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Amex’s 10% dining discount returns in January – here’s how it works behind the scenes

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I was on LinkedIn last week when a post appeared asking if I owned a restaurant – and if I did, was I interested in joining the Amex Dining 10% cashback programme?

I clicked the link and it took me to this page of the amexdining.com website which has some interesting news and insights into how the programme works.

The good news is that, according to the application website, Amex Dining will relaunch on 7th January and run until 31st March.

Amex Dining

This is virtually back-to-back with the current iteration, which launched on 3rd September and runs to 31st December.

It’s a simple programme. Once cardholders have registered, they receive 10% cashback (sometimes boosted to 20%) when they dine at any restaurant listed on amexdining.com. This covers a very wide range from fast food places to fine dining, and taking in most of the UK.

The page of the Amex Dining website aimed at restaurants, click here, has some interesting information on how it works:

  • over 1 million UK Amex cardholders opt-in to the dining discount programme
  • it is easy for restaurants to join, assuming they already accept Amex – all they do is fill in the online form and they are added to the Amex Dining website directory. The registration deadline is 5-6 weeks before the launch of each campaign.
  • restaurants must offer the cashback 24/7 – they cannot opt out on specific dates or service times
  • Amex handles the payment of the 10% cashback to cardmembers
  • restaurants get access to an online dashboard which shows recent transactions
  • every two weeks, the cashback – plus a 5% administration fee for Krowd, which administers the programme – is reclaimed by direct debit from the restaurant. There are no other fees for the restaurant, so no customers = no fee.
  • at the end of each 3-month campaign, restaurants receive a report which breaks out their customers into new vs lapsed vs existing, based on previous spend history on the same card 
  • restaurants can leave the programme with 30 days notice, which is why restaurants often mysteriously disappear from the list

What isn’t clear is what happens during periods when the cashback is boosted to 20%. I suspect that American Express funds the additional 10% itself.

Keep an eye on Amex Offers from 7th January to ensure that you opt in again for the new cycle of discounts. It is always worth registering, because sometimes you will accidentally trigger cashback by eating or drinking somewhere which you didn’t even know was taking part!

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Comments (78)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • davefl says:
    22 Dec22 December 04:34

    As usual great if you’re in London but if you’re in Manchester forget it. Only 17 listed establishments in the whole of Manchester

    • Boon says:
      22 Dec22 December 04:58

      Clearly none of your local establishments in Manchester need extra business, otherwise they would have signed up….

    • Andrew J says:
      22 Dec22 December 07:51

      17 seems like quite a decent number.

      • davefl says:
        22 Dec22 December 12:24

        Out of at least 2500 restaurants in Manchester, yeah great.
        Of the 17 half of them are chains with multiple locations

        • Andrew Halket says:
          22 Dec22 December 12:37

          I don’t believe there can be 2500 restaurants for a population of 570,000. One restaurant per ~220 people? How often do people eat out in Manchester? Need to be once a week, and each restaurant taking only 30 people on average per day?

          • davefl says:
            22 Dec22 December 16:36

            Ummm, the population of Greater Manchester is approximately 3 million, not including vast numbers of tourists, temporary workers, business travellers etc.

            We always refer to Greater Manchester’s 10 towns as “Manchester”, exactly the same as in Greater London you don’t consider just the City of London as “London”

    • Miyaichii says:
      22 Dec22 December 08:20

      The hfp article says that restaurants sign up to the offer on the website — so perhaps encourage some of your locals to sign up!

    • The Original David says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:23

      Doesn’t that sentiment apply to pretty much anything? Amex offers, public transport, shopping, museums, jobs, airports, weather… There’s a reason people pay more to live in London.

      • Charlie says:
        22 Dec22 December 10:06

        Yep. And I’m currently drinking my coffee out of one as I watch the beautiful Northumbrian landscape. 🤣

        • The Original David says:
          22 Dec22 December 21:31

          Right, but then presumably you’re not complaining you only have probably fewer than 17 Amex Dining restaurants on your doorstep.

          Clearly living in London isn’t what everyone wants, but to then whinge that your local neighbourhood doesn’t have the amenities of London is a bit silly.

  • Axel Heyst says:
    22 Dec22 December 06:35

    Ramsays Kitchen in St Andrew Square Edinburgh another one to watch. For a counter claim. They throw in donations to Charities and topup whole bill with a 12.5% tip.

    This is marginly compensated by decent Pinot Grigio and Apple Crumble.

  • Erico1875 says:
    22 Dec22 December 06:42

    If it’s Amex administering the CB, how can it be Burger&Lobsters fault? Just interested

  • TomB says:
    22 Dec22 December 06:57

    Yep completely agreed. I had to upload a screenshot from their own website of Gaucho being on the list as “evidence” for their back office team as they insisted it was ineligible. After a month of chasing they finally honoured it. We also had another drop off the list literally the day we chose to dine there so not blaming AMEX for that but you do need to check the same day you go.

  • Andrew J says:
    22 Dec22 December 07:51

    Why is a receipt needed when it’s showing on your account? The fact you spent at that establishment is surely not in question?

  • Mark says:
    22 Dec22 December 07:55

    The 30 day notice is a bit odd. Restaurants should be required to sign up for the duration, especially as it’s a rolling program. I would be very annoyed with Amex if I checked the list in January and went to a restaurant a month later not knowing that it had opted out.

    • G says:
      22 Dec22 December 08:07

      Why should they? It’s a contract between Amex / the restaurant

      I understand your point.

    • Paul says:
      22 Dec22 December 08:42

      Agreed, I was caught out a couple of years back when I booked a very popular eatery 3 months in advance and then refused the cash back as they had left the scheme.

      • Rob says:
        22 Dec22 December 10:20

        Happened to us on Friday for the HfP Christmas lunch! Should have swapped to Wolseley City given the bill was £748.

    • JDB says:
      22 Dec22 December 10:19

      If they were required to sign up for the duration, many probably wouldn’t participate at all. Amex lures them in with the short contract and then hopes they will stay. Doesn’t seem very attractive from a restaurant’s point of view.

  • Nico says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:14

    Would be great if filters were working or there is a map, was trying to find a restaurant close to me in Mexico city using amexdining website on iphone and was not so quick.

  • Nick G says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:34

    Rob

    Can you put the link to the site that I believe someone runs in the article which shows all the restaurants? I’ve always found it very up to date and helpful.

    • Rob says:
      22 Dec22 December 10:22

      That’s for the Platinum Dining credits. It is pinned to the top of the Amex page in the forum.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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