Monday, January 7, 2013

Another layer - Dining Programs!

I'm adding on another layer of bonus points and rewards. I linked my existing cards to American Airlines dining loyalty program.

The general idea is to link existing credit cards to a dining program. So, when I charge a restaurant expense to my credit card, I'll receive my normal miles that the credit card issues and I'll also receive points through this dining rewards program too. Extra points!

After linking the card, I can also get a bonus by:

1Join the AAdvantage Dining program for free.
2Spend $40 or more on a single dine at a participating restaurant, bar or club within 30 days
3Complete your review within 30 days of dining. (The review link will be emailed to you and takes only a minute to complete.)
4Earn 1,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles!*


I can also start accruing more points by attaining VIP status:

"The general 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."

AA buried this information on their website, but I finally verified it here (I even had to switch to Google Chrome to see the chart since Internet Explorer wouldn't show it): I need to make sure to have a valid email and have 12 transactions (so I'll try the Travel Guys crazy tip of buying 12 things at once to start the accrual quicker).

I also set a reminder to register my new credit cards (from the last two days) to this program as well once the cards are delivered.

And away I go with a new layer to the travel hacking game!