iDine/Rewards Network - Earn 500 miles >=$25 where you haven't dined before (OVER 1 Oct 2010)

I saw this listed in an e-mail from US Airways among various other partner offers:


Is there a Dividend Miles Dining restaurant you haven't visited? Of course there is—a quick online search will probably show you that. Well, how would you like to earn 500 bonus miles for visiting one?

All you have to do is register for the Change of Scenery Bonus, then dine at a program restaurant, bar or club where you've never earned Dividend Miles before. Spend just $30, and those 500 bonus miles are yours. Enjoy the new scenery. And all those bonus miles.

1. Register for the Change of Scenery Bonus*
2. Spend just $30 at a program spot where you've never earned miles before, and you'll earn 500 bonus miles

*This bonus offer is open to Online and VIP Dividend Miles Dining members. To qualify, you must register for the Change of Scenery Bonus through the links on this page and remain opted in to receive emails from the Dividend Miles Dining program with a valid, deliverable email address. You must continue to satisfy Online and/or VIP Member level criteria to earn this bonus.

To earn this bonus, you must spend at least $30 (including tax and tip) in one dine at a participating restaurant, bar or club where you have not yet earned Dividend miles. All dines must occur by August 31, 2010. Dines at participating restaurants, bars or clubs where you have previously visited and earned rewards will not count toward the Change of Scenery Bonus. Please note that activity that occurred prior to registration will not be eligible for this bonus. In addition, all dines must occur during a valid reward period and be paid for with a credit or debit card registered in the Dividend Miles Dining program. There is a maximum of 500 bonus miles that can be earned with this bonus. Offer is not combinable with other Dividend Miles Dining bonuses except the All Double, No Trouble Bonus. Please allow 6-8 weeks for any bonus miles to post to your Dividend Miles Dining account. All account inquiries related to this bonus must be received by October 31, 2010.

Same deal as the United (500 miles) on AA Dining. It's called the restaurant hopping bonus though.

$25 minimum and Sept 30th deadline

*This bonus offer is open to Online and VIP AAdvantage DiningSM members. To qualify, you must register for the Restaurant Hopping Bonus through the links on this page and remain opted in to receive emails from the AAdvantage DiningSM program with a valid, deliverable email address. You must continue to satisfy Online and/or VIP Member level criteria to earn this bonus.

To earn this bonus, you must spend $25 or more at participating restaurants, bars or clubs where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles. You must dine and submit a dining survey about the restaurant within 30 days of each dine in order to earn the 500 AAdvantage® bonus miles. All dines must occur by September 30, 2010. Dines at participating restaurants, bars or clubs where you have previously visited and earned rewards will not count toward the Restaurant Hopping Bonus. Please note that activity that occurred prior to registration will not be eligible for this bonus. In addition, all dines must occur during a valid reward period and be paid for with a credit or debit card registered in the AAdvantage DiningSM program. There is no maximum number of bonus miles you can earn. Offer is not combinable with other AAdvantage DiningSM bonuses with the exception of the All Double, No Trouble Bonus and the Very Merry Birthday Bonus. The 500 AAdvantage® bonus miles will be awarded after the submission of a completed survey within 30 days of the dine. Please allow 6-8 weeks for any bonus miles to post to your AAdvantage DiningSM account. All account inquiries related to this bonus must be received by November 30, 2010.

From reading the posted T&C's, the AA promo has no restriction on the number of times you can earn the bonus. The US version does.

I wonder how Rewards Network will treat different branches of the same restaurant for purposes of this restaurant hopping promo. If I always go to Restaurant XXX at address YYY, will I get the bonus if I go to Restaurant XXX at address ZZZ (for the very first time) if both locations participate in Rewards Network?

If they have separate listings @ Rewards Network, then the locations where you have not dined should be fine.

Just got this from the Aadvantage Dining folks:


"The Restaurant Hopping Bonus

Add some variety to your diet! Earn 500 AAdvantage® bonus miles every time you spend $25 or more at a participating restaurant, bar or club where you've never dined before and then complete a survey within 30 days. Try new neighborhoods and new cuisines—you might just discover a "new favorite!"

There are no limits to how many AAdvantage® bonus miles you can earn, so start sampling right away. Learn how to qualify and register for the Restaurant Hopping Bonus today."


If my math is correct -- a big "if" -- then $25 can earn up to 750 miles (500 hopping bonus, + 5 miles per dollar for VIP member, + 5 miles per dollar for All Double, No Trouble promo).

Bon Apetite!

I was a bit excited, too, until I realized that I've tried many of the restaurants in my area already... I guess I'm already a mucho muncher :D

That's not to say that my city (Chicago) doesn't have a huge number of opportunities, but being the urbanite that I am, I don't own a car... so, it's unlikely that I'll go very far out of my way to find a restaurant that I haven't tried (which would be one not near me).

Great promotion, though, IMO!

This looks like a fun promo, as I have cherry picked the Idineries near work/home it will cause me to go beyond my normal catchment zone and try some new places.


If they have separate listings @ Rewards Network, then the locations where you have not dined should be fine.


The equally interesting question is that if a place fell off RN and then came back as a “new” restaurant, will it count?

In that I am trying to have 90% of my dines' miles connected to a bonus, hopefully I can nab eight or ten of these newbies.

The equally interesting question is that if a place fell off RN and then came back as a “new” restaurant, will it count?

In that I am trying to have 90% of my dines' miles connected to a bonus, hopefully I can nab eight or ten of these newbies.

It's possible, but if they identify the joint the exact same way (resurrect the same listing) I doubt it.

miamigrad, do you recommend any places in Chicago in the program? We live in Oak Park and only visit the local places regularly. Could use the recommendations! :)

Deb

Wish there were some participating restaurants nearby. Guess that's one of the disadvantages of living in the country. :)

miamigrad, do you recommend any places in Chicago in the program? We live in Oak Park and only visit the local places regularly. Could use the recommendations! :)

Deb

Among my favorites (keeping in mind my post above... I tend to eat closeby, since I don't own a car):
- Twist Tapas (3412 N Sheffield): Always offers an interesting sangria choose, in addition to the traditional. The tapas are delicious and the staff is friendly.
- FireFly (3335 N Halsted): Small restaurant, intimate atmosphere. Very "bistro"-like. Great food.
- Istanbul (3613 N Broadway): Delicious Mediterranean food and very friendly staff. I've had the chef come to our table to personally greet us many times.
- Panino's (3702 N. Broadway): Lots of delicious Italian fare (not all of it is on the menu, so ask if you don't see something you want!). Friendly staff... I go here all the time, and the restaurant just joined the program... so, this makes me happy that I'll be earning miles for one of my favorite places anyway!
- Demera (4801 N Broadway): Ethiopian. Very good food, and the wait staff was nice the few times I've been here.

There are just a few of my favorites. Feel free to PM me with any other questions

EDITED TO ADD:
I have many, many more recommendations for restaurants that are within the Chicago city limits. I'm not sure if they participate or not without searching. But... I'm a big foodie :) A night out always includes a great meal with friends and a glass of wine for me

Thanks, miamigrad! Both my DS and DD live in that area so we will try a couple of these out. :)

Does flyertalk have an area or thread for reviews of dining program restaurants?

Deb

Thanks, miamigrad! Both my DS and DD live in that area so we will try a couple of these out. :)

Does flyertalk have an area or thread for reviews of dining program restaurants?

Deb

As a matter of fact, this might work (found in the iDine forum):
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/idine-rewards-network/311094-great-idine-restaurants-thread.html

Signed up for this 3 days ago and went out to dinner last night. No email yet to complete survey. Any idea how long is normal to get survey?

Signed up for this 3 days ago and went out to dinner last night. No email yet to complete survey. Any idea how long is normal to get survey?

I think you can complete the survey on the AAdvantage Dining website as soon as Rewards Network has a record of your dine.

From past dines, my survey email came: 6 days after dine, 3 days after dine, 5 days after dine, 6 days after dine, 4 days after dine, 4 days after dine, 4 days after dine. So, you should see an email in three to five days.

Apologies for not seeing the "Mucho Miles" thread before posting. I looked to see if someone had already posted this (and was surprised I could be the first), but somehow missed that one.

The deal: You must register first!

http://content.idine.com/z/aa/d/i/bonus_image_A862.gif

See Points Scrounger's post above for AA T&Cs.

Yes, this offer is combinable with the ALL DOUBLE, NO TROUBLE bonus.

Talk about luck... Whilst waiting for Lady JDiver to have her follow-up visit with the oral surgeon, I booked a local restaurant - one that has been completely rebuilt and I have not been to in a couple of decades and joined RN recently - with my cellphone on Open Table.

We arrived and were seated. As we waited for the salad course, an e-mail arrived announcing the new bonus. I browsed over to http://aa.rewardsnetwork.com and registered. How much nicer the meal was, knowing I will earn double miles and an extra 500! Now, that's leveraging technology! :D

Don't see an offer for AS :(

AA is one of more pro-active with dining promos; AS ... not nearly so much.

Yes, this offer is combinable with the ALL DOUBLE, NO TROUBLE bonus.



And the ALL DOUBLE T&C state that it, in turn, is combinable with the very merry birthday bonus (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/idine-rewards-network/1097781-very-merry-birthday-bonus-restricted-aa-ua-members.html). Which is limited to one dine, but for that one the math will be nice for those with DOB in these three months. So if you got a birthday before Sept 30, be sure to register and let those bonuses stack up.

Edited to add: you don't really register. Just make sure your birthday is in your account profile.

Isn't the ALL DOUBLE through Dec 31st?

Spoke to AA about the plan. They say you can't have dined at the restaurant within the last 2 years from the date of dining. You can use the history feature on the web site to see what has been posted. You can also see your totals (I've received 123,637 miles since 1/1/2008....). With the 25 dollar minimum, it works if you stop in for drinks as well. Or if you have dinner with your wife, and you both are registered, why not go split the check?
Good Luck.

Signed up yesterday. Seems like as good an excuse as any to take the lady out for dinner this weekend.

Signed up yesterday. Seems like as good an excuse as any to take the lady out for dinner this weekend.
M T W are worth more miles at some establishments.

'where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles.'

What if a diner goes to a place he/she has not been to in 3 or 4 years, for example? How far back is RN checking to see if the diner has never truly gone?

Reminder of the "split the check" technique - this offer is perfect for it.

However, only AA and US Air participating, right ? Someone mentioned United, but I didn't see the bonus in our accounts.

Anyway, you can split 50/50 for AA and US Air, and each charge will qualify as a new restaurant. With more participants you could split 3 way if tab is high enough.

Spoke to AA about the plan. They say you can't have dined at the restaurant within the last 2 years from the date of dining. You can use the history feature on the web site to see what has been posted. You can also see your totals (I've received 123,637 miles since 1/1/2008....). With the 25 dollar minimum, it works if you stop in for drinks as well. Or if you have dinner with your wife, and you both are registered, why not go split the check?
Good Luck....glad we have only been going to our local pub so there are a whole bunch of places we can get this bonus at....many of which are almost exactly on $25 bucks tax and tip included for lunch....although at 13% tax and 18% tip it does not take too much to get to $25...

'where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles.'

What if a diner goes to a place he/she has not been to in 3 or 4 years, for example? How far back is RN checking to see if the diner has never truly gone?

Two years according to RN

Spoke to AA about the plan. They say you can't have dined at the restaurant within the last 2 years from the date of dining. You can use the history feature on the web site to see what has been posted. You can also see your totals (I've received 123,637 miles since 1/1/2008....). With the 25 dollar minimum, it works if you stop in for drinks as well. Or if you have dinner with your wife, and you both are registered, why not go split the check?
Good Luck.

See, this is why I login to Flyertalk just about every day.

Thanks for checking on it and double bonus thanks for posting the info!

Just wanted to double check whether this is available for United? I saw a couple of references but, like an earlier poster, I couldn't find a way to do it.

Two years according to RN

Thanks!

Just wanted to double check whether this is available for United? I saw a couple of references but, like an earlier poster, I couldn't find a way to do it.

I've been trying to find a link and also can't find anything.

I also called Aadvantage,all the dines go back 24 months. One of the querys is going to earn a return call though. If the restaurant leaves the program and comes back in again? I think they will say it still doesn't qualify, but it is worth a try.

Also, to the post wondering about restaurants with the same name but different locations? I checked, as long as the address is different they all count.
Good Dining

Click on the restaurant link from the old visit, if it comes up with a regular listing (the one you'd get now for the current listing) then the system will reject it for the bonus. If, however, that comes up with the "Oops!" message, it should be okay.

Click on the restaurant link from the old visit, if it comes up with a regular listing (the one you'd get now for the current listing) then the system will reject it for the bonus. If, however, that comes up with the "Oops!" message, it should be okay.
More specifically (but harder to verify if you didn't make a record of it the first time around), I presume if it has the same merchant ID as before, it will reject you, but if has a different merchant ID than before, it will work for you.

Also, beware of restaurants at the same location changing name but keeping the same merchant ID. That might cause them to reject it, because they'll think of that as the same restaurant, despite the new name.

No love for me either, thru the UA Mileageplusdining program. I got the bonus signup thru AA, but nothing for UA. I'm VIP online, with a valid email address.

More specifically (but harder to verify if you didn't make a record of it the first time around), I presume if it has the same merchant ID as before, it will reject you, but if has a different merchant ID than before, it will work for you.

Also, beware of restaurants at the same location changing name but keeping the same merchant ID. That might cause them to reject it, because they'll think of that as the same restaurant, despite the new name.

Speaking of the same merchant I.D. ... back in the day when iDine was once-a-month only for all participants, there were two fast food places listed at Grand Central Station: one counter, one cash register, two sets of menus to choose from!

Does anyone know if the bonus miles will post in the RN site shortly after the dine, or in 'sweeps'?
I'm having a few qualifying dines show up in my account, but no bonus yet. The T&Cs for the offer state that will take 6-8 weeks 'for any bonus miles to post to your AAdvantage Dining account', but how long for them to post to the RN site first?
Thanks.

I was surprised to see that my first 500 miles posted right away with the initial 5x transfer - as opposed to the All Double 5x that seem to post in the following cycle. This promotion is definitely not a later lump-sum sweep (as I'd thought likely).

I was surprised to see that my first 500 miles posted right away with the initial 5x transfer - as opposed to the All Double 5x that seem to post in the following cycle. This promotion is definitely not a later lump-sum sweep (as I'd thought likely).

Thanks for the confirmation. The initial miles have posted for the qualifying dines, but that's it so far. I'll wait until the All Double, No Trouble miles post...hopefully the 500 miles will post as well. If nothing posts, time to fire out some more faxes ;)

I was surprised to see that my first 500 miles posted right away with the initial 5x transfer - as opposed to the All Double 5x that seem to post in the following cycle. This promotion is definitely not a later lump-sum sweep (as I'd thought likely).

^ I was hoping in the back of my mind that it would post each week instead of the lump-sum sweep, but I had prepared myself for latter. After I saw your post, I went to check my AA account. For me, everything posted the same day - initial 5x + 5x bonus + 500 miles. :D Looking forward to racking up some easy miles over the next two months!

I have been focusing all my dines in the AA program. If I eat at a Rewards Network restaurant that I've dined at before (and credited to AA), but register my credit card to the US Air program instead, will that count as a new dine?

Is anyone else participating in this besides US and AA?

I have been focusing all my dines in the AA program. If I eat at a Rewards Network restaurant that I've dined at before (and credited to AA), but register my credit card to the US Air program instead, will that count as a new dine?

Is anyone else participating in this besides US and AA?

If you ate at "Joe's" and credited AA in the past you can register your card to US and get the first dine bonus at "Joe's" on your next visit. Confirmed with my accounts, previous Alaska dining location posted with new restaurant bonus in the AA program upon my first use of an AA linked card.

This looks like a fun promo, as I have cherry picked the Idineries near work/home it will cause me to go beyond my normal catchment zone and try some new places....In that I am trying to have 90% of my dines' miles connected to a bonus, hopefully I can nab eight or ten of these newbies.

I have really embraced RN bingo: as I mentioned elsewhere, it reminds me of a scavenger hunt. I am up to 11 500-mile bonuses and have enjoyed every meal and have even run into a place or two that I would go out of my way to dine.

If, as it appears, we will be homeless (and on per diem) for 10 days in mid-August while our house is used in a filming I will be able to keep up this torrid, gut-busting pace, and I may even get Mrs. J. and the Jailettes on-board.

Eleven! Jailer gets the "Iron Stomach" medal with chicory leaf clusters and an anchovy! I have done a few of these, and they have ranged all over the spectrum from amazingly bad - worst excuse for a resto I have been to in ages - to fairly good to the most recent, a faux Mexican place that had faux food. ;)

For now, I will be out of it - no RN in Istanbul and Athens, and maybe no gasoline in the latter either. OTOH, plenty of Mediterranean food.

I may be getting close to having dined at that many that should qualify, but most haven't posted the bonus yet.

But about half of those were simply new-to-me restaurants in places I was visiting on weekend trips (like Sunset Grilll, the only participating restaurant in Moab UT, Star of India in Salt Lake City on the way back to SLC airport, Sweetwater Grill, the only participating restaurant in Oakhurst CA outside Yosemite, plus Thai Palms Restaurant and Five Restaurant in Fresno CA on the way to Yosemite and back). Of those areas, only in the Fresno area had I eaten at any participating restaurants previously, and it so happens both of the ones I had eaten at before are inexpensive and I couldn't have gotten to $25 by myself there anyway.

So if your travels take you to US/Canadian cities where you haven't been before (or at least not in two years), then of course any place that participates in those cities will be "new to you" (as NBC would say).

I may be getting close to having dined at that many that should qualify, but most haven't posted the bonus yet.

The bonus should appear with the initial dine.

The bonus should appear with the initial dine.

Mine have posted significantly later after the initial dine activity.

The bonus should appear with the initial dine.
I don't see how that could always be the case. The bonus requires that you post a review, and I can't post a review until the dine has posted. By the time they process the fact that my review has posted, it's at least a day or two after the initial dine posted. For certain days of the week, that means it gets paid a full week later, since they only send miles to AA once a week.

And it so happens that many of my dines where I earn the 500 mile bonus have been in that part of the week that just barely makes it into the once-a-week transfer to AA, but just misses the review-triggered bonus making it in the same once-a-week transfer.

(And if you are not super timely about doing the reviews, the separation of the original miles and the bonus miles will happen even more often!)

Anyway, what I meant by "most haven't posted the bonus yet" was that some hadn't posted the bonus because I have to wait an extra for it, but others the basic dine hadn't even posted yet (but had already occurred and thus should post within days).

I received no bonus on one of my AA meals, so I asked why. RN replied that I had earned AS miles there early this year.

The T&C I'd read, including the registration confirmation email, said "where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles". It said nothing about earning other miles in the past. Seems like they're making it up as they go along. :td:

I received no bonus on one of my AA meals, so I asked why. RN replied that I had earned AS miles there early this year.

The T&C I'd read, including the registration confirmation email, said "where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles". It said nothing about earning other miles in the past. Seems like they're making it up as they go along. :td:

You should throw that T&C quotation right back at them.

RN was kind enough to extend my favorite promo of the year until the end of Sept (it was slated to end 8/31).

There's no limit on how many AAdvantage® bonus miles you can earn with this offer—but there is a deadline! You've already registered for the Restaurant Hopping Bonus, so you can earn 500 AAdvantage® bonus miles every time you dine somewhere new to you through September 30th then complete a survey within 30 days.

I received no bonus on one of my AA meals, so I asked why. RN replied that I had earned AS miles there early this year.

The T&C I'd read, including the registration confirmation email, said "where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles". It said nothing about earning other miles in the past. Seems like they're making it up as they go along. :td:

Bingo -- we have a winner!

I just got my AA 500 miles at a joint where I'd dined on another program very recently.

I was just wondering if someone could earn bonus miles as part of the Restaurant Hopping promo at the same restaurant in different FF programs?

There is a new restaurant near my home and I ate there to earn the 500 bonus miles with AA. Now I would like to return and earn bonus with US Restaurant Hopping promo as well. Is this possible?

Thanks.

I was just wondering if someone could earn bonus miles as part of the Restaurant Hopping promo at the same restaurant in different FF programs?

There is a new restaurant near my home and I ate there to earn the 500 bonus miles with AA. Now I would like to return and earn bonus with US Restaurant Hopping promo as well. Is this possible?

Thanks.

See posts #44, 51 and 54. Sounds like YMMV.

I received no bonus on one of my AA meals, so I asked why. RN replied that I had earned AS miles there early this year.

The T&C I'd read, including the registration confirmation email, said "where you have not yet earned AAdvantage® miles". It said nothing about earning other miles in the past. Seems like they're making it up as they go along. :td:

I've got a similar, but slightly more complicated example of no bonus miles being awarded. Like many of you, I've got some cards that I need to do spending on (SPG, AMEX MR, CitiAA) to get some sign up bonuses. Also, I've got cards that earn more miles at restaurants, so I tend to switch all of these cards around based on what program I need to earn miles in at a given time and what the bonuses are out there with RN.

- I ate at "Joe's Deli" (a participating restaurant) under the United Mileage Plus Dining Program with credit card -1234, early this year.
- When the Restaurant Hopping bonus came around, my wife registered for the bonus, and we registered card -1234 to my wife's AA Dining account.
- My wife went to "Joe's Deli" for the first time and spent the required $25. She expected the 500 mile bonus. No dice.

Bonus was denied because I (not my wife) had spent money on card -1234 at "Joe's Dele" earlier in the year under the MP Plus dining program.

So, Mrs. Aces has a reconsideration letter in to them stating that:
- She has never earned AAdvantage Miles at "Joe's Deli"
- and -
- Card -1234 has never been used in the AAdvantage Dining program at "Joe's Deli" by either of us until her first dine.

Not going to sweat 500 points, but wanted to send out a caution to anyone else who may be switching cards between programs. Even if you've never earned AAdvantage Miles at a restaurant, if your credit card has ever earned Any RN miles at the restaurant (regardless of program or user), then you may not get the bonus.

Even if you've never earned AAdvantage Miles at a restaurant, if your credit card has ever earned Any RN miles at the restaurant (regardless of program or user), then you may not get the bonus.

The really silly part for me is that I was dining with others who have cards on RN. If RN had just been truthful about their rules, we'd have charged it on someone else's card.

. . . So, Mrs. Aces has a reconsideration letter in to them . . .

Mrs. Aces letter worked - 500 courtesy bonus miles coming her way. I'm sure this is a one-off and their systems/process remains the same, so I think caution about which card you use is still warranted.

As Jailer posted previously, AAdvantage Dining members have until the end of September to earn all the Restaurant Hopping bonus miles they can get. "All dines must occur by September 30, 2010" is the current statement in the T&Cs.

It has worked well for me - some places I will never, never return to, a few I might possibly, and a couple of places I have visited turned out to be (for me) hidden gems I did not know about and I will return to - including a Thai restaurant 4 miles from home (Thai Chili in Roseville, CA).

Did a dine at a new place the other day. 630 miles in the bank coming from that. Did a dine at another place that was not a new spot, sadly my first time there was random and I only spent $4.

Only 1600 new restaurant visits needed for 1MM on AA.

As Jailer posted previously, AAdvantage Dining members have until the end of September to earn all the Restaurant Hopping bonus miles they can get. "All dines must occur by September 30, 2010" is the current statement in the T&Cs.

It has worked well for me - some places I will never, never return to, a few I might possibly, and a couple of places I have visited turned out to be (for me) hidden gems I did not know about and I will return to - including a Thai restaurant 4 miles from home (Thai Chili in Roseville, CA).

I've been going out of my way to take advantage of this promo, with most dines not exceeding $25 when I'm eating alone. In a crazy way, it has SAVED me some money, since for $25.00 I can get 625 miles. Without the promo I'd have to spend $125...and in some cases I go home with some restaurant T-shirts just to hit that amount :p

Using my AA account to figure bonuses (because it’s not always clear to me that I’m not doubling back on a less than two-year old dine), it appears that I will have 19 of these by month’s end. And, with the somewhat un-plundered Santa Barbara, Phoenix and Palm Springs happy hunting grounds awaiting in September, at least 25 should be doable….Not the easiest bonus-grovel, but a lot of fun and still not even one bad dining experience yet.

Using my AA account to figure bonuses (because it’s not always clear to me that I’m not doubling back on a less than two-year old dine), it appears that I will have 19 of these by month’s end. And, with the somewhat un-plundered Santa Barbara, Phoenix and Palm Springs happy hunting grounds awaiting in September, at least 25 should be doable….Not the easiest bonus-grovel, but a lot of fun and still not even one bad dining experience yet.
I raided Santa Barbara earlier this year. State Street and its vicinity will keep you busy. There are some places in the area where the miles are going to be the only reason to go.

Did this deal get cut off early as well? I had 2 dines of $25+ on 8/25 and 8/27 at new places and still no 500 mile bonus. The deal no longer shows up on the US Airways Dining website.

It's still available:

1) I received an e-mail today allowing me to rate my dine at a local restaurant last Saturday (Sep 11), and

2) another e-mail landed with

Earn 500 Bonus Miles When Dining Somewhere New!
Variety is the spice of life, and as a member of the AAdvantage DiningSM program, you’ll earn American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles when you dine somewhere new.

Just register for the “Restaurant Hopping” bonus, and dine at a participating restaurant where you haven’t earned miles before. When you spend at least $25 (including tax and tip) and complete a survey, you’ll earn 500 bonus miles.

You can earn this bonus for each new restaurant you try until September 30, 2010 – there is no limit. So, start spicing up your life and your AAdvantage account today! (My emphases.)

Get out and dine, folks; tempus is fugiting and it's almost over. ;) The 500 bonus miles for rating the dine (do not forget that important last bit - rate within 30 days, or forget about the bonus) may take a while, but I have had no worries.

DO beware that, as some previous posts have indicated, it's not so much about the individual, it is about the registered credit / debit card number. It's taken us a while to manage this, as we have secondary cards with the same number and others that have discrete numbers, and in the early days or if we've gotten forgetful, we have managed to lose a few bonuses. And yesterday, we dined and had to get a bit of takeout to take it beyond $25.

Did this deal get cut off early as well? I had 2 dines of $25+ on 8/25 and 8/27 at new places and still no 500 mile bonus. The deal no longer shows up on the US Airways Dining website.

Just found out the US Air and American T&C were different. US Air was limited to one 500 mile bonus. Not happy. Swear i read through the T&C (as i always do) and this was not mentioned originally. The deal mysteriously disappeared from my bonus page which adds to my frustration.

The deal no longer shows up on the US Airways Dining website.
Of course not. Because, among the other things you forgot, was that the US Airways version was only through Aug 31, and required $30+, not $25+.

It's the AA version that runs through Sep 30, requires only $25+, and is uncapped.

You apparently were reading posts about the AA version and thought what you read also applied to the US version.

The details of the UA promotion are listed in the very first post on Page 1 of this thread.

The details of the AA promotion are still visiable at:

https://aa.rewardsnetwork.com/bonus.htm

How did you do in September? Your post here encouraged me to get out and chase this bonus as there are many new participating restaurants within ~10 miles of my home/work. I've got 32 new bonus eligible visits to date and am hoping to get a few more in during this 11th hour of the offering.Using my AA account to figure bonuses (because it’s not always clear to me that I’m not doubling back on a less than two-year old dine), it appears that I will have 19 of these by month’s end.

I'll obviously be only a runner up myself. So far 14 500-mile bonuses posted (to AA), 3 more dines posted but I did the surveys too late for the bonus to post this week, 2 more qualifying dines done this week so far that haven't posted yet, and I except I'll do a half dozen or so more in the remaining week+ (including on a weekend trip). I had to pause for several weeks because first I was out of the country, then I was broke for a little while from being out of the country! :)

Now it's too bad that I'm average every other new dine meriting a not-so-good review (though in between I have found a few good places I wouldn't have known about that might merit returns once this promo is over, including one that's threating to "leave soon" and thus not be around once this promo is over).

How did you do in September? Your post here encouraged me to get out and chase this bonus as there are many new participating restaurants within ~10 miles of my home/work. I've got 32 new bonus eligible visits to date and am hoping to get a few more in during this 11th hour of the offering.

Nice, zen, I'll look forward to meeting you at a Weight Watchers' Meeting. Me, I'm at 26 +/-, and running out of steam. Put another way, I'm one 500-mile bonus away from a super saver AA one-way award xcross country...puts a little context to the effort, at least for me.

LOL, I'm doing my best not over-indulge in food/drink or over-spend. From the 32 dines my average total per dine cost was $28.60. With leftovers though my average per meal cost is just a shade under $13. I've earned a total of 21,016 miles so far so seems like the miles were a pretty good buy. The only downside is all the bad new restaurants that I've visited and of course, the time wasted visiting them. On the other hand though, I've discovered quite a few good places that I'm looking forward to visiting again.

Nice, zen, I'll look forward to meeting you at a Weight Watchers' Meeting. Me, I'm at 26 +/-, and running out of steam. Put another way, I'm one 500-mile bonus away from a super saver AA one-way award xcross country...puts a little context to the effort, at least for me.

LOL, I'm doing my best not over-indulge in food/drink or over-spend. From the 32 dines my average total per dine cost was $28.60. With leftovers though my average per meal cost is just a shade under $13. I've earned a total of 21,016 miles so far so seems like the miles were a pretty good buy. The only downside is all the bad new restaurants that I've visited and of course, the time wasted visiting them. On the other hand though, I've discovered quite a few good places that I'm looking forward to visiting again.

I'll need to tabulate my totals, but I gained inches on my waist thanks to this promo. :p
Speaking of which, will the loyal participants here have plans to slow down after the promo period is over? I'm trying to stay motivated here, but the lack of the 500 mile bonus after the end of the month is not very encouraging for me.

...will the...participants here have plans to slow down after the promo period is over? I'm trying to stay motivated here, but the lack of the 500 mile bonus after the end of the month is not very encouraging for me.

Last month 11 of my 13 dines (and over 90% of miles) were new restaurant-hoppers, and one of the two non-eligibles was a restaurant that I thought that I had not been to in over two years, but apparently didn't qualify for the bonus. I don't see myself going much out of my way for 5 miles so without another bonus my rewards dining will reduce greatly.

I will definitely be slowing down. Assuming that the UAL RN program doesn't offer a similar promotion I'll probably be limiting myself to a reasonable number of dines out per month again as I did in the past. This particular promo (used wisely) was just too good to pass up.Speaking of which, will the loyal participants here have plans to slow down after the promo period is over?

This particular promo (used wisely) was just too good to pass up.
At a minimum of 625 miles per qualifying dine, I aggressively tried to go out of my way to earn qualifying dines. The promo definitely worked on me and revitalized my interest in the program.
Even after the promo ends, I'll still follow my long-standing habit to make the effort to try to get every dine be an iDine meal, but I won't be as eager to explore new places to get fatter at.
RN, please extend this promo!

There is a family owned chain of local Mexican restaurants in my metro area. They are almost all participants of the AA RN program. I frequent one of the participants and thus it wasn't eligible for the promo. Another that we go to sometimes doesn't participate so I just didn't think any more about it. It finally dawned on me that I can visit the other four that are in my vicinity just to purchase $25 gift cards and then use them later at those closer to home when it's convenient. Have confirmed that they sell gift cards in the establishments and now only need to map out the locations and make the time over the next two days to hit all four. Crazy way to earn ~2500 miles, but I've become slightly overzealous when it comes to this particular bonus. Heck, it finally got me to join flyertalk after many years of lurking here. ;)

...I've become slightly overzealous....


Zen, I am starting to worry about you, and when I think somebody Idines too much it may be time for an intervention.

That said, and my real reason for responding, is that in the back of my mind I seem to recall some problems with hitting the exact dollar amount to get a bonus. Perhaps this is an old problem that has been solved, and nobody has complained lately, but it might be worth grossing up the gift cards to $25.50 just to be on the safe side.

Oh, btw, I'm up to 29...in your league, but not your neighborhood.

There is a family owned chain of local Mexican restaurants in my metro area. They are almost all participants of the AA RN program. I frequent one of the participants and thus it wasn't eligible for the promo. Another that we go to sometimes doesn't participate so I just didn't think any more about it. It finally dawned on me that I can visit the other four that are in my vicinity just to purchase $25 gift cards and then use them later at those closer to home when it's convenient. Have confirmed that they sell gift cards in the establishments and now only need to map out the locations and make the time over the next two days to hit all four. Crazy way to earn ~2500 miles, but I've become slightly overzealous when it comes to this particular bonus. Heck, it finally got me to join flyertalk after many years of lurking here. ;)
Good strategy. I do that with Denny's. The Denny's locations in my area don't participate, but occasionally in my travels I encounter one that does, and get a gift card(s) to use later.

Zen, I am starting to worry about you, and when I think somebody Idines too much it may be time for an intervention.

That said, and my real reason for responding, is that in the back of my mind I seem to recall some problems with hitting the exact dollar amount to get a bonus. Perhaps this is an old problem that has been solved, and nobody has complained lately, but it might be worth grossing up the gift cards to $25.50 just to be on the safe side.

Oh, btw, I'm up to 29...in your league, but not your neighborhood.

This was discussed years ago (I think the famous Marathon Man brought it up) that RN rounds DOWN when calculating totals, so out of habit I always kick in a little extra to make sure I'm comfortably above the qualifying threshold.

I'm kind of exhausted from the frenzy of activity chasing this particular bonus and in a very strange way, I'm actually looking a little bit forward to the program ending tomorrow.

As far as the $25 exact amount goes - I am being paid the 500 mile bonus earnings on those dines of $25 even. Initially, I would go to $26 to be on the safe side, but one got past me at $25 and it paid out so I don't worry about that any longer.

As far as the gift cards goes. I've had some pretty good luck so far. I travelled last night to purchase one and then hit two locations this afternoon. Unfortunately, one of them changed owners two weeks ago and wasn't yet updated on the RN website so still showed as participating so I came up short there. Am going to try to make it to the final locale tomorrow afternoon.

29 is nothing short of great! Nicely done. I'm at 40 as of now and hope to hit two locations tonight - one for drinks and appetizers and another for a live music show. Then one more gift card tomorrow so hopefully will close out the month at 43 total.
Zen, I am starting to worry about you, and when I think somebody Idines too much it may be time for an intervention.

That said, and my real reason for responding, is that in the back of my mind I seem to recall some problems with hitting the exact dollar amount to get a bonus. Perhaps this is an old problem that has been solved, and nobody has complained lately, but it might be worth grossing up the gift cards to $25.50 just to be on the safe side.

Oh, btw, I'm up to 29...in your league, but not your neighborhood.

I'm kind of exhausted from the frenzy of activity chasing this particular bonus and in a very strange way, I'm actually looking a little bit forward to the program ending tomorrow.

Haha, I feel the opposite way. Fortunately I don't have as strong as a compulsion as you do to maximize your benefits from this offer, or I know I'd be tired of it too. ;)

This was discussed years ago (I think the famous Marathon Man brought it up) that RN rounds DOWN when calculating totals, so out of habit I always kick in a little extra to make sure I'm comfortably above the qualifying threshold.
But where in this promotion does RN do any "calculating totals"? In some parallel promotions like Alasksa's 1000 bonus miles for every $100 cumulative spend, yes, there are totals to calculate. But in this promo, each dine has to be $25 or more as it comes from the restaurant, and thus I see no place for RN to round or not round, since there's nothing for them to calculate.

It's the restaurant you may have to worry about in this promotion, especially if your math on the tip is wrong. Some restaurants sometimes err on what they think is your side if your math is wrong (adds up to 24.99 instead of the 25.00 you wrote, for example), or they think maybe you didn't mean to leave such a large tip, but of course that's wouldn't help you at all in the case of this kind of promo.

But where in this promotion does RN do any "calculating totals"? In some parallel promotions like Alasksa's 1000 bonus miles for every $100 cumulative spend, yes, there are totals to calculate. But in this promo, each dine has to be $25 or more as it comes from the restaurant, and thus I see no place for RN to round or not round, since there's nothing for them to calculate.

It's the restaurant you may have to worry about in this promotion, especially if your math on the tip is wrong. Some restaurants sometimes err on what they think is your side if your math is wrong (adds up to 24.99 instead of the 25.00 you wrote, for example), or they think maybe you didn't mean to leave such a large tip, but of course that's wouldn't help you at all in the case of this kind of promo.
I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight when I posted. MM's original post from long ago (back when 10 miles/dollar was the minimum one could earn) was about how RN used to round down when calculating totals. For example, a $24.99 tab would be 240 miles, not 250 miles.
Sorry.

Here's my final tally:
45 dines
$1,226.04 spent
$1,232.79 if you count the few times that I had to pay parking
2,9417 miles earned total including the 4 dines that earned 'all double, no trouble' with the rest earning the 5x per mile rate
$27.25 spent on average per dine so I didn't go over $25 very often
$12.77 spent per meal considering all the left overs that I brought home. I counted the gift cards as 2x meals and wound up with 4 $25 gift cards.

Very productive especially when you consider the low per-meal cost. I didn't throw anything away so it didn't really cost me much at all to earn the miles. Would probably have spent close to that on normal dines out.

In terms of lost productivity this was a big loss. I spent way too much time and energy on it. I could have read a few good books at least, but instead spent time and energy chasing this bonus. Crazy.

A big time positive is that it makes up a little bit at least for the really stupid redemption that I did from my AA account for 25000 miles and only earned the equivalent of a $240 round trip flight with horrible flight times.

Well done!

Here's my final tally:
45 dines
...