Major restaurant chains are nothing but forced to use new techniques to keep customers happy and get them back to their properties. To that end, restaurants are beefing-up their rewards programs to make them more appealing to the modern, tech-savvy consumer.
This, of course, opens a way for you to save money. And since most of these rewards have a mobile component — mobile app, actually — benefiting from these programs is easy as it should be. Also, all of these apps allow users to locate nearby joints, order ahead (to skip the line) and pay from their phone.
Here are the top 5 mobile-enabled rewards programs offered by major restaurant chains:
1. Dunkin’ Donuts
With the Dunkin’ Donuts app you get to earn 1 DD Perks point on every $5 spent. However, you get more goodies free of charge, including:
- A free “welcome” beverage when you sign up
- A free beverage on your birthday
- A free beverage when you refer a friend
- Occasional free beverage during Dunkin’ Donuts’ promotional periods
Told ya’ it’s lot of free. 😉
2. Starbucks
When it comes to mobile, Starbucks is king. However, for their most loyal customers who spend more than $150 on coffee per year (at Starbucks), they offer the Starbucks Gold Card.
For everyone below this threshold — i.e. occasional Starbucks coffee drinkers — the chain suggests using the mobile app. Heck, even the coffee addicts could benefit from the app, which offers 2 Rewards Stars for every dollar spent at any Starbucks location. Also, participating in the program gets you a free beverage on your birthday along with free refills on any coffee beverage (as long as you remain at that location). Sweet.
3. Chick-fil-A
With the Chick-fil-A app you can scan orders or make an order from your phone, and every time you do that your so called “Treat Circle” fills up a little. Once you have purchased enough items, you get to choose a special Treat like a milkshake, a sandwich, fries, or more. It’s pretty easy and if you often eat at Chick-fil-A, you’ll love using the app.
4. Domino’s Pizza
The world’s biggest pizza delivery chain is well versed in digital space with its recent quarterly filing showing the highest same-store sales among the top 25 restaurant chains in the US. Domino’s customers earn 10 points on every $10 spent, and when they reach 60 points, there’s an option to redeem them for a free, medium two-topping pizza. It’s that simple, with the mobile app providing an easy to track the points.
5. Dairy Queen
Unfortunately, Dairy Queen’s myDQ app does not offer rewards at all locations. You can see the list of participating restaurants from here. The restaurant’s rewards program lets you earn one “Spoon” of every purchase that is bigger than $1. Once you earn 5 Spoons, you get to select one Free Food or Treat Reward, like Mini Blizzard® Treat, Original Cheeseburger or Hot Dog, Any Size Cone (plain), Small Sundae, or Small Orange Julius Premium Fruit Smoothie. If you earn 10 Spoons, you can redeem for additional food or treat reward like any size drink, any size treat or any $5 Buck Lunch.
BONUS: McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell
The programs of these three chains don’t offer points, but rather a more straightforward rewards:
- McDonald’s – the mobile app provides access to exclusive weekly deals and the ability to get every 6th drink for free.
- Burger King – similarly, you get access to mobile-only coupons, which according to BK, can save you “up to $30.”
- Taco Bell – again, the app gets you “exclusive offers and rewards.”
We don’t want to limit our list in any way. So if you know some other major restaurant chain offering great money-saving rewards programs, do let us know. We would love to make our list that much better. 😉