Originally Posted by
chrisny2
Yes - the restaurants that are available for online ordering, but not for the rest of the AAdvantage dining (i.e., dining in) are just through a partnership with chownow. My guess is that chownow charges high fees that certain restaurants choose to absorb. (I just remembered that Washington DC has a law that limits fees for services like uber eats and doordash and chownow - so maybe that helps explains the lower price points compared to other jurisdictions.)
I'm not convinced that chownow is the one charging higher fees. Consider the following example where prices at the same restaurant increase by 15% if you link to chownow through AAdvantage dining rather than use chownow directly:
AAdvantage dining:
https://direct.chownow.com/order/171...6-1204653F0DEB
directly through chownow:
https://eat.chownow.com/order/17166/locations/24518
It seems clear that you're paying specifically for the miles rather than the online ordering service. Not worth it to me, but others can do their own calculations.