Opentable. How many points do you have?
 

I have 3800 points, most of whch were received 100 points at a time. I did make a res just once, at a 1000 pointer.


How many www.opentable.com points do you have?

dh

Only 300. Not enough places around here that use it, and sometimes I have to book for parties of 12+, which I can't do on OT. :(

only 2600, earned 100 at a time. Guess I'll have to try a 1,000 pointer or two.

In its infancy, I was accumulating 10,000 pts/week (^) on OpenTable - but soon my "scheme" was discovered and I was banned! When it first started, lots of the staff at restaurants weren't totally accustomed to using the in-house software, so about 99% of reservations would be credited as a "show" versues a "no show". Found this out by mistake actually, but soon was making reservations at 5 1k restaurants a night all across the world....Great part about the certificates you receive from Opentable is that they are like cash in the participating properties, so I'd march down to my local bar with $600 in certs and buy 6 beers for my buddies - and with all the cash I'd get from my change, would be able to pay for my rent each month. Oversight on their part I suppose, but they soon figured me out and I stopped doing this about 2.5 years ago now.

Luckily, my new email address works and I'm playing fair now, so only 5,200 points currently.

I cash in my points each time I hit 10K-- currently I have around 8500. It's easy to accumulate points in NYC. The requirement for 2 diners on 1000-point reservations really sucks, as I rarely have anyone to go out with. Otherwise every day for lunch I would be scoring 1000 points.

I'm at 3700 after having joined OT about a year ago, with all of those being 100pts. I used to be mildly embarrassed about using it to make resos at my favourite weekend brunch spot, as when we go, my husband and I tend to be within the first two or three parties to arrive when they open. The allure of points helped me get over that pretty fast :)

500. What can I actually do with these points?

Only about a 1,000. I only use them about once a quarter. Though at least now you can make reservations for others on your account.

900. All earned last month at M&S.

I have 1100 points, all 100 at a time.

23,100 as of right now. Last fall redeemed 45,000. Fall before that 50,000.

8500 right now
 

8,500 right now, all earned the hard way (100 at a time).

What I wish is that instead of redeeming them for money, I could redeem them for access to better reservation times / hard to get tables. I.e. if you're a United 1K you can essentially bump someone else off a flight if you want to buy a ticket. I wish I could use OpenTable points to "buy" otherwise unavailable tables, either because I didn't plan ahead or I want to eat at the French Laundry or somewhere else that's normally unbookable.

bob

actually 8700 - just checked
 

I'm also curious - I value OpenTable enough that I'm just glad I don't have to pay to use it, I certainly don't use it to "get" the rewards. The convenience of being able to easily check a bunch of different restaurants all at once, and choose which one has a time that works for me, is a huge win vs. calling each one separately on the phone. Of course, that mostly matters when you eat at places/times when walk-ins have serious waits ahead of them.

How many of you out there are in the same boat vs. how many of you use OpenTable mainly because it offers rewards?

Bob

14,700. I keep telling myself I'll cash in an award, but then forget to do it. I just like the convenience of being able to make reservations all across the country and in Canada. I wish they had Italy, though, going there next month.

All of your points are also excellent ones that I would cite in my use of the OT system. Of course, me being a concierge, it changes my answer somewhat because:

-I can look at the list of restaurants and give my guests multiple options, all while keeping them in the conversation. All of the area OT clients have given my desk presentation copies of their menus, so I can have them in front of the guest's face.

-The rewards are nice, but they are secondary to having a tool that makes the job easier and making for more satisfied guests. Plus, the Concierge version of OT searches faster and has certain roadblocks removed that are in the consumer version.