Boston’s restaurant week has returned which started August 19th and will go through August 31st. This is a great opportunity to eat at high-end Boston restaurants for cheap (relatively speaking). I still sometimes think it is expensive as I do not particularly want a 3rd course dessert and the entree sizes can be somewhat small. You can get a 3-course meal for $20.12 during lunch (or $15.12 if a 2-course meal is offered) and $33.12 during diner. Saturdays are excluded and not all restaurants participate on Sundays.
Now the real perk comes into play with an American Express promotion. Eat at 3 different participating restaurants and spend $100 in total on your registered American Express credit card, and get a $20 statement credit. My assumption is that tip and tax is included in the $100 amount, so three diners will put you over this threshold. And if similar to the NYC restaurant week promo, you do not actually have to order from the price-fix menu, but just dine at at participating restaurants during the promotional time frame. There really is no way for American Express to know if this was a restaurant week dine or just a regular menu visit. So if you have one expensive meal (or pay for you and a friend, and have the friend give you cash!), go see if you can buy a soda at the bar at two other participating restaurants! Now the trick is to see if gift cards will trigger the statement credit?! If you try it out, let me know. My gut says it will work… So go buy one $100 gift card and again buy a soda at the bar at two other restaurants. Many of the participating restaurants are chains, so the gift cards will work in other cities outside of Boston.
Make sure to register your American Express card first and use the same card for all transactions. You can check out all the participating restaurants here.
Terms:
- Dates include: August 19-24 & August 26-31
- Each individual purchase can be for any amount as long as the 3 purchases combined total $100 or more
- Only the first transaction made at a participating restaurant will count towards the three required transactions; subsequent transactions at the same participating restaurant will not be eligible.
- If you dine at both Henriettas and Rialto at the Charles Square Hotel, only one (1) of those transactions will count towards the three (3) qualifying transactions. Similarly, if you dine at both Café Fleuri and Bond at The Langham, only one (1) of those transactions will count towards one (1) of the three (3) qualifying transactions.
Thanks Rapid Travel Chai!
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For some additional information:
My understanding of how the NYC Restaurant Week promotion worked, and presumably similar AMex promotions like this one, is as follows:
(1) Must have X transactions (Here, 3)
(2) Each transaction must be of value >= the lowest priced restaurant week menu item (Here $15.12)
(3) The total of the transactions must exceed a specific value (Here, $100)
Translating: Spend at least $15.12 at least 3 times at qualifying Boston Restaurant Weekend restaurants totalling $100 to receive a $20 statement credit. The three transactions need not be at different locations.
For what it’s worth, I had a restaurant “split” my check onto two transactions on my credit card (one visit, but two transactions on the same amex card) each over the minimum value, and used that to help qualify. YMMV.
I d love to know more!