iDine/Rewards Network - American Airlines 30 Days of Dining (May 18 - June 16, 2011)

The deal is - between May 18 and June 16 2011, register, dine, spend $30 or more including tip and taxes, rate the dine within thirty days, earn 300 bonus miles per dine, with no limit on number of dines / bonus miles you earn. So, thirty dollar increments earn batches of 300 miles, no limits - $15 each at two dines, $30 = 300 miles. (Read this through, please.)

One can register directly at: http://aa.rewardsnetwork.com/bonus.htm (after signing in, of course)

As roqdawg quoted in the master bonus thread,

The American Airlines AAdvantage® program is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but you’re the one getting a gift–a month of AAdvantage® bonus miles!
Register for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus and you’ll earn 300 AAdvantage® bonus miles for every $30 you spend dining. Earn it over and over and over again – there is no limit to the number of bonus miles you can earn.

It’s this easy:
1 Register for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus*
2 Dine at participating restaurants from May 18–June 16, 2011
3 Earn 300 AAdvantage® bonus miles for every $30 you spend.
30 Days of Dining Bonus Details

This bonus offer is open to all members of the AAdvantage DiningSM program. To qualify, you must register for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus through the links on this page. If you are a new member or a member without a profile, you must enroll and complete a dining profile during bonus registration. A dining profile includes creating a web login and opting in and remaining 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 at least $30 (including tax and tip) in any combination incrementally (NOT per dine) at participating restaurants, bars or clubs between May 18 and June 16, 2011. 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. You may earn 300 AAdvantage miles for every $30 you spend. There is no maximum number of AAdvantage miles you may earn. Offer is not combinable with other AAdvantage DiningSM bonuses. Please allow 4–6 weeks from June 16, 2011 for any bonus AAdvantage miles to post to your AAdvantage account. All account inquiries related to this bonus must be received by August 15, 2011.

Please note that some restaurants offer rewards only on certain days of the week or up to a maximum spending amount per month. For complete program Terms and Conditions, guidelines and restrictions, and the latest rewards calendar, visit aa.rewardsnetwork.com. Other limitations may apply.

In the above language, there is nothing stating you must dine and rate the dine - but the confirmation e-mail stipulates:

Dear JDiver,

Thank you for registering for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus promotion with the AAdvantage DiningSM program.

You are now eligible to earn 300 AAdvantage® bonus miles for every $30 you spend by June 16, 2011. You must also complete your dining reviews within 30 days of each dine.

Please note that activity that occurred prior to registering for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus promotion will not be eligible for the promotion. Please see the Bonus Details.

Sincerely,
AAdvantage DiningSM Member Services
Email: aa@rewardsnetwork.com
300 South Park Road
Suite 300
Hollywood, FL 33021
Phone: (800) 479-5981


DO BE AWARE - they should have been more disclosing, as the steps are really:

It’s this easy:

t’s this easy:
1 Register for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus*
2 Dine at participating restaurants from May 18–June 16, 2011
2A RATE THE DINE WITHIN 30 DAYS
3 Earn 300 AAdvantage® bonus miles for every $30 you spend.

Don't be disappointed - be aware you MUST rate the dine within thirty days of dining, or you will get bupkis.

I saw that in my confirmation email as well. Although not in the T&Cs, it's better to be safe than sorry. And it really doesn't take much time to do the review.

Got started on it yesterday, nice to see a promotion for AA earning Diners ^

The deal is - between May 18 and June 16 2011, register, dine, spend $40 or more per dine including tip and taxes, rate the dine within thirty days, earn 300 bonus miles per dine, with no limit on number of dines / bonus miles you earn. (Read this through, please.)

I believe it's spend $30 or more including tax and tip to receive the bonus.

And thanks for pointing out the review requirement, I missed that. DOH! That would have SUCKED!

Thanks! Correckshin made. I guess I fatfingered that - recovering from foodborne illness but getting better daily. No, no RN restaurant... ;)

I believe it's spend $30 or more including tax and tip to receive the bonus.

One thing I'm not quite clear on. Does this work out to 15 miles per $$ for VIP members or 10 miles?

In other words, if I spend $30 do I receive 300 BONUS miles on top of my standard 150 miles for a total of 450?

Or is it just 150 + 150 for a total of 300?

Thoughts? Thanks.

JDiver, in your post you indicate $30 or more per dine for the bonus. However, as I read the following in the T&C, it's $30 in aggregate to get the bonus:

"you must spend at least $30 (including tax and tip) in any combination of dines at participating restaurants..."

In other words, if I spend $30 do I receive 300 BONUS miles on top of my standard 150 miles for a total of 450?.

Yes. Bonuses are awarded on top of base miles earned for the actual dine.

And thanks for pointing out the review requirement, I missed that. DOH! That would have SUCKED!

How very sneaky.
The official T&C never make mention of needing to fill out the dining review. It is only mentioned in the confirmation email.

I didn't register until May 20, and the email I got simply says:


Dear sdsearch,

Thank you for registering for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus promotion with the AAdvantage DiningSM program.

You are now eligible to earn 300 AAdvantage® bonus miles for every $30 you spend by June 16, 2011.

Please note that activity that occurred prior to registering for the 30 Days of Dining Bonus promotion will not be eligible for the promotion. Please see the Bonus Details.

Sincerely,

AAdvantage DiningSM Member Services
Email: aa@rewardsnetwork.com
300 South Park Road
Suite 300
Hollywood, FL 33021
Phone: (800) 479-5981



Is the difference because they fixed it by May 20th, or because YMMV??? :confused:

I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you, sd, that the path of least resistance is to go ahead and rate your 3x dines, as who wants to fight over language that was/wasn’t in an email.

I do take pride, however, in never rating a restaurant without a bonus, gleefully deleting the annoying emails asking me what I loved about such and such restaurant.

The first two bonuses, earned for dinners last Wednesday and Thursday, have already posted to the dining program. I did reviews for each of these dines almost immediately. I'm going to wait on dines I did Sunday, Tuesday, and last night to see if the bonuses post without the reviews since the first two posted so quickly.

I see the need to get a bunch of friends and family together to do a group dinner at a program restaurant and then serve as the check coordinator for the table: "Your share is $35, yours is $42, yeah, just give me the cash, I'll put it on my credit card." The possibility of a $300 or so tab yielding 4500 miles with my own spending share around $45? Seems within reach.

And the miles for those bonuses have now posted from the dining program to my AAdvantage account.

Hello, I'm a newbie here :)

I am hoping someone with more experience could help me learn whether
there is a restriction on earning miles for gift certificates in an AAdvantage dining restaurant? Or would it depend on the restaurant?

I know eshopping typically has this restriction, but I have not seen it in the T&C of AAdvantage dining. I am hoping to quickly earn and have miles posted to account to book an award ticket.

Thank you for your help.

As I progress toward a Platinum status, I hope to be able to contribute toward the wealth of useful information here

Hello, I'm a newbie here :)

I am hoping someone with more experience could help me learn whether
there is a restriction on earning miles for gift certificates in an AAdvantage dining restaurant? Or would it depend on the restaurant?

I know eshopping typically has this restriction, but I have not seen it in the T&C of AAdvantage dining. I am hoping to quickly earn and have miles posted to account to book an award ticket.

Thank you for your help.

As I progress toward a Platinum status, I hope to be able to contribute toward the wealth of useful information here

I've never encountered any restrictions, beyond the same ones that apply to actual dining, i.e some restaurants will only award miles on certain days, and some have a monthly limit on the dollar amount that can earn miles.

Gift certs are a great way to earn VIP status quickly (buy several certs at one time to get yourself up to 11 dines, but be sure to buy them in different denominations if all purchased on the same day at the same place.) The current AA 300 miles for $30 promotion is perfect for this. Buy a (cheap) meal, then purchase gift certs for $5, $10, & $15 on separate transactions. In one restaurant visit you will have earned the 300 mile bonus as well as four dines toward VIP status. Once you reach VIP then you might consider buying high denomination certs that will earn you 5 miles/$ for each card purchased (plus any bonus miles in effect at the time of purchase.)

Gift certs are also a way to deal with restaurants that don't give miles on a day that you plan to dine--just buy the gift cert on another day that points are awarded, and use it on a day when points are not awarded.

Thanks for the reminder that the bonus only goes til the 16th of June. I had it in my mind that it went through the entire month.
Also glad the reviews requirement was mentioned. I didn't read the confirmation email, so I would have missed that.

Thank you for your fast reply, bob12403!

The restaurant I have in mind has a special Memorial day deal on gift cards - 25% off. If I understand correctly, sometimes when there is an additional discount miles may not be granted (to prevent double-dipping).
Would it make sense to nonetheless purchase the card today? Should it fail to yield miles due to the discount, I plan to return the card and purchasing another, regular price, card... Any words of warning?

Thank you again :)

I've never heard of being able to return a gift card before?

I've never heard of being able to return a gift card before?

I haven't done that before. As long as I have the original receipt and the card hasn't been used (the restaurant should be able to check the balance of the card they issued), I thought it would be ok. But thank you for bringing this up. I should check. Perhaps I was too optimistic.

Years ago, back in the days when the old iDine was once-a-month at all joints (a flat 10x/visit, no promos) my family and I were visiting San Francisco. We dined at a somewhat pricey iDine joint, which my folks decided would be a good place to buy a $100 gift certificate for local friends as a gift. I made a point of specifying that I wanted the tab and cert as a single charge. You guessed it. They presented me with a separate charge slip to sign for the cert (this was back when I was only a member of one program).

Thank you for the warning. The idea of buying gift certificates might be a "hit or miss" depending on the particular restaurant, or simply too good to be true/to work out smoothly each time :)

I have hopefully clarified the OP - 300 miles for every $30 incrementally spent.

One could, as I see it, spend $10 per dine for three dines and earn 300 miles, or spend $900 at one restaurant (I hope not... and recall many limit $1,000 per month), and earn 9,000 miles. (Well, why not? Round up the coworkers, family, friends...)

And no limits, but it's over June 16 AFAIK.






I believe it's spend $30 or more including tax and tip to receive the bonus.

One thing I'm not quite clear on. Does this work out to 15 miles per $$ for VIP members or 10 miles?

In other words, if I spend $30 do I receive 300 BONUS miles on top of my standard 150 miles for a total of 450?

Or is it just 150 + 150 for a total of 300?

Thoughts? Thanks.

JDiver, in your post you indicate $30 or more per dine for the bonus. However, as I read the following in the T&C, it's $30 in aggregate to get the bonus:

"you must spend at least $30 (including tax and tip) in any combination of dines at participating restaurants..."

I have hopefully clarified the OP - 300 miles for every $30 incrementally spent.

One could, as I see it, spend $10 per dine for three dines and earn 300 miles, or spend $900 at one restaurant (I hope not... and recall many limit $1,000 per month), and earn 9,000 miles.
Actually, some restaurants have a limit of only $600 (in my home area, all the one-dine-a-month restaurants seem to have that lower limit), so I don't recommend blindly spending $900 without checking the limit at that particular restaurant.

I have hopefully clarified the OP - 300 miles for every $30 incrementally spent.

One could, as I see it, spend $10 per dine for three dines and earn 300 miles, or spend $900 at one restaurant (I hope not... and recall many limit $1,000 per month), and earn 9,000 miles. (Well, why not? Round up the coworkers, family, friends...)

And no limits, but it's over June 16 AFAIK.

This question was conclusively answered by AA's official rep in the 30th Anniversary master thread:

There is no limit to the number of miles you can earn during the 30 Days of Dining promotion. A total cumulative number will be taken at the end of the month and for every $30 spent, 300 miles will be awarded.

Hope that answers your question. Enjoy the meals and miles!

This question was conclusively answered by AA's official rep in the 30th Anniversary master thread:

Thank you for posting this information. I have already received 300 bonus miles for my first dine above $30 on top of my regular x5 miles. Has anyone had more than one bonus posted already?

The end of the month is today, so it looks like the additional bonuses I earned on my second visit (for which miles show as 'pending' on my account) should also be awarded soon. I do hope that the rep's information is correct, and bonus points are posted as their corresponding dines become awarded rather than at the end of the promotion period (June 16th).

Thank you for posting this information. I have already received 300 bonus miles for my first dine above $30 on top of my regular x5 miles. Has anyone had more than one bonus posted already?

The end of the month is today, so it looks like the additional bonuses I earned on my second visit (for which miles show as 'pending' on my account) should also be awarded soon. I do hope that the rep's information is correct, and bonus points are posted as their corresponding dines become awarded rather than at the end of the promotion period (June 16th).

Your post seems contradictory - on the one hand you verify that you received your first 300 miles, and on the other you're concerned you'll have to wait until after the promotion to get credit?

Your post seems contradictory - on the one hand you verify that you received your first 300 miles, and on the other you're concerned you'll have to wait until after the promotion to get credit?

Sorry, I should have added that when I received my first bonus, the extra 300 miles were also shown as pending.
I have just checked my account. My second dine, which was less than $30 (but added the first dine, the total comes over $60, thus I expect another 300 miles bonus) has been paid but the bonus has not been added. I have made a large purchase of gift certificates (because I need miles by a deadline for an award ticket), and am anxious to have the bonuses awarded before the end of the promotion.

Based on this information, is it reasonable to assume that if an individual dine is over $30, bonus 300 is awarded with base miles, and if a dine is below, summing up happens at the end of the promotion (clearly it's not the end of the month)?
Anyone else have additional pieces of information from their experience to validate or disprove this hypothesis?
Thank you

Based on this information, is it reasonable to assume that if an individual dine is over $30, bonus 300 is awarded with base miles, and if a dine is below, summing up happens at the end of the promotion (clearly it's not the end of the month)?
Anyone else have additional pieces of information from their experience to validate or disprove this hypothesis?
Thank you

This has not been my expeience. I had a dine over $90 and no 300 mile bonus posted to date. (Dines on 5/20 and 5/23). They both just showed up in my AA account today so perhaps I will see the 300 bonus soon. Did you see 300 reflected on the iDine site, AA site, or both?

This has not been my expeience. I had a dine over $90 and no 300 mile bonus posted to date. (Dines on 5/20 and 5/23). They both just showed up in my AA account today so perhaps I will see the 300 bonus soon. Did you see 300 reflected on the iDine site, AA site, or both?

Both sites showed my bonus.
Another alternative would have been the case where once the $30 minimum has been covered (which in my case happened to be the first dine), the first 300 bonus miles were awarded. All other bonuses are computed at the end of the promotional period. However, your case does not support this hypothesis.

It seems like if an individual dine is between $30 and $60, the bonus is awarded at the same time as the base miles. If it's over $60 (i.e., over 300 bonus points), the bonus is awarded at the end of the promotion (and not the end of the month, as the AA rep stated.)

That is a shame, because I won't have the miles that need awarded on time :(

Sorry, I should have added that when I received my first bonus, the extra 300 miles were also shown as pending.
I have just checked my account. My second dine, which was less than $30 (but added the first dine, the total comes over $60, thus I expect another 300 miles bonus) has been paid but the bonus has not been added. I have made a large purchase of gift certificates (because I need miles by a deadline for an award ticket), and am anxious to have the bonuses awarded before the end of the promotion.

Based on this information, is it reasonable to assume that if an individual dine is over $30, bonus 300 is awarded with base miles, and if a dine is below, summing up happens at the end of the promotion (clearly it's not the end of the month)?
Anyone else have additional pieces of information from their experience to validate or disprove this hypothesis?
Thank you

I may not completely understand your question about "summing up," but my experience so far has been that the miles I would normally earn for a dine post to the program within several days, followed several days later by any bonus I may have earned. For instance, for my first two dines when the promotion started, my VIP miles posted to the program a day or two after the dine, my bonus miles posted to the program a day or two after that, and my AAdvantage account reflected these miles by the end of last week.

BTW, I just checked both my AAdvantage account and the dining program. The dining program credits me as having earned 600 bonus miles (correct off the first two dines that totaled about $80). My AAdvantage account credits me as having earned 1800 miles, which would be correct, if all of my dines, including those from as recently as Sunday, were included in my cumulative total. Two points of interest off this: I haven't done the reviews for several of the restaurants included in the cumulative total (which would jibe with the T&Cs but not necessarily an email many of us received that seemed to include a review requirement), and my AAdvantage account doesn't include the mileage for several of the dines on which the bonuses were based.

I've learned in my year of participation in the dining promotion that miles post when they post. I've only had one dine not post within several weeks, and when I contacted the program to inquire about it was informed that I had not received the miles because the restaurant didn't offer miles the night I ate there (which was true--I just missed it in the description of the restaurant). Figure there are three steps that must occur for these miles to post to your AAdvantage mileage account: the credit card company has to report the spending, the dining program has to credit the miles, and then AAdvantage must get the information about your earned miles from the dining program. Sometimes this happens quickly; sometimes not so quickly.

Figure there are three steps that must occur for these miles to post to your AAdvantage mileage account: the credit card company has to report the spending, the dining program has to credit the miles, and then AAdvantage must get the information about your earned miles from the dining program. Sometimes this happens quickly; sometimes not so quickly.

Thank you very much for explaining this! Based on several instances I was trying to deduce ‘the rules’. Having read your post, I now agree that “Sometimes [miles post] happens quickly; sometimes not so quickly”, is the best way to think about it.

Just to clarify why I started this discussion. In my case, for my first dine (above $30), there was no delay in getting credit for my bonus 300 miles: both were posted at the same time in my RN and my aa.com accounts. For the second dine (<30$) I already received the base miles. However, given that the total of the first plus second dines was over $60, I expected an additional 300 bonus to post at the same time as the miles from my second dine (because I assumed that base and bonus miles are posted at the same time). Now I know that it’s also possible to have a delay between base miles and bonus miles posting.
Thank you again

I seriously doubt that they're going to award some promo miles up front, and some after it's all over.

Often what happens it that there's a lag of a cycle or two -- as though they send the base miles first and then the system scans the "total spent" for the next $30 threshold: Base pending --> Base sent --> Promo miles pending --> Promo miles sent. That's been my experience in the past with these incremental promos. I think the rep who said "end of the month" was winging it, or estimating the maximum posting time.

I already had many dines, but still haven't received any bonus miles yet.

I already had many dines, but still haven't received any bonus miles yet.

I'd put in a call, as most people are getting the bonuses to post.

Decent RN promos are so few and far between that I have pent up demand when something as juicy as this comes along. Already I have had 10 bonuses post to both my AA and RN accounts, with about 18 pending. I am, like many on this board (and I hope that the RN Rep takes note and shares with management) highly miles sensitive and elastic; once 5 miles per $ returns my interest wanes.

Sounds like you've been hitting the restaurants for lunch and dinner daily. I've got about half that many dines because I mostly go out to dinner rather than lunch. I'm fortunate that a couple of places I would go to anyway are in the program, but my interest similarly wanes when the rewards return to 5 miles per dollar.

Sounds like you've been hitting the restaurants for lunch and dinner daily....

Sheepishly, I must admit that an almost-15-miles-per-dollar RN promo makes me into a better person. I remember someone’s complimentary tickets kindness with a $25 RN coffee card. It suddenly seems like a good idea to drop by my neighbor’s office to take him to an Idinery for lunch to see how he’s doing since the recent death of his wife. Heck, I even invited my mother-in-law to join us at an (you guessed it) upscale restaurant for dinner.

I am entirely sure that if this promo was extended long enough I would be short-listed for a Nobel Peace Prize. But, alas, I’m less than two weeks from cheap and cranky.

Sheepishly, I must admit that an almost-15-miles-per-dollar RN promo makes me into a better person. I remember someone’s complimentary tickets kindness with a $25 RN coffee card. It suddenly seems like a good idea to drop by my neighbor’s office to take him to an Idinery for lunch to see how he’s doing since the recent death of his wife. Heck, I even invited my mother-in-law to join us at an (you guessed it) upscale restaurant for dinner.

I am entirely sure that if this promo was extended long enough I would be short-listed for a Nobel Peace Prize. But, alas, I’m less than two weeks from cheap and cranky.

After I made my post, I realized that gift certificates had to be in there somewhere. I haven't bought any yet, but my sister and brother-in-law's 45th wedding anniversary is just around the corner. One of their favorite restaurants is in the program. They just won't know that the $150 gift certificate I'm buying them as an anniversary present will also include a gift to me!

There you go, wild, it’s like you have become Mother Theresa, Gandhi, J.D. Rockefeller and Bernie Madoff combined.

I had some 30 DAY bonus miles post May 18, then a slug of them May 26, and nothing since - typical for RN batch processing / posting. But if you signed up for the bonus and dined prior to May, say, 23 or 24 and have had nothing post, I'd verify I am signed up and call - if patient I'd wait until mid next week.

I already had many dines, but still haven't received any bonus miles yet.

My first 300 posted. I missed the fine print in the promotion that the 1000 new member bonus and 300/$30 offer could not be combined. Of course my bad luck that the new member bonus was applied to a $90 dine so I loose out on 600 miles. :rolleyes:

I imagine most of us have made the occasional mistake, biggreen. Sorry!

My first tranche of 300 mile bonuses posted successfully May 26 (paid May 31), the second tranche posted June 2 (paid to AA June 7). Last few days are near, it's time to make sure I end this as close to (slightly over) a $30 increment as possible. (And be sure to RATE those dines within the time allowed - hate to miss 300 or more miles on a technicality!)

Gotta say that this promo, coupled with a wealth of new good participants in my town, have gotten me excited about this program again! (At least til Thursday ;))

Last few days are near, it's time to make sure I end this as close to (slightly over) a $30 increment as possible. (And be sure to RATE those dines within the time allowed - hate to miss 300 or more miles on a technicality!)

Good thought. I was aiming for a nice round number, but no reason not to hit or slightly exceed the next $30 threshold. Although I have received bonuses for dines that I had not rated, I went ahead and cleared out a batch today, just in case.

Good thought. I was aiming for a nice round number, but no reason not to hit or slightly exceed the next $30 threshold. Although I have received bonuses for dines that I had not rated, I went ahead and cleared out a batch today, just in case.


It may not work as you planed. They process the bonus miles not at one time but in batches, and it is timed to minimize your bonus miles. Bonus miles will post when you are close to multiple of $30, for example, at $59 spending, it post 300 miles, then next $58 spending, it posts $300, a final $35 spending will give you another 300 miles.

This seems to be the pattern for my bonus miles.

I am going to resist the temptation to run a spreadsheet and try to exactly hit a multiple of $30, and let the chips fall where they may.

So far twenty of these 300-ers have posted. Coincidentally, for the first time in quite a while I’m having a problem with missing dines: two restaurants to the tune of over $400. One misfire, however, was entirely my fault; my wife picked up three $100 gift certificates that showed as three separate $100 transactions, thereby fooling the system into thinking it was a mistake (it’s an unlimited dine place, so it will sort itself out, but it’s an aggravation). They were gifts, so couldn’t really vary the amount, and so I anticipated not getting but one $100 credit without emailing documentation.

It may not work as you planed. They process the bonus miles not at one time but in batches, and it is timed to minimize your bonus miles. Bonus miles will post when you are close to multiple of $30, for example, at $59 spending, it post 300 miles, then next $58 spending, it posts $300, a final $35 spending will give you another 300 miles.

This seems to be the pattern for my bonus miles.

I'm not sure that's the case. I dined for $55.96 on 5/27/11 and $111.63 on 5/28/11 for a total of $167.59. I then received 6 x 300mi bonuses post on 6/7/11. In your scenario, I would have only received 1 bonus for the first dine and 3 bonuses for the second dine.

AmericanAirlines has posted on the topic here:
There is no limit to the number of miles you can earn during the 30 Days of Dining promotion. A total cumulative number will be taken at the end of the month and for every $30 spent, 300 miles will be awarded.

Hope that answers your question. Enjoy the meals and miles!

Mrs. dstan had a bonus post on 5/31/11, so I suppose it is possible that the counter resets weekly. I don't have enough data to tell yet.

It may not work as you planed. They process the bonus miles not at one time but in batches, and it is timed to minimize your bonus miles. Bonus miles will post when you are close to multiple of $30, for example, at $59 spending, it post 300 miles, then next $58 spending, it posts $300, a final $35 spending will give you another 300 miles.

This seems to be the pattern for my bonus miles.

Definitely not the pattern for the posting of my bonus miles. Excluding my pending dines, I have been credited with $248.26 under the promotion and 8 bonuses. The great part for me: I've got pending dines at several times this amount as well as a few I'll do this week so I'm awaiting a nice chunk of miles!

By far the most productive part of the AA 30 Deals promo for me.

It may not work as you planed. They process the bonus miles not at one time but in batches, and it is timed to minimize your bonus miles. Bonus miles will post when you are close to multiple of $30, for example, at $59 spending, it post 300 miles, then next $58 spending, it posts $300, a final $35 spending will give you another 300 miles.

This seems to be the pattern for my bonus miles.
That may be how it happened for you, but as you said, it happens in batches. The batch runs are determined by their calendar, not by how many miles you have earned. If you have already earned exactly $30 and no more at the time they run their batch for the time period they're considering in the batch (which may be further back than the day the batch is run), you'll get the 300 out of that batch. If you earn less than $30 when they run their first batch, and then are at $59 when they run their next batch, it's because of their batch timing, not because they waited until you were at $59, that it took that long for you to get the 300.

This is harder to see in this short-run $30 promo, but I'm sure it's no different than the many other "every $xx, you get yyy bonus miles" promos they've been running off and on in different airline programs for several years now.

It's easiest to see when you have the right circumstances (say, an out-of-country trip in the middle of the a longer promo of this kind where you earn nothing for a while but everything gets "caught up" at their end).

It may not work as you planed. They process the bonus miles not at one time but in batches, and it is timed to minimize your bonus miles. Bonus miles will post when you are close to multiple of $30, for example, at $59 spending, it post 300 miles, then next $58 spending, it posts $300, a final $35 spending will give you another 300 miles.

This seems to be the pattern for my bonus miles.


By far, the pettiest question here, but I am puzzled why $ amounts are rounded down and whether the same happens when the bonus 300 miles are awarded for $30 spent...

Two of my dines ended up costing $13.51 and $30.59.
As I earn 5 miles/USD, I was expecting to receive respectively 68 miles ($13.51 x 5=67.55) and 153 miles ($30.59 x 5=152.95) but instead miles seem to be rounded down :confused:
To have my last dine add up for a neat 300 bonus, I guess I should round down my spending and assume I need $17 (instead of $16 if I considered the cent amounts too)... Anyone know whether the rules are listed somewhere?

Just be sure that your charge after tip ends in a multiple of 20 cents. I would've added at least another $.09 and $.01 to those amounts -- if not just rounded the net charge up to $14 and $31.

(PC dining @ 8 ppd should be multiples of $.25)

I’m just about to stick a fork in this lucrative bonus as I’m soon off to Europe (on RN AA miles, thank you very much). Should finish in the low 50’s, depending on how the $30 break hits and assuming I get credit for dines that didn’t post.

For 30 days, my RN dining passion was totally reignited.

For 30 days, my RN dining passion was totally reignited.

^ RewardsNetwork take note!

^ RewardsNetwork take note!
Except it's not RewardsNetwork's fault that this AA promo is limited to 30 days. It's AA fault.

There are simultaneous similar promos at other airlines, including UA which is the one I'm focusing on this round, that run for 2 months (started earlier and end later).

Meanwhile, it's not my fault if you guys only use RewardsNetwork for one airline. I am able to have bonuses a much greater amount of time only because I collect miles with multiple airlines (that partner with RN).

Except it's not RewardsNetwork's fault that this AA promo is limited to 30 days. It's AA fault.

I'm thinking back quite a bit further than 30 days when I make that comment. ;)

My dines and bonus 300s are posting, but AA has been a bit buggy with non-flying miles posting for a week or so.

I was glad to see a dine I had on June 15th posted promptly (for AA at least) and with the bonus miles too.

It may not work as you planed. They process the bonus miles not at one time but in batches, and it is timed to minimize your bonus miles. Bonus miles will post when you are close to multiple of $30, for example, at $59 spending, it post 300 miles, then next $58 spending, it posts $300, a final $35 spending will give you another 300 miles.

This seems to be the pattern for my bonus miles.

I've confirmed that this is not the case (as I expected based on the T&C of the promo).

I spent $657 since my last bonus batch posted on 6/14/11 (dines thru 6/8/11) and received 11 bonuses, not 10, which is correct based on my overall total for the entire promo period of 5/18/11-6/16/11. Ergo, the bonus postings were based on running totals, not totals since last batch.

I've confirmed that this is not the case (as I expected based on the T&C of the promo).

I spent $657 since my last bonus batch posted on 6/14/11 (dines thru 6/8/11) and received 11 bonuses, not 10, which is correct based on my overall total for the entire promo period of 5/18/11-6/16/11. Ergo, the bonus postings were based on running totals, not totals since last batch.

Same here. My last "batch" fell shy of the $30 minimum, but when calculated in aggregate with previous dines, I spent enough to earn an additional 300 mile bonus, as expected.

In all my years doing iDine/Rewards Network, whenever they offer a bonus for $X amount spent in aggregate, they calculate the total spent on all dines and essentially disregard how much was spent per dine. I've never seen them calculate it in a way that would "minimize" your bonus. In this latest promo, if you spent $35 on a dine, and needed $30 for this bonus offer, the $5 differential "carried over" and was added to your next dine (s) to be calculated toward another bonus.

I didn't rate any of my dines. All bonuses have posted.

margarita girl likes to live dangerously, or at least to gamble! :D

I did rate 'em all, and all the miles, including the tranches of 300s, have posted, like good little swallows returning to the roost. ^

I didn't rate any of my dines. All bonuses have posted.

margatiragirl likes to live dangerously, or at least to gamble! :D
First of all, you can't know anything about margatiragirl; she doesn't post in this forum. It's margarita girl. But anyways:

Nah, I think she's just practicing to run for the US Congress. :) Ie, she could have simply been waiting until the last minute to rate the dines (per the version of the rules that said you did need to rate them but had XX days to do so), If the bonus posted before then, no need to rate. Only a need to rate if it was that deadline was hitting and the bonus still hadn't posted by then (or, if you wanted the bonus miles as soon as possible, so weren't willing to entail the possible delays in posting that running this experiment could entail).

Nothing that sinister. ;)

I read the rules, and didn't see anything about rating the dines, so I didn't. And I have not been checking the i-dine forum as regularly as I should have, so didn't know about this new condition. Anyhow, I got lucky and it worked out. As a rule, I refuse to rate the dines unless there is something in it for me! :)

....As a rule, I refuse to rate the dines unless there is something in it for me! :)

I am devastated that I did all those reviews without getting any actual benefit: it goes against my religion.

I am devastated that I did all those reviews without getting any actual benefit: it goes against my religion.

I hear you. Life just isn't fair sometimes!

I'm with you and Jailer - I hate to rate unless I get something for it - just habit from the "good old days" I suppose. All that rating for naught? :mad: ;)

I am glad to see all of my miles have posted without any trouble.

Nothing that sinister. ;)

I read the rules, and didn't see anything about rating the dines, so I didn't. And I have not been checking the i-dine forum as regularly as I should have, so didn't know about this new condition. Anyhow, I got lucky and it worked out. As a rule, I refuse to rate the dines unless there is something in it for me! :)