Credit Cards

Taste: Amex’s little known dining program that gets you free stuff

a group of wine glasses on a table

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Free Appetizers or a bottle of wine just for being a cardmember? Yes, it’s true.

Taste is a little known perk of American Express that I recently discovered while reading another blog, Travelsort. What’s better yet? You don’t need some fancy schmancy Amex Platinum, you qualify by having ANY American Express. That is a fantastic perk if you end up eating at one of the restaurants that participate as you could get free food or a discount on your meal.

Participating Restaurants choose of the following perks

  • Comped Appetizer
    • must get main course and dessert are purchased per person
  • Comped Bottle of wine
    • Selected by restaurant
    • must get a main course per person
  • 20% off entire bill…up to 10 guests

See the following for complete rules and restrictions: You must let them know you’re paying with an Amex ahead of time.

a close up of a card

A global map of the participating restaurants in Taste:a map of the world

An example in Los Angeles:a screenshot of a website

Did you know about this perk?

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with blue lines and white text

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that 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.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
    • Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 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)
  • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 2x on all other travel
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
  • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
  • $95 Annual Fee

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: 

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. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional 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: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

4 Comments

  • Garrett May 4, 2018

    I have seen this in the past but I can not find it anymore. I called concierge and they said it doesn’t exist?

  • Don March 6, 2018

    It looks like this is only for Aussie Am Ex cards. Am I missing something?

    • Miles March 6, 2018

      Don – where are you seeing that?

  • Sil March 6, 2018

    This is one of the better (small-scale) perks of Citi too! The options are more limited, and typically fluctuate, but the entertainment/dining experiences offered through CitiPrivatePass are quality. I feel like the benefits are often not on many carholders’ radars because most assume that they’re only available for those in possession of the top-tier cards when, in actuality, even debit-holders have access!

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