Thanks- I was hoping it was simpler than it seemed.

It's not so bad. We just cashed out 100 and had no trouble finding a restaurant to spend it at that we were going to anyways.

wiki added.

I don't have enough "data" to add this to the Wiki, but if you want the points (in addition to the convenience of making the reservation), be sure to make the reservation directly with OpenTable (web site or app), NOT through the OpenTable reservation link on a restaurant's web site.

That is, I have had several experiences where I have made a reservation through the OpenTable link on a restaurant's web site, and found a note in the confirmation that I would NOT be receiving any points for the reservation. I then cancelled that no-points reservation, closed my browser, re-opened the browser, and went directly to OpenTable to make the reservation ... and the confirmation stated I would get points.

I say "close the browser" because the first time I tried re-booking directly through the OpenTable web site, it seemed to know/remember (cookies?) that I had previously made (or tried to make) a reservation through the restaurant's web site, and again the confirmation said "no points". YMMV.

P.S. to crabbing: Thanks, for starting the Wiki.

When did the UK and US systems merge? I just logged in and now my UK reservations are in my history and the points from them. Hurray!

This is a first for me. On the 18th I went to make a reservation for Esca in New York on Opentable for a dine on the 21st. I had to input a credit card number and I was told if I didn't cancel by 6 PM on the 19th, the credit card would be charged. Is this common?

This is typical for holidays, especially New Years Eve. Not sure in your case if its the restaurant or something else that triggered it.

Not common, IMHO, but I have run into it with a couple of Michelin-starred or very high demand/low capacity restaurants.

When offered that "condition of reservation", I have always elected to find another restaurant. :D

ive seen this for more popular restraunts on the west coast. eg sf, portland, la

Exactly. We had this happen last New Years at a restaurant we have gone to a number of other times and not had it happen previously.

I think it's perfectly reasonable. Why should the restaurant bear the loss of revenue from customers who make multiple reservations?

I think it being reasonable would depend on how much they charge the noshows.

Cashed in my last $20 certificate tonight. Not looking forward to dealing with the new system.

The new points redemption is awful. Very few restaurants are eligible for the gift cards and you only get half the value if you take an amazon gift card ($10 GC for 2,000 points).

I also used a gift card for the first time last week and it took 2 managers and 20 minutes for them to figure out how to apply it vs the usual 1 manager and 5 minutes it used to take them to figure out how to take the gift checks.

It's barely worth using OT anymore.

Disagree. The points were always just the cherry on top. The ability to scan through hundreds of restaurants and then hit "book" for no charge is gold. Remember calling around in hopes someone would answer and have a table? I do.