Earn program points on Gift Certificates?
Sep 20, 2004 | 10:09 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 138
Earn program points on Gift Certificates?
I called iDine to ask if would earn program points via purchase of a gift certificate (purchased with registered card) and was told no. Has anyone got experience in purchasing a gift certificate on their idine registered CC and getting the points? (My cards are attached to United and Priority Club programs). I can just try with a small purchase but was wondering if anyone already knew - couldn't find the answer in the threads.
Thanks,
Wingsfan
Thanks,
Wingsfan
Sep 20, 2004 | 11:04 am
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 53,010
In practice, they have posted fine for me. For example, I've purchased gift certs on a Thursday with the iDine card, and then redeemed the certs on Friday night at dinner. (It was an iDine restaurant with one of those stupid no-rewards-on-certain-days rules.) Everything posted on the iDine end just like a regular meal would.
Sep 20, 2004 | 11:22 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 138
Originally Posted by pinniped
In practice, they have posted fine for me. For example, I've purchased gift certs on a Thursday with the iDine card, and then redeemed the certs on Friday night at dinner. (It was an iDine restaurant with one of those stupid no-rewards-on-certain-days rules.) Everything posted on the iDine end just like a regular meal would.
Nov 21, 2004 | 11:26 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 760
I, too, have had no problems buying gift certificates and earning the miles. Just be careful not to mention that you earn miles for it in case they have a code to enter into the system (which I doubt), but it never hurts to be cautious. I also plan on giving several out as XMAS presents.
PEACE!
PEACE!
Nov 29, 2004 | 9:53 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: US Air, AA, starwood gold, hilton gold, priority club
Posts: 132
I just earned 4,500 points here in LA by buying 15 $10 gift certificates to a local excellent Mexican "fresh fast food" place that has a lot of locations around the city. I intend to give each of my daughter's teachers a Xmas certificate enclosed in their card, and give out the others to co-workers. I noticed that I get 20 points per $ if I want AA miles, but I get 30 points from Priority Club and I am planning a vacation where staying at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia costs 15,000 points a night. I also double-dipped by using my SPG AMEX card to buy the certificates.
Nov 30, 2004 | 9:54 pm
#6
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Cape Cod, MA USA
Programs: UA, AA, BA, DL, US, SPG, MR, HH
Posts: 164
It is possible for an IDine restaurant to process your charge and have it not earn pooints, but there are controls in place --
They must know in advance that the card they are about to swipe is an IDine point-earner. They must have a contractually valid reason to disqualify the card from points; they then swipe the card through a special, stand-alone dial-up terminal, also entering a code to identify the reason for the Idine bypass. All bypass transactions are subject to a special audit by Idine (i.e. they'll want to see guest check reprints).
The process is usually seen at restaurants that do a lot of banquet business -- It's a standard Idine condition that points cannot be earned for payments relating to dining with pre-arranged menus or prices that are not on the normal menu. Gift certificates are also disallowed under the Idine standard terms.
As a practical matter, however, bypasses are rare, even for establishments that bother to get the equipment. There are compelling internal control reasons to run all charges through the POS system. Nonstandard transactions are bothersome to track. At my restaurant, we eventually gave up on using their bypass setup -- we only had 1 bypass terminal (normal charges can be swiped at 7 different places on the property), and no one ever remembered the transaction codes we were supposed to enter.
Also, if a restaurant is paying back an Idine loan, then gift certificates can be a cost-effective way to meet the obligation -- they're never all redeemed, so the cost of paying off the loan with GC sales is discounted compared to payoff through actual dinner checks processed through Idine.
They must know in advance that the card they are about to swipe is an IDine point-earner. They must have a contractually valid reason to disqualify the card from points; they then swipe the card through a special, stand-alone dial-up terminal, also entering a code to identify the reason for the Idine bypass. All bypass transactions are subject to a special audit by Idine (i.e. they'll want to see guest check reprints).
The process is usually seen at restaurants that do a lot of banquet business -- It's a standard Idine condition that points cannot be earned for payments relating to dining with pre-arranged menus or prices that are not on the normal menu. Gift certificates are also disallowed under the Idine standard terms.
As a practical matter, however, bypasses are rare, even for establishments that bother to get the equipment. There are compelling internal control reasons to run all charges through the POS system. Nonstandard transactions are bothersome to track. At my restaurant, we eventually gave up on using their bypass setup -- we only had 1 bypass terminal (normal charges can be swiped at 7 different places on the property), and no one ever remembered the transaction codes we were supposed to enter.
Also, if a restaurant is paying back an Idine loan, then gift certificates can be a cost-effective way to meet the obligation -- they're never all redeemed, so the cost of paying off the loan with GC sales is discounted compared to payoff through actual dinner checks processed through Idine.
Feb 21, 2011 | 6:28 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: WashDC - AA Lifetime Gold, UA Premier Gold, Marriott Titanium Lifetime, Hilton Diamond, Cal Tort Burrito Elito
Posts: 286
It is possible for an IDine restaurant to process your charge and have it not earn pooints, but there are controls in place --
The process is usually seen at restaurants that do a lot of banquet business -- It's a standard Idine condition that points cannot be earned for payments relating to dining with pre-arranged menus or prices that are not on the normal menu. Gift certificates are also disallowed under the Idine standard terms.
The process is usually seen at restaurants that do a lot of banquet business -- It's a standard Idine condition that points cannot be earned for payments relating to dining with pre-arranged menus or prices that are not on the normal menu. Gift certificates are also disallowed under the Idine standard terms.
Thoughts?
Many thanks.
Jun 5, 2011 | 1:02 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: HYX
Programs: ~IHG(p)/BW~Nat'l.Exec~ ~NW(SE)~ ~Cessna~ NASM.do-07 ~AAAF.do-05/06/07/08/09
Posts: 1,530
re: banquet -- many idine joints have a per-month limit ~ $1000 or somesuch.
OTOH, they may want some amount of pre-pay for your shindig ... which you might play to your advantage. just sayin'
Gift certs: haven't had any missing-points issues when they're purchased in the resto (either separately, or as part of a regular tab).
Tacking-on a couple of $10-20 certs can VERY helpful with the recent '5000 point bonus' promos.
/.
OTOH, they may want some amount of pre-pay for your shindig ... which you might play to your advantage. just sayin'
Gift certs: haven't had any missing-points issues when they're purchased in the resto (either separately, or as part of a regular tab).
Tacking-on a couple of $10-20 certs can VERY helpful with the recent '5000 point bonus' promos.
/.