Feast Your Way to Rewards: Airline & Hotel Dining Programs

Even though cooking at home is often cheaper than eating out, who doesn’t love to dine at a restaurant, especially when there’s something fun to celebrate? By using the right credit cards when dining out, you can help offset the expenses. You can offset them even more by joining hotel and airline dining rewards programs. It’s really easy. Here’s how. 

The Basics

Hotel and airline dining programs have a long history, yet are often overlooked as a hassle-free way to earn extra rewards. These dining rewards programs generally operate on the same principles and are free to join. 

The process is straightforward: simply link a credit or debit card to your account once you join, and with every use of that card at a participating restaurant, you'll accrue a specific number of miles or points. You'll earn a minimum of 0.5 points per dollar spent, with the potential to earn even more if you choose to receive email notifications. Participating restaurants include both well-known chains and local, independent eateries. To discover what restaurants are participating, just visit one of the dining program websites and pop in your zip code.

We’ll explore some of the top hotel and airline dining rewards programs and the different benefits they offer. Most of these programs have partnerships with at least 11,000 restaurants, so you can earn points or miles by dining at a restaurant you are likely to visit anyway! 

Airline Dining Rewards Programs

In general, airline dining rewards programs tend to provide the highest return, as airline miles are typically more valuable than hotel points. Here are the most popular airline dining rewards programs:

American Airlines AAdvantage Dining 

• Earn between 1X to 5X AAdvantage miles per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: Receive 1,000 AAdvantage miles when you spend $25 or more at a participating restaurant within 30 days
• Link to join

After you sign up for AAdvantage Dining, you'll automatically earn 1X mile per dollar spent. However, if you choose to receive email notifications, your earnings will jump to 3X miles. If you complete 11 transactions at participating restaurants within a calendar year, you'll obtain VIP status and earn 5X miles per dollar.

One of the key advantages of the AAdvantage Dining program is that it can help you achieve elite status with American Airlines. Every mile earned through AAdvantage dining (excluding bonuses) counts as a Loyalty Point, contributing to your qualification for elite status.

Alaska Mileage Plan Dining

• Earn rate: 0.5-5 miles per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: Earn 1,000 bonus miles after you spend $30 within 30 days of joining and write a review within 30 days of your visit
• Link to join

If you opt-in to receive notifications, you’ll automatically earn 3 miles per dollar spent. You will earn VIP status by completing 11 transactions, which bumps you up to 5 miles per dollar, starting on the 12th visit.

Delta SkyMiles Dining

• Earn rate: 0.5-5 miles per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: 1,000 bonus miles for regular members and up to 1,500 for Delta Medallion elites when you spend $30 or more in your first 30 days of joining and write a review of your dining experience
• Link to join

Delta's dining program stands out with its exceptionally generous first-dine bonus, offering an additional 500 miles, which is particularly advantageous for Delta elites. It’s also the only dining program that gives second and third-visit bonuses. For those aiming to accumulate bonus miles and work towards VIP status, which requires 11 transactions annually, reaching this tier unlocks 5 miles per dollar spent. In the interim, a simple way to elevate your earning rate to 3 miles per dollar is to opt in to receive email notifications from SkyMiles Dining.

Free Spirit Dining

• Earn rate: 0.5-5 miles per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: Earn 1,000 bonus miles by spending $30 within 30 days of joining and completing a review
• Link to join

Ok, so Spirit Airlines isn’t the most renowned airline out there, but their remarkably low fares are hard to beat. Award flights start at only 2,500 Spirit miles, which makes the first-dine bonus of 1,000 miles particularly valuable. You will earn 1 mile for every $2 spent if you choose to skip out on email communications, or 3 miles for every $1 spent if you opt-in. If you make 11 transactions, you'll receive VIP status and earn 5 miles for every $1 spent. Of all the airline dining programs, Free Spirit Dining is a surprisingly compelling choice, boasting low redemption rates for complimentary flights.

JetBlue TrueBlue Dining

• Earn rate: 3 points per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: None
• Link to join

Right off the bat, you’ll earn 3 points for every $1 spent with JetBlue TrueBlue Dining. Unlike the other programs, however, there is no first-dine bonus or the opportunity to attain elite status. 

Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining

• Earn rate: 0.5-3 Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: Earn 1,000 Rapid Rewards points after you spend $25 within 30 days and submit a review
• First step bonus: Earn 500 bonus points after earning your first 1,500 points from dining and reviews
• Thank you bonus: Earn 300 bonus points each time you earn 1,000 points from dining and reviews
• Review bonus: Earn 10 bonus points every time you submit a review after a qualifying visit.
• Link to join

Southwest's dining program stands out for rewarding  additional points for every review you write, even if it’s only 10 bonus points per review. Nevertheless, these points do add up over time!

For those who choose to opt out of email communications, the program earns 1 Rapid Reward point for every $2 spent. If you opt in, you’ll earn 3 points for every $1 spent. Note that there is no option for VIP status with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program.

United MileagePlus Dining

• Earn rate: 0.5-5 miles per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: Earn 3,000 bonus miles as a regular MileagePlus member after spending $25 within 30 days of joining
• Link to join

MileagePlus Dining leads the way with its first-dine bonus, granting 3,000 miles when you spend $25 and write a review within the first 30 days of joining. Similar to Delta and American dining programs, you will earn VIP status and earn 5 miles per dollar spent after dining 11 times within a single calendar year.

Hotel Dining Rewards Programs

Although hotel dining programs typically have higher earn rates than their airline counterparts, hotel points aren’t as valuable. As part of your earning strategy, you should prioritize earning airline miles over hotel points. If you need to top off points for a hotel redemption, however, this is a good way to do so.

Choice Eat & Earn

• Earn rate: 5 Choice Privileges points per dollar at restaurants, 2 points per dollar when you order online
• First-din bonus: Earn 500 points after spending $25 within your first 30 days.

Link to join

Hilton Honors Dining

• Earn rate: 2-8 Hilton Honors points per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: 1,000 Hilton bonus points when you spend $25 on your first dine within 30 days of joining and completing a review
• Link to join

IHG Dine & Earn

• Earn rate: 1-8 IHG points per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: 1,000 bonus points after $30 spent within 30 days of joining
• Link to join

Marriott Eat Around Town

• Earn rate: 4-6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent
• First-dine bonus: Earn up to 6,000 Marriott Bonvoy points:
• 1,000 bonus points the first time you spend $30 or more
• 2,000 bonus points the second time you spend $30 or more
• 3,000 bonus points the third time you spend $30 or more
• Link to join

Which cards to use with these programs

Focus on the cards in your wallet that earn bonus points at restaurants to get the most return. The best cards for dining include: 

• American Express Gold Card: 4 points per dollar at restaurants
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3 points per dollar on dining worldwide
• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 3 points per dollar on dining worldwide
• Citi Premier Card: 3 points per dollar at restaurants
• Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card: 4% cash back on dining 

Final Food for Thought

Enrolling in dining rewards programs offer an excellent way to earn additional points and miles. With the initial dining bonus most of these programs offer, along with the simple way you can accumulate rewards, it should be part of your overall rewards strategy.