Everything you need to know about airline and hotel dining rewards programs

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

Feeling hungry? When you’re filling up on food, make sure you’re filling up on miles and points at the same time with this double dipping strategy. The Rewards Network makes this possible by partnering with airlines, hotels and other types of loyalty programs to get you bonus miles and points on certain dining purchases.

These bonuses are in addition to any miles and points you’ll already earn from whichever rewards credit card you use. So this is a great strategy to stack your earnings when you’re using one of the best credit cards for restaurants. We’ll review each of the dining rewards programs that are available for airline and hotels since those are the most lucrative.

Earn bonus rewards for restaurant visits

You can earn lots of extra miles and points in a few quick steps by taking advantage of the Rewards Network’s programs:

• Sign-up for the dining programs you want to earn miles or points with (free to join)
• Register at least one credit or debit card with each program
• Receive bonus miles or points whenever you make a qualifying  purchase at one of the 10,000+ participating locations

You can sign-up for as many different dining rewards programs as you like, but each credit card can only be registered to one program at a time. Although you can have multiple credit cards registered under a single dining program. You can boost your earnings even more by registering travel credit cards that earn bonus points for dining, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card because it earns 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on dining.

When you are searching for participating restaurants, be aware some locations only participate on certain days of the week. So make sure you are visiting on a day that qualifies you for the bonuses. Below are the airline and hotel programs you can earn extra miles & points with.

Airline Dining Programs

Alaska Airlines

With the Alaska Mileage Plan dining program you’ll earn the following at participating restaurants:

• One mile per two dollars spent (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 3x miles (if you opt-in for emails)
• 5x miles (after 11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)

New members can earn 1,000 Alaska Airlines miles after spending $30 at a participating restaurant within 30 days of signing up.

American Airlines

With the AAdvantage Dining program you’ll earn:

• One American Airlines mile per dollar spent (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 3x miles (if you opt-in for emails)
• 5x miles (after 11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)
• Terms apply

New members can earn up to 1,000 bonus miles if they spend $25 purchase at a participating location within the first 30 days of registering.

Delta

With the SkyMiles Dining program you’ll earn:

• One Delta mile per two dollars spent (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 3x Delta miles (if you opt-in for emails)
• 5x Delta miles (after 11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)

New members can earn up to 3,000 bonus Delta miles after spending $30 or more for three participating restaurant visits in the first 30 days of enrolling and completing a short restaurant review within 30 days of each visit. You’ll earn 500 miles after your first visit, 1,000 after your second visit and 1,500 after your third visit.

Southwest Airlines

With the Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program you’ll earn the following points:

• One Southwest point per two dollar spent (if you don’t opt-in for emails)
• 3x Southwest points (if you opt-in for emails)
• 10 Southwest points per dining review
• 500 bonus Southwest points after earning 1,500 points by dining
• 300 bonus Southwest points for every additional 1,000 points you earn by dining

New members can earn 1,000 bonus Southwest points after spending $25+ at a participating restaurant in the first 30 days of enrolling and completing a short restaurant review within 30 days of the visit.

United Airlines

With United MileagePlus Dining you’ll earn:

• One United Airlines mile per two dollars spent (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 3x United Airlines miles (if you opt-in for emails)
• 5x United Airlines miles (after 11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)

New members can earn up to 3,000 bonus miles in the first 30 days of registering. You’ll earn 1,000 bonus miles after spending $25+ on your first visit. And you can earn an extra 500 bonus miles on each of your next three visits to participating restaurants (in the same 30 days) when you spend $25 or more. If you have a United Airlines credit card or have United elite status you also get temporary VIP status (5x miles on dining program purchases) and 500 bonus miles.

JetBlue

With JetBlue’s True Blue Dining you’ll earn 3x JetBlue points at participating locations.

Spirit Airlines

With the Free Spirit Dining program you’ll earn:

• One Spirit Airlines mile per two dollars spent (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 3x miles (if you opt-in for emails)
• 5x miles (after 11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)

New members can earn 1,000 bonus Spirit Airlines miles after completing a single $30 purchase at an eligible restaurant within 30 days of signing up.

Hotel Dining Programs

Hilton

With Hilton Honors Dining you’ll earn:

• 2x Hilton points (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 5x Hilton points (if you opt-in for emails)
• 8x Hilton points (after  11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)

New members can earn 1,000 bonus Hilton points after spending $25 or more at a participating restaurant within 30 days of registering and completing a review of the participating restaurant within 30 days of dining.

IHG

With the IHG Reward Club Dining program you’ll earn:

• 1x IHG points (if you don’t opt-in to receive emails)
• 5x IHG points (if you opt-in for emails)
• 8x IHG points (after 11+ qualifying transactions in a calendar year and you opt-in for emails)

New members can earn 1,000 IHG points after completing a single $30 or more purchase at a participating restaurant within the first 30 days and reviewing the restaurant within 30 days of dining.

Marriott

With the Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy program you’ll earn:

• 4x Marriott Bonvoy points for membership without Marriott Bonvoy status
• 6x Marriott Bonvoy points for membership with Marriott Bonvoy status

New members can earn 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points spending $30 or more at a participating restaurant within the first 30 days and reviewing the restaurant within 30 days of your visit.

Caesars Rewards

With the Caesars Rewards Dining program you’ll earn one Reward credit per dollar you spend at participating locations.

How to sign up

Before you register for an airline or hotel dining program, you will need to enroll in the corresponding loyalty program first because the dining program needs your account number to credit your bonus miles or points into you account.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to sign-up for the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan dining program.  But the steps are similar for all of the Rewards Network dining programs.

Sign up for a dining rewards program

Go to the dining plan website of your choice to begin the enrollment process and select “Sign Up” or “Join Now.”

Enter your information

Enter your first and last name, zip code and a valid email address.

Don’t forget to opt-in to receive emails. If you opt-in, you’ll be eligible to earn more miles or points per dollar.

Create your username and password

Enter a username, password, your loyalty account number and address (street, city, state, and zip code).

Then click the “Next” button to continue.

Link your credit or debit card

Next, you will need to enroll a credit or debit card. Then confirm you are not a robot and agree to the terms and conditions.

Find a restaurant or link another card

You can search for participating restaurants within a certain distance of your zip code or city.

If you would like, you can also add more credit or debit cards to the program.

What to know before you dine

In order to qualify for bonus miles or points, you must make the purchase with an enrolled credit or debit card (gift cards won’t count). And it’s important to verify the restaurant, bar or club you are visiting is not only a qualifying location but it is also participating on that day. Some locations do not participate on busier days of the week (i.e. Friday, Saturday, etc.).

Sometimes qualifying purchases might not show up in your account. This is often the case with online orders. When that happens, you will need to submit a receipt or card statement showing the date, location and amount of the purchase.

If you have any issues, you can contact the specific dining program you are registered with or you can reach out to Rewards Network directly at [email protected] or by phone at 866-844-3753.

Bottom line

Dining rewards programs are an excellent way to earn bonus miles & points for your everyday restaurant spending. It’s simple to register and link a credit or debit card. Then, whenever you make a qualifying purchase at a participating restaurant, bar or club, you’ll get bonus miles or points. And programs often offer bigger bonuses to entice new members to enroll.

You can sign-up for as many programs as you want, but each card can only be enrolled in one program at a time.

Featured Photo by Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.