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How to Earn Over 20% Cash Back on Dining

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Shows people dining and message How to Earn 20% when Eating out

Whether you are staying home or out traveling the world, one thing is constant. You will spend money eating out. Here’s an awesome way to earn more than 20% cash back when eating out.

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How Much do We Spend Eating Out?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average family of 4 making $70,000 spends over $4,000 per year eating out.

verage family of 4 making $70,000 spends over $4,000 per year eating out

Dining out can be a huge part of any family’s disposable income after factoring in taxes and housing (mortgage or rent)!

By implementing these strategies, you’ll be able to put a big chunk of that money back in your pocket. For the average family of 4 described above, getting 20% cash back would be a savings of more than $800 per year!

What would you do with an extra $800 each year? That’s bigger than many credit card sign-up bonuses!

First Step: Get 4% Cash Back Credit Card to Pay for Your Meals

When paying for your meals, it all starts with having the right credit card. There are many great credit cards that offer 2x or 3x on dining, but there’s an even better credit card for dining. The Capital One Savor Card is designed for people who spend money eating out and having fun.

With the Savor Card, you’ll earn an unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment! And, for those meals you prepare yourself, you’ll also receive 2% cash back at the grocery store.
And to kickstart your savings, the Capital One Savor Card offers a $300 bonus when you sign up and spend $3,000 within the first 3 months of opening the credit card.

With the Savor card, you will earn 4% every time you eat at a restaurant, fast food joint, or all of your other favorites.

Now, it is time to supersize the savings to earn even more!

Second step: Earn up to 10% Cash Back with iDine Cash

I love it when apps are designed to help you save money when you eat out. Here are my two favorite apps that provide cash back on dining.

With iDine.com, earning cash back is simple. Open a free account then register your credit cards. Now you’re ready to start earning cash back on dining.

idine.com
Image via idine.com

You’ll earn 10% cash back when you spend at least $750 in a calendar year at participating restaurants. For people who spend less than $750, you’ll earn 5% cash back. This cash back is on top of the 4% cash back that you’re earning with the Capital One Savor Card. So, combined you’ll be earning either 20% or 9% on dining!

Search for participating restaurants at the iDine website and simply present your linked credit card for payment. The cool thing is that the server won’t know that you are saving a lot of money on your bill.

The final step in earning the cash back is to complete a brief survey on the iDine website.
Once you’ve earned $20 in cash back, iDine will send you an American Express gift card that you can use anywhere Amex is accepted.

To share new places for you to try that you can earn up to 20% cash back, iDine will email you once a week. These emails will include recommendations for restaurants near you that other members enjoy and new restaurants in your area that have joined the program.

Earn Extra Airlines Miles on Top of Your Cash Back

Some people find airline miles and hotel points more valuable than cash back. If this is you, then register with Rewards Network instead of iDine. This company partners with many of your favorite airline loyalty programs to reward you for dining at their partner restaurants.

With Rewards Network, you can earn airline miles from:

Or you can earn hotel points:

There are over 10,000 participating restaurants where you can earn additional airline miles or hotel points with your registered credit card. If you have multiple credit cards, you can register them all.

You don’t have to register all of your credit cards with the same program. If you spread your credit cards among multiple dining rewards programs, you’ll earn points across multiple platforms to keep your accounts active.

Note that you can either sign up for iDine or Dining Rewards. You cannot sign up for both. However, in my experience, you can earn both cash back from Dosh and earn dining rewards airline miles.

Third Step: Stack the earnings with up to 10% Cash Back from Dosh

I’ve been using the Dosh Cash Back app for a couple of years now and have earned over $500 from them. This app works similar to iDine but with a couple of distinct differences.

dosh.cash
Image via dosh.cash

Not only can you earn cash back from dining with Dosh, but retailers as well. You can even earn cash back when buying gas at Exxon Mobil. Some of the participating retailers include CVS, Sam’s Club, Hallmark, and Walmart.

To sign up, create an account with Dosh. Once you link your credit cards, you’re ready to start earning cash on dining and retail purchases at participating locations. You can register for both services, although most of the restaurants participating in one platform will not be available on the other.

Another difference between iDine and Dosh is how you get your cash back. Instead of receiving an American Express gift card, you can transfer your cash back rebates via PayPal and other banking platforms.

Fourth step: Up to 10% Cash Back with Uber Visa Local Offers

When you register your Visa credit cards with Uber, you’ll be rewarded with cash back Uber credits that you can use for future rides. There are many participating restaurants and retailers in the Uber Visa Local Offers.

While performing a local search of my area, I found many restaurants offering 5%, 7%, and even 10% cash back. There was even one retailer that was offering 20% cash back!

To sign up, simply create an account with Uber, then register your credit cards. I recommend starting with your Visa credit cards with the best benefits. The Capital One Savor and Capital One Venture credit cards are excellent choices because of their focus on dining, entertainment, and travel.

Once you’ve registered these cards, you’re all set. If you dine at a participating restaurant, you’ll receive a notice in the app and via email of the cash back reward credits that you’ve earned.

What Restaurants Participate in Dining Cash Back?

There are thousands of restaurants that participate in these dining cash back and dining rewards programs. I enjoy grabbing a slice of pizza whenever I travel, so I performed a quick search for pizza in my new hometown of Nashville.

Search for restaurants participate in dining cash back

Dosh offered 8 locations to choose from. iDine and Dining Rewards showed 10 within 30 miles of Nashville. Uber Visa Local Offers also had 8 within 30 miles of me.

There were 5 locations of Pie Five Pizza Co plus Nashville Pizza Company and Brooklyn Brothers Pizza that were on all 3 lists. This is an opportunity to triple dip on the offers BEFORE factoring in my credit card cash back or rewards!

You can perform the searches for your favorite cuisine and location at iDine.com and in the Dosh app and Uber app.

How I Earned 22% Cash Back while Eating Pizza

To test this whole process out, I took a break and went to Pie Five Pizza for lunch. I ordered a small pizza and some garlic cheese bread. Both were delicious… but the cash back I earned made me smile even more!

I’m still waiting for my Capital One Savor card to arrive, so I paid for my pizza with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. This card earns 3x points at restaurants and the points are worth 1.5 cents when you redeem for travel. That’s the equivalent of earning 4.5% cash back towards travel.

The rewards didn’t take long to start rolling in. Literally, before my pizza was even finished baking, I received notification that I had cash back from both Dosh and Uber Visa Local Offers.

This meal earned 6% cash back from Dosh and 7% cash back Uber credits from Uber Visa Local Offers. A couple of days later I received notification from iDine that I had earned 5% cash back from them as well. As soon as I spend $750 with participating restaurants, that will jump up to 10% cash back on dining!

the man is reading messages on the cell phone

Break out your calculators and let’s see how much cash back I earned:

6% from Dosh
7% from Uber Visa Local Offers
5% from iDine
4.5% from the Chase Sapphire Reserve

That’s a total of 22.5% cash back on this meal.

Ok, the meal was only $14 and the cash back was just a little more than $3. Now, imagine how much cash you could earn if you ate at a participating restaurant at least once a week.

With the right credit card and these apps, that’s over $150 in savings each year without putting in any extra effort. Who couldn’t use an extra $150?

Earn 20% on Dining to Save For The Next Vacation

In less than 30 minutes, you can be on the path towards earning more than 20% cash back on your dining. Apply for the Capital One Savor Card to earn an unlimited 4% on your dining and entertainment. Plus, receive a $300 sign-up bonus when you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months.

Save For The Next Vacation

When your new credit card arrives, register for iDine, Dosh, and Uber Visa Local Offers to earn more than 20% at participating restaurants with your linked credit cards. As a reminder, if you sign up for your favorite airline or hotel’s dining rewards program, it will cancel out your registration for cash back with iDine.

With these savings and rewards, you’ll be ready to book your next vacation before you know it.

Which cash back credit card will you choose? There are many great credit cards that offer 2% or 3% cash back, but only one offers an unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment everywhere you eat.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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