Getting rewarded for dining out almost seems too good to be true. But with OpenTable Rewards, you can pocket points on restaurant reservations across Australia and redeem those points for discounts on future meals, hotel bookings and even Amazon gift cards.
With rival restaurant booking platform TheFork exiting the Australian market at the end of March 2024, OpenTable is one of the few remaining platforms that rewards frequent diners.
We cover all you need to know about OpenTable’s loyalty program below, including how to earn points and maximise your rewards.
What is OpenTable Rewards?
OpenTable Rewards is the loyalty program of the major Australian restaurant booking platform OpenTable. The program primarily rewards members who complete dining reservations, but you can also earn points with eligible bookings made via the travel search engine KAYAK.
OpenTable Rewards is a free program, and there are no additional charges for bookings made through the platform.
What are the benefits of the OpenTable Rewards program?
The drawcard of OpenTable’s loyalty program is the ability to earn points when dining out. These points can be redeemed for discounts on future bookings, Amazon gift cards, travel and more. We cover more on earning and redeeming points below.
Aside from this, holding an account allows you to manage your bookings and dining preferences with ease. You can add dietary requirements and important dates like birthdays or anniversaries for a bespoke dining experience. Members can also message the restaurant directly and bookmark favourite spots.
For the program’s most loyal members – that’s 12 or more completed reservations in a 12-month period – you’ll unlock OpenTable Rewards’ VIP tier. The only listed benefit of this tier is access to Booking.com’s Genius Membership and a subsequent 10% discount on eligible hotel stays. But it’s worth noting that the Genius loyalty program offers all members a 10% discount at its entry-level tier regardless. Genius is free to join, so it’s hardly worth chasing VIP tier with OpenTable Rewards solely for this benefit.
What are OpenTable Rewards points and how do I earn them?
The program uses its own points currency, which is referred to as Dining Points or simply ‘points’.
There are three ways to earn points through the OpenTable Rewards program:
1. Making bookings on OpenTable
For eligible standard reservations made on OpenTable, you’ll earn 100 points. Occasionally you’ll pocket 1,000 points when booking a bonus table.
2. Booking flights on KAYAK
OpenTable partners with travel booking platform KAYAK. You’ll earn up to 350 OpenTable Rewards points when you book select flights on KAYAK.
3. Booking hotels on KAYAK
Similarly, you’ll earn up to 10,000 points when you book an eligible hotel on KAYAK.
During the reservation process, you’ll be able to view the number of points – if any – you’ll earn after you complete your booking. Note that you can’t make a bunch of arbitrary bookings for the sole purpose of collecting points. As per the program’s terms and conditions, no-shows and cancelled reservations don’t qualify for points.
Activating point collection
In order to earn Dining Points, you must log into your OpenTable Rewards account and activate point collection before making your reservation. Here’s how.
On bookings made via the OpenTable website
- Navigate to the restaurant you wish to book, enter the details of your reservation (number of diners, date, time) and click ‘Find a time’.
- Select your desired time slot.
- Ensure you’re signed into your account. (If not, click ‘Sign in to collect points for this booking.’)
- If applicable, tick the box next to ‘Yes, I want to collect 100 points for this booking.’ to activate point collection on your reservation.
On bookings made via the OpenTable app
- Log into your OpenTable Rewards account.
- Click on your avatar or initials in the top right-hand corner of the ‘Home’ tab.
- Tap ‘Account settings’ then ‘Account Details’ on Android, or ‘About you’ on iOS.
- Toggle the ‘Dining Points’ switch to activate point collection.
- Tap ‘Done’ on Android, or ‘Save’ on iOS to save your changes.
Once you complete your reservation, it can take up to seven days for the points to land in your account.
Note that Dining Points do expire. If you don’t make a reservation that’s eligible for points for more than 12 months, your account will be deemed inactive. Once this happens, you’ll lose all Dining Points in your account.
Additionally, you have three years to redeem your points from the end of the calendar quarter in which you earned the points. These dates are 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December. So if you earned points on 28 April 2024, you have until 30 June 2027 to redeem them.
How do I redeem OpenTable Rewards points?
You can redeem Dining Points in a number of ways. The minimum number of points for a redemption is 1,000, though you’ll need at least 2,000 points in your account to offset your next meal.
Dining Rewards
The following points can be redeemed for discounts on your next eligible restaurant booking:
- 2,000 points = $10-$25 off
- 5,000 points = $25-$60 off
- 10,000 points = $50-$110 off
- 20,000 points = $100-$210 off
KAYAK hotel discounts
Prefer to turn your points into a holiday? You can redeem OpenTable Rewards points for discounts on eligible KAYAK hotel bookings:
- 1,000 points = $20 off
- 2,000 points = $40 off
- 3,000 points = $60 off
- 4,000 points = $80 off
Amazon gift cards
If you regularly shop online with Amazon Australia, you may choose to redeem your points for Amazon gift cards instead. This can be done via the ‘points’ section of your profile. The Gift Cards are digital, and you’ll receive them via email within a few weeks – so it pays to plan around any purchases you have in mind.
- 2,000 points = $10 Amazon gift card
- 5,000 points = $25 Amazon gift card
- 10,000 points = $50 Amazon gift card
While the Australian OpenTable Rewards website lists magazine subscriptions as a redemption option for your Dining Points, the latest guide to using Dining Points and the how-to guide for claiming magazine subscriptions both state that this redemption is only available in the United States.
For more details and step-by-step instructions on redeeming your Dining Points, visit the OpenTable Rewards FAQs.
Maximising rewards with OpenTable’s loyalty program
The Australian website doesn’t allow the use of promo codes for OpenTable, so you can’t take advantage of discounts in the traditional sense.
But you can still maximise your rewards when dining out by using a credit card that earns frequent flyer points. For instance, the American Express Velocity Platinum card nets you 1.25 Velocity Points per $1. Similarly, you’ll earn one Qantas Point per $1 with the Qantas Premier Platinum. If you’re a regular diner or dining out in a group, you can easily amass a stash of points towards your next getaway.
How do I join OpenTable Rewards?
You can join the OpenTable Rewards program for free. To sign up, visit the OpenTable website and click ‘Get started’. You’ll need a valid mobile number or email address to become a member.
Summing up
OpenTable’s loyalty program makes it easy to earn rewards simply by dining out. The points earned through the program can be redeemed for dining discounts, as well as hotels and Amazon gift cards. And with no joining fee and access via the website or app, it’s certainly a lucrative – and enjoyable – means to help you pocket rewards.
FAQs
For every completed reservation, you’ll earn 100 points – and occasionally 1,000 points when you book a bonus table. These points can be redeemed for discounts off future dining reservations, discounts on hotels, or Amazon gift cards.
No – you can make restaurant reservations for free via OpenTable.
Yes, OpenTable Rewards points expire three years from the end of the calendar quarter in which the points were accumulated. Additionally, you’ll lose all points in your account after 12 months if you do not make a reservation on OpenTable that’s eligible to earn points.
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