jalm1

I am wondering what merchant categories Citi classifies as a restaurant for the purposes of the bonus (5x forward, 3x premier, 2x prestige). I have not experimented with the premier, nor do i have the prestige, but i am finding lately that a significant number of restaurants are coded as "Restaurants - DRINKING PLACES-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES" on my forward card and as a result do not quality for the restaurant bonus category.

Is this consistent with the Premier and Prestige or does this category qualify for those cards?

JFKjolly

I get the Forward 5X category bonus on pretty much all restaurants, coffee shops, fast food, take-outs, ....and *especially* bars ha. I've pretty much batted 1.000 on the 5X bonus over 3 years with my Forward anywhere food is prepared (precluding places where you can get pre-made food like 7-11, etc).

When did you get your Forward? There was a period starting sometime in 2013 (as evidenced here by FM: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...ites-the-dust/) where new applicants no longer received 5X on restaurants and only 1X everywhere.

jalm1

I have had mine for years. Historically, i used it for most all dining without care or issue.

However, it caught my attention on my last statement that most all the restaurant charges did not earn 5x. After following up with CSR they pointed out the charges that did not count were coded as "Restaurants - DRINKING PLACES-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES".

I went back over the last few statements and noticed this as well. However, establishments coded this way have only increased in frequency (heck some of them only serve beer and wine, and virtually every sit-down fine dining has been coded this way). I am still getting 5x on restaurants coded as eating places.

Based on the wiki on the FW post for this card, this a known excluded category. I have just never had the categorization be so prevalent. So i am wondering if it is similar for the other Citi cards. Based on my last statement i averaged down to ~>2x/$ on all dining charges b/c of this.

mia

Has the coding changed at restaurants that used to earn 5X? In other words, could you go back six months and find a transaction from the same establishment coded differently on citicards.com ?

For what it's worth we recently use Forward at merchants who use Square as their card processor, and both posted with unexpected categories.

An independent bookstore, which also sold coffee and wine, posted as: Merchandise - MISC FOOD STORE,SPECIALTY,CONVENIENCE

A restaurant posted as: Services - MANAGEMENT,CONSULTING / PUBLIC RELATIONS

I can understand the first one, but not the second.

jalm1

Good question, I do not have a lot of comparison to work with as i moved states a few months ago. Many of the places i am going are new to me, except for a handful of quick serve places. So i do not have enough data for a proper comparison.

That said, i found one vendor which appears to have made the change from "Restaurants - FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS" to "Restaurants - DRINKING PLACES-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES". Multiple previous charges on prior statements come out as fast food including one on the same statement which has a second change under drinking places. It is a little sandwich shop that is a local chain (~8 location in greater Seattle). I have never seen alcohol there. The vendor name which posted also slightly changed between the charges. My visits have been to the same location and they have not changed the POS equipment used for their 2 registers (i do not know if they have changed processors).

I haven't always paid attention to the way each charge posts as long and the total points i received was in the ballpark of my expectation i have not dug into the matter. But this last statement was way off of my expectation, and based on what is pending looks to be continuing.

mia

Two thoughts:

1. Could it be that your new state or municipal government requires businesses which sell alcohol to use this type of code for auditing purposes? I have never heard of anything like this, just thinking outloud.

2. If you have a VISA card from an issuer other than Citi I would make a purchase at an establishment which has appeared as Restaurants - DRINKING PLACES-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES to test if it also shows up that way. If not, there could be an error in the way Citi's system is translating the numerical codes which are actually used for classification.

jalm1

Maybe, although somewhere like chipotle which serves beer here is coded as fast food, and some straight up bars i have been too are coded as eating places.

I will have to give that a try with Chase. It is very unfortunate that most of my dining is coded this way. Take that back, it is unfortunate that Citi has decided to exclude a merchant code whose top level name is "Restaurants" from the restaurant bonus category.

Separately, does anyone know if places coded as "Restaurants - DRINKING PLACES-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES" count for restaurants for citi's other products (premier / prestige)?

Airbridge

MCC that are eligible are programmed by the card issuers so they have the power to restrict or expand these at their will. The actual codes issued to the merchants depend on the company processing their transactions so there are two separate issues that could cause a problem. If you are really bored you find a list of them below.

http://usa.visa.com/download/corpora...cc_booklet.pdf

voodoogirl

I bought some hockey and football tickets on Ticketmaster this month and they are showing up as "THEATRICAL PRODUCTS-EXCEPT MOTION PICS". I have no idea if my Premier will see that as Entertainment for 3x.

swy

I dined at a place that was classified as "RESTAURANTS / BARS - 5813,5812" on Visa's supplier locator site. I didn't get the bonus points from Citi and when I chatted with the rep, he said it's classified as "Drinking Places, (Alcoholic Beverages) Bars, Taverns,\nCocktail Lounges, Nightclubs" and therefore doesn't count :/ It wasn't a lot of points but it just seems very arbitrary.

winsteven13

Interesting, how can I check how each transaction is broken down in points? I use Forward for majority of my dining (all sorts) purchases as well as Amazon.

mia

You cannot, but you can see the merchant classification by viewing the transactions online (not on the paper/pdf statement).

akr1970akr

Is Citi treating Forward differently than Prestige/Premier?

If so that would be really weird, but perhaps understandable given that they are probably getting creamed by the 5x category there.

billybayswater

I believe this is a difference between the categories of "restaurants" and "dining." On at least Discover and I think Freedom I did not get 5X when the entity coded as alcoholic beverages, though I do get 2x on CSP for such places.

IME, the coding is random. When I lived in the midwest even the diviest of dive bars often coded as a simple restaurant, but this is less common in NYC. I have yet to have a full blown fine dining restaurant code as alcoholic beverages though.

voodoogirl

I just had an 8 night stay at a Residence Inn and it didn't categorize as hotel,but as Residence Inns. I have no idea if it will be 3x or not. It is frustrating when these things are completely out of our control. Another restaurant I ate at last week showed up as a convenience store, no doubt I will not get double points for that meal.