If you’re thinking about getting a card for dining expenses, consider the following:
- How much money do you spend per month at restaurants?
- Is your monthly spending pretty consistent, or does it vary?
- Will you earn enough rewards on a particular card to justify paying an annual fee?
If your monthly spending varies, consider a card with additional bonus categories or rotating bonus categories. If you don’t spend enough to offset an annual fee, you should consider only restaurant cards without a yearly cost.
Other Benefits To Consider
Make sure you also familiarize yourself with the other benefits that may come with a card you’re considering. For example, if you like to travel abroad, you should look at cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees. Some cards for restaurants are also favorable for travel purchases and may even include protections like trip cancellation, trip delay and car rental insurance coverage.
While dining rewards are always a compelling draw, think about the other purchases you make through the year to determine if another card would yield better rewards overall.
– Ben Nickel-D’Andrea, Credit Cards Writer
What Are the Best Dining Rewards Programs?
The best rewards program for you will depend on your dining preference and rewards goals. Remember, credit cards that earn rewards on dining are different from dining rewards programs.
Specific dining programs offered by card issuers or loyalty programs, such as the Delta SkyMiles Dining Program or Chase Sapphire Dining, are available to cardholders to use for booking dining experiences and may earn additional rewards. But these programs are separate from card benefits. The typical spending rewards earned on dining with a card may be much smaller than those earned on specific bookings made through an issuer’s dining rewards program.
