curious_miles

Are there some rewards network restaurants that sell gift cards/certificates online and still give the miles? This would be useful for someone who needs a "hit" to avoid mile expiration, but doesn't want to go out and "eat now."
Please PM me if you are afraid of the consequence of revealing those in public.

This could be a win-win-win situation for the consumer, the restaurant, and the rewards network as well.

Tiki

I would like to know as well for the US Airways promo. I won't be in the USA until April 2011 so could actually use the GC then but I just want to use the DM Dining to get the hit.

sdsearch

Hm, that'd be pretty tricky. Remember, RN doesn't give miles for dining in restaurant chains, RN gives miles for dining at specific retstaurant locations (even if said restaurants are parts of chains, each locations counts separately). So that immediately rules out gift cards from restaurant chains (which would be the ones most likely to be sold online).

And how many one-location restaurants, participating or not, have gift cards that you can buy online? Seems a pretty weird concept.

Somewhat simpler: There may be restaurants where you can place an online order to go, and pay for it online. Maybe that would count as a qualified dine, but it would depend on how they process it.

Safest would be if you could order a meal to-go over the phone, and get them to take the credit card over the phone (rather than when the meal is picked up). The latter only some restaurants will do. But that would of course adding the cost of calling from overseas (whatever that is for you) to the cost of the meal.

The overseas payment of a to-go meal obviously works best if you work it out with a friend who will pick up the meal, and in exchange will pay for one of your meals when you return. That requires the restaurant to be local to one of your firiends.

But there's a much simpler solution: Remember, RN lets you register anyone's card; it just checks the number, not the name. So find a friend who doesn't care about miles, and ask them if you can register their card. (You'll only need the numger, not any of the security info.) Then tell them where to dine.

llbye

Bump...
I just posted a similar question, as I also wanted to check whether frequent AAdvantage diners have ever attempted purchasing a gift card in-store and had the miles posted... Would there be any way to avoid having my purchase potentially flagged as gift-card?
Thank you

ZeppoX

A search-this-thread on "gift" turns up many examples. This thread perhaps provides the best summary.

Used to be, you were not supposed to get miles for gift card purchases. Lately, there actually have been promos for gift card purchase.

There also is a thread around here somewhere that lists "hidden chains," which means you can buy a gift cert in one brand and use it in another because they are the same company. Outback and Carrabas, for example. Expands the possibilities for gift card purchase and use.

llbye

Thank you, ZeppoX! As a newbie, I was unsure how far back to look for this information, as it seems like these rules change
I'll add what I learn to that thread though.

JDiver

Basically the general rule of thumb from the Guidelines and Rules on FT is

Avoid Bumping Very Old Threads - link to this guideline
Unless there is a compelling reason, avoid bumping threads that are more than two years old. Often the information is out-dated and it clogs the forums, making it difficult to find current threads.

so we will let this thread be on its own - the thread referred to is four years old, and has lots of outdated information.

/JDiver, Moderator