Dine Out, Earn a $15 Gift Card from Amazon, Starbucks, Uber

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.