AAdvantage Dining questions
Jan 24, 2022, 8:16 pm
#31
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: DCA
Programs: UA LT 1K, AA EXP, Bonvoy LT Titan, Avis PC, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,658
Problem with AAdvantage Dining - there are not many that participate. There are none in the county of VA that I live. And there is only one in the city of Washington DC. Looks like many that used to participate have dropped out. Maybe with the LP system - I guess they figure people would be playing games.
Jan 24, 2022, 10:23 pm
#32
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
Problem with AAdvantage Dining - there are not many that participate. There are none in the county of VA that I live. And there is only one in the city of Washington DC. Looks like many that used to participate have dropped out. Maybe with the LP system - I guess they figure people would be playing games.
Jan 25, 2022, 1:45 pm
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Problem with AAdvantage Dining - there are not many that participate. There are none in the county of VA that I live. And there is only one in the city of Washington DC. Looks like many that used to participate have dropped out. Maybe with the LP system - I guess they figure people would be playing games.
Jan 26, 2022, 7:41 pm
#34
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: DCA
Programs: UA LT 1K, AA EXP, Bonvoy LT Titan, Avis PC, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,658
I guess their system had an issue when I did the search.
And I now see 10 in the 20007 zip code.
Jan 27, 2022, 9:12 am
#36
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 687
As a warning to anyone ordering from Chownow through the AA Dining Portal - there's a decent mark up ~20%.
Here's the menu a restaurant near my house called Red Stix through the AA Chownow portal - https://direct.chownow.com/order/166...4-B44DA8B761ED
Here's the Toastab link directly from their site - https://www.toasttab.com/red-stix-street-food/v3
similar with another restaurant called Taverna - https://direct.chownow.com/order/176...4-B44DA8B761ED
Taverna when ordering through DoorDash - https://www.doordash.com/store/taver...m_campaign=gpa
Here's the menu a restaurant near my house called Red Stix through the AA Chownow portal - https://direct.chownow.com/order/166...4-B44DA8B761ED
Here's the Toastab link directly from their site - https://www.toasttab.com/red-stix-street-food/v3
similar with another restaurant called Taverna - https://direct.chownow.com/order/176...4-B44DA8B761ED
Taverna when ordering through DoorDash - https://www.doordash.com/store/taver...m_campaign=gpa
Feb 22, 2022, 7:12 pm
#37
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP , 1M; Marriott Lifetime Gold,
Posts: 21
Chow now fees
So chow now advocate that they charge the restaurants a flat monthly fee but I just ordered from my local Indian restaurant and can confirm that every item was a few dollars more through the chow now system than the restaurant’s own menu (they only offer the online option in advantage dining). It was self pick up only and I double checked the prices while I was waiting for my food too so I’m not sure the miles earned were worth it compared with just calling over the phone and paying at least 10% less for the food
Feb 22, 2022, 8:30 pm
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
So chow now advocate that they charge the restaurants a flat monthly fee but I just ordered from my local Indian restaurant and can confirm that every item was a few dollars more through the chow now system than the restaurant’s own menu (they only offer the online option in advantage dining). It was self pick up only and I double checked the prices while I was waiting for my food too so I’m not sure the miles earned were worth it compared with just calling over the phone and paying at least 10% less for the food
Feb 22, 2022, 9:25 pm
#39
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
You see this on doordash and Uber eats sometimes. Restaurants can choose to eat the fees themselves, or pass them on to the customer through higher prices. They set the menu prices; nothing is forcing them to set the same prices on chownow as they do in their restaurant.
Feb 22, 2022, 11:44 pm
#40
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: OC, CA
Programs: AA EXP, 2MM, HH Diamond
Posts: 832
I have checked 5-6 local restaurants on the AAdvantage dining site and they all had prices for online ordering that were 20-25% higher on AAdvantage dining/chownow than the menus (in some cases online ordering menus) on their own sites. Maybe the restaurants are choosing to set their own prices but the increase is so consistently high I have to wonder if it’s something else.
Feb 23, 2022, 7:51 am
#41
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
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.)
Feb 23, 2022, 8:22 am
#42
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 216
You see this on doordash and Uber eats sometimes. Restaurants can choose to eat the fees themselves, or pass them on to the customer through higher prices. They set the menu prices; nothing is forcing them to set the same prices on chownow as they do in their restaurant.
Feb 23, 2022, 8:46 am
#43
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, MA
Programs: AAdvantage EXP
Posts: 278
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.)
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.
Apr 27, 2022, 2:50 pm
#44
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: AA PP, UA 1K/MM, WoH Globalist, HH Gold
Posts: 1,196
The more I try to use AAdvatage Dining, the more it seems to be a sham. Others have pointed out the limited number of restaurants and how some restaurants you will only get credit if you order online.
Now it seems we can add another category: if you pay by ApplePay. Even though your charges are still going to your credit card account, since the ApplePay has a different virtual number than the number on your physical card, you don’t get any credit.
Now it seems we can add another category: if you pay by ApplePay. Even though your charges are still going to your credit card account, since the ApplePay has a different virtual number than the number on your physical card, you don’t get any credit.
Apr 27, 2022, 2:57 pm
#45
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
The more I try to use AAdvatage Dining, the more it seems to be a sham. Others have pointed out the limited number of restaurants and how some restaurants you will only get credit if you order online.
Now it seems we can add another category: if you pay by ApplePay. Even though your charges are still going to your credit card account, since the ApplePay has a different virtual number than the number on your physical card, you don’t get any credit.
Now it seems we can add another category: if you pay by ApplePay. Even though your charges are still going to your credit card account, since the ApplePay has a different virtual number than the number on your physical card, you don’t get any credit.
And yes, it's a good reminder that mobile wallets won't work with rewards programs that track through your credit card number (as the merchant never receives your actual credit card number.)