Is it still possible to sign up for this promo--quick, before my March NW dines post ?
The only NW promo I've heard of & registered for is double miles on hotels & car rentals only.



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Play the travel game 3 vacations into the future!

Has anyone had problems w/ not getting credit for Dining? I just had to submit 2 receipts to Mileage plus Dining, sort of a pain......

I use the program at least a dozen times a month. It is very rare that the miles don't post. I do have one to fax in today.

I have had 5 different visits fail to post in the last 60 days. From 3 different programs (AA, UAL, Cont). 2 were at a restuarant that has left the program. I emailed each program, one was very cooperative, the other, very argumentative. And they all work out of the same offices. Go figure.

I've had a couple over the past few years, but it is rare that they don't post.

However ...

In February I went to one place where I was not provided with a customer copy of the bill. I didn't make a fuss at the time, but had the feeling I should have on my way home from there.
Naturally, my credit card was charged but no miles. I sent iDine a copy of my (edited) Visa bill, which the rep said would be OK.

Any suggestions on dining/miles in Salt Lake City, UT?

Boy, don't get me started. I've been using IDine for years: I find that fully 10% of my meals don't post. About 4 times a year, I have to write in. About half of my complaints get credited. The other half are denied by an automated system which doesn't seem to care even if you checked the website before you dined: they just say the restaurant left, so sorry, bait and switch. Every now and then, I luck out and they give me credit as a courtesy.

But their whole system isn't reliable, though I love the miles.

Disclaimer from the current booklet:

" ... You are not entitled to a benefit from us if a restaurant has dropped out of the program, so be sure to check the up-to-date [online] listings."


Their "automated' system started breaking down for me back in September when two restaurant visits that month (at joints with no restrictions) just plain didn't go through; as a matter of fact, one of them went through on one airline, but not the other.

That was the first real problem I'd encountered with iDine in a couple of years.
Since then I've sent in one that the rep agreed did not state the weekend blackout clearly enough in the booklet, one that the rep said I could submit for their leaving the program after that booklet was received, and one that had failed to post as the restaurant didn't put through the charge for several weeks after the visit.

The vast majority of visits go through within 4 - 5 days automatically.
One of the bigger iDine disappointments was on vacation with my folks. We dined at one place on American AAdvantage; they loved it there! So ... the last night of our vacation we returned for some Delta Skymiles. My mother came up with the idea of getting a gift cert there for friends who had taken my parents out earlier in our trip. Visions of additional frequent flyer credit were dashed by the wily manager who put through the cert as a separate charge, although I had specified I wanted it put through with the tab.

By the way, if you are travelling either with the booklet, or a PDA download that doesn't cover the part of a metro area in which you are interested, call iDine.
I did that with three "www" joints and no online access recently. At first the rep was sceptical of my request until I read to her from the booklet encouraging clients to do so.
It turned out the three places in question had dropped out (naturally, so had one place I had not checked out with her - no luck on a retroactive request there). She had been having a bad day and I tried to be extra patient in my request. By the third look-up, she was getting into it as much as I was.

If there is an iDine lurker here, the customer service folks are very friendly and professional.

The easiest way to prevent problems is to print your restaurant's online listing before you dine that day. Then, if your miles are denied, you have proof that the restaurant was participating on the day you dined.

Even if you are due the miles and they do not "capture" from your credit card, you need to fax or mail in your receipt. It just seems to be happening more lately.
3 of my last 7 over the past 30 days have not credited. Make sure you keep a good list?

Why would you take 10 miles per dollar when you can get 15% CASH back?

1.5 cents per mile is cheap, but it's not like you are receiving anything of value in return (as opposed to an airline flight).

It is on a corporate card that I must use on the road. It's better than no miles

The reason for taking the miles is that there is NO annual charge for Idine!

Idine is not as much fun or generous as it was a couple of years ago. Many restaurants have limited days to Sun-Thurs, others have limited miles to 5 per $1.00, and some refer you to the web for info on when miles are available. Some of the good places have opted out of the program.

It's usually 20%, but the annual fee is $49.

The answer to your question is because at 20% you won't start making money until you've spent $250, $333 with 15%.

If you are a high diner and know you eat at iDine restaurants a lot, then it might be good for you. But in my case, the points for free are a much better deal.

I want to earn Idine miles for my daughter's Sky Miles account. Problem is, she's too young to have a credit card and does not have one.

Can I sign her Sky Miles account number up for Idine and register one of my credit cards with that Sky Miles IDine account? I would then use my credit card to pay for meals and, hopefully, it would accrue miles for her account.

Or, does the name on the credit card registered have to match the name of the frequent flyer account?

[This message has been edited by jmartin (edited 04-07-2003).]