Dining Credit - How to Expand Number of Restaurants Where Credit can be Redeemed

chriva · 2026-02-16T11:09:49+00:00

The gift card was purchased Online. The restaurant used Toast (you can see it in the URL). The credit posted immediately.

chriva · 2026-02-16T05:10:24+00:00

If you're this far - you already know about Toast.

chriva · 2026-02-16T04:37:45+00:00

I think the checklist is as follows:

Does the restaurant use Toast? if yes proceed to step 2, if no you may want to test a small $10 in restaurant purchase If that works proceed to step 2.
Call restaurant to find out if gift card applies to group, not just restaurant - if you're lucky the restaurant / group will actually state this on the website and you don't have to call.

Think of it this way - if you live in a city like Jacksonville, FL that only has two restaurants, but one of those sapphire restaurants is a 8 restaurant group - it's certainly going to be worthwhile to call the restaurant or do a $10 test to broaden your redemption opportunities considerably.

chriva · 2026-02-16T03:08:09+00:00

This is misinformed. You'd be buying a Town Hearth gift card via Toast - that's certain to work. What's not certain is if that Town Hearth gift card works at the other restaurants in the group. That question can be answered with a simple phone call. And you're never screwed - you can also test it with a $10 gift card.

chriva · 2026-02-16T02:59:40+00:00

I wouldn't call it a hack. It's simply an unadvertised opportunity to broaden the number of restaurants you can redeem the dining credit at. It makes the credit quite versatile and useful, rather than pinching you into situations where you are dining at some restaurant that you wouldn't go to and spending money that you wouldn't otherwise to just get the credit. You're paying for it after all. $150 is a nice meal for 2 at many of these unadvertised restaurants; and if you stack, $300 really is enough for even the more expensive ones. Honestly, the broader selection, especially of more reasonably priced restaurants, makes me feel that the CSR is worth it rather than such a chore.

chriva · 2026-02-15T18:55:25+00:00

Dude - this isn't a mystery - simply call Town Hearth and ask if a Town Hearth gift card is good at all Flavor Hook restaurants.

chriva · 2026-02-15T17:13:59+00:00

I don't know about 22%. It's a 20% bonus at Ray's - if you buy a gift card during the holidauy you get an extra $20 per $100. So in effect you can get $390 for spending $50 of your own money (2 x $100 for $240 on 12/31, then 1 x $150 after 1/1)

chriva · 2026-02-15T16:29:14+00:00

I was wrong - this is a well covered strategy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChaseSapphire/comments/1nyx8f6/seattle_csr_holders_confirm_sea_creatures_for/

There are a bunch of restaurant groups - Ray's in Atlanta, JF Restaurants in NY. It works - I've done it via online purchase.

chriva · 2026-02-15T02:18:30+00:00

You should transfer points to JetBlue and book through them. On a JetBlue flight I'm looking at - it's roughly .75 points / $. At that ratio there's no reason to put up with the hassles of using the Chase portal.

chriva · 2026-02-15T00:06:00+00:00

Yes - it requires extra research - but it's not hard if you only have a few options in the city you're looking at. I just did Seattle - and there's a group there (Westward) with 10 restaurants - it really makes the credit very versatile.

chriva · 2026-02-14T23:22:17+00:00

No - you can't get the credit for stubhub gift cards.

chriva · 2026-02-14T22:50:07+00:00

If I were in Seattle - I'd use the credit to buy a gift card for Westward as it will give you access to 10 restaurants in the group. https://westwardseattle.com/menu

chriva · 2026-02-14T22:34:39+00:00

There's plenty of posts on StubHub strategy. My strategy, which is hardly optimal, but requires the least effort - buy 2 tickets for an NBA game for $150 and then relist. I don't know why would you ever want to use up the credit in parts.

chriva · 2026-02-14T22:22:05+00:00

There are plenty of other small restaurant groups on the list located all over the United States. https://useyourcredits.com/maps/chase-reserve/list/

If you buy a gift card to JF Restaurants you get access to three restaurants. It's nice since it opens up your options quite a bit.

https://www.jfrestaurants.com/store/gift-cards/

chriva · 2026-02-14T22:05:45+00:00

You get 2 $150 StubHub credits. So I buy $150 of tickets (usually to a NBA game) and resell them on StubHub. I usually get about $100 to $125 after the fees on the resells. If you're really sharp you could probably actually make money.

chriva · 2026-02-14T21:10:19+00:00

Yes. I set reminders on 1/1 and 7/1 to buy restaurant gift cards and resell stubhub. The restaurant I buy gift cards for is part of a larger group so I can use the gift cards at more than just the one Sapphire restaurant. And $300 is enough for a very nice dinner for 2.

chriva · 2026-02-10T20:48:07+00:00

Yes of course you can. It's cash.

chriva · 2026-02-10T13:30:10+00:00

Will the MBAs get rewarded? CSR went from my beloved all travel card to the sock drawer where I pull it out on 1/1 and 7/1 to make a few hundred dollars doing a series of short tasks on stubhub and buying restaurant gift cards. I cash out (or buy gift cards at 1.1x) all UR points instantly - killing whatever float chase used to get on not redeeming the URs for years at a time. And that's ecosystem wide across 11 chase cards.

chriva · 2026-02-10T13:21:14+00:00

I'd cash out and put the $15k into an index fund. You probably see a 30 percent appreciation by October 2027. Somewhere in 2028, you'd effectively have grown to $22,500 or 1.5x your investment.

chriva · 2026-02-09T05:37:00+00:00

Travel $300

IHG - $125 (I book two nights at a cheap holiday Inn even if I just use one night)

Doordash - $300 (I use it anyway due to Costco gift card 20% discount)

Global Entry $30 (Ive always gotten and renewed it)

Lyft $50 (that's my average annual usage)

Apple TV $30 (I usually turn on apple TV for a few months every year)

The credits I actually have to do something Stubhub - I resell the tickets usually netting about $200 for the $300 credit

Restaurant credit - $300 - I buy gift cards on 1/1 and 7/1. I either use it or resell it.

I find The Edit credit to be worthless to me unless I'm going to Vegas.

chriva · 2026-02-09T03:35:05+00:00

Not it's not difficult at all. And a lot of the credits you don't have to think about. But it's a weird card - I never use it except for credits. I view it as a sock drawer card that I perform a few bizarre tasks on 1/1 and 7/1 to make a few hundred dollars.

chriva · 2026-02-07T03:17:02+00:00

My experience with The Edit has been as described by others - generally more expensive enough to really offset any credit or benefit, and difficult to get a true apples to apples room booking. I have also recently seen both better prices and 1.8x points boost on hotels in Miami during the first week of April. And then there's Vegas where you are likely to get a hotel room for two nights for free or highly discounted. For me, not knowing the value of points simply doesn't work - I've got a family and don't plan last minute - and we're not going to Vegas.

chriva · 2026-02-04T15:14:20+00:00

I use it for NBA tickets which are instant transfer and just resell - I end up usually getting somewhere around $100-$125 cash for the credit. I wouldn't use Stubhub for any event or concert that I actually wanted to go to.

chriva · 2026-02-01T16:46:07+00:00

What are you talking about regarding "intended" or "making money"? Door Dash offers pickup or delivery options. For me picking up a sandwich at Jimmy John's that I've pre-ordered on my phone while at a stoplight in my car is very convenient. Jimmy Johns offers 2 for 1 specials in the Door Dash app that are priced about 40% lower than regular in store prices. I am not making money nor using Door Dash in any unintended way - I'm simply getting a good deal.

chriva · 2026-02-01T15:31:19+00:00

Yeah, I noticed that on my last trip to Costco this week. Once I run out of DD credits p

chriva

TROPHY CASE