Your elite dining status will be good through 31 December, 2007.
Yes, you will qualify by using any 12 transactions, no matter the cost. You are correct that once your account has been set up you will see the exact days that the restaurants give credit. Places that are not available every day usually are off-the-scheme on weekends. You will see an X under the listing to indicate no miles on that day. Most of them have a restriction of $600/month maximum for miles, and a few have a restriction of "one-visit-per-month"; that is a calendar month, so a visit on 31 August, and 1 September would both earn miles. You might also see a few places where the diner must make a specific reservation via Rewards Network in advance to get miles. They are rare, but do exist. As a tourist that sounds like it would be more trouble than it is worth.
You should be careful to save each credit card receipt in case a transaction does not post. However, you can get credit by sending a copy of your credit card statement with the missing transaction showing, if necessary. If a visit has not posted a week after the credit card charge, you can contact Rewards Network to ask about it. In most cases, they will ask you to fax a copy of the receipt(s) to their office. You should see the missing miles appear at your Rewards Network account about a week after your fax was sent.
Good luck!
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