Dining for Miles and Points

If you currently don’t have every single one of your debit and credit cards linked up to an I-dine program, you are making a huge mistake. There is no cost involved and once your cards are linked, you automatically get miles/points every time you spend money at a participating restaurant/bar. The participating airlines are: America, Alaska, Delta, Southwest, United, US Airways. Other travel points programs are: Hilton, Priority Club and RBC Rewards (if you are an Avion rewards members you points can be transferred to British Airways, American and Cathay Pacific).

They basic earning is 3 miles per dollar spent, but once you hit 10 dines you get VIP status where you earn 5 miles per dollar. To quickly get VIP status, simply go to a participating bar/ restaurant/ fast food place and order 10 cheap items and ask them to swipe them separately. They may look at you weirdly, but that often happens to me when I’m doing things related to obsessive mileage collecting. Make sure you sign up for promos as well, like Delta’s 1,100 “Step Right Up”point bonus. Even if you don’t plan on going to a lot of these establishments (they are generally second tier restaurants), you should still register your cards. I often see points hit my accounts from bars/restaurants that I had no idea were participants. The list changes all the time, so its hard to keep track of all the new restaurants. Since it’s free, you might as well just attach every card to your account. Happy dining- signing up only takes a couple minutes, so make sure you don’t leave any miles or points on the table!

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