OpenTable Devaluation: Redeem OpenTable Points By August 24

OpenTable will devalue its program on August 25, 2016, when Dining Cheques will no longer be offered as a redemption. Instead, only Dining Reward Gifts will be offered. I discovered this after recently redeeming for a $20 OpenTable dining cheque, and being presented with the option of redeeming for a Dining Rewards Gift. Since I'd never seen that option before, I read about it, and didn't like what I saw.

Worse, I found, buried in OpenTable's Dining Cheque FAQ, that Dining Cheques are going away after August 24! Rather sneaky to not email current OpenTable members about the change or even disclose the deadline when redeeming for a Dining Cheque, but no doubt OpenTable is seeking to save some serious cash by eliminating Dining Cheques.

Here's what you need to know:

What is OpenTable?

OpenTable provides restaurant reservations, and when you start your search at OpenTable for a restaurant, you earn 100 points per reservation, or sometimes 1000 points for certain restaurants and certain times (typically the earlier times that a restaurant has a hard time filling tables). 

What is an OpenTable Dining Cheque?

Up until now, it's been possible to redeem 2000 OpenTable points for a $20 Dining Cheque and $50 OpenTable points for a $50 Dining Cheque that could be used at any OpenTable restaurant in the U.S. or Canada. For example, I used a $20 OpenTable Dining Cheque when dining at Le Cirque at The Bellagio in Los Vegas, even though most of those points came from reservations made at NYC restaurants.

What is OpenTable's New Dining Rewards Program?

OpenTable's New Dining Rewards Program is significantly worse than the current Dining Cheque program, because:

• You have to select a restaurant when redeeming your OpenTable points, and your Dining Reward Gift is only valid for that restaurant; OpenTable Dining Cheques are valid at any OpenTable restaurant

• Not all restaurants participate in the new OpenTable Dining Rewards program, so the restaurant you want to redeem at may not be available as an OpenTable Reward Gift

• Eleven Madison Park: fantastic fine dining, with 3 Michelin Stars. OpenTable reservations are mostly available for lunch. No Dining Reward Gift available.

• Blue Smoke: our favorite bbq place in Manhattan, and very kid friendly. No Dining Reward Gift available.

• SomTum Der: our current favorite spot in Manhattan for Issan / Northern Thai food. No Dining Reward Gift available.

• Pig + Khao: a spot we recently tried (review forthcoming) and earned 1000 OpenTable points at, serving Filipino and other Asian dishes. No Dining Reward Gift available.

Other Rewards?

The OpenTable FAQ notes that it will be possible to redeem for Amazon Gift Cards, but who knows how long that will take. And in any case, my favorite way to buy via Amazon is with gift cards for which I earn 5X with my Ink Plus. For small discounts of a few dollars off, just plan ahead with your orders and accept a longer delivery time than your Amazon Prime membership entitles you to.

How to See 1000 Point Tables

You'll have the best luck seeing 1000 point tables if you search in your city for a given area, but not for a specific restaurant. You can then check a box indicating that you want to see 1000 point table offers.

 

Bottom Line

If you'll be eating out anyway between now and Aug. 24, I recommend trying to get your account to the level needed to redeem for an OpenTable Dining Cheque and redeeming for one no later than August 24, the last day OpenTable will be honoring these redemptions.

Will you manage to redeem for an OpenTable Dining Cheque by August 24?

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