Originally Posted by
jtav559
AA Dining is a great way to rack up some easy miles, as previously mentioned.
You can get anywhere from 3 to 5 miles per dollar spent from this program. 3 miles per dollar at first, up to 5 miles per dollar after 15 dines and subsequent submitted reviews on the website. Dine count resets annually. Only rub is that sometimes the selection of participating restaurants isn't so great depending on your location. Those miles on top of the usual 1 for 1 earn rate from an AA credit card.
If you eat out once a week at a participating restaurant/bar, you can easily get to the top tier in short order.
I think AAdvantage Dining requires 11 dines (they say 12) for "VIP" status, and those can be as little as a drinks purchase with an enrolled credit card. They don't care about reviews any longer - they want you to write them, but they provide no incentives for doing so. They do require you to sign up for emails, etc. before you earn at higher mileage rates.
How much can I earn with the AAdvantage Dining program? Link to FAQ
- Members earn 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 spent if you elect to not receive email communication from the AAdvantage Dining program.
- Online Members earn 3 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from the AAdvantage Dining program.
- VIP Members earn 5 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communication from the AAdvantage Dining program AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
The paucity of decent restaurants in s ime areas is true, and they rarely offer promos. I went from earning 85,000 miles in my highest year to one dine at 280 miles this year.
OTOH, it's free, and if one has reasonable places to dine nearby, it's worth it IMO.