rb_travelerxATyahoo

Has anyone used discount dining programs? I'm looking at one called iDine (referred to in my Veteran's Advantage mailing) and it looks OK, but I'd rather have some feedback.

It appears you join ($50) and register up to 3 credit cards for use at participating restaurants. You then go to them (after checking web to see if they're participating on that date - and sometimes restricted hours as well), pay using one of the registered credit cards, then get refunds later.

I'm sure there's similar programs too .. if you've used any, please tell of your experiences. It looks like most participating eateries in my area give 20% refunds, so it almost looks too good to be true.

ParrotMom

We do use i-dine and find it worthwhile. We have been members for quite a while and don't pay the $50.00 fee. We have a favorite restaurant that the only day we can't use it is Saturday night and they also have a frequent diner card...welll worthwhile. You frequently receive a mailing tell you how much you have saved and of new restaurants in your area. It is legit.

Frank

Been using it for years and also have the annual fee waived. Some of New York's top restaurants participate from time to time, like La Cote Basque, Remi, 21 Club, Gallaghers, Le Colonial, Cafe Des Artistes, and lots of new and neighborhood places. Great program, it works just as they describe it.

Patrick

I don't know anything about their discount program, but I registered my Citibank AAdvantage card with iDine and automatically receive 10 miles for every $1 I spend at any of their restaurants, including taxes and tips. Without even knowing it, when we spent a month in New York we happened to hit a lot of those restaurants and ended up getting about 20,000 extra American Airlines miles.

AAFrequentFlyer

The AA Idine miles program works for me as well. If you choose miles instead of cash, there is no yearly fee. I have an elite status with AA, which gives me extra 500 miles for every month I dine at three different IDine restaurants. Most of the time I will have lunch at a participating restaurant with total bill being somewhere around $10-15. I would have lunch at these places anyway so why not get the bonus miles on top of the 10 miles per $1 spend. On the average I get 1000 miles per month for having cheap lunches at places I like. The company is for real, it's been around for years, and whichever way you choose to get your rewards, you will be happy.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Thank you for you comments.

Looking further at their website, they state that they are currently using the first $49 worth of credits to pay for the cost of the membership, so I guess there's really no risk to me ... if they were not legit I would have spent that money in restaurants anyway!