses and create each new account when there are extra points for joining and meeting a modest spending requirement.
- Know which credit card you have registered with each program. Rewards Network manages most dining programs. You can only register the same credit card for one Rewards Network dining program at a time, so it isn't possible to add the same card to all the programs and stack your earnings. Instead, register a different card with each program and know which is which if you want to maximize your rewards.
- Use dining points to stop miles from expiring. You can use dining programs to earn miles in programs you infrequently use. This can be a useful method to stop your miles from expiring. If you have miles to protect but don't generate account activity from flying or credit card spending, you may be able to reset your expiration date with points earned from dining programs.
If you plan to set up an account with multiple dining programs, be sure to review our post on the best rewards cards for restaurants and dining. Register each card with a dining program, and your next trip will be in reach before you know it!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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I discovered that when I signed up for Neighborhood Dining on my BILT Rewards account that all my credit cards enrolled with BILT Rewards were unsubscribed from my American Airlines AAdvantage Dining. So I had to re-enroll my credit cards in AAdvantage Dining to ensure that restaurants that are in both AAdvantage and BILT (the Rewards Network restaurants) would still earn AAdvantage Miles for dining at my VIP level 5 points per dollar, while the non-Rewards Network restaurants (those signed by BILT directly and from their Seated app partnership) earn BILT rewards. I have found no “double-dip” for the Rewards Network restaurants. But I get 5X points from AAdvantage dining and BILT Dining offers only 3X on the Rewards Network restaurants, and I have no way to transfer points to AA (once the BILT to AA transfer partnership ends shortly in June 2024).
Can you register a credit card that already gives miles or points? For instance, if you have a JetBlue card can you register it with the AA dining program, and get miles in both programs? Can you register a Chase Sapphire card and get 3x points on dining and AA miles on the same transaction?
Absolutely! Earning points through these dining programs doesn’t keep you from earning points through your credit card.
I believe the link for American Airlines Dining program is now: https://www.aadvantagedining.com/
Thanks! Updated.
General question please.
In order to get miles through dining programs, do I have to pay with airline credit cards? Grateful for comments.
No! You can use any credit card that can be entered into the system. That means you can use a cashback card (like the Capital One Savor card to get 4% cashback) and also get airline miles through the dining program.
I normally jump around to different dining programs in order to keep my points active in certain programs. However, it just crossed my mind that if I cancel my membership when I bounce to a different program, would that open me up for a potential Sign-Up bonus in the future?
This is great info–I missed that Rakuten had added restaurants!
I have used the American airlines dining program! It is excellent!
This is interesting, ill have to remember some of these details. I wonder if I can access these programs when I travel to the usa, since these programs wont work in Canada.
> …Marriott Convoy members…
Do you have to show up to the restaurant in a line?
So many cities only have a couple restaurants, many none at all.
Let alone if they are good places. Hardly possible to collect a lot of points in the cities I am in.
If I find one, I’ll buy a beer a couple months ahead of hotel point expiration to preserve points
Sometimes we don’t realize it, but there are more ways to get the desired AA miles. Thanks for the reminder.
Very good article. Use for American Airlines and didn’t realize there were so many programs available.
As someone who is new to this, is there any way to join multiple programs and earn from multiple programs for a single transaction to maximize rewards/points/miles earned?
I tend to forget about this. Definitely need to get my new cards posted as that’s where I’m spending to satisfy the spend requirement. Appreciate the info.
Ok I make sure to take advantage of this when I do go out. Most of the time we are not going to the restaurants on the list. Plus, they keep changing who is on the lists. I wish they all had an app but nothing. I did find out that I was auto enrolled in the AS dinning program when I got their credit card. That was an interesting twist.
Dining programs need to come to Canada!
“Alaska’s Mileage Plan Rewards Network normally comes with a 1,000-mile signup bonus”
Is the bonus given just for signing up or you only after first reservation with a restaurant?
I think there is a spend $30 requirement in the first 3 months after signing up. Did you check the Alaska signup link?
I did. But I didn’t find any information on the minimum spend required. Thanks anyway!
The Marriott is definitely one of my favourite ones.
I am a member of the American Airlines program. Always a nice surprise when I visit a restaurant that is part of the program.
I need to remember to register new cards
Wow, so many ways to get miles!
Thank you so much for this information. I don’t eat out much but even a few miles could help in the long eum
I view these as another shopping portal. I don’t go out of my way to spend more, but you’re dumb not to be registered and utilizing them when you can.
Charge your 20% tips onto the credit card to earn more miles too.
Do these dining programs work out of the USA as well?
Unfortunately, most seem to be U.S. based. If you find exceptions, please let us know.
I’ve known about this for around two years now but I really wish I knew this six years ago when we didn’t have kids and we ate out a lot. 🙁
Also used the AA portal, excellent tracking.
not enough options in smaller cities.
I’ve always found that dining programs are the easiest way to accumulate points, because everyone has to eat right? If you eat out, this will boost your points.
I enjoyed your post. Mostly I use this program for keeping miles / points from expiring ( but I learned the Marriott one doesn’t extend pint expiration). I do wish there were competitors, and that there were mor restaurants in my area though.
I earn quite a few miles via the AA dining program – they definitely add up!
As a beginner I enjoyed this information. Really thank you
This is a great breakdown. I didnt know Hilton had a dining program. Can you double dip with these (register your card for more than one program and get points for both)?
I don’t believe you can double dip because many of the programs are run on the back end by the same company, so I think you simply end up switching enrollment.
The article stated that for the most part the rewards portion is all run by the same people so you can’t register for more than one program. Maybe if you read into the fine print and look for a program run by different companies?
You can register for multiple programs, you just can’t register the same credit card. So I can have my Prestige tied to Alaska dining and my Amex Gold tied to United Dining, but I can’t pay with any single card and get credit in more than one program (at least those run by RewardsNetwork)
I am enrolled in many of the dining programs. Its a great way to keep some of those points from expiring. I use one of the apps to find restaurants in cities that I am visiting. I have certainly enjoyed great restaurants that I never would have found if the dining program hadn’t pointed me to them. It’s also fun when I have eaten somewhere by chance, and a few days later I get an email saying I have earned points!
Does anyone know if Canadians are eligible to use these programs? I know the participating restaurants are located in the US, at least for the two programs I checked, but I was hoping to sign up so I could use this when in the States. Earning miles while dining would be amazing. The Marriott terms do say you need to be a resident of the US so I’m guessing I’m SOL despite seemingly being able to register through my Marriott account.
I don’t think it would hurt to try.
Quite a few years ago, AAdvantage Dining used to have almost a dozen participating restaurants in southern Ontario. Alas, that does not seem to be the case anymore…
Oh interesting! That’s too bad they seem to have taken the program out of Canada completely.
I use the American Airlines dining program and have garnered a number of miles from it. Thanks for providing alternate program information.
What great information. I’ll have to connect more of my CC’s to my wallet!
The key here I think is to focus on or concentrate spending activity earning on a program that you would use frequently. Thant’s how to make the points matter before they expire.
Sage advice as always Steven, but essentially with all of the loyalty programs a US-based individual is going to interact with, **if you have ongoing earning activity, your points will not expire**.
Or alternate train of thought, set this for a program you don’t use often to then record activity so those points don’t expire.
There used to be nearly perpetual registration bonuses (typically 1000 points/miles) available for nearly all of these programs, as well as frequent bonus-for-dining opportunities for existing members. Unfortunately, in my experience, the existing member promos have been non-existent for the last handful of years, and now it appear the registration bonuses have dried up too.
I’ve been waiting for a signup bonus. I live overseas at the moment and can’t capitalize on this but I’m waiting.
I have used the American airlines dining program! It is excellent!
… especially when the AAdvantage miles still expire.
Yeah! Hope they decide to take the same decision that united took some weeks ago!
Very true. If there was just an easy way to get a few miles, say just 5 or so, now and then it would be really cool.
We also used the dining points offer to collect 500 xIHG points the other day.
This short guide about different programs is amazing. I would totally share it. Is Uber eats in any of these programs?
Great question. I don’t think so, but let us know if you find a way to get credit via UberEats.
Great post with very helpful info. The Hawaiian info in particular was new for me.