All This for 50 Miles? AAdvantage’s Dining Deal is Wildly Not Worth It

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When I saw the headline saying that American AAdvantage had partnered with OpenTable, I thought, “Nice! Free miles just for eating out? Count me in.”

But then I actually read the fine print. And let me tell you, this has to be the most convoluted way I’ve ever seen to earn a whopping 50 AAdvantage miles.

Here’s What the Email Promised

Earn 50 AAdvantage^® bonus miles just by completing a reservation with OpenTable. That’s on top of the AAdvantage^® miles you already earn when you dine!

Sounds simple enough, right? Well…

Here’s What You Actually Have to Do

1. Log in to your AAdvantage Dining℠ account.
2. Use the reservations widget on the AAdvantage Dining site (not OpenTable directly—because, of course not).
3. Show up at the exact date and time of your reservation and check in.
4. Pay with a credit or debit card linked to your AAdvantage Dining℠ account.
5. Remain subscribed to their emails (with a “valid, deliverable” address, naturally).

All of that… for 50 miles.

But Wait, There’s More (Restrictions)

• You can earn this reward only once per day.
• There’s an 8-booking-per-month cap.
• Some restaurants don’t offer rewards every day of the week.
• It can take up to eight weeks for the miles to post. Because, of course it can.

Final Thought

What looked like a simple way to earn a little something extra for dining out has turned into a loyalty program obstacle course. AAdvantage and OpenTable took what could’ve been a nice perk and buried it under a mountain of terms, conditions, and gotchas—all for the mileage equivalent of what you’d earn from charging two cups of coffee on your airline credit card.

Hard pass.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary