unilil

I won the dinner for twelve in January complete with limo to the restaurant. Totally forgot I had entered the contest. After my initial suspicion (remember, I had forgotten), I filled out some required forms, picked a date and this Saturday, 12 of us had an absolutely wonderful dinner at Restaurant Michael in Winnetka. Dinner was great, service impeccable, the company was wonderful and everyone was quite taken aback that the whole event was free! iDine representative Shaun Martz and another rep named Lindsay made all the arrangements and even had champagne glasses on the table which we could take home.

I think everyone should join iDine. My hats off to Rewards Network and iDine!

sdsearch

I'm confused. What contests? I only see bonus miles / points promotions (in AA, AS, DL, UA, WN, and PC dining). Are the contests only on the "cashback" version of the program?

unilil

Occasionally, iDine sends out emails for contests. In February, there was one to win a Double Date in the Empire State. Are you a member of iDine? They also run the American Airlines Aadvantage Dining Program but that one doesn't seem to have many contests, unless I am missing them.

pgary

Will you receive a 1099 for the value of the prize?

sdsearch

If by iDine you mean the cashback program, then no. I use my miles for int'l redemptions in business or first class (or with some airlines I just use the miles program "lightly" to keep my miles from expiring or to "top off" to an award level), so cashback does not seem a good value for me compared to that.

Plus AFAIK the cashback only has contests (which you may or may not win, and may be subject to taxes on if you do win), while the miles programs have bonuses instead of contest, and bonuses you know you will get (if you follow the rules of the promo), and are never taxed.

unilil

I wouldn't mind if I ended up getting a 1099. What's one more? It was a great prize and a wonderful evening!

sdsearch

In case you're not aware, the big thing about 1099s is that the issuer detremines the value, and sometimes in a completely different (and "insane" to you) way than you would The current prime example: Citi is sending 1099s this year to people who got 25k AA miles for a Citi checking account last year, and is valuing those 25k miles at $625, so you have to pay taxes on $625, even if you redeemed the 25k miles for a $300 flight!!! If you're in a high enough tax bracket, that could mean paying more in taxes than the value you got from the miles!

Would you have gone to this dinner if they had only paid for half of it, and you had to pay for the other half out of pocket? That's what a 1099 for the value of the dinner would amount to, if you are (federal/state/local added up) in a 50% tax bracket. And that's if the valued the prize at the cost of the dinner, but they could have valued the prize at the maximum cost of the most expensive possible dinner, which could be higher than the actual cost of your particular dinner.

JDiver

I think you can contest how the issuer values the prize, however. "Market value" can vary significantly, and of course one's tax professional is the one to consult.

In the meantime, congratulations, and thank you for sharing!

sdsearch

If your return is simple enough (you rent a small apartment, you have just salary, no significant health care expenses out of pocket, no investments other than 401k/IRA, not enough interst income at today's interest rates to report, no side business, etc, etc), you may not need a tax professional unless you have one of these 1099s thrown at you for a prize. In that case, just the cost of hiring a tax professional in itself could negate the value of the prize!

unilil

I don't care if I have to pay taxes. We had a great time and a great meal. Whatever it comes do, I don't mind. It would still be much less than what the evening would have cost me had I not won the iDine's Most Wonderfful Dine of the Year.

Crazyhotelguy

Congrats!

FooxNest

I am assured of it.