[Update 6/29/18: Seems Subtotal went out of business.]
Subtotal is a new app (launched in May 2017) which offers rebates on all your restaurant purchases by buying a discounted gift card through the app.
Subtotal App Review
The Subtotal app offers rebates of between 3% and 10% on restaurant gift cards. When you’re ready to pay the restaurant bill, open the app and buy a gift card in the exact amount of your bill. The app will then rebate your credit card with a 3-10% back, depending on the restaurant brand.
For example, if the Applebee’s tab comes to $32.83, you’ll buy a gift card for that exact amount and hand it to the cashier to scan/enter. Soon after, 8.1% will be credit back to your credit card (around $2.60).
The gift cards are issued instantly – simply open the app when you’re ready to pay for your meal and buy a gift card for the exact amount you owe.
There are currently almost 100 different restaurants to choose from, and we’ll probably see more over time. The app can be used for in-restaurant purchases as well as delivery or online purchases; so long as the restaurant accepts gift card payment it’ll work.
iOS download link, Google Play download link
[We have no affiliation, financial or otherwise, with Subtotal.]
Payment
Subtotal accepts direct credit card payment as well as Apple Pay and Android Pay. The Apple Pay option worked quickly and easily for me.
Category Bonus
The FAQ notes that since the payment goes through the app it won’t earn the bonus category of restaurants. (MPX managed to code themselves that it does earn the category bonus, but apparently Subtotal has not done that.)
However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Pay with Apple or Android Pay and get 3x rewards with US Bank Altitude
- I wonder if it’ll earn 3x with AT&T (at least until July 22, 2017)
- Let us know if you find any other angle
Notes
- There is a minimum gift card purchase amount which varies by restaurant. It’s either $5, $10, $20, or $25.
- The cash back rebate will show up on the card that was used to pay, within a week.
- All gift cards are saved in the app History. If you didn’t use the gift card immediately, it’ll be there for future use and reference.
Is it a Good Deal?
The app offers discounts of up between 3% and 10%.
When comparing the discount on the app to MPX and Seashells (who both offer a similar product), the Subtotal app wins in virtually every instance. Of course, it’s impossible to compare MPX, a miles-earning product, to Subtotal which gets cash back, but most of the time the cash back was around 1.5x or 2x the amount of miles earned.
- Domino’s gets 8% cash back on Subtotal, 5x United miles on MPX, and 4% cash back on Seashells.
- Alamo Drafthouse gets 9.75% cash back on Subtotal, 5x United miles on MPX, and isn’t offered on Seashells.
- Applebee’s gets 8.1% cash back on Subtotal, 5x United miles on MPX, and 5% cash back on Seashells.
- IHOPÂ gets 8.1% cash back on Subtotal, 5x United miles on MPX, and 5% cash back on Seashells.
And Subtotal has the highest number of restaurants when compared to MPX and Seashells. For example, Darden doesn’t get any miles or cash back from MPX and Seashells, but does get 3.38% back from Subtotal.
As always, keep in mind that you can also buy discounted gift cards from second-hand exchanges for a higher discount. I find the discounts on Subtotal to be pretty good, and in some cases it’ll be worthwhile to just buy there directly and not bother with second-hand exchanges.
Final Thoughts
I initially downloaded the app expecting to be underwhelmed, but it turns out to be a terrific user experience. I hate that every app and website wants to know every detail about your life, and forces you to create an account, password, link Facebook, etc. And then you get locked out of your account, and get annoying popups asking for more info.
This app is the polar opposite. It literally doesn’t even ask you to create a login at all. You just download the app and use it, without any aggravation stage in-between. They do give the option of linking your Facebook so that you can recover the account in case you lose your phone or something.
And the discounts offered are excellent when compared with the competition. Still, Subtotal in no way negates the use of MPX or other sites since it’s limited to just restaurants, not the broad number of retailers offered on MPX and the others.
In conclusion, I found this note in the Subtotal Policies, hmm, interesting:
Do not abuse Subtotal. If you want to do something unusual, email us at [email protected] first.
Yep, that’s an exact quote. They are onto us.  😛
Similar gift card sites we’ve reviewed on Doctorofcredit:
- MPX Shopping Review – Earn Extra United Miles for Everyday Purchases at Popular RetailersÂ
- Seashells: Website for Buying First-Hand Gift Cards at a Discount
- Swych App Review for Buying and Swapping Gift Cards + 5x INK + Referral Bonus ($10 Amazon Gift Card for $5)
- Review of Mygiftcardsplus – Site for Buying Brand New Gift Cards at a Discount
- Yaarlo Review – Get Cash Back for Shopping, Buying Gift Cards, and Submitting Receipts
Hat tip to Slickdeals
Good app, just don’t be confused with the debit/credit. Almost everywhere in the app, even in “History” once you’ve purchased a GC it will show the DEBIT rate. It does warn you that you will receive 2.5% less CB when paying with CC but never really references the new rate. Pay with debit to get the FULL rate displayed, or pay with CC and expect 2.5% less CB, even when it shows the full rate in purchase/history screen.
Does anyone know if the gift cards purchased in the Subtotal app are coded as restaurants/dining (i.e., Merchant category code), similar to how the MPX app codes its gift card purchases according to the respective merchants’ nature of business?
This sounds good…howevuh…Is anyone else concerned about handing their phone to a server at Applebees to scan the gift card?
Mm, can’t find any referral links.
Any idea if this will work for delivery with papa John’s and Dominos?
It just depends on whether they allow gift cards for those purchases. If it’s an in-app purchase, I’d imagine there’s an option to input a gc as payment? but you’d have to check.
You can pay online, app or phone with a gift card.
The Raise app is also pretty similar and the discounts usually steeper, though you have to buy a whole gift card.
“it’s impossible to compare MPX, a miles-earning product, to Subtotal which gets cash back”
I mean, most people value UA miles at some rate. Divide the cash rewards by the mile earning rewards to get the minimum CPP range you’d have to value United miles at for MPX to make sense.
Right, I meant it’s impossible to say with certainty which is better.
Clickbait title is a little out of character. Should read many chain restaurants or something similar…
Yeah, i thought he was nitpicking at first until I re-read the title, and it literally says “ALL Restaurants”…. come on now, let’s be real, change it to “some restaurants” or “most chain restaurants” … As it currently stands, #fakenews
Good point, it doesn’t work at all restaurants. I’ll remove the “all”.
Thanks 🙂