It’s almost the first Friday of the month, which means it’s almost time for all the other bloggers to let you know that the Chase Sapphire Preferred earns at 3x on restaurants for that day. Today I came across a dining promotion with a difference.
MasterCard will be making a donation to SU2C every time you make a restaurant purchase with a MasterCard, you need to spend a minimum of $10 for a donation to be added. They make it somewhat difficult to find out how much is donated per purchase, but if you scroll to the very bottom you’ll see the F.A.Q’s and this:
Basically they give one cent up to a maximum of $4,000,000. If you make the minimum dining purchase ($10.00) then they are basically making a donation of 0.1%, obviously the more you spend the less this donation will be in percentage terms.
MasterCard recently announced that you could earn 4% cash back on selected dining purchases through their business Easy Savings program so it looks like they are making a big push to get more market share in the dining sector (MasterCard is notoriously bad for restaurant acceptance). Sam’s club also has a new MasterCard which earns 5% on all restaurant purchases which will be your best option for this promotion.
Personally I’d recommend just using whatever card gives you the best value on restaurant purchases, MasterCard will undoubtedly donate the full 4 million regardless. This is just a nice way of making a charity contribution and getting some free press at the same time (which I’m always happy to give when charity is involved).
[Read: Best Restaurant Credit Cards]
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Priceless Table
As part of this promotion they are also offering you a chance to dine at their priceless table which is high above times square (25 feet above on a platform) . It’s $50 per person with a two person minimum (this money is also donated to charity, but is not tax deductible) and you need to book in advance. Bookings will open at 9AM ET on July 8th, 15th, and 22nd for the following week (e.g book on July 8th for the week 8th-15th and so on). You get a five course fixed menu.
Our Verdict
I’m terrified of heights so I won’t be bothering with the priceless table. It does look like a cool experience for those near to times square, but I imagine those near it would be sick of the place. The actual donation is a nice gesture but far to small to sway me into changing my spending habits, you’ll be better off just choosing the best card for your restaurant spend and then making a separate donation.
