iDine Basic Question on Earning Miles
 

I want to sign up for iDine but I am sort of confused. If I click on the link listing the details for all of the restaurants I am interested in, it says "No rewards" for all of them on Saturday night. Does this basically mean that I will not accumulate any FF points if I eat there on Saturdays or does it have something to do with not receiving the 20% off Reward. Help! I don't want to earn the discount, just the FF miles. If you cannot get miles on weekends, what good is the program for the average person? It only seems like it will be good when I travel during the week on business.

Welcome.

Unfortunately, some restaurants do black out certain dates/times - usually Fri/Sat. There are even a few that still require you to make an actual reservation through iDine to get the miles. On the plus side, most (though by no means all) restaurants have waived the former iDine policy of one-visit-per-month-per-airline.

The way to get around the weekend blackouts is to purchase a gift certificate during the week. Idine has always considered the date of purchase to be to be the "date of transaction".

As you are new, here is some advice that should serve you well:

Check online to be sure your restaurant is still participating before you go. I had one instance where the rep was willing to give me credit as it had only been a few days since they'd pulled out. I've also had a rep decline credit for a March visit for a restaurant that ended points on Jan. 31st. It would be nice if iDine could give at least a 30-day warning online of impending departure; they seem to be able to tell us of new joints before they are actually available for credit, so only fair to work both ways.

SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS! If there is a glitch of some sort, you will need to send a copy to Idine for them to give you retroactive credit (appearing online as "manual tickets"). One of the few times a restaurant did not give me a customer copy, their credit didn't go through. I had to send an edited copy of my credit card statement, which was a pain.
Credit posts online @ iDine within 5 [calendar, not business] days of transaction in virtually all cases. If there's nothing showing a week later, call iDine to set up an inquiry.

It's a good program - esp if one travels a fair amount. The reps are polite, friendly and helpful. And the miles are free to the diner!!

P.S. I do feel your pain as Seattle is heavily blacked out on weekends, too.

Yes.


You can find out exactly how many miles by going to www.ual.com/dining , regardless of which airline you are using, and search even if you aren't a UA member.

This may be a quirck of the Baltimore area, which I'm unfamiliar with. In many, many other metro areas and neighborhoods, finding a seven day restaurant is relatively easy. Of course, the better the restaurant often the harder to get weekend miles.

But hey, the program costs you absolutely nothing, and sometimes you'll get a sweet kickback without even knowing you were at an iDine restaurant. Don't sweat it, you'll soon get the hang of it.

I just looked up Baltimore on iDine.com. Of the 25 restaurants that popped up in Baltimore City, 20 say that the rewards are everyday. I guess Baltimore metro shows only 4 of 12, so maybe this is what you're looking at. But don't discount the city!

Wow, only 25 restaurants in Baltimore proper? Slim pickings...

fiat_owner