No AF dining rewards card?

[yfan]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

Isn't it considered MS if you are intentionally buying a bunch of the same gift card though? Even if it is for a restaurant? Maybe I'm wrong, I'm no expert on this, I just figured that was still MS, since  you aren't really buying them for their intended purpose. Gift cards are meant to be a gift, to someone else, and that's about it. Not really intended to be purchased with a credit card over and over for personal use and to gain rewards. To me it's gaming the system. But obviously, opinions vary.

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Actually, the difference between say a Visa gift card and a store specific card is simple: a store gift card is not a cash equivalent, a Visa is. You couldn't take a restaurant gift card and use it to fund a checking account (or its equivalent, say a Serve account). You could with a Visa that has cash access. Your store gift ard is not equivalent to cash because it has no value outside that restaurant.

[yfan]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

As I've said before, it's not really up to us to define MS, that's what the issuers do.    IMO, anything that could be said to be artifically increasing rewards COULD be so classified. 

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Except using the Costco Amex to pick up gift cards at Costco is actually decreasing your rewards, as far as the credit card is concerned. Using the card at a restaurant for $100 gives me $2 in rewards; using it to buy gift cards for $80 gives me 80 cents. :-)

[yfan]

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@MJ-san wrote:

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this one yet ... http://www.idine.com/

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I use iDine. It's one of the Rewards Network program, and it has a phenomal rate of return if all (or most) of your eating out falls within their restaurant selection. Trouble is, the network isn't exactly extensive. Yes, they have 11,000 restaurants, but in a country with over 616,000 restaurants, that's less than 2%.