Double, Triple, Quadruple Dip

I hope that this blog post will be the first of many more to come on this topic. Have you ever wondered how you can give your purchase an extra boost and earn additional miles, points, or cash-back? There are many programs and Apps out there that allow you to earn something extra. In this post, I will share three programs that I frequently use to earn some extra points for dining.

This past weekend, I went to a local Vietnamese restaurant, spent $27.34 in total, and put it on my American Express Gold Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards points. The Gold Card offers an incredible return on dining and groceries purchases, and it is my default card for dining out. I also added my partner as an Authorized User to maximize our earnings.

But the earnings didn't stop there...

Bonus Earnings #1 : Marriott Eat Around Town Program

The Eat Around Town program by Marriott is free to join and earns you Marriott Bonvoy points when you dine at one of the participating restaurants.

For non-elite members, you will earn 4 points per dollar spent.
For elite members, you will earn 6 points per dollar spent.

After you join the program, you must first add a credit card to your profile. To earn Marriott points, search for participating restaurants by city or zip code, and charge your bill to the linked credit card. Shortly after your visit, you should receive an email such as the one shown here letting you know that your points are on your way! It's this simple.

It's worth noting that the automated email will show that you have earned points that are 4x the dining cost, even if you're an elite member. Rest assured that the actual number of points deposited in your account will be adjusted to 6x.

It makes sense to link my American Express Gold Card to this dining program, so I can earn extra Marriott points while already earning 4x American Express Membership Rewards points. I also added my corporate credit card so sometimes I get a nice surprise email letting me know I've earned extra points from dining on a business trip.

Bonus Earnings #2 : Dosh

Dosh is also another free App to join. Similar to the Eat Around Town Program by Marriott, you must add a credit card to your account and use that linked credit card to shop at participating stores or restaurants in order to earn cash-back. Dosh also offers cash-back on some online stores, so be sure to check out what's nearby and what's online before you shop.

In my case, this local restaurant I visited does participate in Dosh and was offering a 5% cash-back at the time. Shortly after I paid with my American Express Gold Card, I also got an email from Dosh letting me know that I have earned $1.37 ready to be deposited.

Note: Dosh does require that you accumulate at least $15 in your Dosh Wallet before they would allow you to cash out (via Venmo or PayPal), but I never have a problem reaching this threshold quickly every few months.

Bonus Earnings #3 : Upside

Upside is the last one I will share in this blog post. Yes, it is another free App to join. It works slightly different from Dosh. After creating an account, you will also need to add a credit card to your profile. Then you can search for local merchants that offer cash-back through Upside. I would say that I mostly use Upside for gas purchases. Upside features many gas stations and some restaurants in my area.

Some merchants will require that you use one of the linked cards to make your purchase for them to track it, but some other merchants will allow you to use a card that's not linked but require you to upload a receipt after your visit. There will also be some merchants that require you to pay for your purchase using the Upside App. Before you can use each offer though, you must click on the "Claim" button for that merchant in the App and then you have 4 hours to make your purchase. Yes, it's a little more work than the first two programs mentioned in this post, but it honestly isn't all that bad. The important tip here is to pay attention to the requirements stated before you make your purchase to make sure you qualify.

For the restaurant I visited, they were offering 6% cash-back on my (pre-tax) purchase, so I was able to get a little bit of my money back.

Summary

In summary, I have added my American Express Gold Card to all of the programs above to earn extra points and cash-back for dining expenses, in effect quadrupling my earnings:

American Express Gold Card: $27.34 x 4 = 109 Membership Rewards points
Eat Around Town: $27.34 x 6 = 164 Marriott Bonvoy points
Dosh: $27.34 x 5% = $1.37 cash-back
Upside: $23.98 % 6% = $1.44 cash-back

All these for just spending $27.34, and I walked away a happy consumer with a full belly. Not too shabby, I must say! Note not all merchants and restaurants will participant all of these programs, so sometimes you have to do a little bit of research. In addition to linking my American Express Gold Card, I also linked my corporate card in these programs. Since my employer requires me to put all charges on the corporate card and I am missing out on those points, I use these programs in an attempt to still earn something. Every little bit helps!

In a future post, I will share other double or triple dipping opportunities. If you like this post, please consider visiting my Referrals page when applying for a credit card in the future or use one of the referral links on this post to join Eat Around Town or Upside. It will greatly help out this blog. Thank you!