Originally Posted by cactuspete
Plenty of reasons:
1. Easy mileage credit to keep a FF account alive.
2. Many of the iDine bonus promos are X dines = bonus miles.
3. Airline promos often give credit for dines, regardless of amount, as a "qualifying activity".
4. Easy way to get the 12 dines neeeded for elite status.
5. Not everybody lives or works near a participating iDine restaurant (or has the time to get to one).
Additional reason:
6. One member of a chain is part of the IDINE program, but you live/work closer to a non-participating franchise that will accept gift cards from other locations in the chain.