Download the app to your smartphone. Use the app to book at a participating restaurant. Dine. Earn a $15 gift card from Amazon, Starbucks, or Uber.
That’s the elevator pitch for the new Seated app, and it’s a pretty compelling one. Naturally, when you dig into the details, things turn out to be a bit more complicated.
Among the Seated terms and conditions:
- To qualify for the gift card, there must be two or more people dining. Both parties must order meals, not just drinks.
- The same restaurant may only be booked once during any 30-day period.
- Participating restaurants are currently located in only 15 cities: New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, D.C, Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, Denver, and Seattle.
- Participating restaurants are high-end. Don’t expect to get a $15 gift card for a $12 meal.
- Booking times are limited. Rewards may only be offered for early or late seatings.
- As loyalty currencies go, gift cards are among the least desirable. Too often they go unused.
From a business standpoint, the requirements and limitations make perfect sense. The service is designed to help restaurants increase business during off-peak times, and to do so cost-effectively. That means that users must be prepared to make some compromises in exchange for the rewards.
Whether a $15 gift card makes those compromises worthwhile is the question.
Reader Reality Check
Well, is a $15 gift card worth the required compromises?
More from SmarterTravel:
- JetBlue Preview: More Seats, Less Legroom
- How to Use Hilton Points to Shop on Amazon
- The 10 Best and Worst Airports in America (2017 Edition)
After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
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