One of the better programs that UA MP offers. I don't go out of my way to dine at restaraunts that offer miles for dollars, however there are quite a few places I frequent that are participants and I would use my credit card there anyway so it's a no brainer. Easy and painless.

When all was said and done I clocked in less than 100 miles shy of 20,000 miles for 2012 on dining (not including the 2x for dining my credit card gave me each time). Keep in mind this was all my own dining (well and Mrs. G2244) – no expense account involved. So, you can make a lot on this if you really want to. I am sure there are others that use it for business that make far more than me. My strategy was to have several concentrated efforts throughout the year to rack up the miles and then purposely back off for a while to not get sick of the same places. A word of caution though; be careful not to involve those who don’t care about your miles like you do. For example I learned the hard way that Mrs. G2244 was not keen on going to the less tasty place so I could get dining miles as opposed to the really good place that wasn’t part of the program.

As others have mentioned, if you go all in be sure to also pay with a card that gives you 2x miles on dining as well. That way (once you get VIP) you are getting 2x on the card and 5x from the dining program. They also have bonus offers a few times a year where you can get bonus miles beyond the 5x. As I recall there was a 10x for VIPs for a month or two in 2012. Obviously go heavy during those periods.

I agree with others that often times the restaurants participating are ones that need business and there may be a reason people are staying away. No matter, try them once and if they are that bad don’t go back. I have found that there are certainly some hidden gems among them. There are also some very regular ones that for a normal just need to eat something meal, are perfectly fine.

Good luck to you.

Sometimes, the reason why a restaurant needs business and thus participates in MP Dining is because they are new and not yet well known. There are a few places that I've discovered this way and have kept going back to when I am in the area, even though they've left the scheme.

Another tip for any fellow non-US residents is that there is they don't check whether your cards are actually registered at the address you provide in your registration. The address I'm registered under is the one that I left when I moved back to Europe in 1994; it doesn't seem to matter one bit.

It costs nothing, so there's really no downside to signing up and registering your cards. Who knows, you may be surprised to see that a place you eat in is actually a member when the miles post without ever knowing it.

There's really no downside, except one card can only be registered in one program that the same company administers.

If they are running a promo where you get bonus points for a certain number of dines, you can often pay the bar bill and then pay the dinner bill and get two dining credits.

We usually don't go out of our way searching for member restaurants to try, but have tried a few new ones we normally would not have tried when they first opened because they were members.

I think the bigger driver for the restaurant is the infusion of cash iDine provides them. I would imagine that this 'loan' allows them to purchase supplies from vendors and pay employees and not have a cash flow problem. Once on this cycle it could prove difficult to get off because (based on my limited knowledge of the restaurant business) margins are thin.

Confused
 

So are we allowed to add more then one card or only one card? I added both my visa (debit) and my mastercard (c.c.) to the dining and the shopping programs.

But some on here state one card only and other state more then one card.

Now i am a bit confused.

You are allowed to register more than one card in the UA dining program. cordelli is alluding to the fact that Rewards Network operates similar programs for other airlines and you cannot enroll the same card in more than one of their programs simultaneously. (e.g. you cannot earn UA and AA miles for the same meal.)

Ok
 

Now I understand! Thank You.

You can have at least six cards in the program, but each card can only belong to one program. You can not use the same card at United and Delta and American for example.

One of the main benefits for a restaurant is they get cash for meals they have not yet sold. As they say on the site:

We Can Buy Future Meals From You And Become Your Biggest Customer

Similar to opening a house account, Rewards Network will buy future meals on behalf of our members. You receive payment in advance, and every time our members dine with you, your payment balance is reduced.

You’ll have confidence in knowing that:

•Your product is never discounted to the public
•There’s no risk to you or out-of-pocket expense
•You only pay when we bring in business
•You enjoy access to working capital to use for upgrades, renovations or other investments

They hand over some cash and every time a participating member has their card swipped the Rewards Network keeps some portion (or all, not sure) of it until you have paid off the amount they gave you.

During the last few months of 2012, there was a promo for 300 miles for every $100 of dining. I only got to take part in it once. However, since i used my Explorer card, and the restaurant provides 3 miles per $, this resulted in 700 miles for a meal that was exactly $100 (for 3 adults and 2 kids, and a little extra amount for the tip to get it up to $100) when you combine the Explorer Card miles and the 600 miles from MP Dining.

Gift cards with Mileage Plus Dining?
 

Hey all,

I take advantage of the this program here and there when its convenient. There is a restaurant we love near us that participates but not on Fridays or Saturdays. Has anyone purchased a gift certificate to a valid restaurant on a valid day to get the extra points on a non-valid day? Or even to give out as a gift?

Thanks!

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Most every blog describing the program will say that purchasing gift cards is good for the following reasons:

• buying multiple cards get you to vip status faster than one dinner purchase
• you can buy gift cards at places you know you will go to when the bonus points are good
• You can do as you suggest, buy cards to use on days the restaurant does not participate in the program
• You can buy cards from a restaurant that is leaving the program

I would start off with just one card, probably a lower amount of money, to make sure they put it through as a normal meal purchase and that restaurant doesn't treat it differently if they exclude cards (like some exclude take out, etc)

Another great thing about this is: When you ear out and a week later you get that "How was your meal" E-mail and you didn't even know it was a MP Dining place when you went :D It's like a flyertalk gift LOL

Does anyone know the max amount of cards I can add? I talked to many family and relatives about the program who are not frequent flyers and have agreed to let me add their card to my account. Circa 12-20 cards!

In the FAQ it states that you can only have 5 total credit/debit cards.


See: http://mpdining.rewardsnetwork.com/faqs.htm#5