New iDine Policy?
 

As many of us have learned, restaurants can leave the program after the current booklets go to press. In the past, iDine has been gracious about giving the miles at such establishments upon request.
Earlier today, I called about one such visit (last week) and was told, "Nope. They left the program at the end of January. Not participating on the day you dined, so no miles possible."
Guess we need to print out the latest listings before travelling now, eh? What good is sending out the books?
Too bad they can't make the drop-out deadlines coincide with the printing ones!

I've never had the experience of dining at an "expired" i-dine restaurant but I definitely don't trust the book anymore. It's all about the website for me! It's also more detailed in terms of their restrictions.

They seem to have tightened up on this recently, though I believe they still will give credit ( they tell you the request will sent for approval) if they restuarant is listed in the current book.
In your case the situation may somewhat slightly different since the restaurant left in January and the current books run Feb to April.

One thing they do see to be more stringent about are the places donated www which have some invalid days (usually weekends) or even those that require you make a valdated on-line reservation since the book says " visit our web site or call member services.." they refused me credit even though the week-day I dined would have been an eligible day when the restaurant was still in the program.

Mike

I thought they had done away with the "reservations required" feature? I hated the idea, and never tried it.
In my experierence, the joints marked "www" end up meaning reduced credit (5 miles/$ spent).
Usually, I'd call back again to see if another agent could put through the miles, but I got the impression that the guy I spoke with had made a note in my file.
Besides, I'm already sending in a visit from last month that never posted though my credit card was charged for the meal.

Not all the www designated places have reduced miles awards ( though most of reduced ones all seem to have the www)
It appears that designation is used when it appears the restaurant will not stay long in the program, had one locally that seemed to participate for one month only.

You may be right about the " pre-reserved award" types have been discontinued since they pissed me off when I tried to use it twice.
1) I selected a dining time and ate at the restaurant, but since I didnt get a confirming e-mail from-idine,I got no credit.
2) Called in to select a dining time to be told " all the slots for the time-frame have been already allocated "

That being said by all appearances the Tampa selection seems to be really very good as compared to other cities I have been and includes a number of my favorite places.
Mike

Well it's certainly very annoying but I kind of look at iDine as a pleasant surprise if miles show up since I don't usually dine somewhere on purpose anyways.

The book is helpful, but I always double check idine.com before going. I've had good luck with excellent restaurants for taking my clients in Buffalo; Dakota Grill and McMahon Steaks. But the current book lists a restaurant in the RDU area that has already closed. The web site is also great seeing new places listed since the book was published. I try to include one idine location every business trip. I'm looking forward to the Pub of Love or the White Trash Cafe in Nashville but I doubt they are in the same league as the Buffalo eateries.

I consider the book to be all but useless. Many restaurants seem to float in and out, change their rules re: days of the week, dine in v. carry-out, etc.

Essentially, it is the website that will provide the info.

In the past, I've been given credit for places that are in the directory but dropped out of the program b4 the directory expiration date. I had to call the IDine customer service #. However, this hasn't come up in at least 6 months and I always check the website first.

I spoke too soon on the reservations-required scheme being dropped. There is one restaurant here in NYC (Zocolo @ Grand Central Station) that has pulled the "disappearing act" a couple of times on me. I see now they have returned on a reservation-only basis.

"Good Evening Mr. Cheapskate ... I mean Mr. Scrounger. An iDine party of one I see. Our personal favorite!"

They do tout the PDA listings feature, which I suppose is nicer than fumbling through a bunch of letter-sized printouts.

Maybe they went reservation only because they were getting tired of giving miles for people like me who would just get a bag of chips and salsa for the ride home when we were training and a couple of beers and charging it for the miles.

It's a good place for a train station restaurant for those who haven't used it.

The PDA list is very convenient: I almost always have my Palm nearby so checking the list is quick and easy. Since I HotSync my Palm at least once a day the list is always up to date.
I would recommend this to anybody who has a Palm (or similar) PDA

[This message has been edited by ql2112 (edited 03-26-2003).]

I now pretty much throw out the booklet that arrives by mal and rely on my PDA. I have lost many miles after programs dropped out.

I recently found a place offering 20 miles per dollar spent via diningformiles.idine.com (the NWA portal into idine). Couple that with the triple miles for partners promo that I was able to sign up for, and my $70 meal should net me 4,200 miles. Of course, I printed a copy of the web page with the date on it before dining.... just in case. :-)

I see that a few restaurants are offering 20 miles per $1. One restaurant that I've patronized, but others that might now be worth trying. Nice improvement.

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Ms.DtG