OpenTable Rewards: Are the Benefits Worth the Trouble?
The restaurant reservations app OpenTable has its own rewards program, and while you won’t be blown away by its benefits, you could save money on a nice dinner. Or redeem your points for Amazon gift cards, magazines and hotel savings. This story first appeared in August 2020.
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OpenTable is a must have app in my travels. The popular restaurant reservations service went live with a handful of San Francisco restaurants in 1999. Today, it operates in markets across the globe and its app (along with competitor Resy) is a handy way to book popular restaurants. For our football trips to New Orleans, the restaurant reservations are nearly as important as the hotel reservations.
OpenTable Rewards
OpenTable has a rewards program, where diners earn points and redeem them for benefits on dining, hotel discounts, Amazon gift cards, and or magazine subscriptions.
You will NOT necessarily earn points for every reservation. OpenTable gives you points only when you opt in to receive them. There’s a box you need to check before you confirm your new reservation. It’s a box I’ve forgotten to check more times than I’d like to admit.
The standard reward is 100 points. But when you dine at targeted restaurants and/or at specific times, you can earn 10x bonus points.
The bonus points are a carrot which should theoretically push diners toward a particular restaurant on the OpenTable system. One restaurant may want to use OpenTable Rewards to build up its clientele, or to attract tourists to its doors. Another may simply want to distribute its reservations more evenly throughout the evening; so they offer bonus points for tables booked at certain times.
What Your Points Will Buy
OpenTable Rewards has a handy chart that outlines the benefits of the program. Redemptions start at just 1000 points, and you can earn those with a single reservation that earns bonus points.
Kayak Hotel Partnership
Kayak and OpenTable are both part of Booking Holdings, and the two companies have partnered together. OpenTable members can earn and burn points when they book hotels with Kayak.com.
Redeem 1,000 points, and you can save $20 on a future hotel stay. Just go to Kayak.com/diningrewards. You can redeem up to 4,000 points with Kayak and get up to $80 off your hotel bill. This is potentially a good option for your points. It values the points you’ve earned at 2 cents each, but it’s got a certain hassle factor. You need to book your hotel at the same time you redeem the reward. So the points sit in your OpenTable account until you either redeem them, or until they expire. More on that in a minute.
Members can also book hotels with Kayak and earn with OpenTable — anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 points. Use the same website: kayak.com/diningrewards.
Amazon Gift Cards
The simplest redemption option for your OpenTable points is to exchange them for an Amazon gift card. You can redeem at these levels:
- 2000 points = $10 gift card
- 5000 points = $25 gift card
- 10,000 points = $50 gift card
When you choose the gift card option, you’ll get a code via email and can simply add it your your Amazon account. Done!
But the Amazon gift card values your points at just 0.5 cents, compared to a value of 2 cents per point for a Kayak hotel booking. The Amazon gift card is easy, but it is a poor use of your points.
Magazine Subscriptions
You can redeem 1,800 points for a one-year magazine subscription or 3,600 points for a two-year subscription. If you select this option, OpenTable will send you a code to apply to a new subscription. The value depends on the subscription you buy.
OpenTable Dining Rewards = Best Benefits
I’ve saved the best option for last. OpenTable Dining Rewards will give you a dining credit that varies, depending on the restaurant at which you reserve a table. You can redeem at these levels:
- 2000 points = $10-$25 dining reward
- 5000 points = $25-$60 dining reward
- 10,000 points = $50-$110 dining reward
- 20,000 points = $100-$210 dining reward
At their worst, the dining rewards value your points at 0.5 cents each. At their best, you’ll get a value of up to 1.25 cents each. It’s not as good as the Kayak hotel offer, but it’s much more flexible.
Let me explain. When you redeem your points for dining rewards, OpenTable will deduct the points and send you an email. Click on the link in that email to explore restaurants and book a table when you’re ready. I’d obviously suggest you pick the restaurant with the best redemption value — i.e., get a restaurant that gives you $50 off the check, not just $25.
Once you book a table, OpenTable will email you a confirmation with a link to a Reward Card. Bring it with you to the restaurant, and they’ll apply its value to your total bill. Yes, the process is a bit convoluted.
Now the good news! After you redeem points for a dining reward, you will have a full year to book a table with it. If your OpenTable points are about to expire, this is great news! You can use this option to convert them to a dining reward, and then have another full year to put your reward to use.
OpenTable Points Expire — Yuck!
Plenty of loyalty programs will let your points expire if your account isn’t active. OpenTable is no exception. Points expire after 12 months of account inactivity.
But even if you’re using the account, OpenTable points expire after 3 years. Specifically, they will expire at the end of the quarter three years after you earned them. So if you earned points in August 2020, they will expire on September 30, 2023.
Don’t hang onto your points. Redeem them at your first opportunity, before they have a chance to expire.
The Fine Print | Points Unearned
- OpenTable does not give points if you make a reservation without first signing in to your account.
- As we’ve mentioned, they won’t give points if you neglect to check the box indicating you want the points.
- They require you to book via their channels — the app, for example. You won’t get points if you call the restaurant and reserve a table the old-fashioned way.
- OpenTable may indicate that some reservations are ineligible for points at the time of booking. I don’t recall actually seeing this before, but there you go.
- Reservations using dining rewards will not earn points.
Final Thoughts
There are some cool benefits that make OpenTable Rewards worthwhile, even though the program is a bit of a hassle. The main hassle, of course, is that they require OpenTable users to check a box if they want to earn points. Shouldn’t that just be the default? If someone doesn’t want their points, they don’t have to use them.
The program isn’t exactly lucrative, unless you target restaurants offering bonus points. That’s because each dinner might represent $100 or more in spending, and your standard earnings rate is 100 points. I’d be curious to learn how much the typical diner spends before earning 5,000 points, enough for a $25-$60 dining reward. Unless you’re earning 1,000 bonus points on every reservation, chances are it will take some time (and a lot of spending) to build up a points balance.
But a great restaurant is often the highlight of my travels, and I’m going to dine out anyway. So I look at the rewards as a bonus. Nothing to strive for, but nothing to turn down either.
Check Your Email…
I got an email from OpenTable recently. It said I had 5,000 points set to expire on March 31, 2021. I turned those into a dining reward and now look forward to saving $50 or more on a future meal.
Plus, it’s not the only way to earn points at restaurants. I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card and receive 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar of spend. So I’m essentially stacking points when I make an OpenTable reservation. The Chase Ultimate Rewards points will be applied to travel, and I’ll likely apply my OpenTable points to more dining.
If you’re using OpenTable, check your rewards and get those benefits. I recommend use you your points for the better dining rewards or hotel stays. I see little value in the Amazon gift cards and magazine subs.
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Website images are examples from OpenTable.com \ Photos from Shutterstock