dines posting to airline "faster" (multiple times a week)
 

It used to be that RN only posted to the partner (airline or hotel) once a week, dated "paid" on a Wed but showing up on Thu.

But recently each dine is being "paid" separately for me:

09/19/2018 <restaurant> <survey link> <CC#> $xx.xx yyy Miles 09/22/2018
09/17/2018 <restaurant> <survey link> <CC#> $xx.xx yyy Miles 09/21/2018
09/16/2018 <restaurant> <survey link> <CC#> $xx.xx yyy Miles 09/19/2018

And they're showing up one by one (and thus faster) at the airline.

I've noticed this on United MileagePlus Dining. Is it also happening in the other airline/hotel RN dining programs?

Wow, and a missing dine I reported on Friday was handled faster than ever too.

I decided to print my credit card transaction activity and scan it along with the receipt (since part of the receipt didn't print well), right after submitting the missing dine info online, and before I was finished I had the email from an RN rep asking me for that. Then I sent that, and a short time later I got an email back that the miles had been added for my dine and I should see it on the dining website within 24 hours, and indeed I did see it there on Saturday (as Pending).

It used to take days for each step of this (wait from online submission to email asking for receipt / statement, then wait from emailing receipt / statement to email that the miles had been added). This time it didn't even take a full hour! ^

Delta is definitely posting faster as well.

Easy come, easy go?

When I switched from UA dining to DL dining, a month and a half ago, I noticed it was back to once a week. Then I switched to AS dining last week, and it's also once a week. And now I looked at UA dining, and it's even worse: a dine from 10/10 (the last one I did at UA dining) is still showing as "Pending" as of today! :eek:

And I switched to UA dining again about a month ago, and now it's back to multiple times a week.

FYI, I just got an email from MileagePlus Dining saying that after the 18th, we'll start to get real-time notifications of estimated miles/points earned at participating restaurants. It sounds like it'll still take 3-5 days for those transactions to actually post, though.

I just got about 6 of the emails described by Tmiw #6, one from each airline or hotel company:
"
Dear Brendan,

Effective November 18, 2019, we have made updates to our Program Privacy Policy and Terms of Use regarding your transactions at participating restaurants. This is because you will begin receiving real-time notifications when you dine at Program restaurants. We are really excited about these updates, as they are geared toward improving your experience when you earn miles.

Here's what you need to know:

• Starting November 18, 2019, when you dine at a participating restaurant, we will receive real-time information from American Express®, Mastercard®, and Visa® about the date and time of your transaction.

• You will soon begin to receive emails in real-time with the estimated miles earned before tip after you dine at participating restaurants.

• We will continue to notify you 3-5 days after your dine with the full amount earned and links to post-dine surveys, which are also available in your account center."

So NO MORE waiting 5--11 days for miles to post! And no more being told about a 6--8 weeks patience period when they don't post properly!

Keep in mind that RN are the ones getting the info starting November 18th.

We the diners are only going to start getting notified real-time "soon". No word on how soon "soon" is. I presume RN first has to verify that they're getting the info on a timely basis from MC, Visa, and Amex (and did you notice no mention of Discover? so will this feature not work for those using a Discover card?), and then figure out how to transform that into automatic real-time notifications. So I wouldn't expect it "any minute now" necessarily.

So here's the weird thing. Since mid-November, I had been using United MileagePlus Dining, and got none of the above-mentioned instant notifications yet. Then this Tuesday I switched to American AAdvantage Dining, and both then and today (Wednesday) I received an email titled "Thanks for visiting <name of restaurant>" just a few minutes (4 minutes in one case, 1 minute in the other case) after the time on my printed receipt from the restaurant.

Now perhaps this is due to AAdvantage Dining implementing this before other RN dining programs, but the other possibility is it working with MC before Visa. See, with United MileagePlus Dining, I was using my United Visa card. With AAdvantage Dining, I'm using my AA MC card.

Indeed, as I get the notification with my Chase IHG Mastercard.

I got a notification from MileagePlus Dining today immediately after I used my CSR at a restaurant, so I'm guessing whatever was preventing it before isn't a problem anymore. The server did bring a tablet to the table and ran the full amount + tip right there, though, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Well, for the record, I still have never yet received these instant notifications at SkyMiles DIning (including for a dine tonight), where I typically use an Amex card.

No "instant" notifications for two recent dines (Dec. 26 & 27). One was using a MC to earn UA miles, the other a Visa to earn AA miles. (Did get emails, but four calendar days after each dine.)

My one immediate notification was via a VISA. Nothing from American Express.

As I recall (maybe from a bookkeeping class in high school many years ago) AmEx transactions tend to have a longer period as a receivable than Visa/MC. Perhaps RN doesn't post miles until the receivable closes?

I dined at three different RN-participating restaurants this past weekend (Jan. 25-26). Used the same Visa at all three, to earn AA miles. Haven't heard anything from the first two yet, but from the third one, I received an immediate email (shortly after I gave my credit card for payment), thanking me for dining there and saying "You earned at least [nnn] AAdvantage® miles."

(The email came from RN rather than the restaurant, that is.)

Kathy, if you check your AA/ RN account, they should all be listed there tomorrow. It usually takes 3 days.

:rolleyes:

That wasn't really my point. My point was simply that the new rapid (almost instantaneous) emails only occur in some situations, but not in others; the why and wherefore are unknown. (Perhaps you misunderstood the context of my post; the preceding posts were all about the new, insta-email notifications.)

Lately I've mostly been using an Amex card for DL dining, and no instant emails (though the dines show up fast as "pending" on the DL dining website).

The other day I accidentally used a Visa card that was about the same color as my Amex card :D and happened to be in front of it in my wallet, and as soon as I checked my email after getting back from the restaurant, I had an email from AS dining (where that Visa card was registered) thanking me for my dine and telling me how many miles I'd earned "at least" (ie, pre write-in tip).

Kathy, I'm sorry I misunderstood your point.

I have used Visa with UA and MasterCard with DL and both got instant emails. However, I just today used an AMEX with UA and there was no instant email. Hopefully the dine posts. I did take a photo of the receipt in case it doesn't.

If you go back and read the whole (last half of this) thread, since the announcement about instant emails, you'll see that no one has yet reported getting an instant email on an Amex purchase at any RN site.

And you should save your receipts (or photos or scans of them) in all cases, anyway IMHO. We don't yet have enough experience with these instant emails to know whether they guarantee correct posting.

There seems to be a few bugs with a restaurant that uses Toast Go devices. Initially, when that restaurant first started using them, the dines wouldn't post at all. In my most recent visit, the dine did post, but I did not get a real-time notification (I used my AAdvantage Aviator Red MasterCard registered to SkyMiles Dining).

Does anyone else notice problems with member restaurants that use the Toast Go devices?

Is there any way to tell from the receipt whether they use Toast Go?

A lot of restaurants these days (due to Covid-19) here in California take your card which you drop on a table, carry it off to a register across the room (too far to see what type it is), and then bring back the card and the receipt to the table, when you're getting take out (no dine in possible the last couple months).

I had one dine not post at a restaurant I frequent, but I have no clue what terminal they use because they are one of the ones with the terminal across a big room from where the pickup table is, and there terminal type is not identified by name on the receipt (I just checked).

I saw the reader in person and had an emailed receipt.

Real-time notifications now seem to be working for Amex. I used my WF Propel Amex linked to UA MileagePlus Dining and I got real-time notifications both via email and a push notification via MileagePlus X.

I've been getting emails for two or three months now with AS MileagePlan Dining using my Amex Gold card, but it's not 100% reliable. One restaurant I eat at weekly I got an email, then didn't get an email for a dine that didn't post (until automatically over a month later!), then didn't get an email for a dine that did post promptly, and then finally the week after that did get an email again. And that's not the only restaurant at which I'm hit & miss at getting emails, even when the dine is going to post in normal timing.

I've been using almost only Amex the past half year or more, so I don't have much in the way of comparisons as to whether it works more reliably with other cards now or not, since I don't know if the inconsistencies I've noticed are limited to specific restaurants or not.

I recently dined at another restaurant that uses Toast yesterday (a particular Costa Vida franchise), and I did not get a real time notification. I hope I get my miles.

Note that this Costa Vida excludes Amex from earnings eligibility. I used my WF Visa Signature for MP Dining yesterday. Normally I would use my WF Propel Amex for MP Dining due to the 3x restaurant bonus from WF.

EDIT: Turns out that it is only a particular Costa Vida franchise that participates, not a nationwide agreement.

Only rarely do I have dines fail to post. Never when there's real time notification. Even so, RN is good about quickly crediting a dine when you scan over a receipt to [email protected].

I just wonder if there is some issue with Toast that is preventing the real-time notifications. There is another local restaurant in my area in RN that uses Toast that I never get real-time notifications yet the dines post as they should.

Looks like my miles with Costa Vida posted as it should. Apparently there seems to be an issue with Toast that is blocking real-time notifications from RN even though the miles post as they should.