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Beginner’s Guide: Join a dining program to earn extra points
Our Beginner’s Guide is dedicated to not only getting you started in points and miles, but also to drop a tip, hint, tutorial, or trick that maybe you’ve missed or haven’t heard before. If you’re an expert in this field, some of these may be things you already know, but a helpful reminder never hurts, and to those who haven’t heard of it – I gotchu baybay!
You probably already know about cards like the Amex Gold ( an absolute beast ) that have incredible category bonuses for dining.
But…did you know that you can sign up for a dining programs that will earn you another set of points when you eat at partner restaurants? Yes, you can earn your credit card points and airline or hotel points at the same time. Let’s dig into it.
You may not be able to pour two teas at one time, but you can earn two kinds of points and that is still pretty cool in my book.
What are award dining programs?
These are partnerships that loyalty programs have struck with restaurants to reward you with their points when you dine with them. You don’t have to do anything besides sign up for the program and enter your credit card details. This pairs that card with a dining program and each time you use it at a partner restaurant you’ll earn points. I use the Alaska MileagePlan dining program, so when I dine at a partner restaurant I earn both Alaska Points and my credit card points. No fuss, just pay and earn two kinds of points.
There is NO reason why you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s more mindless than watching the Kardashians. WAYO!
Here are a few links to Dining Programs
Almost every program has an offer between 1000 and 3000 points to sign up. Great opportunity if you haven’t done so yet.
- Alaska Airlines
- Bilt Rewards Dining
- United Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta SkyMiles
- JetBlue
- Spirit
- Southwest
- Hilton
- Marriott
- IHG
- Choice
You can Double Dip: Earn Credit Card points + Airline/Hotel Points
I use my Amex Gold all the time for dining because it earns 4x points on every dollar I spend.
Read More About Amex Gold here
Every program is different, but my Amex Gold is linked to Alaska’s dining program. If I use it 11 times in a year, I get 5x at partner restaurants. That’s pretty awesome.
Link your credit card
This is so it knows when you use it. They don’t keep the security id, billing information, etc
How do you find partner restaurants?
Super easy. Each program has a search function. Here’s a look at my search for Studio City, CA
To Recap and more thoughts
- Keep your points alive – it’ll put activity in your account.
- It costs you nothing
- No thought or extra time after you’ve linked.
- Dip/Dip
If I eat out enough I’ll be enjoying some Cathay First Class again. Only 70k from the U.S. to Asia.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account openingÂ
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travelâ„
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:Â
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.Â
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.Â
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