What is a dining programme?

How does a dining programme work?

The mechanic is the same in every version of the idea. A member registers an eligible payment card with the programme, eats at a restaurant that is in the programme's network, pays with that registered card, and the programme matches the transaction to the member's loyalty account and credits points. Nothing is scanned at the table and no receipt is collected: the card payment is the record.

Registration is the step that makes the rest possible. A card the programme has never been told about cannot be matched to a member, so a meal paid with an unregistered card does not earn, even when the restaurant itself is listed. Members who hold several cards should check which one they registered before they assume a particular meal will count.

The network, not the member's habits, decides where the programme applies. Restaurants join and leave programmes, so the list in force on the day of the meal is the one that matters, and a restaurant that earned last year may earn nothing this year. Points normally appear after the transaction has been processed rather than at the moment of payment, and the programme's terms set both the earning rate and the timing of the credit.

What spend does a dining programme count?

Programmes usually count a defined slice of the bill rather than the total charged to the card. Tips, service charges, taxes and the value of a booking that is later cancelled or refunded may sit outside the eligible amount, and some programmes count only the food and drink element. Because these rules differ between programmes, the earning rate quoted in marketing is rarely the rate a member receives on the full amount paid.

How a programme defines eligible spend is worth reading rather than assuming. In the Qantas Frequent Flyer link with ALL – Accor Live Limitless, eligible spend is the room rate plus eligible expenses as defined in the ALL Loyalty Programme Terms, and Qantas Points are not earned on some fare types, booking classes and spend categories [5]. A dining programme applies the same logic to a restaurant bill, with its own definition of what is inside and outside the counted amount.

Do airline programmes award points outside flights?

Dining schemes are one example of a wider pattern: airlines reward spending that never touches an airport. Qantas Frequent Flyer publishes one such route. From 8 December 2026 it is scheduled to award up to 140 Status Credits a Membership Year on the ground, earned by collecting Qantas Points across ten categories that include credit cards, banking and home loans, insurance, car, home utilities, hotels and accommodation, holidays and experiences, everyday shopping, retail and lifestyle, and sustainability [4] [6].

That scheme shows how carefully such earning is fenced. Credit or charge card rewards points converted into Qantas Points do not count, and neither do bonus points from Qantas Points earning credit cards, points from hotel loyalty programmes outside Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qantas Wellbeing app points, family transfers, QBR points transfers, top-up points, or bonus and milestone rewards [6]. Status Credits earned this way count towards Lifetime Status but not towards the Loyalty Bonus, the Platinum and Platinum One Bonus Rewards or Status Accelerator and Challenge requirements [6].

Everyday food spending appears in the published partner lists as well: Uber Eats is listed among the partners in the Car category for Status Credits on the ground [6]. That is spend channelled through a partner rather than a table booking, but it follows the same principle a dining programme uses — a named partner, a registered account and a defined category.

Exceptions and limits

• Restaurants outside the network. A meal earns only where the restaurant is listed at the time of dining, and networks change without notice to the member.
• Cancelled bookings and refunds. A programme may withhold or reverse points where the underlying spend does not stand. In the Qantas Frequent Flyer link with ALL – Accor Live Limitless, Qantas Points and ALL Reward points are not earned on cancelled bookings or in the event of full or partial default in the payment of an invoice [5].
• Channels outside the scheme. In the same Qantas link, stays booked through a reseller, tour operator or third-party online travel agency are not considered eligible, and points are credited within six weeks of the completion of the stay rather than at checkout [5].
• Tips and taxes. Whether these count depends on the programme's definition of eligible spend; they are commonly excluded, and the terms are the only reliable guide.
• Not the same as a co-brand card. A dining programme adds points for spending at listed restaurants, while a credit card's own rewards follow the card's terms; a Qantas Points earning card and the Status Credits on the ground scheme are separate arrangements with separate exclusion lists [6].

Related pages

Earning guides: how to earn miles, shopping portals and card offers. Terms: partner earning, category bonus, and the full glossary.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Restaurant-based dining schemes operated by other airlines, and restaurant offers run by card issuers, are not covered here; the examples cited are from Qantas Frequent Flyer.

1. Qantas Frequent Flyer program changes, checked 18 October 2026
2. Qantas Frequent Flyer status from flying and linked-partner earning terms, checked 18 October 2026
3. Earn Status Credits on the ground — Qantas Frequent Flyer, checked 18 October 2026