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Originally Posted by pinniped
Fair enough on the point about "bait only" - the restaurant wanting you to come back and do "ineligible" dines. As I go back and look at the list of restaurants I frequent, they're all unlimited dines up to $600/month. They vary in discount from 8% to 20%, I'm guessing they'd vary similarly in rewards if I picked air miles, but they don't limit to 1 dine/month.
The reality is that I may end up bailing on the whole thing. Most of the iDine places near me have been cutting benefits - 20% places are now down to 10%, etc. - and if a restaurant is actually any good, it leaves the program as quick as it can. (We have a lot of BAD iDine restaurants around here!) Locally in Kansas City, two or three other programs have popped up that provide discounts for the city's truly top-tier restaurants. (One is operated by the local restaurantuer's association and another is run by the local NPR affiliate.) I'm hanging in with iDine for now because of 2 bars, one pizza joint, and a Thai place that delivers. And because by pure random luck, I sometimes have an unexpected bonus hit when I travel. :) When iDine FF programs officially went to 5 miles/$ (with the other 5 miles/$ counted as a "bonus" for elites), the cashback program that comes with Diners Club went to a flat 10% discount (at least here in the L A/OC area), except maybe it's 20% at those "hot deals" restuarants that offer 20 miles/$ to elites in FF programs, I dunno. I've never seen 8%, but then again I don't know if that's specific to your area or to the generic cashback program. There is no variation in miles that I've seen since 1 Jul 2005, when they structured into three tiers of FF program members, except for those few and far between "hot deals" restaurants that offer double the normal miles. (There are only about 3 of those in the huge L A area, and most of them are weird clubs, not real restaurants per se.) |
Originally Posted by sdsearch
Oh, so you're mostly using the cashback program, now admit you're not even familiar with how much you would currently earn at ANY FF program ("if I picked air miles") and yet you want to have iDIne make changes to the way their FF programs work that would hurt all of us who use it for multiple airlines?!?!?
I think, um, you suggested that. Sounds like it might be in your best interest not to talk about it any further. You know, because of the lurkers and stuff. ;) |
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